So I know I’m a bit late, considering we went to Iceland in September and it’s snowing outside now, but I figured it’s such a hot item on everyone’s bucket list, so I could at least type up a little bit about our experience!
First off, for anyone still on the fence about visiting Iceland: Book it. Book it now. Flights are crazy cheap, and though lots of stuff in the country is crazy expensive, the sights are free and as long as your smart about it, you won’t absolutely break the bank. Having said that, if you’re on a super tight budget, there are probably other countries (Guatemala, anyone?) you should visit while you save up some dough for Iceland.
I started planning for this trip a solid nine months ahead of time. In fact, I had my color coded Excel sheet finished by the end of January, complete with a lengthy list of all the must-see sights, all linked to photos of said sight so that I could easily pull up any given location and daydream about it all day. I badgered Eric into giving me this trip as a birthday/Christmas/Valentines Day/Sweetests Day/Anniversary gift and I, logically, got so excited about it that I invited our friends to come with! Our romantic getaway wasn’t exactly what he originally imagined, but it turned out that having 6 people on the trip made a lot of things a) more affordable b) more fun! We also got to stay in some really, REALLY incredible AirBnBs.
We left Chicago on Friday night somewhere around midnight. For a flight that had cost only a couple hundred dollars, it wasn’t so bad. It was, however, absolutely freezing. I truly do not know what WOW is trying to achieve by freezing all of the passengers. If you’re flying on WOW, bring layers. I had two layers of socks on and still wanted more. In fact, that was almost the coldest I was throughout the entire trip. Upon landing, we raided to duty free store and stocked up on what I expected to be too much liquor, but I underestimated how much my boyfriend loves beer.
We spent the first day in Reykjavik doing the free walking tour, enjoying a world famous hot dog (the line was a bit long but meh I’d say worth it) and then we had some fish and chips for dinner! We were all pretty exhausted by then so we headed back to our first AirBnB and pass out on the couch almost immediately. Actually, I think that was just me. I’m pretty sure everyone else can manage to stay awake during movies.
It tasted a lot better than it looks…
Maybe not the most flattering picture, but these humans are my favorite.
Day 2 we did a Golden Circle tour. and it a nice way to see a lot of places in only a day. I always like doing one guided tour on trips, either at the beginning or the end of my journey, to give my brain a chance to shut off. If you’re an over-planner, you’ll understand. Key sights that we hit on the tour: Gullfoss, Thingvellir, Geysir, and the Fontana Wellness Spa. If you’re doing a self-guided tour, I’d say bucket the most time for Thingvellir. Didn’t need to much time at Geysir, but we were super lucky and had incredible weather. Honestly, the pictures speak for themselves. That can really be said for pretty much the entire trip, so I suppose I’ll keep my comments brief.
PEEP THE RAINBOW!!
They baked this break IN THE GROUND!! Literally buried a big pot of dough and came back 24 hours later to bread! GROUND BREAD.
We got our rental car delivered on Monday and headed out to what ended up being our absolute favorite AirBnB in Hvolsvöllur (peep some pictures by your’s truly used in the listing!) We were met by our host and settled in pretty quickly before deciding to depart to do a little exploring! We spent the next several days driving around Route 1 visiting places that I would’ve never dreamed of. Pro tip: get an early start because the sunrises are not to be missed.
Seljalandsfoss: Definitely go a little bit further to the second waterfall at this stop. Wear waterproof shoes and a nice waterproof jacket and wade through the tiny opening into the cave.
Skogafoss: This one was absolutely incredible, but you really don’t need to bucket too much time here. Add it to a stop on a bigger drive!
Fjadrargliufur Canyon: Okay, this one was probably one of my favorite spots. Even on a relatively crappy day weather-wise, we were in awe at home magnificent it was.
Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach: I had (literally) 427 pictures of ice at the end of this day. I MEAN IT WAS SO COOL.
Needless to say, Eric got pretty soaked on this trip.
Dyrholaey: This is a bit of a sore subject because I’m pretty sure Eric almost broke up with me because I have a nasty habit of wanting to get as close as humanly possible to the edge of cliffs and that just so happens to give him a heart attack so he was quite displeased with me. But it was SO AWESOME.
Solheimasandur Plane Wreck: I would caution you that climbing on it is not necessarily advised. Sarah & I had to do a lot of strategic crawling. Also, make sure you plan for the walk there and back. I think it took us about 45 minutes each way. I’m pretty sure I brought a snack because I can’t go more than an hour and a half without eating or I’ll be cranky.
Like I said, lots of crawling.
Reynisfjara Beach: We actually brought a couple of bottles of champagne and drank them at sunrise to celebrate Taylor’s birthday! The sunrise was stunning and since we came so early, we practically had the place to ourselves.
Blue Lagoon: Eric was pretty sick for this, so I got to fifth wheel the day away. The lagoon itself was really, really cool however at the price point it’s at (~$90 per ticket), it’s definitely a once-and-done type of thing. Make sure you bring a waterproof camera or a waterproof case for your phone. Also– SUNGLASSES!! I definitely didn’t expect to need these but I really regretted leaving them in the car.
Snorkeling in Thingvellir: This was easily one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. Yes, the water was freezing, but really your lips are the only thing exposed and you forget about it pretty quickly. Where else can you snorkel between two tectonic plates?! NO WHERE. Fun fact: I literally cried, real tears, while driving to Thingvellir because the views were so beautiful. Ask Eric, he was really wishing I’d stop and focus on the road since I was driving…
Stokkseyri: This was our final stop, after Sarah and her boyfriend had left us. We stayed the cooooooooooolest AirBnB and it had A GEOTHERMAL GOT TUB. We also had a really incredible lobster dinner one night. I think I ate my weight in lobster. I’d go back just for the lobster.
Here are some other pictures from the most photogenic country ever!
Double rainbow!!!
If anyone is heading to Iceland, let me know! I’m happy to send over my spreadsheet or help you plan it! I spent hundreds of hours (I wish I were exaggerating) planning this trip, so trust me, I can help. Also, if your dates are flexible, I’d strongly suggest going in mid September! Tourist crowds were minimal, weather was great, and WE GOT TO SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS. There’s only a handful of countries I’d happily go back to (there’s so many that I haven’t seen yet– it takes a lot to convince me to double visit one) but this is definitely one of those countries. Cheap, direct flights from Chicago? Yes please!
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