Iceland Tourist Board

Fuel costs have dropped dramatically and that’s good news for travelers on Icelandair. Effective immediately, the airline is reducing fuel surcharges to all destinations from its North American gateways. Round-trip fuel surcharges to Iceland have been lowered by $58, and to the U.K., Scandinavia and Continental Europe by $98.

Icelandair offers service to Iceland from Boston, New York-JFK, Minneapolis/St. Paul (seasonal), Orlando Sanford (seasonal), Halifax (seasonal) and Toronto (seasonal). Connections through Icelandair’s hub in Reykjavik are available to more than 20 popular destinations in Scandinavia, Great Britain and Continental Europe. Many Americans choose Icelandair so they can see Iceland en route or on the way home without paying extra airfare. Additional information about fares and packages is available at www.icelandair.us or by calling (877) I-FLY-ICE.

A new Web site from the Iceland Tourist Board and Iceland Naturally celebrates the Iceland food scene. This online gastronomic guide pays homage to the top restaurants and their chefs who are renowned for turning the country’s fresh, natural mountain lamb, poultry, game, fish and dairy into the best-tasting food in the world. Young experimental chefs are making waves in restaurants across the country and the aim of the Iceland Gourmet Guide is to invite visitors to come and sample it for themselves.

The Web site provides recipes to help you make the country’s famous fish and meat soup, pancakes, even a Happy Marriage Cake, to serve at home. Learn why Icelandic fish, caught in the fresh unpolluted waters of the North Atlantic, has a reputation for superb quality and delicious taste. Read about the man famous for his rotten shark, chefs passionate about keeping the path from nature to plate as short as possible, and even where to find fresh reindeer in East Iceland. Yum. (For more information: www.icelandgourmetguide.com).

Some of the best photography ever to come out of Iceland is displayed in the Tourist Board’s new 2009 travel brochure. From the country’s iconic Iceland horse on the cover, to scenes of non-stop fun under the Midnight Sun, plus puffins, snowmobiling, waterfalls and jeep touring, you’ll be spellbound, quite possibly overcome with an irresistible urge to start packing your bags. The 42-page brochure also includes information on the weather (of which we have plenty), accommodations, shopping, and a comprehensive list of outdoor activities. Order your free copy of this brochure, specially written for North American visitors, at www.icelandtouristboard.com.

By now we’re sure you know all about Iceland’s waterfalls and elves and Christmas trolls, but we’re about to drop some new knowledge on you about the most unique Icelandic Christmas tradition of all: the making of laufabraud, or “leafbread.”

Leafbread is the name for thin, round cakes made from flour and served at Christmastime. For centuries families in Iceland have gathered a few weeks before Christmas to carve decorative patterns into these cakes, especially in north Iceland where the tradition originates. The cakes are then fried in melted sheep fat and served with hangikjöt, smoked lamb, on Christmas Day. While decorated bread is also a tradition in other countries, leaf-thin deep-fried cakes with patterns created by making cuts through the dough only happens in Iceland.

The cakes are thin because flour was sparse in early Iceland, and the pattern was meant to make up for the small amount of food the bread actually constituted. Traditionally, the triangular cuts are made with a pocketknife and are known as leaves—hence the name “leafbread.”

Designer and decorator Hugrún Ívarsdóttir has created a holiday exhibit of leafbread at Amtsbókasafnid Library in Akureyri, the capital of the north. The exhibit runs through January 6. (http://www.akureyri.is/amtsbokasafn/english/)

It takes a hardy soul to enjoy the sauna at the Riverside Spa at the Hotel Selfoss, about 36 miles from Reykjavik. Riverside Spa is designed to reflect a sense of Icelandic nature with the theme of fire and ice. It’s a richly equipped area that features a steam room, sauna, hot pool, rainwater showers, relaxation room, lounge and bar. There are candles everywhere – so much for the “fire” part. But what sent chills down our spine was the spa’s ice machine that creates a mound of fresh ice to roll in after your sauna. So if you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to be a red-tinted human Slurpee, the slushy drink sold by 7-Eleven, this is the place. (www.hotelselfoss.is)

We know there are dozens of catalogs coming your way this holiday season, but here’s one to especially look for. The J. Crew holiday gift-giving catalog was recently shot in Iceland. The company is an iconic American brand known worldwide for its sophisticated, fun clothing and accessories to live, work, play and even get married in. The company operates 211 retail stores, 72 factory stores, the J.Crew catalog business, and jcrew.com.

The J. Crew team of models, photographers and stylists traveled to a mossy field in Eldhraun, stayed in a hotel in Kirkjubaejarklaustur along one of the most beautiful stretches of the Ring Road, visited turf houses in Skogar, and the glacial lagoon in Jokulsarlon. It makes us homesick just holding it. For a sneak peak, check out this blog: http://jcrewreviews.blogspot.com/2008/11/catalog-pics.html

This extravagant escape provides pampering galore: stay in Reykjavik’s elegant Hilton Reykjavik Nordica Hotel and Spa and indulge in luxury treatments with mineral salt baths, Icelandic lava therapy, a relaxing Fire and Ice massage and more. You’ll return home refreshed in body and spirit.

The Nordica Spa offers luxury treatments with mineral salt baths, steam room, a well-staffed fitness center and a genuine Finnish sauna in its own outdoor garden. Relax after your treatment in a special lounge while you are serenaded by music or birdsong. Spa treatments can be arranged for couples together, and special massage facilities are available for pregnant women.

From $1,509* per person based on double occupancy. Departures through Oct 31, 2009. For more information, click here.

It’s time to slow down and get back into balance. Revive yourself with a visit to Reykjavik, with its clean and crisp air, geothermal pools and dynamic people. Relax and recharge your body and soul and at the same time allow yourself to enjoy the spectacular nature Iceland has to offer. Stay at the Hotel Loftleidir, which offers access to an indoor swimming pool, Jacuzzi and sauna. The Loftleidir is also the only hotel in Iceland offering traditional Chinese foot massages. Guests of the hotel receive 10% discount off of treatments.

From $699* per person based on double occupancy. Departures: Now through Mar. 31, 2009. For more information, click here.

Folk rock band The Viking Giant Show started as a solo project by Heiðar Örn Kristjánsson a few years ago and is now a four-piece band with a mostly acoustic, socially conscious sound. Kristjánsson was a guitarist and singer in the award-winning band Botnleðja (Icelandic for “silt”) for 11 years prior to forming The Viking Giant Show. Their new album “The Lost Garden Of The Hooligans” is out now on the oh-so-Icelandic-sounding Cod Music label. Check out music from TVGS on their myspace page at www.myspace.com/thevikinggiantshow, or download the album on Iceland’s version of iTunes, tonlist.com.

Got your attention, didn’t we? Well that’s just what Japanese visitors do by the hundreds each winter, staying at places like the Northern Light Inn (www.northernlightinn.is) near the Blue Lagoon. Japanese believe that making love under the lights will bring them academically gifted offspring. But far be it from us to suggest what to do on your own sweet time.

If you’re looking for a tamer aurora borealis experience, Aurora Experience escorts travelers on tours in search of the sheeting, glistening and spiking bands of light that sweep across the sky on cold, crisp, clear nights. Four to six hour tours include stops in Stokkseyri at the Ghost Center and Icelandic Wonders – an elf, troll, and Northern Lights museum with an ice bar where they’ll serve you a drink with pure natural glacier ice that bubbles and crackles as oxygen is released. You walk through creepy ghost exhibits with an MP3 player to learn about skeletons, graveyards and double-headed sheep. Evening tours leave from the center of Reykjavik and last four to six hours, and are available through March 14, 2009. Week-long “Northern Week” tours are also available. (For more information: www.auroraexperience.com).