What is a curate egg?

I'm considering a trip (four or five nights) in late May so I've started reading the various reports here.

flygirl - there is an old english saying - "like the curate's egg - good in parts". i suppose it harks back to the days when a curate, being the lowest of the low at the bishop's or vicar's table, might get an egg that was not as fresh as it might have been. so something that is like a curate's egg, is good and bad.

Ann, thanks so much for this detailed report. It has already been of great help as I plan a trip to Iceland for this summer, and I'm anticipating using quite a bit of the information and advice as I complete the planning and the trip.

dbalbert - my pleasure.

i think that the two bits of advice that I would emphasise [which may well be contradictory, but what the hell] are

1. DO go all the way round if you can; don't do what we did and back track - you end up doing as many miles and don't see as much.

2. Do go to the western fjords and get the ferry over to the Snafellnesess peninsular. perhaps the best sea voyage I have ever made, and I hate ferries!

annhig, what a wondeful trip report, just loved your sense of humour. unfortunately we'll be in iceland for just 2 days, so won't be able to do very much more then the Golden Circle, Blue Lagoon and a glacier tour. am vegetarian, so aren't i glad we'll have our cruise ship to go back to for salads and fruit?!!!

glad you liked it, geetika. I got some flak elsewhere for not saying everything was wonderful but I don't see the point of not being honest.

Anyway, i strongly recommend the golden circle, and a glacier tour is a great idea. BTW, the food in the restaurant at the Blue Lagoon was pretty good, so you might we find something there.

hope you have a great time!

Hi Annhig - Skimmed your travel report (with a big smile) - Glad the list of pros at the beginning was longer than the cons. We did the ring road tour in Aug 2006, and loved everything about Iceland. Our vacations typically involve lots of miles, and rarely more than 1 nite @ any l stop, but this trip maybe broke mileage records! (One friend famously said after looking at the itinerary - that's not vacation, that's boot camp) Iceland is so spectacular & we saw so much every day that even the long days didn't feel long. We love lamb (and yes, Icelandic lamb is the best!) and generally ate very well - chose small guest house /hotels with good reputation for food. Big breakfasts before leaving, and excellent dinners at the end of the day. Lunches were "interesting." Ate a LOT of hot dogs @ gas stations, and also thankful for travel snacks we brought from home (nuts, and bags of "orange essence prunes") - along with some water, those snacks got husband, me & 19 YO son thru some long stretches with no civilization. Reading your report let me relive much of our own trip. Thanks for your amazing & amusing report!

hi burnhamski [love the screen-name, BTW]

well, I've yet to meet anyone who is neutral about Iceland. i think that it is one of the few places where the "one-night stand" approach works best; it's not ideal for the sort of touring that we like which is to spend a few nights in each place before moving on. Sadly we only knew about this by the time we left!

I cannot claim that we loved everything about it, but we did have a great time, and some unmissable experiences. I'm glad that you enjoyed it so much too.

Hi,

My wife and I are considering flying to Iceland for 17 days this this coming August.

Is it safe (meaning availability) to find accommodation as you go? Are there enough B&Bs or guesthouses around (we plan on doing the circle) enough for finding a bed in the evening? We would greatly prefer the freedom of driving and stopping where we feel like rather than planning our stops beforehand.
Any hints?
Also, any "reasonable" rental car agency with democratic prices? We are seeing 1,000+ € for 14 days, which is rather expensive..

Thanx,
Paco

hi ured -

well, first of all i am no expert, having only been once, but so long as you are not very fussy, and don't want to stop on very out of the way places, i would think that you would be able to find places to stay as you go, even in August.

I am not up to date with prices in Iceland, but we paid roughly what you are being quoted for a hire car, so it doesn't surprise me.

if you decide to travel this way, i would urge you to have an up to date guide book with you [ours proved invaluable when we hit that problem with accommodation, and had to find somewhere new to stay] and to go the Western Fjords - you have long enough to make that feasible, and it was definitely the highlight of our trip, along with the boat trip where we saw the Orcas and the Baldur ferry to the snaefellness peninsular via Flatley.

hope that you decide to go there, and that you have a wonderful trip.

Thanx!
Great report BTW!
Paco

no probs, Paco.

hope it helps.

Ann - we are following in your footsteps in August. I may just cut and paste you trip report, change a few names and call it my own. I hope you don't mind.

I know this is an older report, but I am enjoying it so much! I've got to bookmark it to finish a bit later.

cold - please do, i doubt anyone will notice, except that they will wonder why you're not quite as amusing as usual.

please let me know if i can help with the planning at all.

Toucan - I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Cold, watch out for horse riding and their weird "gait" it nearly split me in two. Do take a spa wherever you are, they are so good.

Funny you should say that Bilboburgler - the plan is for a five day hike and then three of our group are going to run in the Reykjavik marathon. But one of the group is a very competitive dressage rider. She is insisting we ride horses somewhere on the hike.

Those Icelandic horses don't look like they would appreciate dressage instructions being yelled at them.

we never got anywhere near any of the horses and it looks like that was a good choice.

I actually really enjoyed the horse riding; I found the gait to be quite comfortable, but then, this was only a half day or so, not a long trek. The "Viking ponies" are definitely unique; if one of the horses is taken elsewhere, it's not allowed back in the country.

And yeah, I don't see them caring much about dressage.

if your friend loves horses then she should try it for at least a half day.