Insight Compact Guide Iceland (Iceland, 1st Ed)

Rating:
Summary: Great Introduction To Iceland
Review: I have been to Iceland several times and find it to be the most unique country imaginable. This book is very thin, but is packed with generally very accurate and always extremely useful information as well as great color photography. This book is wonderful to use as a starting point for planning a trip to Iceland, and it is small enough to carry with you everywhere when you are there.

The book provides an overview, geographic information, hotel, restaurant, and nightlife recommendations, and multiple road trips of varying lengths that see all the common sights and many that are substantially off the beaten path. These road trips are from one to four days endurance, and are very well designed from my experience, although I can't personally attest to the attributes of the ring road between Hvammstangi and Neskaupatadur. I can say that the southern routes, and the routes to Pingvellir and the Snaefellsnes peninsula are very well designed. My favorites of the tours are numbers three and four. The coverage of the Skaftafell National Park, Jokulsarlon glacial lake (a must see: take the boat ride), Hvannadalsshnukur, Kirkjubaejarklaustur (one of my favorite little towns), Porsmork, and Stykkisholmur is particularly good. I was also amused by the coverage of the Vesturfarasafnid a Hofsofi, the only museum in the world that focuses exclusively on herring. (Iceland is known for many similar oddities, and that is one reason I love it so much.)

My only minor critiques of the book would be that the index is rather sparse, and some of the hotel and restaurant information (and a few prices) are out of date (which is to be expected.) One thing the book entirely failed to mention in the money section is that most businesses will take Icelandic kronurs and also US dollars.

This is a great little introductory tour guide to Iceland, with the emphasis on brevity and utility. I recommend it highly.