I landed Sunday morning at Keflavik International Airport about 50 minutes away from Reykjavik. At the airport, I met my driver and a few other travelers that would be joining me on my drive to the Capital of Iceland. At this point I was incredibly nervous and anxious about the week ahead.
I arrived in Reykjavik at my accommodation, Exeter Hotel. From there, I left my luggage at the hotel, and immediately proceeded to look for the Harpa Concert Hall. I was supposed to meet a guided foodie walk there. This timeframe was short, but extremely stressful. I had no idea what I was doing, and my tour was quickly approaching. I found my way to the hall and found my group. Immediately all my reservations began to disappear as I started talking to the other travelers around me. I met people from all over: Canada, Australia, Germany, and many other places. My tour guide was a fun and energetic local named Eyglo, and she helped me feel at ease in my new environment. We began to explore the downtown of the capital and stopped at 5 different restaurants. We ate Icelandic lamb meat soup, fermented shark, dried Cod, Rye bread with smoked Trout, Flat bread with smoked lamb, Rye bread ice cream with whipped cream and caramelized rhubarb syrup, Char cooked in honey and almonds, Fish stew, an Icelandic Lamb hotdog, and then Icelandic dessert. All of which was absolutely delicious. The food tour came to an end, and I said goodbye to my new friends. It was now time to explore downtown on my own.
My first stop was the famous church called Hallgrimskirkja. The architecture is based off of the unique landscape that covers Iceland. I went to the top of the church and got a magnificent view of the city. I then decided to play with my new camera and explored the city, taking numerous photos along the way. My camera was new, and I was just getting into the photography scene, so this was a great time of learning new things about my camera. During my food walk, I heard that the Northern lights were supposed to be a beautiful level 4 that night. The lights go from level 0-9 and they are usually a level 2, so level 4 is actually really high. I was super excited, but then I realized that I didn’t get my rental car until the next morning and I had no way of escaping the city lights. To my dismay, my guide also told me that the bus system wasn’t very good and was kind of working against me. Luckily, I was told about a lighthouse that was an hour walk outside of town.
After a long day of exploring, I took a quick nap, and then got up at 8pm to head to the lighthouse. I followed the coast and met a friendly cat along the way. I made it to the lighthouse at about 9 and waited for the expected light show. I was the first one to show up at the lighthouse, but I was soon followed by a pretty large crowd of people. I waited 2 hours and started to lose hope that I would see the lights this close to the city. As I was getting ready to leave (since I had a really early start the next morning to pick up my rental car) a father yelled to his son playing off in the distance. He pointed in the opposite direction from where I was looking, and there a glimmer of green started to wave in the distance. The small glimmer soon turned into a spectacular light show that I will remember forever. After admiring the lights till about 12:30, I reluctantly made my hour journey back into town so I could get a few hours of rest to start my next day’s adventure…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”full”][vc_column]
I started out with an early rise, eating some breakfast at my hotel, and then taking a bus to get my rental car. After settling in my new car for the week, I drove out of the city to start seeing the beautiful landscape of Iceland. The first thing you’ll notice about this beautiful place is the vibrant green colors. I’ve never seen greens like this before.
My first stop was the fairytale waterfall named Seljalandsfoss. At this giant waterfall, you can follow a pathway behind it to see it from every angle. Right beside Seljalandsfoss, is the hidden waterfall named Gljúfrabúi. To reach this waterfall, you need to go through a crack to be greeted by a magical hideaway. My next stop was the gigantic Skogafoss waterfall. This thing is MASSIVE. Enveloping the waterfall were two of the brightest rainbows I have ever seen. After making the trek up to the top of the waterfall, I continued to hike for about 3 miles along the pathway. Realizing that I still had so much to see, I turned back and headed back to my car for my next stop. I drove to my next accommodation making numerous stops along the way. There are sights to see EVERYWHERE.
My accommodation was in the small village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur, which has got to be the longest village name ever. I had an incredible Cod dinner and explored the village a little bit. The northern lights were supposed to be beautiful again, so I asked some locals where I could go to see the lights. I took another small nap, and then woke up for my next light watch. I hiked up a waterfall at night using a headlamp I brought along. At the top was a beautiful lake where there were no lights or people around, and it was completely peaceful. Once again, the lights didn’t show up until late, but I enjoyed the complete tranquility of the location. The lights weren’t nearly as spectacular as the first night, but they still were a beautiful experience. I stayed up till about 1 enjoying the night, and then I went back to the hotel finishing my second day…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”full”][vc_column]
My day began by visiting Skaftafell, a part of Vatnajökull National Park, a region of vast wilderness with hiking trails, waterfalls, streams and lagoons. At Skaftafell, I started the day with a glacier walk on an outlet glacier that extends from Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Europe. After this, I hiked around the park to get to the waterfall Svartifoss.
Then, I traveled to the glacier lake, Fjallsárlón. After this, I went the furthest south east on my trip to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. Films such as Tomb Raider, Batman Begins, and James Bond films have had scenes filmed here. Huge chunks of ice regularly calve off of the glacier and make their way to the sea via the glacier lagoon. After spending a lot of time here, I took my journey back to my hotel making numerous small stops along the way. The sunset was spectacular that night and lasted for ages. This car ride was probably my favorite of the whole trip…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”full”][vc_column]
Today I drove along the south coast towards Laugarvatn. I made many stops along the way to admire the numerous “small” waterfalls that are everywhere as you drive around. There are so many unique places to stop at such as a fence that is covered in bras for some reason haha. I made a stop at the hollowed out canyon called Fjaôrárglijúfur. Pictures do not do this massive canyon justice. I then stopped at Dverghamrar also known as the “Dwarf Cliffs.” It is full of small but impressive hexagonal basalt columns. According to legends, Dwarfs live in the cliff sides! Following this stop, I went so some churches in the village of Vik.
From there, I traveled to the black sand beaches of Reynisfjara. This beach is very incredible to say the least. There are extremely large basalt column and caves here. While I was there, numerous wedding and engagement photos were done. I bet those photos were EPIC. The waves here were strong, but soothing and I spend many hours admiring this beautiful area. When I returned home it was drizzling a little bit, so I decided to have hot lobster soup for dinner and it was amazing…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”full”][vc_column]
Today I headed to the famous Golden Circle of Iceland. I started by heading to the great Geysir area and explored the spouting Strokkur geyser. From there I went to the two-tiered Gullfoss waterfall. Gullfoss, is Iceland’s equivalent to Niagara Falls. This thundering waterfall was magnificent. Next, I visited the church known as Skálholt, and then from there, I went to a natural hot spring known as the Secret Lagoon. This is Iceland’s oldest swimming pool, yet despite this, the place hadn’t become commercialize and it was very quiet and relaxing. I met a nice couple from the states, and I stayed talking with them for quite a while.
From the secret lagoon, I moved to Þingvellir national park. This park is historically significant to the founding of Icelandic democracy, and it is also a place of immense beauty. Here I was able to see the rift between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. After a long day of exploring, I headed home to prepare for my final full day in Iceland…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”full”][vc_column]
Today marked my final full day in Iceland. Today was by far the most stressful day of my trip. I started by driving to the small village of Eyrarbakki. I then went to the church Strandarkirkja and admired the coast there. Afterwards, I then went to the Geothermal area of Seltun. This was a really cool spot, although it smelled horrible haha.
At the geothermal spot, I took a beautiful hike to the top of the area. This was a very peaceful hike in a stressful day. From there, I had to drive back into Reykjavik to return a travel phone that my travel agency provided. Also, if I did a quick video, I would receive some free swag, and I’m all about free stuff. From there, I drove back around to pretty much the same area I was in before, but I went the opposite way around. I drove to a lighthouse and geothermal area in Reykjanestá. I was really bummed because I only had about one hour to spend here. However, this turned into one of my favorite spots. The cliff side was magical, and the waves were thundering. From there, I drove to my reservation at the Blue Lagoon.
The Blue Lagoon was cool, but honestly, I wasn’t the biggest fan. It was very commercialized and crowded, and unfortunately once again I only had an hour to spend there. After the Blue Lagoon, I drove back into Reykjavik to return my rental car and get a free ride back into town. Once in town, I spent some time doing some more exploring, but I was so exhausted that I ended up spending most of the night relaxing in my hotel. I then got some good rest for my final morning in Iceland…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”full”][vc_column]
Today marked my final hours in Iceland. This was bittersweet to say the least. I definitely was starting to feel a little home sick, but it was so hard to say goodbye to this absolutely magical place. I spent my last few hours exploring some more of the city and having a delicious lunch. I decided to only take a few photos with my phone so I could simply be in the last moments of this place. Eventually the time came, and my ride drove me to the airport to say goodbye… Over three thousand photos were taken, numerous hikes enjoyed, and many spectacular memories were made. I soon arrived back home to the beautiful Colorado.
Words cannot describe the beauty of this place. I would highly recommend Iceland to anyone. I’m not a super well-traveled person, but Iceland is an incredibly easy place to navigate for beginners. I’m so grateful that I was able to take this trip, and cross off three bucket list items by doing so! A piece of my heart will always be left in this place, and I’m already itching to go back.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”full”][vc_column]
