However, given the lack of warning signs or barriers at waterfalls, hot springs, cliffs, crevasses and the like, children must be closely supervised at all times in the countryside. Along with everyone else, children also need to come prepared for the weather, with plenty of warm, waterproof clothing and tough shoes for use outdoors.
Costs
Due to its small consumer base and dependency on imports, Iceland is an expensive country. To minimize costs, you need to be as self-sufficient as possible: bring food and a sleeping bag if you’re intending to use self-catering budget accommodation, along with a tent and all camping gear if camping. Bus passes will minimize transport costs, and a Hostelling International Card will get you a few hundred krónur a night off youth hostel rates. Seasons also affect costs: places to stay and car-rental agencies drop their prices between October and June, though at that time inexpensive summer-only accommodation will be shut, campsites will probably be under snow, and bus services are infrequent or suspended.
Budget travellers who camp out every night, use a bus pass and cook for themselves, can keep average daily costs down (and less for cyclists). Throw in a few nights in hostel-style accommodation and the occasional pizza and you’re looking at a little more. Mid-range travel still means using a bus pass to get around, but favouring hostels and eating out cheaply most of the time. Staying only in guesthouses or hotels and eating in restaurants for every meal will increase your daily expenditure somewhat significantly.
None of the above takes into account additional costs for entertainment such as tours, entry fees, drinking or alternative transport such as flights and ferries, for which we’ve given prices in the Rough Guide to Iceland. Car rental will also add to costs, plus fuel.
Crime and personal safety
Iceland is a peaceful country, and it’s unlikely that you’ll encounter much trouble here. Most public places are well lit and secure, people are helpful, if somewhat reserved, and street crime and hassles are rare. Needless to say, hitching alone, or wandering around central Reykjavík late at night, is unwise.
Most incidents involve petty crime and are largely confined to Reykjavík. Many criminals are drug addicts or alcoholics after easy money; keep tabs on your cash and passport (and don’t leave anything visible in your car when you park it) and you should have little reason to visit the police (lögreglan). If you do seek them out, you’ll find them unarmed, concerned and usually able to speak English – remember to get an insurance report from them if you have anything stolen.
As for offences you might commit, drink-driving is taken extremely seriously, so don’t do it: catch a taxi. Being incoherently drunk in public in Reykjavík might also get you into trouble, but in a country campsite you probably won’t be the only one, and (within reason) nobody is going to care. Drugs, however, are treated as harshly here as in much of the rest of Europe.
Sexual harassment is less of a problem in Iceland than elsewhere in Europe. Although you might receive occasional unwelcome attentions in Reykjavík clubs, there’s very rarely any kind of violent intent. If you do have any problems, the fact that almost everyone understands English makes it easy to get across an unambiguous response.
Culture and etiquette
Iceland is an egalitarian, outgoing country, and public behaviour is much the same as wherever you’ve come in from. Icelanders are proud of their country’s modernity, its written culture and the fact that many people can trace their family histories right back to Saga times: they are thin-skinned about depictions of Iceland as a nation of backward, axe-wielding Beserkers in horned helmets.
Discussing the environment can lead to heated arguments; over-grazing of sheep has caused widespread erosion over the centuries, countered by the importation of arctic lupins to help stabilize and revitalize the soil – which are themselves now spreading out of control. The right to continue whaling is also pursued as a cultural issue. Pride in Iceland’s Nordic heritage occasionally surfaces as low-level racism, though with noticeable populations of Chinese, Thai and Filipino migrants settled in Reykjavík, not to mention tourists of all nationalities passing through, this is not a major a issue.
The major social blunders made by visitors are usually at swimming pools; forget to follow the rules about shoes, towels and showering (see Swimming and hotspots) and you can expect to be soundly rebuked by locals.