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About COVID-19 and Iceland

QUARANTINE in ICELAND LATEST  SEPTEMBER 2020 - So many tourists cancel their voyage to Iceland because of the quarantine. They don't know what they're missing. Let me explain. Quarantine is not total isolation, no confinement, no lockdown.

 
 
Sure , if you go to Iceland because you want to go to bars and restaurants and museums and concerts and shopping and tour buses and masstourism sightseeing excursions and blue lagoon and public buses and public pools and horseback riding tours and whale watching tours and and and etc etc... and you can't wait 5-6 days to do all this... , then you'll have a problem.
If however you go to Iceland to see the northern lights, by yourself, you still can. Even from day 1.
You will have to stay 5 days at one location for quarantine.
Maybe 6, if day 5 is a sunday.
But you can choose to stay anywhere in Iceland, provided the lodging, hotel, cottage, summerhouse, guesthouse meets the quarantine standards and you have a private bathroom.
You can rent a car and drive to that quarantine place of your choice even if it is far. You can top up gas at gas station but must pay outside, not in the shop, with CC and use gloves to touch pump and keyboard. So you CAN get gas if needed and drive far on day one to reach your quarantine location.
But wait there's more : you are even allowed to do your quarantine in 2 separate locations !
" Awaiting results from the first screening test:
1. The rules of quarantine apply once you leave the border point. Once the sample
for the PCR test is collected, you must go directly to your place of quarantine. If
necessary, you are permitted to spend one night in in an appropriate quarantine
accommodation near the point of entry, before travelling to the final place of
quarantine. "
Yup, "if necessary" ... if your quarantine location is far from your port of entry, too far to drive on your arrival day, you can quarantine your first night near the port of entry (arriving at KEF, get a room at KEF or Gardur, Sandgerdi, Keflavik, Grindavik, Hafnir.. ) and then on day 2 drive - whitout stopping for sightseeing ! - to your quarantine location almost anywhere in Iceland ... https://www.ferdamalastofa.is/en/moya/news/category/1/accommodation-that-welcome-guests-in-quarantine
on day 5 ( or 6, if 5 is a sunday ). drive to the nearest place to do the 2nd test.
example : you arrive at KEF in the evening. You stay one night at Sandgerdi cottages just a few miles drive from the airport. in quarantine. Enjoy your Northern Lights from your frontporch and your hot tub. Then on day 2 you drive to Dalvik in the north. During 4 days of quarantine you may see northern lights , weather permitting. And you may see whales with your binoculars. And go on day 5 to Akureyri for the 2nd test.
other example . you arrive at KEF in evening. Stay one night in a hotel in Grindavik, enjoy the earthquakes. Then next day drive to Djupivogur , driving slowly - not sightseeing ! - in front of waterfalls and glaciers and lagoons - it's all along the road - and stay 4 days in a cottage with horses as your neighbours and dark nights for aurora "hunting" from your front porch and garden... Look out for reindeers along the road...
other example : arrive at KEF in the morning, find a place to quarantine near Dyrholaey ... Mid-Hvoll cottages ? Look at the volcano , walk on black beach, talk to horses and sheep, enjoy the northern lights, see some waterfalls along the road - without sightseeing stops !
other example : arrive at KEF , REFUSE to do the Covid-19 test ! Go 14 days in quarantine in an isolated cottage e.g. Akurgerdi near Selfoss , with private hot tub, bring along your laptop, a book or two, hiking shoes, binoculars, food home delivery, no early wake-up call for bus tours, watching norther lights from your front porch while sipping hot coffee , tea or anything with more alcohol than your hand sanitizer. Sounds like a great vacation ? No, it's quarantine... in Iceland.
Mass tourism is dead. Iceland is still there.
This is not Disneyland.
Drop the D.. ney, and go for the is.land .
Obey the rules, but know the rules. Do take the time to read them.
read everything on covid.is . Everything. Not just the bad .
I plan to travel to Iceland soon to hunt for northern lights, quarantine-style. Stay tuned.

Iceland has implemented the travel restrictions imposed for the Schengen Area and the European Union. Foreign nationals - except EU/EEA, EFTA or UK nationals - are not allowed to enter Iceland. These travel restrictions are valid until 15 May 2020.
All foreign nationals with immigration status in Iceland or another Schengen State, or those who have family members in the same countries, are allowed to enter Iceland.

We encourage everyone to take good care of their health, wash their hands thoroughly and be mindful of cleanliness.

 

Those who have traveled from areas with a high risk of infection and have cold-like symptoms should contact the Healthline 1700 (+354 544 4113 for those calling from a non-Icelandic phone number). The helpline is always the first point of contact and people must always call before going to hospitals or clinics to avoid possible spread of infection.

Call us on +44 (0) 1773 850222 ATOL Protected

Thank you so much Gareth for organising such a lovely holiday for us! We gave a basic outline of what we wanted from our holiday and Gareth organised everything. Everything ran very smoothly and what an amazing experience. Thank you for all your suggestions, so glad we took them on

We are here to reassure you that you can trust our team with your Iceland holiday plans, knowing that all bookings with us are ATOL protected

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