Travel round Iceland at your own pace with Sterna
As you walk down that big city street, choking on the fumes and pollution, jostled by the crowds, the sun blocked by tall concrete and glass buildings and not a green blade of grass in sight, you grasp your airline ticket all the more firmly and dream…
Stepping out of the airport at Keflavik, you fill your lungs with fresh air and your eyes with the views of the raw nature. You’re free. Now to experience Iceland, to fulfil that dream. With only 300,000 people, most of the country is pure open space and to experience it all, you have a travel passport from Sterna, the only company that will take you around the country from Reykjavik’s BSÍ bus and coach station, for you to visit at your leisure. You can get off at any point, spend the night or as long as you like before catching another coach to a new destination. The choice is yours as to where to go, how long you’ll stay and what you’ll do. Freedom and flexible travel.
Unlike the majority of tours that stick to the familiar routes, Sterna will take you through the unusual countryside of the interior, where you can enjoy its spectacular colours, its hot tubs in the mountains, the pristine freshness of an unspoilt countryside. You can stay or move on – your choice. The trip will take you all the way through the middle of the country to the northern town of Akureyri. From there, you can head eastwards enjoying the stunning diversity of landscapes and wildlife for which Iceland is famous.
The East is an area less visited by the majority of tourists. It is yet another of Iceland’s secrets that is only slowly being revealed. Sterna will take you right round the region. The villages are small, their communities welcoming and friendly, the countryside as diverse as any you have seen so far and the fjörds a trip into the world of fantasy in their beauty and serenity.
While others are baking themselves on crowded Mediterranean beaches in their monotonous annual sunburnt pilgrimage, you have found a haven of solitude and tranquility moments away from refreshingly genuine people, with lives as interesting as their surroundings. Don’t be deceived by the northerly latitude: you will end up getting a beautiful sun tan almost anywhere the sun is shining along the route, so don’t forget your sunscreen! But this is Iceland, where the weather changes very frequently – even through the day.
With a change of scenery just a coach ride away, you have found a way to fill your future with experiences and memories that you will treasure. If you began the trip on your own, you’ll be surprised at how many new friends you will have made by journey’s end. It’s nice not to have to wait for hours at the side of the road for a ride to come along. You have your ride – all the way back to Reykjavik in the comfort of a luxury coach. You can even take your bike with you, cycle an area, then catch another coach to your next destination. Take your tent and backpack with you and you are set for an economical way to enjoy this country at its best.
Specialists in the Unusual
Besides the trips that take you to the far corners of the country – or all the way around it, if you wish, there are also a number of day trips that go off the beaten track to show you areas not often visited or even known about by the majority of travellers. There is a free hotel pickup for these and for the tours to the regular tourist destinations.
On your return home, you will have tales to tell that will seem like fantasies in the ears of the beach crowd – until they see your photos, films and the precious stones you picked up on the way. Even more valuable are those friendships you made as you travelled.
