Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Iceland, Greenland & the Faroe Islands (3rd ed)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I picked up this Lonely Planet guide before heading off on a recent long weekend in Iceland (courtesy of a particularly favorable Icelandair last minute weekend package deal), and was not too terribly disappointed. The background information on Icelandic history and culture was invaluable reading for one who had previously had little to no contact with said society. As testament to the well-written nature of the guide, it has also made me want to explore the North Atlantic beyond Iceland (Greenland and the Faroe Islands).

My one dissatisfaction with this Lonely Planet guide is found in the relatively brief treatment they give to Reykjavik - a bit ironic, seeing as how Reykjavik is the closest thing to a metropolis in Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. Better city maps and perhaps more detailed bus/transit information would have been welcomed - as it stands, though, one can figure these things out well on the spot in Iceland (even without a reading knowledge of Icelandic, happily!)

Still, this is highly recommended for those travelling to Iceland, especially those travelling to places more off the beaten path than Reykjavik. More practical and comprehensive than the Insight Guide, but without the pretty pictures...and less expensive.

PS- Many thanks to both LP and other readers on the warning about the Icelandic specialty "hakarl".

We used this book to plan our trip to both Iceland and Greenland, and found it invaluable. We used it to phone and e-mail for reservations, which were not always possible to make, as LP also tells us, because of no English spoken at some of the tiny places. We trusted LP that little hostels existed in these places, however, and always found room. The maps were great, including hiking trails. The historical details were well-researched. The directions were amazing. It even got us to one historical site in Iceland that had no signs and even the locals had a hard time telling us how to find. Besides being practically helpful, it has lots of anecdotes and local flavour that make it interesting reading. Perhaps what should be emphasized more is how expensive Iceland is. Two small loads of laundry cost us about $35 Canadian! We could have bought all new underwear for that!

Lonely Planet Iceland was great. From the book, my friends and I found lodging, night clubs and countless BEAUTIFUL sites. We even tried the rotten shark that the book so luridly describes. (It is as bad as the book says, I might add.)

Iceland is a rugged and beautiful place. With this book, I was able to get to most of the wonderful sites without major problems.

I can only think of a few times when I needed to consult an outside source for additional information: once to find out where I could get some shark and a couple of other times for directions (Iceland's system of roads is predictably often quite spartan).

I guess the best thing I can say for this book is I am going to South Africa in one month and I just bought the Lonely Planet South Africa.

I just remembered one more thing that the book does not have: Icelandair's Internet deals are great. Check them out!

If you are going to Iceland, I am jealous! Have fun!

Being a Lonely Planet devotee, I was actually quite disappointed with this book. No more than the most rudimentary information, even about Rejkyavik, was presented. This made actually deciding what to see in Iceland particularly difficult - everything was listed, but there where no subjective judgements as to what was the most worthwhile use of a traveller's time and budget. And budget is a very important thing to consider when travelling to Iceland, as it is eye-poppingly expensive.

There are some interesting anecdotes, and the pictures are lovely, but real guidance was lacking.

I am an Earth Science teacher and was a bit intimidated about going to Iceland: a real hotspot of geological activity. The information contained in the LP made navigating much easier and helped me to understand the culture. Don't be fooled: Iceland is a very expensive place to visit, but the LP helped me to budget my resources efficiently.

This is a very good reference for anyone going to the Faroe Islands or Iceland (I don't know for Greenland). It describes any tiny place and it tells you exactly what is there to see and to do and it tells you where you have to go and where you don't have to go. It gives you the good addresses for restaurants or bars. You can look up any place that you can find on a map and LP tells you if it's worthwile visiting. You even learn a lot of things about the parts of the Faroes and Iceland that are not yet known among tourists. There are a lot of books for sale about Iceland, but I think this is one of the only good guides to the Faroe Islands.

I used this book for a short stay in Reykjavik after returning from London. It was helpful to learn about the flybus and various hotels, but the authors could have emphasized the cost of Reykjavik (extremely expensive) as well provided more detailed maps. Other than that, the book wetted my appetite to see Iceland beyond Reykjavik.

I was looking for a guide devoted to the Faroe Islands and found none in either London or Paris and so I bought the Lonely Planet guide somewhat reluctantly - after all it is mostly on Iceland. However, it was well worth travelling with the weighty tome to these remote islands. It is full of accurate and helpful information, excellent accounts of Faroese history and culture and just the right tips to take the visitor off the beaten track (if such an expression can be applied to a place that is hardly overrun by tourists!). It gives a very balanced view of the controversial Faroese practise of whale killing that does not excuse the practice on cultural grounds or condemn it on ecological ones. The style is alert and literate. The guide has whetted my appetite for a trip to Iceland.

Just returning from a two week trip from Iceland everything is still fresh. This book is good. Compared to other guides on Iceland (I don't know about Greenland or the Faroe) this is the book. The content is essentially complete and correct. Lots of usefull tips and good-to-know's inhabit the pages.
But, ... IMHO all this is just the high standard of all Lonely Planet publications. Compared to Travel Survival Guides I have used before, this one seems to be less clear, sometimes almost chaotic. The order of the chapters is a mystery to me. Also sometimes we had difficulties finding places mentioned in the text on the maps.
Overall however, when you're going to Iceland: buy this book.

I love Iceland. Been to Reykjavik just twice -- once on an Icelandair "add a night" deal coming back from London, and once on an Icelandair Valentine's Weekend package, during Reykjavik's worst blizzard in 15 years, or so the locals told us.

The book is OK; as others have said, the Reykjavik info is pretty slim. Between this and the Insight Guide (great pictures), you'll be just fine -- but, man, I wish Rough Guide had a Reykjavik book.