Atlantica - 01.10.2006, Page 56

54 AT L A N T I CA
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By the Book
LONELY PLANET: BEST OF REYKJAVÍK
Lonely Planet’s Best of Reykjavík authors decided
to put all the standard historical information
about Sagas and Vikings on the back pages. So if
you only came here on a three-day stopover, or
for Airwaves 2006, you can access your pub crawl
listings without interruption. If you like rounding
out your visit with a bit of history, it’s there for
you. While the page description of each of the
eight highlights featured in the guidebook run a
little long, the listings in the following sections
on Sights and Activities, Trips & Tours, Shopping,
Eating, Entertainment and Sleeping are simple to
navigate.
INSIDE REYKJAVÍK: The Grapevine Guide
Any guidebook that begins: “Typically they start with the weather. ...But it’s a
non-story: Reykjavik is often rainy, and windy, but there is nothing fantastic or
extraordinary about being damp,” is a must-purchase.
Written by Bart Cameron, editor of The Reykjavik Grapevine, a bi-weekly
free alternative paper published in the capital, this is not so much a guide book
as it is an ode to this beguiling city that both awes expats and hardens them like
cynical old men. But isn’t that just the way love is?
The difference between Inside Reykjavik and other guidebooks is that “you
can actually read it cover to cover,” says Cameron. “It’s something you want to
keep, as opposed to something you want to use once and give to a friend. This
goes on your bookshelf, something to remember Iceland by.”
Be calm, all you listings hounds. Cameron’s insight into the city will get
you where you need to go. And don’t be intimidated by the densely designed
book or the drab cover (that’s Reykjavík in a nutshell). The writing’s lively and
humorous, yet devoid of shtick. Available in local bookstores.
Reykjavík isn’t what you’d call overwhelming: it’s fair to say that a tourist
can explore a lot of the world’s northernmost capital in an afternoon. Af-
ter walking up and down Laugavegur a few times, you may find yourself
at a loss as to what your next step should be. Enter the guidebooks,
which despite Reykjavík’s modest size, are not in short supply. Here are
four of the big ones, reviewed. Compiled by Edward Weinman.
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