RIFF – Reykjavík International Film Festival – is one of the biggest and most diverse cultural events in Iceland. Often they have films with gay, lesbian, bi, trans and other queer interests.

The European Court of Human Rights confirmed on 11 June 2020 that hate speech against the LGBT is not a human right. In fact it’s punishable by fine or imprisonment for up to 2 years. The Court found a complaint from a person that had been found guilty of hate speech by The Supreme Court of Iceland “manifestly ill-founded” and rejected it.

Vice president Mike Pence was greeted with a colorful support for LGBT+ rights on his visit to Iceland. Many companies, agencies and individuals dicided to celebrate diversity that day, including IT company Advania next door to Höfði where the meeting took place.

When browsing through a list of 10 reasons to visit Reykjavik, Iceland we felt something missing. So, we made another list with a  queer twist. We´re probably leaving something out but this is what comes to mind. So, here´s a list of 10 good reasons why you should visit GAY Iceland as we truly believe it´s a wonderful destination for LGBT travelers.   Read more ...

Visiting Reykjavik over Christmas has become more and more popular in recent years. It´s a great month to enjoy the world´s northernmost capital which is all lit up with colorful Christmas lights and streets full of people getting in the festive spirit. Read more ...

If you´re wondering where to go next year keep this in mind. According to Lonely Planet Iceland is among the 2010 Best Value Destinations. The list captures the world’s hottest travel trends, destinations, journeys and experiences for the year ahead, bringing together the expertise of Lonely Planet authors, staff and travelers.

One year ago the Icelandic banking sector collapsed with all its dramatic consequences for the economy as a whole as well as the society. Shortly after the collapse in October 2008 the almost two year old government collapsed and new government was formed lead by Mrs. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir who then became not only Iceland’s first female prime minister but the world’s first openly gay prime minister. And in snap elections in April this year Jóhanna lead its party (Social Democrat) to victory and is currently rated among the top 100 most influential women leaderes in the world today by Forbes.

Sapphire waters and a sapphic prime minister are why Tris Reid-Smith and photographer Scott Nunn go to Iceland. There are many ways to take on the Arctic Circle but most people wouldn’t choose to do it in just their swimming trunks and with a face covered in white mud. They know nothing. 

Iceland has many things to offer if you like outdoor activity. From Reykjavik it is easy to explore some of the most popular attractions which are within simple reach, either by public transport (easy during summer) or by guided day-tours which run frequently the whole year. The most popular attractions are the site of the old Parliament at Thingvellir, the hot spring Geysir and the waterfall Gullfoss (the last two together usually referred as the Golden Circle). 

Iceland is big in terms of land size but very small in terms of population. It´s about 103,000 square kilometres (40,000 square miles) which means it is similar size as the state of Ohio. Population is only just over 300,000 and it is the least populated country in Europe and seventh in the world. Most of the people are of Norwegian descent, with some admixture of Celtic blood from those who came from Ireland and the Scottish islands from the time of settlement. About 7% of the population is of foreign origin with people from Polland being the single largest group (about 2%). About 2/3 live in the greater Reykjavik area.

The first people believed to have settled in Iceland were Irish monks who came in the eighth century AD. They left, however, upon the arrival of pagan Norsemen, who came in 874 to seek freedom from Norway's oppressive king Harald Fairhair. In 930 the Icelanders founded the Althing, their supreme general assembly - the oldest parliament in the world. Christianity was adopted in the year 1000. In 1262, Iceland became subject to Norwegian control and in 1380 came under Danish control, along with Norway. After the granting of a constitution (1874) and with an improving economy, Iceland, in 1918, finally became an independent sovereign state under a common king with Denmark. The Republic of Iceland was formally declared on June 17, 1944.