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Title: The Rough Guide to Iceland by Rough Guides, David Leffman, James Proctor ISBN: 1-85828-597-6 Publisher: Rough Guides Pub. Date: 03 May, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (3 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Loaded with useful information
Comment: I've not used other Rough Guides before, but a friend swears by them, so I tried this one for Iceland. I also got the Insight Guide, which had pretty pictures and background info but little else. The Rough Guide was infinitely more useful, and I totally relied on it during a weeklong trip around Iceland. We drove all the way around the ring road and out to the Westfjords, and the only incorrect piece of information we found in the entire book was the price at one guest house. Plenty of info on where to stay and eat, what to see and do, and background information was useful and interesting. My one criticism is the maps, they are small and only of small regions of the country (but what are you going to do in such a small book?). It would have been nice to have a large, comprehensive map of the island, so we bought a large road map in addition. The book was particularly useful in the isolated parts of Iceland where 'towns' on maps consisted only of a single house or 2. It was comforting to know the Rough Guide contained accurate information we could rely on to find a place to stop on those remote roads.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Good First Effort for a Great Series
Comment: The ROUGH GUIDE series has produced some wonderful books -- I am particularly fond of the titles on France and Scotland, which I have used extensively. This is their first crack at Iceland, and it is a commendable, if not outstanding, effort.
As a result of a recent 15-day trip to Iceland, I can say that it is mostly reliable but far from exhaustive. For one thing, the emphasis is on sleeping bag accommodations exclusively. (Okay, maybe I'm not quite so "rough" a traveler: Two weeks in the same smelly down bag is not my idea of comfortable travel.) Also, the book omits many very viable accommodation options, such as the Bolti farmhouse at Skaftafell. Also many oustanding restaurants such as the well-known Bautinn in Akureyri are unaccountably missing.
What did this guide have to say about my guesthouse in Reykjavik (the excellent Baldursbra)? Only that it had "rather narrow beds and unfortunate floral curtains." Good grief! Firstly, the size of single beds in Iceland tends to be quite standard: No extra inches were shaved off. Secondly, the curtains were indeed floral but not so aggressively bad as suggested by the writers of the guide, who appear to have been suffering from a bad hair day.
On the plus side, the "Basics" and "Contexts" sections are both useful and entertaining introductions to travel in this most fascinating of destinations. I've always regarded a good bibliography as an asset to any guide, and this one has an excellent one. Included is a helpful summary of the key Icelandic sagas, a knowledge of which is essential to understanding the uniqueness of Iceland.
You won't go far wrong with this guide, but there is room for improvement in editions to come. For now, I recommend the 2001 Edition of the Lonely Planet Guide as being the most authoritative guide.
Rating: 4
Summary: So much to see!
Comment: We had a 3-day stopover in Iceland, and used the Rough Guide as our main source of information. The information in the book was accurate and very useful, especially when driving in the less populated areas. It was nice to know which towns had fuel stations, cafes, guesthouses, etc. It was a little confusing when we drove east from Vik, and the book was written as if driving west toward Vik, but we managed.
The sections on culture and history were also very useful when planning a trip to a place we'd never been before. This book and a good map (1250 ISK at the tourist information desk) is all you should need for a great trip.
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Title: Lonely Planet Iceland, Greenland & the Faroe Islands (LONELY PLANET ICELAND, GREENLAND, AND THE FAROE ISLANDS) by Graeme Cornwallis, Deanna Swaney ISBN: 0864426860 Publisher: Lonely Planet Pub. Date: May, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
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Title: Iceland Travel Map by Globetrotter ISBN: 1843302764 Publisher: New Holland Publishers (UK) LTD Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: Insight Guide Iceland (3rd Ed) by Jane Simmonds, Insight Guides ISBN: 0887291767 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: April, 2001 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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Title: Iceland : Land of the Sagas by David Roberts, Jon Krakauer ISBN: 0375752676 Publisher: Villard Pub. Date: 06 October, 1998 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Footprint Reykjavik by Laura Dixon ISBN: 1903471591 Publisher: Footprint Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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