Thursday 24th July, 1997

As the plane touched down at Keflavik Airport (about 40km south west of Reykjavik) we were greeted by a solid grey blanket of clouds and rain. It was about 11 o'clock at night, but still daylight. The incredibly long days and short nights are a key feature of Iceland in the summer, and perhaps partly explains its increasing popularity with tourists.

Keflavik Airport is tiny by international standards, a very seventies-looking airport with lots of beige, cream and dark grey with a fair amount of wood and done out in a very Scandinavian style. It is small, relaxed, and therefore quite pleasant (unlike being at Heathrow which is like being lost in the alimentary canal of a confused, angry dinosaur with some kind of dietary disorder). The bus connection from the airport to our hotel in Reykjavik was easy to locate and quite fast.

The landscape from Keflavik to Reykjavik is mainly composed of old lava fields covered in moss and patchy grass with the occasional bit of greenery. It?s flat, and there are few trees, although the roads are good and straight and mostly devoid of traffic.

We checked into the Loftleidir Hotel which is owned by Icelandair and conveniently close to Reykjavik's own (little) airport which is used for pleasure flying and the frequent internal flights around Iceland which are conducted by Icelandair in turbo-prop aircraft.

Loftleidir Hotel looks, from the outside, like a cross between a dismal inner-city comprehensive school and an East German prison. (Part of the hotel is shown in the picture to the right, with central Reykjavik in the background) Inside, it is very pleasant indeed. The internal decoration is upmarket though relaxing and the atmosphere is informal. The small twin-bed room which was to be our home for the next four nights was decently equipped with simple but smart pine furniture, very clean and properly appointed for a good night's sleep with duvets on comfortable beds (albeit slightly too soft for my liking) and a good supply of fresh air. The bathroom was tiny but again clean and pleasant to behold, although equipped with shower only, as is the norm with smaller hotel rooms in Iceland.

Tap water is drinkable and the hotel management are sensible enough to put an ice machine dispensing ice (free of charge) on every floor.

Loftleidir represents average value at around £63 per person per night, including the usual Icelandic buffet breakfast. Compared to other hotels, this is on the high side for a modest twin room in Reykjavik, but the hotel does benefit from having a bank (with cashpoint) in its lobby, as well as a small swimming pool, hot tub and multi-gym in its basement. I was somewhat sceptical of the multi-gym at first (as it incorporates about a dozen exercises into a single unit) but found it to be of excellent quality and very useable for weight training, of which we did one session.

Hotel staff at Loftleidir are relaxed and helpful and, as with everywhere in Iceland, English is spoken fluently (it is their second language).

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© Richard Harrison

All photographs are © Richard Harrison and Samantha Coe 1997