Goldring Travel Is Going Back to Iceland

Later today I am flying to Iceland for a five day visit as part of a Iceland, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Finland…and anywhere else there are cold dark winters trade initiative.  The first thing people say to me is, “Why?” to which I say…as a traveler…”Why Not!”

I visited Iceland for three days during the Seabourn Sojourn Maiden Voyage.  After a beautiful, if not painful, ride through the countryside on Icelandic horses (I got one without the famous fourth gear that smooths out the ride!), Seabourn had a special event recreating a Viking village and then a fantastic dinner with local entertainment.  After re-boarding the ship for the evening we sailed to Heimay Island, an island almost consumed by a volcanic eruption only to find out the seas were too rough for the tenders so the island was being skipped.  The problem was that I was to disembark the ship at Heimay Island and the fly back to Reykjavik…and the next airport was 5 days away!

Well, Seabourn organized a pilot boat to come out for me and my wife (embarrassing, but very cool) and we explored Heimay Island (you can read about it by searching this blog) and the flew to Reykjavik and had a wonderful evening with a 14 course dinner to die for (sadly the restaurant is now closed) following by a lazy day strolling and enjoying the city before flying home that evening.

Apparently just like me everyone who visits Iceland wants more…and I want more and what could be better than seeing Iceland in a totally different light (to the extent there is light!):  In the Winter.

As it stands now, other than the organized events, I am going to be taking a nice 4 hour drive doing the Golden Circle with an Avis rental car with an audio tour programmed into the GPS (much better than doing it on a bus tour with a bunch of other people only being able to stop where the bus is designated to) followed by an evening with a local operator that intrigued me. (I was going to have dinner by myself at one of the finer restaurants, but you know me:  Fancy dinner vs. local flavor – I go with the local flavor every time!) 

I am also scheduled to a day of Glacier Hiking and Ice Wall Climbing.  I know what you are thinking, “Iamboatman is happy in the Seabourn whirlpool, but with crampons and an ice axe engaged in truly physical labor?”  To that I have to say, “It is better to have tried and lost (not my life) then never to have tried at all”.

Other than the something like 20 meetings I have set up and the event dinners and cocktail parties I am also going touristic. Last time I did not visit the Blue Lagoon because I just am not into spending hours in a crowded area set up for tourists.  Ah, but this is winter and I doubt there will be nearly as many…so I am going to give it a shot on the way to the airport.  (It is a package that you can buy through Flybus if you are flying out that day.)

And if I am lucky…really lucky…I just might be able to take some nice photographs as one of my clients did in his very recent visit to Iceland. 

If you want to see more, or want to ask me questions or comment on this trip, visit The Gold Standard Luxury Travel Forum and post something.  Don’t want to go public?  Email me at eric@goldringtravel.com.