Iceland

Iceland has been on our list of places to visit for a very long time. I even found notes from ten years ago when we tried to visit. We felt like spending one week would be a great taste of Iceland, doing the south and west areas of the island, and that two weeks may be needed to do the entire loop (and summer weather). We had a week off school to use in October and figured this could work. This is probably about as late as you would want to go for general tourism (although there are plenty of winter excursions if that is your preferred vacation). We did need to protect sunlight activities and drive in the dark some at this time of year.

Saturday

We flew direct from Dublin and landed around 1pm. We were able to get the rental car and be on the road to Vik by 2. We quickly stopped at a grocery and grabbed some water and a couple light snacks knowing that we could shop that night in Vik. We wanted to be out there by 5 or so to take in a couple sites around town before it was dark. Our drive was quite rainy and overcast, but generally pretty easy. We got to Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach around 5:30pm and we were just starting to get some colors of sunset. It was a really nice area with waves crashing on the basalt columns, but calmer waves on the beach. There were a lot of people out viewing the sunset, including a wedding party.

After a couple people got wet, we headed over to town to eat at Black Crust Pizzeria. It was pretty busy but it worked out. We dropped two people off to wait in line to order while the rest of dropped our bags off at Vik Apartments. When we got back, they had ordered and found a table to sit. After dinner we hit the Kronan grocery store for breakfast stuff, lunch food, and more snacks for the car, as our next couple days would not be near any services.

Sunday

We got on the road around 8:30am. The sun was just coming up as we left and it was nice over the mountains. We first stopped at Dyrhólaey cliffs, just west of Vik. It was quite nice and we enjoyed watching the waves crashing. We also noticed snow atop the mountains in the distance to the north.

Our next stop was Solheimajokull glacier. We walked 10 minutes to the viewing platform. Then a few of us walked out to the glacier. There isn't really a good place to safely get on without a guide, but we were able to get on a bit of ice just barely. There were lots of little chunks of ice that had washed up next to the lake. The next stop was Skógafoss waterfall. This is pretty tall with a large carpark. Kacey and Nolan hiked up, while we just stayed down for the views. I went ahead and made a couple sandwiches to eat so we could start driving once everyone was back. The final stop on the south part was Seljalandsfoss waterfall. These are pretty cool and you walk behind them. Nolan walked the loop with us. We stopped in the nearby town of Hvolsvollur to get fuel and buy a couple things at the Kronan grocery store.

We headed an hour north to Gullfoss falls. There is a large carpark here and a big cafe and visitor center. There is a walk to an upper view and stairs down to the lower view. We felt the upper view was better and easier. The sun was great and we even saw a rainbow in the falls. Next was Geysir Park. There are several little smoke holes here and one large geyser. Strokkur Geyser goes off every 8-10 min and is pretty tall. We all got a real good look at a big release and some smaller ones as well.

We them drove to Brúarfoss falls. These are small but pretty and blue. Being off the beaten track made them less busy too. We enjoyed the view a bit and then headed to Efstidalur farm for some fresh made ice cream. The cows were in the barn attached to us, so we were seated next to them while eating ice cream. Also, their spoons are edible cookies! We then started the long drive out to our apartment in the west peninsula. We ended up on not the greatest road for about 11 km, which in the dark was a bit stressful, but we made it to Borgarnes for dinner around 7:30. We ate at Bara and enjoyed our meal. We made it to Eiðhús Apartments by 9 or so.

Monday

We got up and ate some breakfast in the room. We headed out for Snæfellsnes peninsula around 9am and started couter-clockwise at 54-56 intersection on the south side. There were morning clouds but we had good visibility. We started going north over the mountain. Our first stop was Selvallafoss waterfalls. It was hidden from the road but glad we ventured out to have a look. Very pretty and poured out into a lake. A couple minutes north the road ended and we headed west on 54. We stopped at the road to the shark museum (closed for the season) and parked to look at and quickly walk in the lava rock fields, Berserkjahraun. Next we stopped for views at Kolgrafarfjördur Viewpoint. This was really pretty and had a story about an Icelandic Saga.

We next drove through the little town of Grundarfjörður and took a picture of a little church with the mountains in the background. We continued out of town to Kirkjufell falls and mountain. This is a famous picture spot, and is the front cover to Rick Steve's Iceland book. It was beautiful and can't imagine a full sunny day there. We spent almost 30 minutes taking in the view. We went back in to town to use the public wc, after we were able to find it.

We drove about 30 minutes along the coast to Svöðufoss falls. This was an easy walk back to the falls. Kacey took the boys up the side of the hill to the top of the falls. Next we stopped in the town of Hellissandur where the Snæfellsjökull National Park visitors center in located. We thought we may eat a real lunch here, but didn't see much. So a few people ate some cake and soup and lunch sandwiches in the car.

We got back on the road around 1:30 and headed toward Skarðsvík Beach and Svörtuloft Lighthouse. The road was in pretty bad shape and had to drive quite slow. But the beach was worth it. Also, the lighthouse had a view of a neat cliff. We headed toward the Saxhóll Crater. We walked up 385 steps and the view with the mountain from the crater top was better than seeing inside the crater. Next was Djúpalónssandur beach and shipwreck. This is a big open beach with old shipwreck pieces strewn about. The area is protected so the pieces are left alone. There is also a nice overview for those that don't want to walk down to the beach area. We spent about 30 minutes exploring.

Next we stopped at Lóndrangar. It was raining a bit here so Kacey ran out by herself to the viewpoint. This is a picturesque spot in the sun. We continued on to Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge. The rain ended again so we walked up to the gorge. With the layout of the land, it doesn't look steep from the car park, but it is more intense than it looks! We were able to go in the gorge some (you enter the base opening) but most of us were limited due to shoes. Kacey, having proper wellies, went in pretty far. The boys ran up the side of the mountain to a patch of snow and brought some back. We then stopped for dinner in the town of Arnarstapi. There were actually a couple food options. We didn't really time for viewing the stone arch at the sea. We picked Stapinn for dinner and it was pretty good. We got back for bed for early rise to drive for the next morning's tour.

Tuesday

We left at 7:45 for 9:45 arrival at "Into the Glacier" Ice Cave Tour in Húsafell. Snow had fallen but we got there with buffer time we factored in. Our tour started at 10, we actually left around 10:15. They loaned us some water proof over-boots to start. We climbed in to a beast of a machine that is an old NATO missile truck. It took about 30 minutes to ascend to their base camp, and our guide told stories along the way, including Eric's Glacier. We stopped for toilets and just a bit of pictures and snow playing. Then we drove another 25-30 minutes up to the tunnel near the top of Langjökull Glacier. We really lucked out as the view was perfectly clear. We could even see the Snæfellsjökull glacier, about 125 miles away. We had heard the day before they couldn't see 20 feet due to fog. Once we got in the cave, we walked on rubber mats to a room with benches where we put on crampon chains. We walked in quite a ways and heard stories along the way. After 30 minutes we reached the cathedral room. We learned about a wedding that has taken place there and our guide sang a Icelandic lullaby. Learned about the self-healing fissure, summer (dirt) rings, and blue ice where more water was prevalent. It took about 15 minutes to walk back out, we were inside about an hour. On the way down we heard more stories, and learned about the largest forest, which is near Husafell.

We left around 2pm and headed to two nearby waterfalls, favorites of our guide. Hraunfossar and Barnafoss Waterfalls (mother and daughter saga). The first was unique in how the water looks like it is running out of rocks for a hundred yards or so. The second looks like a deep cut torrent of glacier water. Next was Deildartunguhver, a district heating source. It was pretty neat to be up close walking around the steam vents and bubbling boiling water.

We decided to drive about an hour back north, backtrackking, to see the Gerðuberg Basalt Cliffs, as the main roads had gotten better. Maybe it wasn't worth the drive out of the way, but the two times we drove by it was dark. We made it in to our apartment around 6:30 in Reykjavik. We ate dinner next door at a food hall. We had pizza, Mexican, Icelandic, and Italian gelato.

Wednesday

We finally slowed down a bit today. We walked toward Hallgrimskirkja and stopped in a bakery on the way. Once at the church we went up the tower lift and it happened to be in time for the bells at 11. Then we listened to some organ music once back down in the sanctuary. We walked down toward Rainbow St and checked a few shops. The one public toilet was closed so we had to buy drinks at a restaurant and use their toilet. Colin and I then went for hotdogs at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, a famous hotdog place.  We decided to walk back to hotel and to go to Sky Lagoon in the afternoon.

We obtained reservations for 2:30 and acutally got in the water around 2:45. We did the seven traditional steps, including a cold plunge. We bought a couple drinks along the way as well. We left around 5:15 and enjoyed our time there.

For dinner we bought the kids pizza and the adults went to Brass Kitchen. The lamb was good.

Thursday

Today was more driving to go back to the Golden Circle to see a few things we had missed previously. We started by going to the Geothermal Exhibition at Hellisheidi Power Station. For some engineers, this was a pretty fun way to spend an hour. There was stuff for kids and views of the turbines and generators. We headed east more and stopped in Hveragerði for the Reykjafoss Waterfall. Not that grand but we were across the street from a public (heated) outdoor pool. People were out doing laps.

We then drove to Hespa in Selfoss. Hespa is a yarn and wool company and we visited on of their studios where they do dying and have a little showroom of equipment and processes. Kacey loved it. Next we had a reservation at the Bobby Fischer museum. Iceland gave him residence status and he lived here until he died. We also visited his grave site just outside of town. Mike had a great time visiting and reading while the boys played a quick game of chess.

After eating a little food we headed north to Thingvellir (Þingvellir) National Park. We hadn't researched this too much but when we got there we realized it is mostly a commemorative grounds for the first Icelandic government. It also has nice views and the Silfra Fissure, a place people snorkel between two continental plates. It was very windy and chilly but the sun came out later and got quite nice. We watched snorkelers, and walked the creeks between plates. We also walked by the old church and Prime Minister's summer residence. We then drove around to the visitor's center, located above the cliffs. The views were nice and we bought some hot chocolate.

Finally we drove by Þórufoss falls on our way back to Reykjavik. It was a quick hike down to get close to the large, powerful waterfalls. Back in Reykjavik we had a quick dinner at chipper and bought some chocolates to share.

Friday

This day we slept in, and our only plans were to walk around Reykjavik. The adults headed toward Rainbow Street, following a walking tour. We stopped at BakaBaka bakery for a few random things. I then had another hotdog. Then we walked along the harbor to the Harpa Concert Hall. We walked around inside a bit. We continued Rick Steve's walking tour doing a small loop. After dodging some rain we saw a big double rainbow. I had been spotting something called happy marriage cake in a few shops and I finally had one at Brauð & Co. It was very good! And yes, I shared. Later in the afternoon I took a scooter ride along the north shore to the west shore. I met Colin for another hotdog and walked back with them.

Kacey and I finally had dinner at Old Iceland, after trying a couple other nights. It was very good and we bought all the food.

Saturday

We packed up and headed south to the Reykjanes peninsula. That night we would stay near the airport for a very early departure. We reached Kleifarvatn Lake around 10:00. It was a little frosty but the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds and it was pretty. We headed south a few minutes to Seltún Geothermal Area. This was pretty neat with a lot of bubbling pools and a boardwalk around. Next we drove by Green Lake, but the clouds didn't really let the lake show off its essence, which we were able to see from the car.

Just further south down the road was Krýsuvíkurkirkja church. This was a scenic black church out in the countryside. We then headed down to the coastline to see the Krísuvíkurberg Cliffs. The sun was bursting out of the clouds while we were here. There isn't much to keep you away from the cliff edge, just a little chain link up to your waist. Further west down the coast we came to Hópsnes Lighthouse and shipwreck. The lighthouse wasn't much to look at but the couple shipwrecks in the area all have plaques and tell the stories of what happened.

Then we were in to Grindavik for lunch. Many places were closed but we found Papa's. It was good! The fish and chips were fantastic, the pizza was good, and we even tried an old local dish, hakari, or fermented shark. Many places were closed as this area is experiencing volcanic eruptions.

After lunch we drove to Brimketill lava rock pool. This was really cool with big waves splashing all around. If you wait long enough for a big one, you get wet. There was another great rainbow on our way out. Next we drove to Gunnuhver hot springs. This stop is not as interesting but it is really hot. We then drove out to Reykjanes Lighthouse and Valahnúkamöl cliffs. The sun was great in the sky and the area was quite nice. There was also a neat museum piece in the lighthouse.

Next was the Bridge Between Continents. It was busy when we got there, but it emptied out and was interesting to comprehend. I can imagine in the summer it probably gets super crowded. We drove back to Stampar and Kacey and I walked to the fissure. It was an interesting landscape. We drove to the airport area for hotel rooms at Konvin. After unloading, we drove back out to Hafnir for sunset views. Dinner at the hotel was decent enough.

Thoughts

We got lucky with no real travel delays for late October and the one day we thought we might have one, we just got up earlier to get more time on the road. We planned around shorter days. We saw a large amount of Iceland in eight days. We were busy most days while the sun was up. When driving in remote areas, you need to have food and water with you. Everything is cashless, we never even obtained any kronas. Things are very expensive, just expect that in your planning. We picked Sky Lagoon over Blue Lagoon as it is in Reykjavik. They are similar experiences and we enjoyed Sky.