exchange rate posts

Iceland is one of the hottest travel destinations about and it's not just because it has a smoking volcano -- it's because it's finally affordable to travel there.

Right now is the cheapest it has been in years for Canadians to travel to the volcanic island and as I discovered on a trip there this month, you can expect to pay about the same as what you would pay here in Canada, and in some cases less. One loonie currently buys about 120 Icelandic kronas compared to 57 krona three years ago and 50 krona five years ago.

Reeled in by one of Iceland Air's low airfare ads (return flights for June start from under $580 incl. tax from Halifax or $677 incl. tax from Toronto) which picture various people bathing in the waters of the famous Blue Lagoon Spa - a geothermal lake set among volcanic rocks - three friends and I decided to take off on a two week budget trip. The entire trip -- including airfares, taxes, accommodation, food, activities and shared car hire -- cost us $1,200 each, or $86 a day. Such a price would have been inconceivably three years ago when a beer alone would have set you back almost $20 and a dorm bed in a hostel would go for as much as $60 a night.