I recently took a trip with family and wanted to share my experience.  This is not a political piece, but I thought others might find my observations and experiences interesting.

We went to Iceland for one night.  We would have had a tight layover in Iceland, and Icelandair makes it easy to add a stay in Iceland with your flight.  We arrived in the morning (Iceland time) after not having much sleep on the plane.  Despite being tired, we rented a car and made the most of our time there.

We went into Reykjavik for lunch at Subway.  We were hungry and didn’t want to search for places to eat, so that is why we kept it safe for lunch.  After lunch we walked around for a few minutes.  Public restrooms are apparently not a common thing.  And restaurants typically won’t allow you to use their restrooms unless you are a customer.  We found this also to be common in Norway.

We drove the Golden Circle and saw a geyser, waterfalls, and a crater, among other things.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful.  We were fortunate to have a sunny day.

Gullfoss Falls was particularly impressive.  I have been to Niagara Falls before, and Gullfoss was at least comparable in size and beauty.  I had to look it up, and Niagara is bigger, but the falls in Iceland far exceeded my expectations.

Most people speak English in Iceland.  We talked to one man in Subway who spoke English to us.  He spoke Icelandic to the worker.  As if that wasn’t enough, he started speaking French to another group of people there.

My other comment about Iceland is that it is extremely expensive.  We found a place to stay for under $300 for the night.  It was tight, but it was clean and gave us a place to sleep.  It was more of a tiny apartment than a hotel, but it worked.  A typical hotel room will cost you in excess of $500 per night during the summer season.

The food is ridiculously expensive.  It didn’t get much better in Norway, but at least there were cheaper options in Norway.  We met or overheard several couples or families who were spending a week or more in Iceland.  I am not sure how I would feel about doing that.  It would be expensive, but the landscape is beautiful and it changes depending on the region.

Bergen, Norway

We spent six nights in Bergen, Norway, which is on the west coast of Norway.  It is the second biggest city in Norway.  While I haven’t seen Oslo, my guess is that Oslo has a bigger city feel.  Bergen can be busy when the cruise boats are docked, but it still has a quaint feel.

We were extremely lucky with the weather.  There was only one day where it rained most of the day.  We took a fjord cruise on that day, but the rain lightened up enough to get some good pictures.  The guide on the boat said that it rains 275 days out of the year in Bergen.  We had other days where it rained, but it was typically light and didn’t last long.  If you take a trip to Bergen, just know that you should expect rain.

We stayed in the heart of Bergen.  The fish market was only a few minutes walk.  We never needed a car there, which was nice.  There is a light rail train that goes from the airport into Bergen.  The last stop was walking distance to where we stayed.

We went to the top of Mount Floyen twice while we were there.  You can take a little train up the mountain, or you can hike.  We experienced both.

Our highlight day was taking a train into the mountains.  We took a two-hour train ride to Myrdal Station and then walked to a nearby zip line that we had booked.  It was about a mile walk.  We zip lined through the mountains, and it was absolutely gorgeous.  Then we rode bikes (provided as part of the zip line package) through the mountains.  It was mostly downhill.  We went about 18 kilometers until we arrived in the village of Flam.  The bike ride was wonderful because we could stop and take pictures and videos of the mountains and waterfalls.  We then took the Flam Railway back to Myrdal Station.

I would highly recommend doing this for anyone who is capable and up for an adventure.  If not, you can take the Flam Railway and see some of the great views.  But the benefit of biking is that you can stop and take your time.

The Culture

Most of the locals spoke some English.  I think they are used to a lot of tourists from Europe and North America.  You could typically find an English version of a menu.  Sometimes you have to click on the British flag on a kiosk.

Kiosks are quite common in the fast food restaurants.  We ate at both McDonald’s and Burger King because they were cheap (relatively speaking) and convenient options for lunch.  Both places offered an option of gluten-free buns.

We took the light rail one day to a mall where we had Burger King for lunch.  There was one worker back there getting all of the food ready.  He was quite fast and efficient.  I think there were only two people working there.  We ordered using a kiosk, so there was no cashier.

The workers at food places were generally young.  They all seemed to work hard.  They were helpful when asked.  The only business where the customer service wasn’t great on my trip was at the rental car place in Iceland.

The people in Norway are not generally overtly friendly.  We would pass by people hiking and most wouldn’t say a word when passing by.  There were several times I needed help like buying light rail tickets the first time and figuring out the dumpster for our garbage.  Whenever I asked someone for help, they were quite helpful when spoken to.  The workers in the restaurants and stores were typically quite friendly.  There was a juice/ smoothie place I went to multiple times.  One of the guys there remembered my name from two days before.

It is definitely a more homogenous society than what we know in the United States.  I am not saying that as good or bad, but you can see how things can function better with a centralized government.

They seemed to be very obsessed over not using plastic.  Instead of plastic utensils, you get these wooden utensils.  If you buy groceries, sometimes you have to pay extra for a plastic bag.  And when you get a bottle of water or some other drink, the cap stays attached at the top.  You can open it to take a drink, but the cap doesn’t completely come off.

In terms of food, fish is quite popular.  This makes sense since Bergen is on the water and they get fresh fish deliveries.  I also had a reindeer hot dog.  (It wasn’t Rudolph.  It was one of the reindeer that was picking on Rudolph.)  Aside from that, you can find American-type food like hamburgers and pizza.

Conclusion

I would recommend visiting Bergen, Norway.  Again, just expect some rain.  We had a good mix of activity while also enjoying some of the charm of the city.  Whatever you are planning to spend on food, double your budget.

I can’t say as much about Iceland because my time there was short.  It is quite expensive, but the scenery is unique and beautiful.

Six nights in Bergen was just the right amount of time for me.  We alternated our busy days with a more relaxing day.  I would recommend that strategy for most vacations.  You don’t have to constantly be on the go.