July 27, 2022 – August 3, 2022
We have finally made it to Iceland. We had planned this trip originally for May of 2020 and we were going to rent an RV and Adam was going to join us, but then Covid happened and all was cancelled. We thought we would then go in May of 2021, but Covid restrictions were still in place and instead we took the kids to Costa Rica. But by the end of 2021 restrictions were being lifted and we felt we could plan our trip.
We decided we would try and go during a couple of the hottest weeks in the US so we would have a few less weeks battling the heat in the van (although I have to say so far we have been very lucky with weather). With the exception of a few days here and there where we have had to stay in hotels we have dodged most of the bad weather. We missed tornadoes in the south by a week or two, and heatwaves here and there, and just dodged mass flooding that is happening in St Louis and Kentucky right now by just a couple of weeks.
On Wednesday morning we left our campsite in Jefferson Township, NJ in the morning and got our laundry done and finished up some last minute chores before heading to Wallington, NJ where Lee’s cousin Karen lives. She so kindly offered to let us park the van at her apartment and she is keeping an eye on her for us. We got there early enough to be able to visit with her and her husband Booker and take them to dinner. We then grabbed a Lyft for JFK. Luckily we got there 3 hours early because it took us an hour just to check in (even though it was Sky Priority) and the TSA Pre-check line was closed so security took another 30 minutes, but once we were through all that we were able to relax for about 45 minutes before boarding our overnight flight. It was a relatively short flight and we had a strong tail wind so instead of a little over 5 hours it took just over 4 hours to get to Iceland. Luckily we were both able to get a little sleep and were super excited to be in Iceland.
When we got off the plane we took our time and used the restroom, then went through customs and thought for sure our bags would be waiting for us. Unfortunately they weren’t and after about 30 minutes some bags from our flight arrived, but not ours. We found out the bags were somewhere on the tarmac and they were trying to locate them. Finally after another 30 minutes, the bags were found (and ironically they were all the bags marked Sky Priority).
We were happy to have our bags and got our car rental shuttle, rented our car and off we went. The car was asmall stick shift diesel 4×4, and it has been fun to drive since it’s been a few years since either one of us has driven a manual.
We drove the 40 minutes to Reykjavik and found a nice restaurant for lunch and then headed to check in to our hotel. We decided to take a nap before exploring. Once we got up from our nap, Lee was determined to find scooters for us to explore the city (he has been obsessed since riding them in Cleveland). We found some and followed a bike path up the coast a few miles, then back to the city to check out Iglesia Hallgrímskirkja. It was a very cool church with some interesting architecture. We then walked around the shopping area and then found a restaurant and had some great fish and chips. We were exhausted by that time and headed back to the hotel. We went to bed around 11PM and it was still light outside which was strange.
The next morning we headed out to do the Golden Circle. Our first stop was a beautiful waterfall called Þórufoss (yes the language and letters are quite difficult here), it was nice since we were the only ones there, we then headed to Þingvellir National Park but went the long way by circling Lake Þingvallavatn. It was a beautiful drive. The national park sits in a rift valley caused by the separation of 2 tectonic plates. We walked about 3 miles around the park exploring the rift valley and seeing another beautiful waterfall.
We then made our way to the Geyser Geothermal area, which was crowded and which frankly we were underwhelmed by since we have Yellowstone as one of our nation parks. We didn’t stay long and headed to Gulfoss waterfall which again was very crowded, but as soon as we saw we were in awe. It is an incredible water fall that has a little feel of Niagra but with more interesting geology. The way the waterfall cuts through the valley is very unique. We quite enjoyed our visit. We then made one last stop at an old volcanic crater with a lake at the bottom. We then headed to our hotel in Hella. We had dinner at their restaurant (the special was horse, pronounced “harse”) and met a nice older couple from Israel that we ended up talking to for about 45 minutes. Again traveling has been made even better by meeting a variety of people!
On Saturday we went to Seljalandsfoss waterfall. Luckily we got there before too many tour buses showed up (Iceland is popular right now). It was another beautiful waterfall and unique in that you can walk behind it. We made sure to wear our rain jackets because we did get wet. There were a few other waterfalls you could walk to down a path. We also saw a small cave we walked up to and of course I slipped coming down and cut up my hand. Luckily with so much water around I was able to wash the blood off and the freezing water made it numb so it didn’t hurt too much. Right after I fell and at the last waterfall there was a couple from Florida that asked Lee to take some photos of them, and come to find out he had just proposed!
After we left we had another waterfall destination planned but as we got close to where we were going we saw a very large waterfall off the road so decided to explore. The waterfall was Skogafoss and it was a very popular place. As we got closer we saw lots of cars and tour buses. But we were there and decided to climb the steps to a viewing platform above the waterfall. We are so glad we did, when we got to the top we saw a trail that continued on and you could see that not a lot of people were following it. We ended up hiking about 2.5 miles in and saw at least another 6 or 7 waterfalls in the beautiful canyon. It was so incredibly beautiful. We saw some backpackers taking the trail and found out later it’s about a 25 mile hike, and you can get a bus at the end to get back to your vehicle. We’ve added this to our bucket list for a future backpack adventure.
That night we stayed at a nice hotel and while we were hot tubbing met a couple from San Diego and we talked to them for quite a while. The husband was a big fisherman and was on his way to Greenland after Iceland for fishing. Really nice people and we enjoyed talking to them.
The next morning we had a zodiac boat tour of the glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón. Unfortunately it was canceled due to high wind, but we went and explored on our own. Again it was very crowded. We first walked over to Diamond beach where there are large chunks of ice on the shore and just really cool to see. We then went back to the lagoon and saw very interesting icebergs of different shapes and colors, very beautiful. We decided to walk around the lagoon and made it 1/3 of the way around and as always once you venture just a little past the main attraction the crowds thin out. We only saw three other people, it was very peaceful and it was nice to be able to see the glacier from different angles.
After the lagoon we made our way to Djúpivogur where we were staying for the night. That evening as we were looking into what we wanted to do the next day, Lee found a peak he wanted to climb (Búlandstindur) that was close to the hotel. He showed me the route information and I immediately knew I was in for a long and anxiety producing hike. But the next morning we geared up and made our way to the trailhead. There wasn’t a trail for this hike but they did have wooden stakes you followed up the mountain, and you basically went straight up the mountain. There was some scrambling involved as well, which alway makes me nervous, but Lee was having a great time. After 2.5 miles and 3000 feet of elevation gain we made it to the top of the pyramid shaped mountain. We had a quick snack and started to head down in case it started to rain. There was supposedly a loop you could take back down the mountain and we started heading in the general direction we thought the path would be. We did finally find a few wooden stakes but after the third stake they either disappeared or we just missed them. Needless to say we had what I would say was an anxiety provoking adventure making our way down the face of the mountain, scrambling down cliff bands. Luckily Lee has great route finding skills and got us down in one piece. As much as the hike made me nervous it was beautiful scenery and we walked on very cushioning moss in several spots and Lee got his Iceland peak!
After hiking we made our way to the cute town of Egilsstaðir, got some great pizza for dinner and headed to our little farmhouse for the night. The next day, I planned our adventure to a remote hot pot that I had read about. It was mostly paved roads except for the last 8 kilometers where it turned into and “F road” (these are dirt roads that can be rocky and rough in places), but we found what we were looking for, Laugavallalaug! As we got to the parking lot there was one other car there, we were a little disappointed hoping we would have the place to ourselves but we were still excited to check it out. As we were walking down the hill to the hot pot the couple (they were from Canada) were just leaving. We had the hot pot to ourselves! The hot pot was fed by a waterfall and we had a view of a beautiful valley and the river that the hot pot emptied into. It was glorious! The water was the perfect temp, you could get a massage under the waterfall and it was just a wonderful experience (and we had it all to ourselves).
We stayed for almost 2 hours and then decided it was time to leave and we couldn’t have timed it better, about the time we decided to leave we saw a car coming down the road, as we walked out we passed 6 people heading in. It was great timing and an experience we will not forget.
As we left the hot pot we made a quick stop literally across the road to a the largest canyon in Iceland, Hafrahvammagljúfur. It was beautiful and the water was a milky blue. Then our next stop was about 20 kilometers down the F road to another canyon Stuðlagil. This canyon had very interesting basalt columns and the river water was a beautiful blue, oh and of course had a very cool waterfall by the parking lot. There were quite a few people on the trail and we were missing the quiet we had earlier in the day at our other stops, but it was still worth the stop. We had great timing as we got back to the car it started to rain and it didn’t stop for the next 1.5 days.
We arrived at hotel for the night (the only one we stayed at for more than 1 night) and were happy to find it was a quant inn that was once a farm. The next morning we got up and decided to just relax for a while before our whale watching tour we had scheduled that day. The tour company had already emailed saying it may be cancelled due to weather so we weren’t getting our hopes up. As we went out to the car Lee noticed our back tire was flat (the tire pressure light had been on for a couple days, but the tires never looked low). Lee changed the tire (in the rain I might add) and I found a tire shop in the town where we were going for our tour. We dropped off the tire and went to the tour office where they told us no tours were going out that day. We were disappointed but we saw there was a whale museum in town and a geothermal sea bath. We visited the museum which was interesting and then headed to the sea bath. It was a very nice place that had several pools of different water temps that overlooked the ocean. Even though it was still rainy and windy it was a great way to spend a few hours.
Our first week in Iceland was amazing and we couldn’t wait to continue with our trip!
