Over the past few years we have traveled to many places, but Iceland was actually our first **international** trip. Of all the places we could choose, the initial question many people asked us was “why Iceland?” Coming from living in Wisconsin where we hibernate from the cold over half of the year, why would we want to use our precious summer vacay going back into the cold and ice? Well now that Iceland has become a bit more of a popular destination, people now seem to know that it is actually not all ice, but a plethora of lime green moss atop black sand and waterfall after waterfall. Iceland comes alive in the summer months and shows off so many colors from the blue glacier lagoons to the red lava erupting volcanos, and lime green canyons that will make you feel like you’re on another planet entirely. And best yet? You will likely never experience nature this untouched, raw, and in it’s natural state. We love our national parks, and Iceland felt like one large national park – fully protected and cared for by its people!

Iceland didn’t even become on our radar until I joined the photography community five years ago. It seemed every photographer was heading out to Iceland to capture this stunning scenery! And being avid nature lovers and noootttt so much into big cities, we thought our first time being in a strange new country with a high density of people sounded a bit overwhelming for us. So we chose Iceland where we knew the focus would remain on raw nature (which is always our top priority), and where we knew there would be accommodating, friendly, English-speaking locals. Every Iceland review we read of prior travelers was outstanding and what really sold the deal was knowing we could travel around the entire island in just the right amount of vacay time (7-10 days). All in our favorite mode of transportation – a converted campervan!

Heaven is real, and it’s only a 6 hour flight.

It’s actually crazy when you compare how close in proximity Iceland is to the US with the few amount US travelers that have actually gone and visited. We couldn’t believe only a 6 hour flight (5 hour flight outbound from Chicago) to this nearly untouched magical piece of earth, and the flights were extremely reasonable $$. Originally, we booked this trip pre-pandemic for $600 round trip back in January 2020 (just a month before our plans went to shit and the world shut down haha). I was all excited to spend my 30th birthday soaking in the Blue Lagoon and we faithfully waited allllll the way up until that very month June 2020 before calling the trip off due to still ongoing COVID travel restrictions. It was a huge bummer…but one we saw coming for months in advance and luckily had a really amazing backup trip planned road tripping through Cali instead.

Going into 2021, we honestly still didn’t think Iceland was going to happen. People were still working from home. It seemed this pandemic was never going to end. But then, with the release of vaccines it seemed there mayyyy just be a glimmer of hope! In April 2021, Iceland was one of 3 countries to open their doors to Americans. We saw an article that if you book before end of April, you’d score $400 round trip tickets. Already having our whole itinerary planned out + vouchers from cancelled bookings ready to go, and two weeks blocked off end of June for our Grand Tetons National Park trip, it was a no-brainer. We cancelled our trip to the Tetons (sorry Tetons!!) and took this chance to finally see Iceland. After a year of hunkering down with no travel, we were pinching ourselves that this was finally MAYBE happening!!! (So long as we passed our PCR Covid tests!)

Packing List

We’ve had lots of interest about this trip. Why the van? What was our itinerary? Packing list? What our favorite spots were? Etc, etc.

So my basic outline will be as follows:

1. Packing List – I’ll share what we each brought (we didn’t check any bags! Very minimal)
2. Itinerary – Many have been asking for this breakdown, it is finally here! The main chunk of this blog post will be sharing our trip in consecutive order (with location names that are hard to pronounce!)
3. Q/A – at the very end, I’ll be sharing my answers to all your burning Iceland questions! This was my favorite part to write because it truly breaks down our thoughts on Iceland and it’s culture. Great things to know if you’re planning a trip to Iceland one day!

So let’s start with the Packing List. Being that we were going to be living out of a van for 10 days, we knew we’d have to keep our packing list pretty minimal…otherwise things get cluttered FAST. This was a great challenge because we had to pack for all 4 seasons + footwear for all 4 seasons + drone/cameras/laptops/go pro equipment. I still am not sure how we made this happen. It’s important to know that we traveled end of June into first week of July. This is the warmest time of year for Iceland, but you should still expect temps to be 50 degrees on average and drop even lower during midnight sun. We boarded the plane with 2 carry-ons, 2 personal items (backpacks), and did not do any checked bags.

• My carryon Bag: 5-6 sports bras/cami tops, 5 athletic long sleeves, 2 sweaters that were nice enough to function as hiking sweaters OR going out to eat sweaters, 5-6 leggings, 2 swimsuits, 1 raincoat shell, 1 puffy jacket, 1 fleece.
• Alex carryon Bag: same except for not the sports bras/ camis :P, and instead of sweaters he packed a couple Eddie Bauer henleys (waffle textured long sleeves) that look nice enough for eating at restaurants & can function as hiking base layers
• Backpack 1: small mirrorless camera + two lenses/DJI mini drone/GoPro/chargers/memory cards & all other electronic accessories/laptop
• Backpack 2: any leftover boots/jackets that couldn’t fit into our carryons, face cleanser, deodorant, toothbrushes, minimal makeup bag, this charging port I bought on Amazon which was recommended & ended up being super handy for keeping all our electronics & phones charged while being in a van 10 days

WHAT WE DIDN’T BRING: my professional cameras (EEEP!) They are just so large and bulky, and I was worried if I brought my full gear that the entire trip would be me being in “photography” mode vs real life mode. We also didn’t bring any t-shirts (tank tops and long sleeves are easier to layer), toiletries, shampoo, “getting ready” essentials, flip flops. We knew we could buy all that stuff there in travel sized bottles for cheap and it’d save lots of room.

In hindsight, I think we were pretty spot on with our packing list. I ended up wearing every single clothing item packed, without having to repeat and wear dirty clothes. We personally didn’t need the fleece or puffy jacket, it was really nice while we were there and 55 and sunny in Iceland feels like 75 and Sunny in Wisconsin. So if you’re planning a trip mid-summer mayyybe go easy on the jackets. It’s just hard, because you never know with Iceland weather what kind of luck you’re going to have.

TIP: INVEST IN A GO PRO! The GoPro we ended up using a LOT, especially at the lagoons since it is waterproof and I didn’t want to ruin my phone in the water. We got some really cool timelapse videos with it and overall just had lots of fun getting to know the Gro Pro. I tried being a film maker for an eventual Iceland vlog, but after seeing our very amateur (and shaky) video clips I’ll be keeping this one to ourselves LOL. We also used it for photos since it has a wider frame than my camera, so I had fun with some wide framed shots! We could have done without the drone, we only tried using it once and almost lost it mid-flight, which then turned us off from wanting to use it again. If you are skilled in drone piloting, unlike us, definitely bring one cause this place is absolutely EPIC for it.

MY ONLY (SOMEWHAT BIGGIE) REGRET after coming home and editing through the photos, was not bringing at least one of my professional cameras. I always go back-and-forth with wanting to be present during our travels vs making it “all about photos.” If I were traveling by myself, I’d definitely be out there, full photography gear, driving around and diving deep into it all. But when you’re traveling with your husband, you want to live in the real world and experience each present moment together. There was just something freeing about the idea of leaving it all behind and just simply BEING (plus saving space, not having to deal with a checked bag, or haul around bulky gear everywhere I went). I knew that no matter what photo I took, if I was actually present in the moments, that they would live on far more beautifully in my mind than any photo. So as much as the photographer in me sometimes wishes I had my best gear in hand, at the end of the day…does a slightly more beautiful photo matter when the one in your mind matters most?

10 DAY ITINERARY

Do I need 10 days? How many days would you recommend?

For going around the entire island, 10 days felt perfect. Without having to deal with quarantining day 1 and backtracking to the city 3 days prior to our departure to get another covid test, we probably would have been content with 7 days.

However, I’ve been telling so many people that if they ever wanted to take just an extended weekend, Iceland is also a wonderful choice because of the shorter flight and because there is so much you can quickly see in a short amount of time. In 4 days, you could fly in and Day 1 enjoy Sky Lagoon and downtown Reykjavik boutiques and restaurants/night life. Day 2 & 3 rent a car and drive less than 2 hours on the Ring road to see the many attractions from waterfalls to glacier lagoons all in-a-row on the south part of the island (seriously, this is all VERY easy driving and accessible sightseeing. If you’re not a very adventurous person but can appreciate looking at nature, just know that every attraction is right off the main road, no hiking required). There’s also lots of nice hotels, airbnbs, and restaurants here making it an ideal spot for tourists. On your last day, drive back into town and visit the active volcano or soak in the Blue Lagoon before departure!

Clockwise vs Counterclockwise

Starting from Kefllavik, we decided to drive clockwise around the island. I recommend doing it this way as it eases you into the Iceland experience, leaving the most popular tourist attractions for the very end. Because the south has so many iconic attractions in such a small section, your mind can easily get used to the stimulation of one epic location to the next to the next. Literally 10 epic locations in one day. Versus the rest of the island requires a bit more driving and anticipation and slower enjoyment. So I think if we had gone counterclockwise, it could have made the rest of our trip SEEM more lackluster (even though it is not and I’m very very happy we did the whole island!) It basically comes down to, do you want to eat dessert first? Or start with the appetizer?

Van camp vs Hotels

I do want to stop real quick to say why we chose the van instead of hotels, because this upfront decision will ultimately determine the overall type of experience you’ll be having on the island.

Iceland is small (smaller than the state of Wisconsin)! But being that the entire center of the island (known as “the highlands”) are mostly volcanic activity and require a 4×4 vehicle along some pretty rough roads, many people stick to the main easy-to-drive road that circles the island called “The Ring Road.” So although it’s a small island,  this makes everything a litttttle harder to get to and feel more spread out, because you can’t cut through the middle. If you are planning on only seeing the popular southern part of the island, perhaps getting a hotel or booking some trendy airbnb’s would be the way to go! There are loooots of sleek modern tiny homes to choose from in this area, although be aware they are usually in a “community” setting next to other tiny homes. So if you’re looking for something more remote, Google Earth the location and scout the satellite images prior to booking.

On the flipside, if your plan is to get the **full Icelandic experience**, and to be able to explore the entire island and all its glory in 7-10 days time, then I would **strongly** recommend traveling by van. It’s actually pretty popular to tour the island this way and there are many van companies to choose from. We chose Happy Campers due to their fun colors and it just sounds…happy! Everything in Iceland seems to be bold colors, the houses in fishing villages, the lime green mountains that blanket the country, people in red puffer jackets or bright yellow raincoats. These vans just seemed to match the aesthetic and made us feel happy and “homey” away from home. Their website also has the most incredible Q/A info and so I knew they’d be a reputable company and we’d be in great hands. We were very impressed by their customer service and how accommodating they were during COVID mess. They gave us 50% off our total price if we chose to reschedule vs cancel…so we were able to score a hella good deal!

Anyways, if you aren’t bothered sharing small quarters with your traveling partner, or aren’t bothered sleeping in a car by yourself if you’re traveling solo, then van no question is the way to go. Either way, I promise you the experience and memories will be WORTH IT (when did you ever have a lifechanging experience in a hotel? Just saying). The best memories Alex and I have are all on van road trips we’ve taken. It forces you to be a part of an experience more than hotels ever will. Plus these vans come with built in WIFI so you never have to worry about getting lost, not having connection. Google maps works just fine in Iceland by the way. Also built in sink, mini fridge, kitchen equipment + storage, fold down couch that turns into a bed (was actually suuuuper comfy!) And nice natural light & scenic views outside your window at all times 🙂 We never felt unsafe in Iceland. It’s such a welcoming island community and VERY vancamp friendly.

Hotels on the other hand would have majorly slowed us down with the check-in, check-out times. Especially during the “midnight sun” (the sun doesn’t actually set in the summer months) you’re going to want to take advantage of the extra sight-seeing time you’re given and have the flexibility to find places to sleep on the fly. No matter how much you plan this itinerary out in advance, Iceland weather is unpredictable and plans will change constantly. You may realize you have more time to sightsee this day, or maybe you didn’t get as far as you wanted this day. You definitely want some wiggle room and don’t want to regret having to drive 3 more hours to reach your hotel you booked. It was incredibly easy to find camping along the ring road & it’s all super affordable. I wanna say we spent only $30 our entire trip on camping- WOW! Also just a head’s up, Iceland is a bit more expensive to visit when it comes to food/hotels, one more reason to choose van.

Day 1: Arrival, Quarantine Nap, Pickup Van, Get the Essentials, Explore Reykjavik (Southwest region)

We departed Chicago on a midnight flight. Too amped to sleep, we watched movies and a glorious sunrise instead. Five hours later we were being greeted by Iceland’s purple lupines and a baron flat landscape. Once we arrived at KEF airport, we were guided to our covid test, and then we called our van rental company to come pick us up (free service)!

After picking up our van and getting our groceries + essentials we decided to venture to the Capital of Iceland, Reykjavik to explore their downtown area and the iconic Hallgrímskirkja church. You can go inside and pay a small fee to go all the way to the top for the best view of the town, which I wish we would have done because it would have made for a great vantage point of all the colorful housing and cultural charm which was unlike anything we have seen here in America!

Afterwards, we drove back south to the airport and eastward into Grundavik to see the active volcano nearby. Unfortunately due to fog and poor visibility we could not hike it and so decided to revisit this at the end of our trip. We’d be coming back to this area anyway for a dip in the famous Blue Lagoon (which we had booked for the last day of our stay & I recommend booking in advance due to the popularity)! We crossed our fingers we’d get to see the volcano the second time around, and fell asleep after still feeling groggy from the different schedule!

Day 2: Snaefellsnes Peninsula (Northwest Region)

The official start of the journey! Drive 3 hours to Londrangar Cliffs and the Harbor at Arnarstapi. Explore. **Most of the Snaefellsnes Peninsula attractions are located off of Ring Road and gravel roads are required. Gravel insurance on your rental vehicle is recommended! This made for a bumpy start of our road trip, but the rest of the trip was smooth sailing. We learned that whenever you venture off the Ring Road, you can expect a little more adventure.

The fog during this drive (in one of the most desolate parts of Iceland) made it feel all the more eerie. We watched as the city of Reykjavik faded into a now baron landscape of lime green moss and old lava fields that looked like mint chocolate chip icecream! When we arrived at both Londrangar Cliffs and shortly after, the harbor at Arnarstapi, we were the only tourists there. There is a small visitors parking lot at both locations. Don’t miss getting a glimpse of the harbor before walking the trail to Gatklettur Rock Formation nearby. There are several stone “bridges” as you can walk over and they are all relatively close to the parking lot. Don’t do what we did and walk two hours looking for it!

Drive 20 mins to Búðakirkja Black Church. It’s pitch black paint job along with its isolation make it a unique photo attraction site.

Drive 35 mins to the iconic Kirkjufell Mountain, the iconic wizard-shaped mountain surrounded by waterfalls and rainbows. The sun finally popped and it was truly breathtaking.

We ended our day at Grundarfjordur Camping ground nearby. It was REALLY hard to want to fall asleep when the sun was finally shining, but we knew we had to stick to our sleep schedule and catch a good “night’s” sleep.

Day 3: Husavik (North Region)

Drive 7 hours to Husavik, but along the way stop at Godafoss. (You will quickly learn that names ending in “foss” = waterfall). We groggily woke up in the midnight sun to begin our venture north. It was another very desolate drive which was beautiful but being so exhausted it all felt like a blur in hindsight. All I remember was lots of techno music, sheep, and more lime green landscape. We saw mayyybe two cars the entire 7 hour drive. And no towns except for sporadic homes here and there. It made me wonder what this kind of lifestyle all entails and if these people ever get lonely or if they are much happier this way. We were so happy when we finally reached Godafoss so we could nap again. Once we woke, we stretched our legs and saw our first of the many northern tourist attractions! It was a little nice seeing some people (and public bathrooms) again!

Book a whale watching tour in Husavik.

Husavik is considered the whale watching capital of Europe, and during summer months many whale touring companies will boast 100% success in catching a sighting. It’s also such a picturesque and quaint colorful fishing village. You may recognize it from the movie “Eurovision” starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, which is definitely worth a watch when you need some comedic relief.

Since we had never seen any large ocean mammals before we decided to test our odds! We booked with Gentle Giants and decided on the GG2 tour: Puffins & Big Whales combo. We started with a ride out to Puffin Island which was very interesting seeing Iceland’s iconic bird flying all over and diving into the water – they were very quick and impossible to take photos of! Then a group of dolphins were swimming along our boat and Alex got some awesome video footage of a dolphin swimming right up against the boat. And then last but not least, we cruised over to the other side of the bay (which by the way THIS WAS ALL SO SCENIC AND BEAUTIFUL) and spotted our first whale, a humpback. We were all admiring from afar, and then we noticed more and more surfacing. We were in a pod of 6 whales, which the guide said was extremely rare as they are typically solo animals. They were surfacing all around us and ini the video I’m just repeating “woah…..oh my god…..woah….” like five times over. We were simply blown. It was truly epic and I highly recommend. Even if you don’t see any whales, the experience on the water was so refreshing and breathtaking!

After freezing out on the water, we went for an evening soak in the soothing geothermal waters of the Myvatn Nature Baths.

We naturally wanted to sleep after this, as it was approaching “night time” but technically we had just woken up not too long ago. So we kept exploring the Lake Myvtan area, specifically Krafla geothermal area and the Viti Crater.

Other cool things to explore:

• Town of Akureyri – Known as the “capital of the North” Akureyri is a charming town with plenty of shops and museums. Enjoy the area before hitting the road again to Lake Mvatn area
• Lake Myvatn area: Namskard, Skutustadagigar Pseudocraters (would be cool for a drone shot), Dimmuborgir Lava Field, Grjotagja Hot Spring Cave (go during mid-day otherwise won’t be able to see into the cave thus defeats the purpose of its crazy blue waters) If need a place to stay, Camping Myvatn has great reviews and is very close to everything.
• Asbyrgi Canyon (giant horse shoe shaped depression, rich in folklore with forest in the middle

We ended the day at Dettifoss parking lot to sleep. We were very tired at this point and you’re probably not supposed to sleep “overnight” in the parking lot, but we were too tired to keep driving. We decided to rest our minds and wait until morning to explore.

Day 4: Stuðlagil Canyon + Lots of Driving (North to Southeast Region)

We woke at Dettifoss to the most glorious sunrise I have EVER witnessed. Had we slept even 15 minutes longer, the lighting wouldn’t have been the same. Unfortunately due to recent rain, the main trail that takes you up close and personal to the waterfall was closed off, and although it did look accessible we wanted to be respectful to the “closed” sign. So we admired from up top and took in the sunrise glow. Dettifoss is the most powerful waterfall in Iceland and 2nd most powerful waterfall in Europe and we had it ALL to ourselves. It was unreal and definitely a highlight of our trip, next time we return we will definitely walk all the way up to the edge!

Next we drove 1 hour 45 mins to check out Stuðlagil Canyon, the Basalt Column Canyon in Jökuldalur valley. **Note: THE ROAD IS VERY UNPAVED AND ALONG AN EDGE. Was the most stressful drive we did on our trip, we also missed the turn (its easy to miss) and ended up in a parking lot on the wrong side of the river that still gave view of the canyon from above, but you couldn’t walk down to it and cross the river like the trail we were supposed to take, and the viewpoint seen in the majority travel pictures you see. If you find it on Alltrails app, know that the directions are correct, even though it seems incorrect. You actually DO turn left into the most random, privately owned farm area to park.

Once looped back up with the Ring Road, it took us past this eastern town of Egillstadur, and decided to try out Askur Pizzeria for dinner. (SOO GOOD, order the #1 with wild goose meat!)

After a delicious eat, we drove 45 mins along a beautiful route to see the Hallormsstaðaskógur Forest which if I remember correctly was the only lake along the Ring Road and is a gorgeous area to take photos in the purple lupines! Note: these are an invasive species to Iceland. Although we didn’t pick any wildflowers, this is the one time picking yourself a bouquet is probably OK! 😉

Other cool things to explore :

• Drive 1 hr to the cute little Rainbow Road Town of Seyðisfjörður came highly recommended as best in all of Iceland by multiple peeps. Camp at Seydisfjordur campsite if need to nap. It was a bit out of our way for what we wanted to see next, so we decided to pass.

We ended by driving an additional 4 hours through the jagged fjords in the hazy east coast until we reached our final sleeping destination at Stokksnes, the incredible black sand beach that, with the right conditions, perfectly reflects the peaks of the Vestrahorn Mountains. This came highly recommended by many travelers as their favorite “off the beaten” path spot, so we knew we had to check it out. You can park in the Stokksnes parking lot and then walk to the beach. Or if you go in the bakery you can pay a small “camp” fee to vancamp in their parking lot and also get access past the private gate, which allows access to drive down a road that gets you way closer to the water. Recommend! The owners of the parking lot are also super nice. It was actually my birthday when we woke and when we went in to get coffee the lady gave me a free muffin treat 🙂 So sweet!

Day 5: My birthday! Filled with so many favorite sights! (Southeast to Midsouth region).

After a bite to eat at the cafe it was time to explore Stokksnes! This became one of my favorite spots from the entire trip! We were there around 7am on a Wednesday and had it almost to ourselves (just one other couple off in the distance). The weather was ridiculously windy and cold so unfortunately we couldn’t enjoy for very long as sand was getting in our eyes. The reflection was also very minimal due to the tide being very low. Nevertheless it was still a super cool and worth seeing. I’ve truly never seen any landscape like it. I just wanted to be able to hop from one dune to the next to the next.

We then drove an hour 15 to hike Mulagljufur canyon which took about 2 hours out and back. This was another spot recommended off the beaten path. At first we weren’t sure we were in the right spot (again, trust your Alltrails app!), but eventually you reach a secluded parking lot with tons of other hikers gearing up.

The hike itself was moderate in terms of difficulty, so long as you can handle a steady climb. It looks like it would take a journey to get to this below viewpoint, but based on what we’ve done in Glacier National Park, this was not even in the same ballpark. In fact, we didn’t really do any extreme hikes our entire time in Iceland. Everything was very easy to get to, many times just a 2 minute walk right off the main road. So if you think going to Iceland means involves lots of effort to get the views, it is surprisingly not at all! This whole Iceland trip was the most easiest sight seeing we’ve ever had to do, and by far the most diverse scenery! It’s what allows you to see so much in such a short amount of time.

Afterwards we kept along the main road, now approaching the height of the tourist area – the midsouth. We were crossing a bridge and out of nowhere came this out-of-this-world land of blue. I told Alex to pull over cause we need to stop, little did I know it was the well-known Jökulsárlón / Diamond beach area. This was the first major tourist attraction of the popular southern region, and I instantly understood why. HOLY BLEEP it was incredible. The icebergs, the shapes and colors trickling down the glacier floating into the sea will take your breath away. On the other side of Ring Road, you can walk down to the Diamond Beach, where the icebergs wash up on the black shore like glistening diamonds. My regret is not walking all the way to the water, it was a huge stretch of sand and from what our eyes could tell, there wasn’t many for us to see during summer, but we should have walked all the way to the ocean to check. I guess we’ll just have to return! Also we didn’t see any, but keep an eye out for the seals that call the lagoon and beach home.

We continued on, passing through another purple mountain majesty field of lupines, til we 1 hour late arrived at  Fjadrargljufur Canyon. This was the desktop on my phone and much anticipated location for a looong time. I imagined it being an adventure and long hike to get to, and super remote. When in reality it was a quick 5 minute walk off the main road LOL.

We were getting exhausted so we made the final trek to Skogafoss area to camp (which is really just a parking lot area). When we pulled in, we were thrilled to see the most prime parking lot with the unblocked view of the waterfall was available to us! We could watch it out our bedroom window as we fell asleep and morning when we rose. Everyone parked was already sleeping so we got out and walked up to the fall. This is one of the most photographed spots in Iceland, the way you can walk right up to the base of the waterfall is very unique. I wanted to stay and admire until dawn, it was so special to have this place all to ourselves, but Alex was super tired from driving (don’t blame him!) so we walked back to the van to sing happy birthday, I made a wish,  blew out the candles to my cupcake and drifted off to sleep to the sound of the waterfall’s power.

Other cool things to explore (this area has a LOT, we definitely want to come back and explore the midsouth more):

Svartifoss Waterfall (this fall tumbles down unique basalt columns, which inspired the design of Rekjavik’s Hallgrimskiirkja church).

Skaftafell area of Vatnajökull National Park. Camp within the National Park $4 a night at Skaftafell Camping – HIGHLY rated. Gorgeous view of glaciers. We would have done this but it wasn’t time to sleep yet, and we wanted to keep making progress on our route.

Book the Glacier Explorer tour by Arctic Adventures. Lasts 5.5 hours. We originally booked this tour which would have been awesome to hike on top of a glacier! But we didn’t want to lose an entire day to it. We already felt like we were crossing off so many sites on our original list due to being a littttle too optimistic with how much we’d be able to see in one day. If we didn’t have to backtrack to Reykjavik for our COVID test two days prior to departure, it would have allowed us more time to stick to our original plans. But we wanted to keep making progress in our route. Another reason for us to return! 🙂 Also, if you’re in this area in the wintertime, it would be a MUST to do an Ice Cave tour.

Þakgil campsite for the night! We were highly highly hiiiighly recommended to camp here…it’s in the middle of this mossy green canyon. It’s off the main road about 45 minutes, but it’s not an F road so you don’t need a 4×4. Here’s a pretty good article on what the area is like! I was so bummed to cross this off the list, but it would have taken a day out of our itinerary and after now seeing that many of Iceland is mossy green, it didn’t feel AS necessary. Although still would have been cool to camp in this remote spot.

Day 6: Lots of Water fallin’! (Midsouth region)

We woke up to many more people walking up to the waterfall, now that it was normal sightseeing hours. We walked up again ourselves, this time got much closer (and wet!) It’s so crazy how powerfully loud the sound is crashing down against the ground, Alex got the closest out of anyone I saw and from the look on his face it was well worth it. I tried to get as close but I looked down and realized I was completely drenched. I yelled at Alex my camera was wet and we dashed back to our van. A refreshing way to start the day, that’s for sure!

After Skogafoss make sure to check out Kvernufoss. This one is hidden from the rest of the popular waterfalls on the South Coast, but is actually just located right behind Skogafoss. It is a beautiful short hike leading up to the fall, and make sure to walk all the way behind the fall for the best experience! Hot tip: **WALK** here after visiting Skógafoss so you don’t need to fuss about parking. The hike starts behind the Skógar museum and takes about 20-30 minutes. You can also park at the museum to be closer but will cost you a fee.

Drive to town of Vik & take pictures of Vik Church with Reynisfjara Black volcanic beach in background. I swear Iceland has more churches than people, and they all are so cute! Afterwards, head to the beach for a closeup of the dramatic rocks that jet out of the water. This is one of the most beautiful black sand beaches in the world.

After playing around with the cool basalt columns and boulders on the beach, grab a bite to eat in town and drive an hour west to catch the glorious colors of Seljalandsfoss Waterfall at sunset!

We both had such a natural high after seeing many amazing sights over the past two days, but we had to start making our way back to Reykjavik for our early AM Covid Test. However it did feel a little nice knowing tomorrow would be a slower pace, filled with shopping and the spa. We picked a camping spot just outside the city and said hi to even more horses!

Day 7: Backtrack to Reykjavik for Covid Test (Midsouth to Southwest Region)

Depending what restrictions are still ongoing when you travel to Iceland, you may need to get a COVID test to get back to the US. While we were traveling, this had to be done within 3 days of departure. So we chose Friday for our Sunday flight, knowing it could take up to 24 hours to get our results back. Like our initial COVID test upon entry, this only ended up taking 5 hours to get our results texted/emailed to us.

After our test, we spent some time in the city of Reykjavik exploring the various boutiques and fun cobblestone streets. DO BE AWARE that there are hardly any public bathrooms downtown. You basically have to eat at a restaurant or purchase something at a cafe if you need to go. They do have these weird coin-operated cylindrical “toilet booth” things (think of a telephone booth on the side of a street) that you can access, however expect the cleanliness of a porta-potty. Alex would not recommend lol. All other bathrooms we experienced in Iceland however were phenomenal and very sleek modern clean, just not downtown apparently!

Speaking of sleek & modern, we booked THEEEE BEST spa experience at Sky Lagoon. It’s a brand new facility in Reykjavik with an infinity pool overlooking the ocean, swim up bar, and very luxurious private changing rooms if you book the Sky pass (worth the extra penny). It also comes with the 7 step ritual which mixes hot and cold sensations for ultimate mind/body/soul rejuvenation – also a must during your visit. I’ll do a little compare/contrast of the 3 spas we visited down in the Q/A section at the end!

We stayed at the spa for a total of 3 hours, which I felt was the perfect amount. But we were now getting hangry. We picked up a Dominos pizza and went back to the same campsite as the night before to eat our za & drift off to sleep. Honestly, at this point our hearts were feeling very full and doing more sightseeing didn’t seem necessary??? Aside from the Volcano and Blue Lagoon. Those were musts to still see!

Day 8: The Golden Circle + Snorkeling (Southwest Region)

Our goal today was to finish up the last sights of the Golden Circle. We drove an hour back the way we came to a town we initially drove through called Selfoss, famous for their Icelandic hot dog stand Pylsuvagninn Selfossi – The Hot Dog Stand. We didn’t explore Iceland cuisine all that much (our van had a mini fridge for us to buy groceries and save on $$) but if you are visiting Iceland you have to try the traditional Icelandic Hot Dog. It’s made mostly from Icelandic lamb but also pork and beef and it’s usually served in a warm bun with white raw onion, crispy fried onion, sweet brown mustard, ketchup and remúlaði.

Were the food prices and such higher or similar to US? Are there any other Icelandic staples?

The restaurant prices I would say are more expensive, grocery store seemed pretty comparable slightly more. But you’re also paying for much higher quality local farm fresh food. It’s comparable to eating a nicer restaurant in the US ($15-23 an entree on average). We like to spend our money more on experiences than food, so besides the two restaurant trips, we kept our costs down by buying groceries and making sandwiches – thanks to our van for having a mini fridge that allowed us to do so!

Many things were also closed while we were awake (since we did most of our exploring during the midnight sun). But what we did try was all fantastic. Everything was very fresh and delicious. Their brick oven pizza was the best we’ve ever had – we only went out to eat twice and that’s what we got both times LOL. The tourist towns are still very “small town feel” but must be growing because there were so many brand new, modern architectural restaurants and hotels. Would have loved to have looked inside them!

We did not try their staple of fermented shark and a beer – from every traveler I heard we didn’t miss out on much lol!

Once our healthy 😉 breakfast was demolished we drove just 15 mins to Kerid Crater. I recommend taking the short walk down. You can walk all the way around the crater both above and below but we thought the view right off the main parking lot was really good so we saved our legs the effort.

There are other things to see along the Golden Circle, but we decided to drive 40 mins to Þingvellir National Park, where you can walk the valley between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. 

We booked a snorkeling tour of the Silfra Fissure, the only place in the universe where you can go snorkeling in between two continental plates. We can now say we floated between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, which are slowy drifting apart splitting Iceland in two at a rate of about 1 inch per year. We had never snorkeled before, and I will say that snorkeling in freezing water is NOT for the faint of heart. The amount of dry suits and the way we had to suction cup ourselves was intense LOL….very claustrophobic but hilarious and wish I had a photo of this! It took an hour just to get everything on!

With the air in your suits, it allows you to simply float, look down the clear glacial water 500 feet and enjoy! There were no fish, but exploring the blue lagoon and lime green grasses were such fascinating colors to witness in nature. If you’ve snorkeled before, you may not think it’s as cool as we did, but having never done it before it was a neat experience! Our guide was so calming and reassuring and had his underwater camera ready to take some awesome photos of our group of 6! Unfortunately he had to carry a person in our group who had a panic attack once in water, so there’s not much to share of this. But you can see what we were up to and check out more info here.

After this, it was about 7pm so we  made our way back to the airport area where Blue Lagoon/ Grindavik are located to do the much anticipated volcano hike followed by a final morning dip into the Blue Lagoon before our flight.

For the volcano, we wanted to make sure to hike closer to night time for the best views of glowing lava but DO be careful of nightly fog. We were supposed to hike this our FIRST night into our trip, but some intense fog and poor visibility kept us from doing so. That same night a man actually became separated from his wife in the fog and couldn’t find his way back, and luckily was found many hours later by a rescue team. Do not underestimate the fog here! In a place where there is actively flowing lava and hot magma, it becomes all the more necessary to know where you are stepping.

If it is windy, you may want to check the direction the air is blowing and make sure it won’t be blowing right at you on your hike. For us, the wind was blowing all the smoke from the fires making the air hard to breathe, especially with the steep climb uphill. Remember, the higher you go, the more smoke you’ll likely breathe in as smoke rises. Check weather forecast ahead of time to make sure it is safe to hike.

Lastly, keep in mind the hiking trails may change at any moment, so make sure to follow recent routes. Path A which took you closest unfortunately was recently closed when we went due to lava flow, so we had to do Path B which didn’t take you as close. Although I feel like we did Path C or D cause we saw pictures of other people who went the same time as us who were able to get muchhhh closer. Definitely should have looked into it more, but it was still cool to see from a distance and to get up close and personal with the black flowing lava fields!

Other things we missed:

• Haukadalur Geothermal Valley – home to the great Geysir—the original “geyser”. Its neighbor Strokkur erupts every ten minutes or so, sending boiling water up to 20 m (66 ft) high, and the area is dotted with bubbling hot springs and steaming fumaroles.
• Gullfoss – You can approach it right to its edge to observe its incredible scale and power. We were feeling good on our waterfalls so skipped this one, looks beautiful though.
• Krysuvik – another geothermal area near the Volcano that came recommended to us after our trip

Day 9: BLUE LAGOON & DEPARTURE BACK TO US

We woke up feeling good about last day. We felt we had seen a LOT in the last week and our travel hearts were feeling very full. We didn’t quite reach a point of feeling homesick, but another day and we probably would have! 9 days was just the right amount of time, and we were very excited to go home and see our puppies! One last stop at the iconic Blue Lagoon, then off to the airport we went!

We finished out our trip by saying goodbye to our Happy Campers van & watching one two many good movies on the plane. Our first international trip (and favorite trip ever taken) had come to an end. Bittersweet!

When we got together with friends and family and began telling the stories of our trip, the common theme was how incredible, low-fuss, streamlined, logistically easy this trip was. And we saw more scenery than we ever knew our eyes could see in one week’s time. With it being only a 5-6 hour flight, I was literally telling everyone they just simply must go!

We got very lucky being one of the first travelers back into the country so tourist numbers were way down from usual. That along with doing majority of our sightseeing during the midnight sun when most people were sleeping….at times we felt we had the whole island to ourselves. We feel truly lucky that this window opened up at the perfect time and we were able to experience Iceland in a way not many people can anymore now that it is increasing in popularity. Definitely go and see it for yourselves. It is a million times more magical than any of these photos will ever be! I still can’t believe I did this all without my professional camera gear in hand. Majority of these are Iphone actually! Which only goes to show how anyone can take images like this, because Iceland is truly incredible and it doesn’t take a lot to showcase it’s beauty.

And now to answer some of the most commonly asked questions we received!

Bless Bless (“bye bye”!)

If you’ve made it this far, thank you sooo much for being here! I hope you’ve found something helpful you can take away on your next trip to Iceland. And if you found any of this helpful, I’d love to hear in the comments below as well as any other questions you have! Thanks again & stay adventurous! – Meghan