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Attention Medieval Vikings: Visit Skotland At Your Peril

The modern travel guidebook genre is usually traced to Arthur Frommer's seminal 1957 book Europe on 5 Dollars a Day, but tips on making the most of your time abroad have been published in some form or another for centuries. A 13th century Viking travel guide, for example, highlights some of the potential pitfalls of visiting Scotland. A nifty story in the Telegraph points out that the Norse Vikings, as fierce as they may have been, were no match for some of the rougher tribes of Scotland and Ireland, who were said to butcher invaders on arrival.

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Tags: Iceland Travel / Music Festivals / Film Festivals / Peace / John Lennon / → All Tags

The Top Three Reasons To Visit Iceland This Fall

The little country with the big tourism marketing imagination has given us tips on getting a date with an Icelander and ugly sweaters, but now Iceland is even coming up with some seriously good reasons for us to visit in the next couple of months. Aside from the bank failure, of course.

· Reykjavik International Film Festival
It runs from September 17 to 27 this year, it's full of excellent films and even the chance to catch the glow of the Northern Lights.

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Tags: Travel Snapshot / Rainbows / Iceland Travel / Jaunted Flickr Pool / → All Tags

Did Iceland Find a Pot of Gold at the End of This Rainbow?

Iceland has had a rough year. While tourism might now be booming, the country's main banks and currency collapsed earlier in the year, leaving the North Atlantic Island's econonmy and government in perpetual crisis mode. Not to mention in debt to various European countries.

There is some good news on the horizon in that Iceland is beginning talks to join the European Union which could greatly help them out. But it couldn't hurt for Icelanders to go hunting for a pot of gold at end of this rainbow, snapped by Jaunted Flickr member Chris Gold, at the Gullfoss Waterfalls. (Yes, we know it's corny but we couldn't resist!)

Got your own travel snapshot? Share it with us in the Jaunted Flickr Pool

Related Stories:
· Iceland Says Tourism is Booming, We Say Let's Go [Jaunted]
· Get the vapors at Iceland's Blue Lagoon [Jaunted]

Tags: Worlds-Coolest-Pools / Iceland Travel / Reykjavik / → All Tags

Get The Vapors At Iceland's Blue Lagoon

Last one in's a rotten egg! We're finding the best places in the world to stick our toes in this summer (or next winter) for our World's Coolest Pools map. Know of any pools we must check out? Let us know.

It's just what the doctor ordered: A thermal pool known for its health benefits and a 19th-century-style spa that once did double duty as an "Amazing Race" pit stop, but it's perfectly safe for the less adventurous too.

Time was aristocrats would flood the small towns built around natural pools and springs to "take the waters," advertised as good for sickly children or hysterical females (Lohan?). Now the rest of us can rub shoulders at the Blue Lagoon Spa with the rich and famous—like Dave Grohl, who compared it to a scene from "Apocalypse Now"—at a sightly reduced price.

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Tags: Travel Deals / Iceland Travel / → All Tags

Iceland Says Tourism is Booming, We Say Let's Go

We've been fans of zany Iceland for a long time now, and correctly tipped that it's the new budget destination - and now we hear that tourism in Iceland is going through a boom.

The Icelandic banking crisis and drop in currency value might mean that there are less locals sitting in the pubs these days, but it has made it much more affordable for tourists to pop over, with cheap fares from both the US and Europe. Tourism board director Oloef Yrr Atladottir (pronounce that!) actually sounds pleased that his nation's no longer classified as an expensive destination, and we couldn't agree more.

It's all landscape in Iceland: hot springs, geysers, waterfalls, glaciers and volcanoes. Getting out to these places is cheaper now and there are deals galore to attract tourists, with the hope we'll prop up the local economy a bit. Ever since we read about how to get a date with an Icelander we've been craving a trip to Iceland, so maybe we'll jump on the boom's coat-tails and try it out.

Flights from the US are cheap right now - for example, Icelandair flies from JFK to Reykjavik for $455 return. With places like the Hilton Reykjavik offering last-minute rooms for 12,700 koruna (under $100), there are plenty of incentives to get there now, before the boom breaks.

Related Stories:
· Iceland Tourism Booms as Currency Plummets [The Age]
· Iceland Invites You To Take Advantage Of Its Economic Misfortunes [Jaunted]
· Iceland Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: taivasalla]

Tags: Music Festivals / Spring Festivals / Music Travel / Blues Travel / → All Tags

Iceland Sings The Blues, This Time In A Festival

If you took advantage of Iceland when it was on sale, then you probably need something to do when you get there. Of course there’s always the blue lagoon, plenty of puffins, and even famous museums. However, if you’re looking for something with a little more local flavor and culture, then you may want to see what’s going on at the Reykjavik Blues Festival.

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Tags: Travel News Briefs / Amazing Race / Iceland Travel / Mike White / Ethiopian Airlines / Laid-Off Travel / AC-DC / Winter Storms / → All Tags

'School of Rock's' Mike White to Do 'Amazing Race'

With so much travel news flying around, we don't always have time to give every story big play. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· Teams for Amazing Race Season 14: The list of teams competing in the newest season of "Amazing Race" include screenwriter Mike White ("School of Rock") and his father, a gay activist. Also on the show will be stuntmen, flight attendants and a few students. [HitFix]

· Iceland Still in Turmoil: The troubled nation's coalition government collapses. [MSNBC]

· Free Airline Tickets to Africa: That's free tickets for your companions we mean. Ethiopian Airlines is offering this deal from DC's Dulles airport to 32 destinations in Africa from Feb. 1 to March 30th as a way to celebrate President Barack Obama. [Time]

· 6,200 Jobs Cut: It was the day of layoffs. Sprint, Home Depot and General Motors all announced layoffs. When the unemployment rate goes up, the travel industry goes down. Things look dark for the future. [NY Times]

· Oklahoma To Get Serious Winter Storms: Sadly, the bad weather had to come in town just as AC/DC kicks off their now appropriately-named "Black Ice Tour." [USA Today, Bam's Blog]

[Photo via HitFix]

Tags: Meltdownomics / Budget Travel / → All Tags

Adventures of Link: About Those Deals in Iceland

So, yes, Iceland is on sale, and the country is facing some scary financial turmoil. But don't get the idea that it's all money riots and Wild West shootouts, says one Icelander in The Guardian:

Our currency might be in trouble and that hits us hard, our pay has been significantly devalued by rising costs, our stock exchange is still closed--but the foundations are still stable.

And despite what is written in the London tabloids, we still go to work every day, receive our salaries, pay our bills and gather in the pub in the evenings.

But there's the rub: Lost in all the hype that the króna is now super cheap--if you're buying it with dollars--is that prices will likely shoot up over the next couple months. So if you really do want to check out Iceland on the cheap, get to booking those tickets now.

Related Stories:
· Icelandair Winter Sale [Official Site]
· Frozen Out [The Guardian]
· Iceland on Sale for Next Year [BT]
· Arthur Frommer's Financial Crisis Travel Checklist [Frommer's]
· Iceland's Economy Turning to Tourism [Gadling]

[Photo of Iceland: ajagendorf25]

Tags: Iceland / Iceland Travel / Icelandair / Budget Travel / Meltdownomics / → All Tags

Iceland Invites You to Take Advantage of its Economic Misfortunes

While pretty much the entire world took a bath in the financial markets last week, few countries got hit harder than Iceland. The elf-filled North Atlantic island saw its currency plummet, its three biggest banks fail, and its stock exchange close due to "unusual market conditions." But while the acute economic meltdown represents one of the biggest challenges the country has faced in generations, it also creates a great opportunity for travelers who had heretofore been dissuaded from visiting Iceland due to its notoriously lofty prices. Better still, rather than viewing opportunistic tourists as vultures swarming over carrion, the nation is welcoming them - and what little cash they have in their pockets - with open arms.

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Tags: Europe Travel / Euro / Meltdownomics / → All Tags

Spending Greenbacks Travel: Who's Laughing Now, Europe?

The government of Iceland has taken over the country's largest bank, after snatching up two others earlier this week. And in London, frightened investors are buying up dollars, the last refuge for Europeans looking to keep their assets at least somewhat safe.

In travel terms, that means going to Europe has just gotten way cheaper for people spending dollars.

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Tags: Bad Souvenir Travel / Iceland Travel / Fashion / Clothing / → All Tags

Bad Souvenir Travel: Try to Be Trendy in a Lopapeysur

In the past, we've had no qualms about saying we like the blog of budget airline Iceland Express. Who wouldn't be pleased to get tips on getting a date with an Icelander or making your own sock movie?

But now this crazy gang have gone too far. In a recent post, they very strongly recommended that we buy a Lopapeysa to wear while we're visiting Iceland (and to proudly show off at home, too). A Lopapeysa is a traditional Icelandic sweater, but take one look at the picture and you know why this hasn't caught on around the world.

Worse than that, they're usually priced from €100 to €200 (US$150-$300) which we think is kind of a high price to pay to look this out of style.

Related Stories:
· Five Things to Remember When Visiting Iceland [Iceland Express Blog]
· It's Official: Iceland Socks [Jaunted]
· Iceland Express Impresses [Jaunted]

[Photo: jillhudgins]

Tags: Movie Set Travel / Hotels / Restaurants / Brendan Fraser / → All Tags

Movie Set Travel: Journey to the Center of the Earth

Old is new again with this week's pick, "Journey to the Center of the Earth." Based on the classic Jules Verne novel, the coolest thing about this one is that it was filmed for viewing entirely in 3-D. So grab your retro glasses and hit the theater for an action-packed flick.

An outcast science professor (Brendan Fraser) and his nephew are backpacking across Iceland when they come across a secret cave leading them into... the center of the earth! Determined to find out what happened to his missing brother, the professor and his young companion journey on and encounter all sorts of scary characters and never-before-seen adventures.

It's a family film (so no sex, drugs or violence) but we hear it's wildly entertaining and that the whole 3-D shtick really works. As parts of this one were actually shot in Iceland, here's some cool things to check out there:

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