TRAVEL INFORMATION
Passport:
All visitors to Iceland must have a valid passport when entering the country except citizens of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.
Instead of a passport national identity cards can be used to enter Iceland by citizens of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Switzerland.
Duty-free store & tax-free shopping:
The duty-free store at Keflavik airport is open both for incoming and outgoing flights. Typically, things to buy there are beer and spirits that are expensive due to high taxation.
Value-added tax will be refunded on purchases of more than 4.000,- icelandic kronars that are made at any single store displaying the Global Refund Tax-Free sign. Most shops offer Tax-Free shopping. When shopping the whole price including VAT must be paid but ask for a Global Refund Cheque. To get back 15% of the retail price show your goods(woollen goods needn't be shown) to the customs when leaving the country to get your Global Refund Cheques stamped. The cheques can then be cashed in at your departure point from Iceland.
Currency & exchange:
Icelandic currency is "krona". There is no limit to the amount of foreign currency that can be brought into the country in any form. Foreign exchange is available in all banks that are open 9:15-16:00 weekdays. There are also some branches open in the bigger shopping malls during the opening hours usually until 19.00-20.00 at night and also on weekends. The Change Group Iceland ehf is open 7 days a week in Keflavik Airport, and downtown Reykjavik at the Tourist Information Centre in Bankastræti 2 and inside MacDonalds in Austurstræti 20.
Credit cards/Debit cards:
Credit cards are commonly used in Iceland and accepted in most places. Major credit cards are VISA and EUROCARD/MASTERCARD both represented by independent companies but AMERICAN EXPRESS, DINERS CLUB and JBC are represented by agents. Debit cards are not as widely accepted as Credit cards and some smaller establishments don't have the ability to process them. Visa, Electron, Maestro and EDC are commonly accepted though and cash can be obtained against these cards in all banks as well as Cirrus and Eurocheque AMT-only cards.
Telephone & Communications:
The is a very good phone system in Iceland. Public phones are both coin and card operated and cards can be bought in post offices and telephone stations.
Transport & rentals:
Public transport is busses, taxis, aeroplanes and a few ferries. There are no trains in Iceland not even in Reykjavik. There is one main airline and some smaller flight operators flying to most of the bigger towns around the country. There are also scheduled busses to many places around the countryside and it is possible to get to most places by bus. In Reykjavik and surrounding towns there is good public transport using busses but only a few towns in other parts offer such services. Taxis are readily available in the capitol and also in surprisingly many towns around the country.
Shopping:
Shopping is good in Reykjavik. Visitors will find many things that are competitively priced like fashion goods, jewellery and brand clothing.
Personal safety:
Iceland is a very peaceful country to visit. There are very few violent crimes or even muggings in Reykjavik and it is safe to be about at any time. During weekends it is often quite lively in downtown Reykjavik and it is wise to use common sense and be careful although most instances are not to serious drunken brawls between the locals. The same goes for looking after your property. If you forget to lock your car chances are that it will be perfectly safe even with valuables visible inside. But locking it is still wise as there are some bad apples around.
The people of Iceland:
Last but not least visitors will find the locals to be very friendly once they have established contact with them. Icelanders in general are not very open and will respect your privacy. It isn't because they are not interested in knowing you, on the contrary you'll find them both helpful and quite nice. If you are interested in communicating with the locals you'll find that no more is needed than to approach them. A big part of the nation speaks english and also some of the Scandinavian languages or a mix of them. Quite a few speak german and there are also many french speaking icelanders. On the whole icelanders have good knowledge of foreign languages as almost no one understands icelandic.