Fieldnotes from Iceland

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Payment per kilometre

January 04, 2026

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January 1st saw a new charge coming in for visitors to Iceland to bear in mind. A fee to be paid for each kilometre travelled.

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Tourism fatigue?

In the week when we had another casualty on the black sand beach, the Reykjavik Grapevine's editor Jón Trausti Sigurðarson has written about "tourism fatigue" in Vik. Over 5000 people a day visit the small town in the season (including me on every trip with Rayburn). These have overloaded the town's toilet facilities. Iceland is vast. It is 30% bigger than Ireland, with roughly 7% of that country’s population. So much of this island is “empty”. Unpopulated fjords are numerous, the highlands are all but empty. If you want solitude, it’s everywhere. You only have to walk a few hundred metres in almost any direction from a popular tourist destination and find yourself alone Image: The road to Vik - Alan Parkinson - shared on Flickr under CC license

Geology Maps

Geology Maps of Iceland from the Natural Science Institute of Iceland: Explore the layers - you can turn on English language option. Useful for finding the age and type of lavas e.g. mafic on the peninsula. Mafic lavas are a type of lava characterised by a low silica content (45-52%) and high ferromagnesian mineral content (iron and magnesium). They are typically associated with hotter temperatures, lower viscosity, and effusive eruptions, resulting in the formation of features like shield volcanoes and flood basalts. They take their name from magnesium and 'ferric' - relating to iron which should be easy to remember.

CCTV Towers

A couple of CCTV towers have been placed in the capital in areas where there is apparently a problem with pickpockets. They are dividing opinion according to this piece in Iceland Review. I mage: Michael Chapman

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