Iceland

Visas

Nationals of the following countries do not require visas to travel to Iceland as visitors, although they do require passports that are valid for three months beyond their intended stay: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong (applicable for those holding HKSAR passports), Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao (applicable for those holding MSAR passports), Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom (incl. Bermuda, Turks and Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, British Virgin Islands, St. Helena, Falkland Islands and Gibraltar), United States of America, Uruguay, Vatican and Venezuela.

By plane

Iceland is easily reached via air and the international airport is Keflavík, in the southwest of the country about 40 km from Reykjavík. The airport itself is quite barren; if you have a lengthy layover you should make sure to bring books or other entertainment. An airport transfer bus service (called the FlyBus) runs between the airport and Reykjavík bus terminal via various hotels (1100 Kr [1200Kr from 01 Jan 07], 45 minutes). A return is 300 Kr cheaper than 2 singles. Another great option is to take the bus which stops at the Blue Lagoon either to or from the airport, then continues every half hour or so to Reykjavík. Be warned, a metered taxi costs about 9500 ISK (roughly US$150). Nonstop flights on Icelandair are available at the best value from the U.S. and Canada, with gateways in New York City, Boston, Halifax, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Orlando Sanford. Destinations beyond Iceland include most major European cities (i.e. Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Helsinki, London, Oslo, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris, and Stockholm, with newly-added cities Bergen and Gothenburg), with Icelandair's hub-and-spoke network connecting via Keflavík in Iceland. (Please note that some destinations are seasonal.) You can also stopover in Iceland for up to seven nights at no additional airfare on your way to or from Europe. That's two destinations for the price of one! Another option is the low cost airline Iceland Express which flies from Copenhagen and London (Stansted) to Keflavik (with additional service during the summer month to Frankfurt-Hahn, Berlin Schönefeld, Friedrichshafen, Alicante, Gothenburg and Stockholm Arlanda). New connections have been added in 2007 from Copenhagen directly to Akureyri and Egilsstadir. The Icelandic travel search engine dohop.com finds low cost flights to Reykjavík from 200 cities in Europe. Make sure you check out all prices as the so called "low cost" option may not be the lowest cost option at all. In addition to this British Airways offers flights from London and SAS from Oslo and Stockholm.

By boat

Getting to Iceland by boat takes longer than by plane but has the advantage of allowing you to take your own vehicle. In the summer, Smyril Line's MV Norrøna sails to picturesque Seyðisfjörður in a week round trip from Hanstholm in Northern Jutland (Denmark) via Tórshavn (Faroe Islands) and Bergen (Norway). They used to also call at Lerwick (Shetland Islands), but unfortunately no longer do. The website is slightly vague on the costs and doesn't show many special offers, so it's worth calling their friendly sales office in Shetland. In July & August 2005 a return ticket from Lerwick could be had for ~£50.