Set on the edge of Arctic Circle and lying in the one of the world’s most active hotspots of volcanoes, Iceland is growing in its popularity day by day in terms of tourism because of mixture of glaciers, hot springs and rugged fjords. Tourism in Iceland is also getting flourished by activities like hiking in midnight sun and taking bath in splendid blue lagoons. Let us see what WEST ICELAND has got in its store.
Travelers towards west Iceland will not feel the scarcity of sights, relaxations, entertainment and outdoor activities. Outdoor activities includes events like swimming, golf, hiking, touring on horseback, watching nature and some unseen species of birds are some from the endless list. It is said about west Iceland that beauty is everywhere and peace of nature is a complimentary gift with that peace. Every village and town of west Iceland has its own special mention in travel brochures in Iceland.
An area called Hvalfjorour is very famous here in west Iceland because it contains some scenes from the dreadful saga of the Helga haraldsdottir. Every opportunity to enjoy the outdoors which includes glymur waterfall is available. Mountains are present to challenge the hikers. The Second World War has left some ruins of British and American naval stations in this part of Iceland. The shoreline here has quite a big quantity of birdlife. Some reefs here provide resting and mating place for seals. There is no doubt the nature fanatics will enjoy roaming here in hvalfjorour.
The Akrafjall Mountain situated in akranes, not only provides attractive scenery but also the shelter for the tourists. It’s very easily accessible and the view from the top is simply unforgettable. This area has everything to give, whether tourist wants to enjoy indoor or outdoor. The museum at garoar is a must visit place here. It contains some ancient samples of fishing boat of the akranes. The cluster of five museums makes it a very important place for those who want to learn about history, culture and nature of Iceland.
Borgarfjorour region is Iceland’s most prosperous region and is situated here in west Iceland. The village called borgarnes has some very good attractions for tourists. Some very good swimming and outdoor activity options are present here. The valley in which this region lies is the main center of culture, horses and geothermal energy. Deildartunguhver is a hot spring with the most powerful flow in Europe and it is situated here in west Iceland.
One can appreciate the beauty and magical power of nature in snaefallsnes. No visitor can ever forget the ravishing colors and the geological formations in the national ark of snaefellsnes. Amarstapi offers huge attractions for tourists sea cliffs, bird life and the very special, glacier capped volcano and it is considered as the earth’s most powerful place in terms of spiritual energy. The beaches of longufjorur are considered the best place for horse-riding in whole Iceland.
These are west Iceland’s some of the most famous tourist attraction and the list are endless with some powerful destinations waiting to be explored and mentioned. No doubt there are many like these.
Author Bio:
Asberg Jonsson is the manager of Iceland Visitor, a company specializing in packages for Vacation in Iceland and day tours in Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandvisitor.com
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Exploring the east of Iceland
Iceland today has the reputation to be the land with the greatest variety in whole Europe. One can find landscapes from surreal to sublimes. The colors of Iceland include rust red craters, blue lakes, green mosses and the sea of black sand. Iceland is worth seeing in every direction. There is a new thing with every step a tourist takes in any direction of Iceland. Let’s check out Iceland in its eastern part i.e. EAST ICELAND
In this part of Iceland one can find those things which make Iceland a special place for every visitor. Infact, something more than that, which includes amazing natural beauty from glaciers to a sea, barren sand fields, valleys of woodlands and some very unique vegetation. One can also see big and famous towns, geothermal pools etc. This huge variety is visible in society and culture of this part of Iceland. One can enjoy fishing for salmon fishes, swimming, spotting birds, hiking in mountains, and not to forget, good food here in eastern Iceland. One very special thing about east Iceland is that one can see Icelandic reindeers in some wild areas here. The special thing is that they live only in this part of Iceland.
This part of Iceland is considered a paradise for hiking freaks. People there are proud of this facility given by nature. The possibilities include hiking in some uninhabited areas as well as short route hiking towards vegetated valley, over open sands and along the sea shore. There is everything here that will suit everyone who is going for a one day hiking tour or a ten day hiking tour. East Iceland is also famous as deep fjords are present here. These fjords extend between high mountain sides with sloping tertiary basalt strata. Woodlands of east Iceland is another special attraction of east Iceland. Skaftafell national park has some of Iceland’s most beautiful and highest growing birch, which is served by nature for ages now. Forest in Hallormsstaour is Iceland’s leading woodland. Green groves of trees are becoming enormously famous now and it is believed that every traveler will definitely stop to enjoy the natural vegetation and wind shelter. Vatnajokull, Europe’s largest glacier is present here in east Iceland. This glacier has shaped the environment and the history of eastern Iceland for hundreds of years now. Most of the rivers in Iceland run from this glacier. Europe’s biggest national park, Skaftafell Park, was made here in 2004 and the southern part of this glacier was included in this park. In the northern part of this glacier one can witness the combination of two most powerful forces of the nature. The fire and the glacial ice, as the most active volcano of Iceland are present here. But tourists must take precautions before going to this glacier and should have some general information from professional trip advisors. Mount bulandstindur is a pyramid shaped basaltic mountain which rises up to amazing 6,130 foots. In east Iceland, it is considered a legendary force of mystical powers and energy. Some small towns and villages like djupivogur, breiddalsvik, egilsstadir town and bakkagardi are also some of the most watched places in eastern Iceland. East Iceland heritage museum is located in Egilsstadir town. It displays some very fascinating artifacts found in this part of Iceland. The most famous is a 1000 years old Viking’s gravesite and his silver remnants.
There is no doubt that east Iceland has got everything a tourist expects, when he visits some country like Iceland. But this is all explored and believe me there is so much which has not been explored and left for tourists to explore for themselves and feel the proud of exploring something new and amazing from this nature.
Author Bio:
Asberg Jonsson is the manager of Iceland Visitor, a company specializing in packages for Vacation in Iceland and day tours in Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandvisitor.com
In this part of Iceland one can find those things which make Iceland a special place for every visitor. Infact, something more than that, which includes amazing natural beauty from glaciers to a sea, barren sand fields, valleys of woodlands and some very unique vegetation. One can also see big and famous towns, geothermal pools etc. This huge variety is visible in society and culture of this part of Iceland. One can enjoy fishing for salmon fishes, swimming, spotting birds, hiking in mountains, and not to forget, good food here in eastern Iceland. One very special thing about east Iceland is that one can see Icelandic reindeers in some wild areas here. The special thing is that they live only in this part of Iceland.
This part of Iceland is considered a paradise for hiking freaks. People there are proud of this facility given by nature. The possibilities include hiking in some uninhabited areas as well as short route hiking towards vegetated valley, over open sands and along the sea shore. There is everything here that will suit everyone who is going for a one day hiking tour or a ten day hiking tour. East Iceland is also famous as deep fjords are present here. These fjords extend between high mountain sides with sloping tertiary basalt strata. Woodlands of east Iceland is another special attraction of east Iceland. Skaftafell national park has some of Iceland’s most beautiful and highest growing birch, which is served by nature for ages now. Forest in Hallormsstaour is Iceland’s leading woodland. Green groves of trees are becoming enormously famous now and it is believed that every traveler will definitely stop to enjoy the natural vegetation and wind shelter. Vatnajokull, Europe’s largest glacier is present here in east Iceland. This glacier has shaped the environment and the history of eastern Iceland for hundreds of years now. Most of the rivers in Iceland run from this glacier. Europe’s biggest national park, Skaftafell Park, was made here in 2004 and the southern part of this glacier was included in this park. In the northern part of this glacier one can witness the combination of two most powerful forces of the nature. The fire and the glacial ice, as the most active volcano of Iceland are present here. But tourists must take precautions before going to this glacier and should have some general information from professional trip advisors. Mount bulandstindur is a pyramid shaped basaltic mountain which rises up to amazing 6,130 foots. In east Iceland, it is considered a legendary force of mystical powers and energy. Some small towns and villages like djupivogur, breiddalsvik, egilsstadir town and bakkagardi are also some of the most watched places in eastern Iceland. East Iceland heritage museum is located in Egilsstadir town. It displays some very fascinating artifacts found in this part of Iceland. The most famous is a 1000 years old Viking’s gravesite and his silver remnants.
There is no doubt that east Iceland has got everything a tourist expects, when he visits some country like Iceland. But this is all explored and believe me there is so much which has not been explored and left for tourists to explore for themselves and feel the proud of exploring something new and amazing from this nature.
Author Bio:
Asberg Jonsson is the manager of Iceland Visitor, a company specializing in packages for Vacation in Iceland and day tours in Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandvisitor.com
Magnificent literature of Iceland
Till a few years back, Iceland was also known as “the unknown land”. But for few years now, it has been given a new name i.e. “the land of unknown surprises”. This name is given by all those tourists and visitors who have visited Iceland and witnessed these surprises themselves. Every tourist going there has only one impression in his/her mind. To see and to feel which has never been seen and never been felt before. This is Iceland-the land of surprises. Almost every visitor to Iceland wants to enjoy its untouched and unspoiled nature and also its historic background and literature. People come here to enjoy and to come closer to nature and every kind of adventures.
Let’s talk about the literature of this very splendid north European country “Iceland”. The main Icelandic literature was formed by the inhabitants of Iceland at the time of country’s settlement way back in ninth century. Because Old Norse and Icelandic are the same language that’s why, sometimes, Iceland’s medieval writings are also called Old Norse literature.
The main attraction of Iceland’s literature is the saga of medieval periods. These sagas were written between twelfth and fourteenth centuries. Sagas are basically stories about Norwegian kings and real legendry heroes. These heroes include both man and woman from the land of Iceland as well as Scandinavia. These sagas were initially composed into a prose by unknown authors. It is believed that they have been hugely recited by people and storytellers before getting written into books. Although, no original manuscript is available or exists, but there are some transcripts and collections. These are the revision and extension of the originals.
Hundreds of sagas were written during medieval period in Iceland. These sagas are basically divided into four main parts. [1] “The Sagas of kings” which includes snorri sturluson’s ‘heimskringla’. This saga outlines the stories of rulers of Norway from ancient time till 1777 AD. [2] “The sagas of knytlinga” which consists the stories of Danish kings from gorm the old to canute. [3] “The legendary sagas or the lying saga” which includes the real stories and some fantasies of romance and love stories of knights. [4] “The sagas of Icelanders”, this category consists the whole account of the so called saga age [900 to 1050 A.D]. This category includes some evergreen sagas like Egil’s saga-the life of warrior poet; laxdaela saga-a triangular love story; gisla saga-the tragic tale of a hero. These sagas are considered the best in Icelandic literature history because they are full of complexities of human and social conflicts.
The same way i.e. the writing form of sagas was used in thirteenth century to write the contemporary history as it was also evolving around the important personalities of that time. This is popularly called “the saga of sturlunga”. This saga narrates the gruesome details of the thirteenth century which led to the conclusion of Old Icelandic commonwealth. Some other historical writings of medieval Iceland includes “the islendingabok” [the book of the Icelanders] by Ari Thorgilsson and “the lananamabok” [the book of settlements] which is also probably written by Ari Thorgilsson. Icelandic literature also includes “eddas” and the “skaldic poetry”.
After the initialization of fourteenth century, the literature of Iceland declined. It is believed that from 14th century to 19th century, nothing has been written but still the Icelandic literature has got everything, a typical literature history requires in making it notable in this world.
Author Bio:
Asberg Jonsson is the manager of Iceland Visitor, a company specializing in packages for Vacation in Iceland and day tours in Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandvisitor.com
Let’s talk about the literature of this very splendid north European country “Iceland”. The main Icelandic literature was formed by the inhabitants of Iceland at the time of country’s settlement way back in ninth century. Because Old Norse and Icelandic are the same language that’s why, sometimes, Iceland’s medieval writings are also called Old Norse literature.
The main attraction of Iceland’s literature is the saga of medieval periods. These sagas were written between twelfth and fourteenth centuries. Sagas are basically stories about Norwegian kings and real legendry heroes. These heroes include both man and woman from the land of Iceland as well as Scandinavia. These sagas were initially composed into a prose by unknown authors. It is believed that they have been hugely recited by people and storytellers before getting written into books. Although, no original manuscript is available or exists, but there are some transcripts and collections. These are the revision and extension of the originals.
Hundreds of sagas were written during medieval period in Iceland. These sagas are basically divided into four main parts. [1] “The Sagas of kings” which includes snorri sturluson’s ‘heimskringla’. This saga outlines the stories of rulers of Norway from ancient time till 1777 AD. [2] “The sagas of knytlinga” which consists the stories of Danish kings from gorm the old to canute. [3] “The legendary sagas or the lying saga” which includes the real stories and some fantasies of romance and love stories of knights. [4] “The sagas of Icelanders”, this category consists the whole account of the so called saga age [900 to 1050 A.D]. This category includes some evergreen sagas like Egil’s saga-the life of warrior poet; laxdaela saga-a triangular love story; gisla saga-the tragic tale of a hero. These sagas are considered the best in Icelandic literature history because they are full of complexities of human and social conflicts.
The same way i.e. the writing form of sagas was used in thirteenth century to write the contemporary history as it was also evolving around the important personalities of that time. This is popularly called “the saga of sturlunga”. This saga narrates the gruesome details of the thirteenth century which led to the conclusion of Old Icelandic commonwealth. Some other historical writings of medieval Iceland includes “the islendingabok” [the book of the Icelanders] by Ari Thorgilsson and “the lananamabok” [the book of settlements] which is also probably written by Ari Thorgilsson. Icelandic literature also includes “eddas” and the “skaldic poetry”.
After the initialization of fourteenth century, the literature of Iceland declined. It is believed that from 14th century to 19th century, nothing has been written but still the Icelandic literature has got everything, a typical literature history requires in making it notable in this world.
Author Bio:
Asberg Jonsson is the manager of Iceland Visitor, a company specializing in packages for Vacation in Iceland and day tours in Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandvisitor.com
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