travel the world: Iceland
I spent ten days exploring the south coast of Iceland with Alia, her boyfriend Oliver, and my friend Jenn.
My impressions:
* The scenery is jaw-dropping - it can’t be captured by images, you have to be there! It truly is as remarkable as it seems - more so, really.
* That said, a week would have been sufficient - after countless waterfalls, black sand beaches, and glaciers, we really felt like we’d had our fill. What is at first remarkable can become almost common-place with enough exposure and repetition.
* The weather is a real challenge - we had a couple of days with beautiful sunbreaks, but most of the time it rained. And I mean, RAINED. Also wind, heavy clouds, and grey, grey, grey skies. This makes it really difficult to do anything because there’s really nothing of note to do indoors - you go to Iceland to be outside, period. And even if you bring good raingear, the combination of rain, strong winds, and socked-in fog can deter even the most determined of hikers.
* We were able to go everywhere we wanted, and find good weather pockets, but taking advantage of the never-ending daylight. For instance, several days we got up at 2am and hit the trail because the only time no rain was forecast for the day was 2am - 5pm! This also provided the advantage of few crowds - or no one at all. We had several waterfalls and beaches completely to ourselves.
* Even in high season, we didn’t find the crowds oppressive - there’s just so much space and so much to see, it felt like people spread out. And, the crowds can be easily avoided by going early in the morning or late in the evening (remember, never-ending daylight!)
* Iceland is EXPENSIVE. I mean, everything - rental car, gas, lodging, and especially food. Food is SO expensive! And while it was good quality most places, it was almost impossible to get fruit. After ten days, I came home and ate almost nothing but fruit for a week!
* Self-driving is no problem, and it’s easy to access just about everywhere (except things like hiking on glaciers) without an organized tour. We created our own itinerary and didn’t use guides the entire time, and didn’t feel like we missed out on anything we would have liked to see or so.
* Service throughout the entire country was friendly and professional, and service at the restaurants was unbelievably quick. This was true whether it was a pizza joint or fine dining. We would typically get our food within five minutes of ordering . . . it was so notable that it became a game to see if we could keep up the streak through the entire trip. Really remarkable!
* I’m really glad I visited Iceland and it was extraordinary in so many ways. That said, I don’t feel any need to return, especially given the weather and expense.
On our first day, we landed at 6am, grabbed breakfast in Reykavik, and drove straight to the Reykjadalur Valley. We hiked about two miles in (and up), past grazing Icelandic sheep and steaming thermal pools, until we reached the river. The merging of the thermally heated river and a cool stream made the water just the right temperature; it was wild to sit in the middle of a flowing river that felt like a bathtub! Well worth the hike, and one of my favorite outings of the entire trip. Luckily, we had beautiful weather - which was not to last, as we’d soon learn.
Afterwards, we stopped at Olverk Pizza and Brewery for a quick bite - the pizza and salads were served incredibly fast and were surprisingly delicious.
We stayed the first two nights at ION Adventure Hotel - which turned out to be our favorite lodging of the entire trip. The rooms were modern, minimalist with comfy touches (like beautiful Lopi blankets), the lounge had views to die for (upper left), and the thermal pool (upper right) and sauna were perfect after a long day. Our dinner was delicious, the staff friendly, and there was free laundry service :)
On the second day, we got up very early (although it was hard to tell, since it never really got dark) and drove to Gulfoss Falls. We were early enough that we had the entire place to ourselves, and it was a stunning sight, especially without hordes of people to fight for the view.
We had a few hours of rare sunshine, so we could really enjoy the views as we drove the almost-empty roads. We saw lots of sheep, but hardly any people :)
We put in some extra drive time on the second day after noticing that the weather was going to significantly worsen. It was worth several hours on the road to experience Seljalandsfoss and Glufrabui (my personal favorite, because you had to work your way through the narrows and inside the cliff in order to fully see it).
By day three, the weather had completely gone to hell - rain, high winds, socked in fog. Desperate to find a workaround, we got up the next two mornings at 2am to take advantage of the small window of good weather. Frankly, it wasn’t any great loss to leave our hotel (Hotel Kria), which was subpar, at best.
The entire town of Vik is ideally situated to see the sights of the south coast, but it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of food and lodging. We did find some bright spots, however: the Skool Beans (housed in a repurposed schoolbus) for coffee and hot chocolate, Sudur Vik for an excellent lunch/dinner, and browsing through Katla Wool Studio’s selection of warm and colorful hand-knit Icelandic sweaters.
At that early hour of the morning, we had Reynisfjara black sand beach all to ourselves. It really was remarkable - like nature in black and white. Jenn even managed a few shots of the puffins up high on the cliff with her telephoto lens.
We also had Skogafoss all to ourselves, and we hiked up the steep stairs right at sunrise (around 3am), where we had a stunning view of the countryside, the top of the waterfall, and a small herd of sheep mamas and babies (sheep photo courtesy of Alia).
Shortly outside the entrance to Skogafoss, we found the ultimate photoshoot spot - lupine in the foreground, waterfall in the background. We felt very lucky to have it all to ourselves AND have a few minutes of good weather to take our photos!
The next morning we were up early again - with more bad weather coming in, we grabbed a few minutes at the church above Vik for some stunning lupine photos, and then headed east toward the glaciers, driving through heavy fog and a lot of rain.
We stayed the next night at Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon - very remote, nothing much nearby. It was nice but nothing spectacular (although very expensive, probably because of its remote location). It was the perfect launching point to visit Diamond Beach (above) and Glacier Lagoon (below) - truly incredible, photos can’t even begin to represent. All along the drive, we had views like the one above of the glaciers, reaching down almost to the road. It truly felt like another planet at this far southeastern part of the country. The weather was poor - heavy clouds and intermittent rain - but the atmosphere it created somehow seemed appropriate to the scenery.
Icy blue glaciers floating in Glacier Lagoon - the rain started back up, and the fog began to roll in, so we stayed for only a few minutes.
The next morning we hiked Mulagljufur Canyon - very steep and slippery in places, and I wish we’d had clear views, but it was still worth it. The fog rolled in and out, making it seem mystical and magical - I kept waiting for dragons to fly out of the mist :) And the sheep were clearly enjoying it - can you see them in the two photos above? I think Icelandic sheep must be related to mountain goats!
By late that morning, it was evident that the weather wasn’t going to improve and the fog wasn’t going to clear out, so we decided to leave a day early and drive west, chasing the sun. It immediately became clear that this was a good call - we found sun almost right away :)
Against all odds, the weather was stunning by the time we got back to Vik, and we had spectacular views from Dyrholaey Lighthouse of the arch (officially called the Dyrholaey Promontory) and down on Reynisfjara black sand beach. Even on a day with the best possible weather, crowds were manageable and it felt like there was enough space for everyone.
That night, we returned to ION Adventure Hotel for one additional unscheduled night, to enjoy the lounge and the thermal pool, and to be ready for our drive the next day.
The next day, we drove through Selfoss, with a quick stop for lunch in Grindavik, and onto the Blue Lagoon. We actually stayed at the Hotel Silica - beautifully done, modern and comfortable, with its own blue lagoon that we had absolutely all to ourselves most of the time! We ate dinner at the Blue Lagoon’s Lava Restaurant (very good), and got a peek at the “actual” Blue Lagoon - so crowded, it looked like a Disney ride, no thank you!
We spent the final day in Reykavik - really an unnecessary stop, since we’d already been to the city twice before, but we got to see the Rainbow Road, with the famous Hallgrimskirkja church in the background. We also got one more stop at Sandholt, our favorite breakfast restaurant with the world’s most amazing hot chocolate, and a surprisingly authentic Italian dinner at Caruso.
Our flights left the next day - on Icelandair, unfortunately (which has to be the world’s worst airline!). But it was a straight shot to Boston (for me) and Portland (for the kids), so that allowed us to successfully navigate the summer travel traffic.