mrsdarwin

My husband is an avid marathoner, completing boston in april, and he wants to run in Iceland at the end of August (24th to be exact). We are late 30's (ok 39) and will be childless for this trip. We love to travel and have been a lot of places just didn't expect Iceland. has never been on my "oh my I have to go list". Having said all of this, we will depart august 20 from Atlanta and have 3 days to sight see, etc before he will get in his running mode. Questions...
1. Restaurants. Pretty adventurous eaters but it is a vacation so I don't think I want odd fish every meal. Give me one or two this is good local food restaurants and than a few stand by's with pasta or veges. some of the restaurants suggested by marathon club were Café paris, tveir fiskar (sp?), caruso
2. Day trip. If you could take one, what would it be? The Golden Circle, BLue Lagoon, try to catch the northern lights?
3. Sounds like public transportation is accessible around the city.

Fodorites always have an edge on what to do and not ashamed of giving an opinion!
Thanks!

BigRuss

Just be happy he's not running the Badwater Ultramarathon next week.

ira

Hi MrsD

You are a good wife.
I think he owes you one.

colduphere

Nine of us are doing the same thing but only four are running the marathon. We are doing a three day hike just before race day. Your husband is smarter than we are.

Queenie

I ran that marathon about 5 years ago. I would recommend the Circle Tour - we did it the day after the race and I was grateful to be on a bus and not walking too much.
We actually took a day trip to Greenland 2 days before the race.

You can go everywhere on public transport or by walking. I think we took a bus to the expo - it was easy.

the food is not great. very difficult to find lots of fruits & veggies as so much has to be imported.
Also, I think the race may still coincide with Icelands ''cultural weekend'. Nearly all the citizens are in Reykyvik for that and it is hard to find a place to eat, so get reservations for pre race race dinner!

Finally, tell your husband that then last few miles of the race are along the water and the wind was horrible. That's if they haven't changed the course. t was tough with that head wind at the end.
have fun!

gruezi

Hi Cold - what type of hike? Where precisely? Am being called to get out of this heat and hit the trails.

Thanks!

bilboburgler

lots of public transport in Reykyvik, also lots of local spas (for soaking off those pains) it is worth getting into the whole spa scene and visit different ones as each is special.

I'd do the Blue lagoon on the way back to the airport (buses are planned to let you do this), again another good spa but a good chill out space for 2 hours+

Golden tour, try and do this with one of the smaller (8 to 12 people) buses as talking to the driver/guide is more interesting (on the culture and history of iceland) if as part of a smaller group.

laurie_ann

Iceland has beautiful natural sights. We enjoyed our trip around the coast. But we rented a car for a few days. Within Rekjavik we especially enjoyed

- the free walking tour (they do take tips though)http://www.goecco.com/Index/goecco/S...urofReykjavik/,

- the national museum (very modern and well curated) http://www.thjodminjasafn.is/english and

- a trip on a little boat out to see the puffins. http://www.specialtours.is/puffin-watching/

There is also a good local website www.grapevine.is with information on restaurants, events, etc.

Have a great trip!

mrsdarwin

thank you for the info. the restaurant website was a great find. we are signed up for the tour the marathon does on the day after marathon. thanks for the word on the marathon too. it will be nice and unique to explore this part of the world.

annhig

sadly, we found that most of the food in Iceland was pretty bleh; it's not so much the fish as the constant diet of lamb soup that can get you down after a while. However, the cakes are great, the coffee [free refills at most places, or even free coffee in one pub] is terrific, and it's a pretty unique place to be so make the most of it, is my motto.

i agree with much of the above - if you're going to do the Blue Lagoon do it en route to the airport, the northern lights can't be seen in August, so it's got to be the Golden circle, which in any event is well worth seeing. as well as the sights there, one very cool thing to do is to walk between the two tectonic plates - they are about a metre apart in most places.

also do go to the National museum in Reykjavik - it's outstanding. nice cafe there too.

have a great time and good luck to your DH!

michele_d

Our nephew just returned from Iceland. He conducts photography workshops all over the world and was in Iceland earlier this month teaching another one. I just looked at his pics over the weekend and was astounded by the natural beauty of Iceland. I would personally jump at the chance to visit. Hope you have fun.

JaneConnoly

The gheysers are a must see. I also agree with the annhig on the National Museum. We thought the food was excellent especially for fish lovers.

Amy

Iceland really is pretty wonderful, in my view. Here's an old but possibly still helpful list of why it's great:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...in-iceland.cfm

opaldog

We did the Blue Lagoon on an overnight in Reykjavik. We went from the airport on our way into town. We really enjoyed it, but it's not a day experience. I would try it on your way back to the airport on departure day.