July, 2018

THE SNAPSHOT

Iceland was an all around incredible trip, and extremely easy to get to from the Midwest or East Coast of the US. We referred to Iceland as “the land of desktop screensavers” because each stop was more and more unreal. Flights to Iceland were cheap, but once you’re there plan to spend money on food and accommodations. It’s perfect for nature and adventure, and has such a peaceful, cozy, and refreshing vibe. We went in the summer when the temperature is tolerable, but I’d love to experience a winter trip to see the Northern Lights!

THE DETAILS

DAY 1

We arrived in the morning in Reykjavik after taking the red eye from Chicago, which was a very quick and easy flight.

We picked up our rental car at the airport, a MUST to get around Iceland, but PRO TIP be sure to book an automatic car unless you’re a pro with a stick shift. That was a major crisis averted… Once we got our proper car sorted, our first stop was the Blue Lagoon, a photo op essential if you are going to Iceland. It is near the airport so most people will advise you to make it either your first or last stop for efficiency, so we decided to kick off our Iceland trip at this iconic setting. If you DO go straight from the airport, pack your bathing suit in an easily accessible place!

There are several options of what you can actually do at the lagoon, but essentially it is a hot springs. We booked the basic package but you can upgrade to get a robe, massage, etc. PRO TIP make sure you book online beforehand because it fills up. We stayed for a few hours, then spent the rest of the day exploring downtown Reykjavik and getting settled into our Air BNB.

The downtown area is really cute with lots of shops and reminds me of a ski town vibe. We especially liked walking down a street called Bankastræti, which has a lot of shops and cafes. The art museum was also nice.

Another place we loved was Hlemmur Square, and indoor market (kind of like a VERY tiny version of Chelsea market) with a bunch of different stalls inside. It’s a great and affordable option for any meal. 

DAY 2

The focus of our day was Snæfellsjökull National Park, a little over a 2 hour drive one way from the downtown area of Reykjavik (but in the opposite direction of Vik and the Golden Circle). It’s beautiful and has tons of different hike options. I would definitely recommend the coastal walk from Arnarstapi to Hellnar. Both ends have some cute cafes to stop for lunch.

The park was incredibly stunning, with amazing coastal views and cave-like structures.

That evening, we had a delicious dinner at an Icelandic restaurant called Market Grill in Reykjavik with several vegan options (make a reservation in advance). Be warned, the food in Iceland is not cheap, but very fresh and high quality.

DAY 3

On Day 3, we began our drive towards Vik with some amazing stops along the way. PRO TIP download the offline Google Maps ahead of time as you never know when you’re going to have service on the drive. Our first stop was Seljalandsfoss/Gljúfrabúi, two waterfalls right by each other that are super cool to walk up to. PRO TIP wear water resistant clothing if you don’t want to get wet! Our next stop was Skógafoss, my favorite site. You can walk up to the top of a waterfall and then hike for as long as you want. There’s a huge trail that looks like a big National Park with amazing views of the falls. We also went to Sólheimajökull, glaciers that we walked up to, but you can do a glacier walk if you book ahead of time.

We spent the evening in Vik, and took a night time walk down to Black Beach, a beautiful black rock/sand beach. Even at 10pm it was still light out! Apparently if you go at night around 10pm you may be able to see puffins, but sadly we were not so lucky.

DAY 4

We took another morning walk on the Black Beach, then hit the road for a 2ish hour drive to the Silfa fissure. We had heard about a very cool excursion where you can go snorkeling through tectonic plates. This sounded too unique to pass up! There are several companies you can find that offer this experience, just be sure to book ahead of time. Unlike the typical snorkeling I am used to, for this one you wear a thin layer of warm clothes and then they give you a “dry suit”, which is airtight and keeps you completely dry. I learned the hard way that a bikini won’t do it… Although I’m biased because I was severely underdressed, it’s still pretty uncomfortable because your face and hands are exposed and the water is FREEZING! We thought it was an awesome experience but also couldn’t wait for it to be over.

DAY 5

On our last day, we had the first half of the day to explore what we could of the Golden Circle. We did not have enough time to fully experience every stop, (from Reykjavik we pretty much just did the Northern half of the circle which is about an hour’s worth of driving one way), including Thingvellir (National Park with some trails), Strokkur (cool geysers), and Gulfoss (INCREDIBLE waterfall).  The other places we heard were great but didn’t make it to were Bruarfoss (a waterfall we couldn’t find! Kept getting stopped by private property gates), the Secret Lagoon, and Kerid Crater.

Then it was time to return to the airport for our evening flight! It was such a unique, cool trip with a landscape I had never experienced.