Strandsel Iceland Tours

31/08/2024

Enjoying the glacier world today at Virkisjökull
world -tour tour

29/08/2024

Mr. Davis is having a great time photographing waterfalls, landscapes and nature here in Iceland.

20/08/2024

Driving by ‘Einhyrning’ (One-horn) mountain, Eyjafjallajökull in the distance.

20/08/2024

Exploring the land of the trolls and elf’s

14/08/2024

Let’s the adventure begin ! Homeward bound 😎🇮🇸

30/01/2024

Nothing equals a good sunset run

26/01/2024

Great BBC article on the unique Icelandic turf houses, their history and interesting ways of keeping the Icelandic peoples warm well into the 20th century. They failed to mention that the cover image is of a church at Hof in Skaftafell, one of only 6 still standing in entire country. Furthermore the grass covered small mounds around the church are old graves. This location sits near one of my often use hotel, Hotel Hof and is a great place to stay at to explore the Vatnajökull National Park while visiting Iceland.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20221013-turf-houses-icelands-original-green-buildings

Known as "torfbæir", these ingeniously designed homes helped settle one of Europe's least-hospitable environments.

24/01/2024

Ben K. took a tour with us around Iceland and had a great time visiting and exploring the varied Icelandic landscape. He is kind enough to share his photos with us. Thanks Ben ! Love having you !

18/01/2024

Hiking in Iceland leads to some great viewpoints to capture beautiful images, not seen by the main road. These are taken on our summer tours. More info here : www.strandselicelandtours.com

17/01/2024

We have new website with new 2024 tour dates! Come and explore Iceland with you native Icelandic pro photographer Ásgeir ! More info: www.strandselicelandtours.com

10/01/2024

Did you know about delicious wild berries growing in Iceland ? During late summer into early fall few types of blueberry plus açaí berries grow wild in Iceland. Icelanders love to make a day trip out picking them and complement with their skyr (icelandic yogurt), make jams, juices and on sprinkle top of their favorite ice cream and even ferment them into berry liquor. One of my favorites areas to pick them is in Westfjörds where I grew up. And yes birds like them as well !
# icleandwildberries

01/01/2024

Wishing all my clients, travel colleagues and family a healthy and happy New Year !

30/12/2023

When I was about 7, my family moved from the capital Reykjavík to Ísafjördur, a small fishing town and main town of Westfjörds peninsula, where my father became the mayor. I learned many news things while there and tasted many new things that I had never been exposed to before. I had many a time a fish for lunch and dinner while living in Reykjavík but not seen as many types of fishes or dishes with fish in it till I moved westwards as we say it in Icelandic. There was Grásleppa (Cyclopterus), Raudmagi (male Lumpsucker) Ysa (Haddock), sodin Ysa ( Poached haddock), Thorskur (Cod) Rækja (scrimp/prawn) and Steinbítur (Atlantic wolffish/catfish).
Some of them, particularly the haddock, cod and the catfish were dried by filleting and gutting the fish and hanging it by the tail fin onto a wooden spires as can been seen in the enclosed image. The heads were cut off and dried as well by handing. ( see enclose image). This was done to extend the life of the fish meat. This has been done in Iceland dating back to the Viking settlements.
Some people had small sheds (see enclosed image) with vertical wooden pieces with small opening slants in between them so the winter air can dry the fish over period of time, some added later a mesh wire inside to prevent the mink and the arctic fox to steal themselves some food.
My all-time favorite dry fish is 'Barinn steinbítur' (beaten catfish) from the Westfjörds. It taste like a fish, but dry, slightly fat and oily. Delicious !! Some liked to add butter on top of the dry fish when eating it, like my grandfather, but he was 'Vestfirdingur í húd og hár',he was a 'Westfjördian' to the bone ;D

28/12/2023

For us photographers, the winter scenes in Iceland have a special magic, it is cold but not like US midwest cold ! Plus the weather can change multiple times during a single day creating some great atmospheric moods for your imagery. These were taken on my winter tour with my clients back in 2017 during the South Coast Tour using my workhorse Canon 5D3 camera with 70-200mm lens.

27/12/2023

This Christmas my mind wandered back when I lived at this small fishing village in Westfjörds, named Ísafjördur. Surrounded by over 2000 feet mountains on either side of the fjörd and this image was my view from our apartment when sun came out after a storm. Remember some great skiing days with crystal clear skies and others with blind storm, electricity out and your visibility down to few feet and you staying inside playing with your legos 'D Miss those mountain views and how short time it took to get onto the ski slopes or just to go for an immersive nature walk.

24/12/2023

Have you heard about the child-eating Christmas Cat ?

The Icelandic folk monster, Jólakötturinn, which translates to Yule Cat, stalks the hillsides of towns looking for children to eat. But only those who aren't wearing their new Christmas clothes.

20/12/2023

Last night aerial view of the new volcano eruption near Grindavík as seen by the famous Icelandic photographer RAX. The town is fully evacuated at the moment but the international airport at Keflavík is open and the route to and from Airport to Reykjavík is fully open.

18/12/2023

Volcano eruption has just in this hour in Iceland, northeast of the fishing town of Grindavík : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvcP4kVVOnk

06/12/2023

The new website is now up with new tour dates : www.strandselicelandtours.com. Come and explore Iceland travel possibilities in 2024 !

Embark on an unforgettable Icelandic journey with Strandsel Iceland Tours. Immerse in stunning landscapes, rich history, and delectable cuisine.

02/12/2023

Just days away from launching my new travel website with fresh new Iceland tour dates. Stay tuned for the announcement !

02/12/2023

Just finished an incredible in depth 4 days workshop in Seville Spain ! Thanks for Tourpreneurs with Chris Torres, Peter Syme, Mitch Bach and Nikki Padilla and many more. Excited to apply to news things into my business. Happy travels !

13/04/2023

Interested in improving your photography ? Want to do it while exploring in Iceland ? Join me for a 7 day workshop photographing magnificent and stunning landscapes of Iceland. Excited to team up with Samy's Photo School at Samy's Camera to offer an unique 7 day photography workshop this fall. Very limited spots open : https://samysphotoschool.com/event/iceland-photography-workshop-2023/

Explore and photograph the magnificent and much varied South Coast of Iceland with native Icelander Asgeir Bollason. This photo workshop will be personally guided and taught by Asgeir Bollason, a …

01/03/2023

Icelandic álfar (elves) are not the same as elves as people in UK or USA think of.

According to a study by the University of Iceland, many Icelanders believe that the existence of elves is more than a fairy tale. When the first human inhabitants settled on the island, many of them adopted the idea that the elves were allowing them to share the land with them. BBC Reel goes on a to...

19/12/2022

One of Iceland's old Christmas' folklore still gives me the chills.

Wonderful Icelandic Christmas traditions, part two. The Yule Cat is an essential part of the holidays. This enormous vicious pet of the Yule family captures children and eats those who don't receive any new clothes for Christmas.

14/10/2022

These 'Torfbæir' turf houses were also build for use as churches. Quite cosy inside with wood panels and exposed beams.
Next time you visit Iceland check one out.

Known as "torfbæir", these ingeniously designed homes helped settle one of Europe's least-hospitable environments.