ICELAND DUSTS OFF THE WELCOME MAT

It got pretty dusty here for a while, but the Iceland Tourist Board wants to assure you that day-to-day life is back to normal after the recent excitement and commotion created by the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption. Roadways in the south that were previously closed to tour buses have re-opened, flights remain on schedule, and all airports are open. Icelandic tour operators have been amending cancellation policies and Icelandair was commended in the media for their swift and efficient re-routing of North American flights. Thankfully the damage from the volcano was minimal and the Icelandic travel community was able to work together to ensure that every traveler's experience went as smoothly as possible.

On-going volcanic activity makes this an ideal opportunity to experience a once-in-a-lifetime world famous eruption. In fact, as you can see below, volcano tours have become, if you’ll excuse the expression, “explosively” popular. Book your trip today.

Iceland – never a dull moment!

For information that is regularly updated on the current volcanic situation in Iceland;

http://www.visiticeland.com/DiscoverIceland/WhatsOn/View/neweruptioninsouthiceland

“VOLCANO TOURISM IS SUDDENLY HOT” – USA TODAY

For a while there, you couldn’t turn on the news or watch a comedy show without seeing a reference to Iceland’s virtually unpronounceable volcano and its once-in-a-lifetime eruption. On one day alone, there were over 16,000 news stories about the eruption, according to a Google search. Today sent Al Roker over to cover it; a Saturday Night Live skit imagined Bjork singing to Eyjafjallajökull; and David Letterman quipped, "The big volcanic cloud from Iceland is making its way over to New York City. They say that the city's air quality is actually improving."

Icelanders were amused by the media’s attempts to simply prononuce Eyjafjallajökull. For the record, we say it like this: EY-ya-fyat-lah-YO-kull.

Of course, despite what the wags say, it’s really not our fault. We told you all along we’re the land of “fire & ice.” We weren’t kidding. We didn’t create the country’s 130 volcanos, nor its 10,000 waterfalls, or abundant oceans teeming with the world’s freshest fish. We just get to live in Iceland, doing our best to harness clean hydro, hydrogen and geothermal energy. Doing our best to keep things as pure as when our Norse forefathers first moved here.

Thousands of tourists seem to agree that a volcanic eruption is one of the greatest shows on earth. “…it reminds us of the majesty of the earth,” says author Simon Winchester, whose book Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 recounts a cataclysmic volcanic blast off the coast of Java (see USA Today, www. http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2010-04-22-volcano-tourism_N.htm)

Now as the volcano seems to have simmered down, reservations for summer travel have reached unprecedented levels. In fact, one Colorado couple, Jacob and Barrett Lucero, are even taking their honeymoon in Iceland.

For the complete story, click here.

CALLING ALL LAVA LOVERS

USA Today calls it "volcano tourism." No matter what you call it, visiting a world-famous volcano will surely be the highlight of your Iceland vacation. Here is a sample of tour operators ready to show you the sights:

• Iceland On Track’s South-Shore, Waterfalls and Glacier Tour explores the area around the Eyjafjallajökull active volcano eruption. If the weather permits you’ll see clouds rising from the eruption, in fact, you may even hear explosions and see the effects of the ash and lava flows on the countryside. The tour also heads to gorgeous Seljalandsfoss, where anyone can walk behind the waterfall, and includes hiking on the Mýrdalsjökull glacier, driving on the incredible black beach on the way to Skogafoss waterfall, the great cliffs of Dyrholaey, and Reynisdrangar.

(For more information: http://www.icelandontrack.com/South-Shore-Waterfalls-and-Glacier.html)

• Iceland Excursions – The nine-hour Blue Ice tour (AH117) includes a four-hour guided hike to a frozen glacial tongue called Sólheimajökull, just a few miles from the volcano. It is a magnificent phenomenon, a rugged, raw and ever changing hub of ancient frozen water. The trip includes a beginner’s lesson in ice climbing, with all necessary equipment and instructions provided. (For more information: www.grayline.is).

• Nordic Tours is offering several day tours centered on viewing the volcano. The tours can be via helicopter, Super Jeep, mini bus or even snowmobile, getting travelers as close the action as they dare. (For information: http://iceland.nordicvisitor.com/travel-deals/volcano-tours/)

• Iceland Total is offering three night volcano vacations with guided or self-guided options for as long as the eruption remains active. (For more information: http://www.icelandtotal.com/vacation-packages/packages/item427981/Volcano_Vacation/)

• Reykjavik Excursions offers to take visitors to the eruption site via Super Jeep, helicopter, snowmobile or bus. Some of the tours combine bus rides with other vehicles. (For more information: http://www.re.is/DayTours/VolcanoDayTours/)

VOLCANO IMAGES THAT IMPRESS EVEN ICELANDERS

Icelanders are a stoic people who don’t easily impress. But even we sit with mouths agape when we look at these images:

First, gaze into the very mouth (and eyes, yikes) of the volcano as it’s erupting thanks to the magic of radar imaging. The Icelandic Coastal Patrol imaged the three calderas of the volcano, each measuring 200 – 500 meters across. That’s what they tell us, anyway. It’s entirely possible that’s the face of Thor himself.

http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/volcano-radar-image-580x372.jpg

We had never heard the term “dirty lightning” before a small part of our country decided to blow itself up, but WOW, is it appropriate.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/04/21/article-1267663-0939D67A000005DC-119_634x822.jpg

Before things got a little too hot to handle, the head chef of Reykjavik’s Hotel Holt, Fridgeir Eiriksson, came up with the idea of cooking a delicious meal on the lava when the volcano started erupting last March. Icelanders have long made a name for themselves by harnessing the forces of nature. This one-time-only experience for two hotel guests explains how they used lava to cook food.

http://www.demotix.com/news/290672/lava-cooked-food

Become a geovoyeur – over a million people from 150 different countries have visited Web cam sites set up around the eruption – you might call it “geovoyeurism.” This is the first use of Web cam technology to record a volcano in Iceland, and has proved to be a valuable information source for scientists and search and rescue units. See the volcano Web cam for yourself here.

http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-valahnjuk/

THE CRUISE OF THE LIFETIME

National Geographic Traveler has named the Tauck Tours “Iceland: Land of Fire and Ice” 8-day cruise aboard the 264-passenger Le Boreal as one of its “50 Tours Of A Lifetime.” Editors chose Iceland as part of their fifth annual guide to the world’s 50 best guided expeditions, and featured a two-page spread of majestic Gullfoss waterfall to open the feature. The May-June issue of the magazine is available at newsstands now, or online at http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/tours/. To learn more about the cruise: www.tauck.com.

Iceland enjoys a 100% literacy rate and boasts more books per capita than anywhere else in the world. It’s no wonder Mál og Menning in the center of Reykjavik has been named one of the twelve best bookshops in the world by respected Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende.

The newspaper praises Mál og Menning for being, "... a bountiful bookshop with a good atmosphere. The shop not only bears witness to the Icelanders' fine literary heritage but it also carries a great variety of English-language literature."

For more info, check out the site at http://www.malogmenning.is/

THEY SAID IT

"Yet, for all the chaos Eyjafjallajökull has caused – not just in Iceland, but around the world – the people of Iceland are handling the situation remarkably well. Their emergency services team, which is made up entirely of volunteers, has been working around the clock on monitoring the eruption area, cleaning up farmland, and generally overseeing the safety of everyone involved, all with a sense of calmness and efficiency that’s startling given the circumstances."

– Tammy Burns, Toronto Star, April 23, 2010

“Iceland’s financial system may have hit bottom, but it’s the world’s top-ranked country in environmental performance, getting virtually all of its power from renewable sources like geothermal energy.”

– Alexandra Zissu, writing about “Hot Spots Around the World,” for The New York Times Travel Magazine, Mar. 28, 2010

"The word up north these days is no longer Scandinavian, please, it’s Nordic. ... In Reykjavik, the New Nordic trendsetter is the year-old Dill restaurant, located in the city’s landmark Nordic House, a cultural center with a distinctive purple wavy roof designed in the late 60s by Alvar Aalto. ... The cool and cozy dining room, which sits only 30 amid white walls and pale wood, has since drawn hoorays from critics (it was Iceland’s restaurant of the year) and has earned a following of diners so impassioned they are given to dropping by with a gift of local herbs for the kitchen."

– Barry Yourgrau, Table Hopping (New York Times blog), April 28, 2010

“Iceland is the cleanest country in the world. This may be hard to believe right now, what with the clouds of volcanic ash grounding flights across northern Europe, but according to researchers at Yale and Columbia universities, the Nordic island ranks first out of 163 countries on their Environmental Performance Index.”

– Christopher Helman, Forbes.com, April 21, 2010 http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/21/environment-cleanest-countries-business-iceland-cleanest-countries.html

“It seems that all the recent headlines about Iceland revolve around two things: their economic downturn and the lava-spewing volcano in the south. Sure, Iceland has been in the news over the past year because of its economic downturn. What I love about Icelanders is that they remain an optimistic, resilient people that adapt to their ever-changing climate, as they’ve done for centuries. (Boarded up shops now become venues for impromptu art exhibitions; and top chefs are following more of a locavore route, relying on locally-sourced ingredients.)”

- Jeanine Barone, Citylisten blog, April, 2010 http://blog.citylisten.com/2010/04/how-to-experience-reykjavik-like-a-native/

TRAVEL DEALS OF THE MONTH

The high season for travel to Iceland is fast approaching, but Icelandair is slashing prices. Madness, you say? In a word: yes. But it’s madness you can use if you book soon. Travelers can take discounts off two of our most popular packages:

Travelers booking a Glaciers, Geysers and Waterfalls tour package for May through September departures can save $200 per person. For more information, click here.

$150 per person off of May departures for Saga Sites. For more information, click here.

Book the Build Your Own Economy package by May 31, and get a free whale watching tour (valid for package travel May - Oct). Click here.

*Prices quoted are exclusive of applicable taxes and official charges by destination of approximately $100-$270, per person including the Sept. 11th Security Fee.

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