Long time, no chat! I would say no travel but that’s wildly incorrect. We have been doing a lot of traveling over the last year. I’ve been saving all my itineraries to share with you!
I have so many wonderful things to share about Iceland. I was told that Icelandics were not the ~nicest~ to tourists. As a Midwest girlie, kindness is my love language, so I was a little nervous. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find this to be completely untrue. The locals were kind, helpful and so excited to share their culture and history with us!
Now, if you’re looking for a relaxing vacation… this is not the one for you. This itinerary is for my adventure seekers, the travel enthusiasts and the like. The pictures I’m sharing with you just don’t do the justice it deserves — I recommend you just go to see for yourself!
Day 1: Travel Day
We flew into Keflavik International Airport and landed around 6:45am. Our flight was surprisingly only 6 hours from Chicago — most of us were able to get a few hours sleep on the flight, too! We drove into Reykjavik where we got lunch and walked to Rainbow Road. We didn’t spend much time here because we wanted to get started on The Golden Circle. We stopped at Kerid Crater and then a geyser. This was my first experience seeing a geyser in real life and it was so impressive. Videos just don’t do it justice! We ate dinner at a local diner and then called it an early night after checking into our AirBnB. We were all pretty exhausted from travel. I’ll share some more about our AirBnBs and hotels along with other lodging tips in another post.
Day 2: Don’t go chasing waterfalls… Or maybe do?
The next day started early with a trip to Thingvellir National Park. We made reservations for snorkeling between the tectonic plates. The water was FREEZING (only 32o F!), but thankfully we had dry suits to help keep us a little warm. The water was crisp, fresh and clear and you could see yards and yards in front of you. This was absolutely one of my favorite experiences from the trip and I highly recommend it!
There are thousands and thousands of waterfalls in Iceland. The glaciers melting cause water run off and it will find any crevice to fall through. We visited Urridafoss, Seljalandsfoss and Gljufrebi waterfalls after leaving Thingvellir National Park. Many of the bigger waterfalls have parking areas, some even with bathrooms. But as you’re driving the ring, you’ll pass countless waterfalls. So if you see one you like, stop and walk out to it! We started driving again and stopped in Selfoss, where we spent the afternoon exploring the quaint town. We ate lunch at this wonderful food hall and walked around town drinking hot chocolates.
Day 3: Puffin Island
If you didn’t know, Iceland is home to one of the largest puffin colonies in the world. Vestmannaeyjar is one of Iceland’s inhabited islands that requires a ferry trip over. Here, we went on an island tour with a local. One of the brightest spots of this trip was actually getting to see a baby puffin! Just before winter, the puffins migrate to warmer water. The adults fly but the babies have to swim. With modern electricity, the babies get confused and sometimes fly into town rather than into the water. Because their wings aren’t fully developed, they can get stranded and die if they aren’t found. The locals spend their nights looking for stranded puffins and then releasing them in the water the next morning! We learned so much local history from our tour guide. I wish we had stayed the night on the island to do some exploring. If you have the time, you should do it!
Day 4: Glaciers and Ice Caves
Iceland is actually quite green… with the exception of a few large glaciers. We took (one of many) tours walking across the glacier. I highly recommend this to the adventurers. You are not required to go on a tour to get access to the glacier, but I do recommend it. Walking on the same ice that was around millions of years ago gave me so much perspective. Next, we went on an ice cave tour. Notably, you must be on a tour in order to access the ice cave because this glacier was actively melting (thanks climate change) and changing all the time. It was a surreal experience, knowing that if any of you take this tour even a week after me, you would see a completely different version of the glacier. Weird to think about, right? We saw the glacier in a tiny moment in time and it will never look like that again.
Day 5: Seals and More Glaciers
The farther southwest you drive along Ring Road, it becomes colder and there’s notably more snow/ice, especially by the shore. Even though it was 50 degrees (Fahrenheit), there were huge chunks of ice on the shore. I hesitate to call them beaches because that makes me think of warm, sandy beaches with my toes in the water… very different vacation than this one LOL. These beaches have black sand (from volcanic ash) and ice chunks! We visited Glacier Lagoon where we took both a boat ride across the lagoon to the glacier itself and kayaked closer to the shore. The lagoon doesn’t look too big initially, until you’re out on the water and realize that the glacier is over 1 mile away! We got to see some seals lounging in the sun while seeking refuge from larger predators in the ocean. If I had to pick just one experience, I think the boat tour was more fun than kayaking because you got to see so much more of the lagoon. But how cool is it to say that I got to kayak in a glacier lagoon??
I thought I would include this itinerary all in one post… but we’re only halfway through! So here’s the first half of our Iceland adventure and I’ll get working on part 2!