Cheap Tickets In Iceland

Report:

The international bank crisis swept like a flood over Iceland in the beginning of October. It left behind three ship-wrecked banks, a slaughtered currency and a nation on the brink of bankruptcy.

It should therefore not surprise anyone that when on a journalistic trip to Reykjavik, we were asked to pay for our hotel room beforehand.

THE ICELANDIC krone had fallen dramatically just in the days prior to our landing at Keflavik airport. But what was due to lack of faith in the Icelandic economy, had an inadvertent consequence for travelers: The normally sky-high priced island was now dirt-cheap.

In the middle of October, 100 Icelandic kroner was down to 2.74 kroner, according to the Bank of Norway’s rates – down 60 per cent from the beginning of May. To use a well-known example: You can buy half a litre of lager for 500 Icelandic kroner in the bars in Reykjavik. This now corresponds to 15 Norwegian. A three-course meal at Reykjavik’s best restaurant costs a few hundred per person.

LITTLE WONDER the airline company, Icelandair has used the opportunity to offer cheap tickets to a «very inexpensive» country, and the Icelandic Tourist Board points out on their website that the island never has been cheaper.

Even though the banking business has suffered ship-wreck and Icelandic authorities are negotiating an international crisis loan, the volcanic island with just under 300,000 inhabitants is still worth a visit.

RENT A CAR and drive to Thingvellir, the seat of the country’s parliament from 930 to 1798, and today one of the country’s four national parks. Thingvellir lies in a valley between the European and American continental plates, and you thereby also cross continents when you cross the Unesco-protected valley.