Rick Steves Iceland

Back in 2014, Rick said on his website that he wouldn't be publishing an Iceland guide, and he recommended Lonely Planet's guide instead, but I guess that the money to be made off Icelandic tourism lured him into changing his mind. I've been a Rick Steves devotee since I was about 7, and I just won't visit any European destination without Rick as my guide. "Rick says..." is usually the first thing I say about every site, restaurant, hotel, etc., and my devotion to his guidebooks once provoked my travel buddy into tossing the Spain guidebook off the top of a castle in Segovia. As usual, Rick served up matter-of-fact info with the appropriate amount of detail and solid recommendations. I will say, though, that this was the first time that I had a Rick Steves guide that didn't give me information on everywhere I might have wanted to go in a country. I suppose it makes sense, since most travelers either stay in/around Reykjavik or do the Ring Road, but the fact that there was no information at all on the Icelandic highlands or on reindeer, for example, was surprising. Maybe in subsequent editions? Also, Rick is just clearly not a huge Iceland fan; he was more dismissive of much more of the country than in any other guidebook I've read, frequently calling restaurants, museums, or entire towns "uninspired" or "skippable." Finally, either I've gotten more adventurous (and am not in Rick's target demographic) or Rick is showing his age: many "short hikes" were quick walks on flat, paved trails, and the writing was downright disdainful when discussing festivals that included drunken revelry and the like. Still, it was a useful guide to the country as a whole, and his Reykjavik city walk was characteristically great.

Iceland is just far enough off the beaten path that it doesn't get as much tourist guide book coverage as it probably deserves. Fortunately for the enterprising traveler, Rick Steves has done his considerable homework. His "Rick Steve's Iceland" is close to being one-stop shopping for planning a visit. The author provides a menu approach to Iceland's attractions. An upfront section (in color!) introduces Iceland as a travel destination. The rest of the book provides options for Reykjavik (Iceland's capital and only real city), for attractions near Reykjavik, and for the famed Ring Road around Iceland (800 miles of access to rest of the country). The narrative lays out options, opinions and possible tradeoffs, along with the proper cautions for Iceland's weather and other natural hazards. This reviewer wishes the maps were a bit more detailed, and more of the photographs were in color. Well recommended as a very good planning resource for a trip to Iceland.

Another great travel guide from Rick Steves. We have used Rick Steve's guides for Europe for many, many years. Rick writes for the traveler who want to mix with the locals and learn about the daily life of whatever country you may be visiting. His books are not for those who want the whirlwind "If-it's-Tuesday-it-must-be-Belgium" traveler. This will be our first trip to Iceland and this new book is up to his same high standards. It will be our "bible" for this next adventure. Rick is the best travel guide ever...hands down. His books are always up-to-date (provided you buy the latest edition) and perfectly practical. He is a practiced traveler and knows how to help you navigate your way through any new country/city while getting the most out of your experience and without breaking the bank. Highly recommend. (Now I just wish Steve would write about Asia and other continents.)

I preordered this book knowing it would be worth the wait and it was. In typical Rick Steves fashion, there is a lot of historical and practical information. As always there are plenty of time and money-saving tips. I particularly like how the ‘best of’ and ‘must sees’ are called out and color or shape coded. It makes finding bucket list ideas easier. There are also some handy single and multi day schedule samples as well. The book describes what there is to see be geographic region, broken into chapters like Western Iceland, Southeast Iceland and so on. Like most of Steves’ books, it caters to families and older travelers in my opinion. But that’s his demographic. While the vast majority of the book focuses on the peak season of the summer months, there are some tips and highlights that cover winter as well (my interest) but not as much as I had hoped for. There’s a lot of value in this book and is pretty much all you need to plan a typical vacation to Iceland. I take a half star off for a couple of reasons. There’s a lot of back and forth page turning, where something is referenced on another page. Not a reason the dislike the book, but somewhat annoying. But more than that, I’m looking for more extreme adventure, such as self-driven off road sites on the famous F roads, or dogsledding tours, and this book doesn’t cover that much. It only references driving rules and encourages buying tours for the off highway stuff. I also wish there had been a color map included as a pullout to take in the car or something. An additional book will be needed for the backcountry or extreme adventure information. But all in all an excellent book. A must-have for your first time in Iceland.

The book is very helpful and covers a great range of things that should be helpful on our trip to Iceland

Much to my surprise, this guide is meant exclusively for the US public. As we are Europeans most if not all of the practical information was of much use or relevance and we ended up having to buy in a rush Lonely Planet, which is far more geared toward a more global public. This factor could usefully be indicated in the description of the product.

Lo stile dello scrittore è interessante, e mostra molto particolari che sia la Rough che la Lonely ignorano, specie per Reykjavik Tuttavia se qualcosa non gli piace , lo ignora . Completamente. Io visiterò i Westfjords e la penisola di Snaefellsnes nel prossimo viaggio (motivo per cui ho comprato questa guida, visto che la mia vecchia Lonely è ormai datata ); ebbene, con mio completo sconcerto entrambi meritano un trafiletto di mezza pagina : nient’altro Se volete un approfondimento su alcuni capitoli del vostro viaggio va bene , ma se volete visitare il West Iceland passate oltre

Rick Steves series is always our go-to when traveling in Europe. So glad an Iceland one came out in time for our trip. The advices were very useful.

As always Rick Steves books are wonderful.