Ahh, the trip of my Game of Thrones dreams! A land of waterfalls, glaciers, puffins and rocky seashores. This August my boyfriend and I were looking for a destination that would get us somewhere outdoorsy, somewhat exotic, and not break the bank. We had only a week, so Asia was feeling a bit too far. Once we realized the dates we had in mind lined up nicely with peak season in Iceland, it was decided!

EXPERIENCE

Upon departure from the central sites (see Reyjavik and Golden Circle post), we began our Icelandic adventure on the Ring Road headed South. We chose to tackle the famed Ring Road in a counterclockwise fashion, though this was not for any particular reason. Our first stop after hitting the geothermal designations of the Golden Circle was the Kerið Volcano Crater. While we would see a crater more impressive later in out journey this was a fun quick stop.

From here we contented on to Vatnajökull National Park. This national park takes up 13% of Iceland and is broken into a Northern portion, Jökulsárgljúfur, and a southern portion, Skaftafell. On the way to Skaftafell we stopped roadside to check out one of our favorite waterfalls of the trip, Seljalandsfoss Falls. This is falls is very tall and begs a walk behind it. We explored this area for a while enjoying the sheep and expansive black riverbeds. We attempted an excursion further on to Þórsmörk, but were not able to get past a pop up river that our little Yaris could not ford. We took a drive down to Vestmannaeyjar, to see if we wanted to take the ferry trip out to this puffin swarming island, but decided against it since we arrived late in the day and it was stormy. That evening we slept on top of waterfall Skógafoss. This was one of our favorite moments of the trip. The river above the falls was simply enchanted and seems to go on and on with more waterfalls nestled in lush green hills. Despite impending storms, we raced back to the car to get our camping gear and climb back up the falls to set up before dark and enjoy this magical place. 

In the morning we quickly visited Vik, with it’s black beaches and neat rock formations, then continued on to Skaftafell. Here we took the hike to Svartifoss (Black Fall). This was over run with tourists, and in hindsight not worth the long walk. We also checked out the massive Vatnajökull Glacier and floating icebergs which would shortly be outdone by our more impressive stop at the Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon. This place was super cool- seals and icebergs on a back drop of the Vatnajökull Glacier. From here it was on to the southern city of Höfn for a quick meal and final grocery stock up before heading north via the windy and rocky seaside roads and the Highlands. We spent the night in the Highlands in a cute little Airbnb cottage in Egilsstaðir. 

From here we made our way further north to the Northern potion of the park, Jökulsárgljúfur. Along the way we crossed the River Jökulsá á Fjöllum. Dettifoss is an impressive stop and the most powerful waterfall in Europe. Up the road make a quick stop to see Selfoss and Hafragilsfoss. These are smaller falls, but lovely vantage points surrounded with strange red gravel and rock. As we reentered the park, we stopped at the visitor center in Ásbyrgi Canyon. We were unable to visit the Silent Ice Caves at Kverkfjoll  or get to Ásbyrgi because we did not have a super jeep to get us across the moving water and snow. This was disappointing, but not a total surprise. Had we had more time, I think hitchhiking in would have been a good alternative here. 

We went onto our most northern destination, Húsavík. Here we enjoyed the harbor, camping on the North Atlantic and whale watching. Though we didn’t see a ton of wildlife, the experience was fun. From here we proceeded to the geothermal region of Mývatn-Krafla. This area is situated around Lake Mývatn. Spend time here visiting the impressive crater. Drive the circuit at Mývatn, taking in the steaming Grjótagjá Fissure, the Tephra Explosion Crater Hverfell, the Kalfarströnd, Lava Columns, and the Skútustaðagígar Pseudocraters. Hverir is a very strange area of boiling mud pots and steaming rock formations.

This was an awesome afternoon that was ended on a high note with a visit to yet another impressive waterfall- Goðafoss. We had a funny experience after getting off schedule here and ended up spending the night in a nursing home, a generous offer from our original Airbnb host. This was quite funny and allowed us to enjoy a great sunset and evening in a little town. We went on to the Westfjords from here. We stopped at the Museum of Witchcraft and Scorcery along the way, which was a strange and perhaps not worthwhile visit. The fjords were gorgeous. We had chilly, wet weather and did not see any puffins on the Latraburg Cliffs. The drive was much more difficult and strenuous than we imagined and at times we debated if it was worth it. The condition of the steep roads is okay at best and the payout is mediocre. However, thinking back on our trip, some of these rocky seascapes we stunning, we had a very memorable day gathering mussels in the bay and one of our most fun camping nights of the trip here. 

As we rounded back around towards our home base of Reykjavik, we spend one evening on the in Snæfellsnes National Park. Skip the little towns of Hellnar and Arnarstapi, we didn’t find much here that was interesting. This park is home to the Snæfellsjökull Glacier which was clouded in for our entire visit. More lava fields and volcano craters stud this landscape, and though we were somewhat exhausted could not help but savor last glimpses of.  We camped at the base of the illusive glacier none the less and enjoyed a last evening in the pristine wilderness before heading back for a final evening in the city and flight home.

This was an amazing and beautiful trip. Perhaps the most gorgeous country I have ever visited. If I ever return I’d love to hike the Laugavegur Trail his destination to anyone taken with natural landscapes, willing to navigate an entire country solo and not bothered by some time in the car. 

STAY

I’m going to use this space to throw in a couple thoughts on rental cars in Iceland. Let me start by letting you know they are expensive, like REALLY expensive- all of them. I did some research early on on how to make this destination affordable, and rental cars can be a real issue.  on top of the prices there are some costly considerations around car choice, 4WD and Super Jeeps are required to access the Highlands are other remote portions of the country (like the Ice Caves). Because of the difference in rental price and gas consumption, we opted to forgo some of these tough to reach destinations and go with the cheapest little guy our money could get us the used Toyota Yaris. I found a great little shop called SadCars (yes, seriously) that rents beat up, but still highly functioning vehicles at a MUCH more reasonable rate than the international competitors that rent newer cars. I’d check this out if price is at all a concern in planning your trip. The car was manual transmission, so this was a good opportunity to learn how to drive stick on long open roads.

Lodging-wise, we split our evenings between camping and Airbnb stays. Camping is unique in Iceland because pretty much any place imaginable is fair game. While there are designated camping areas with showers and water, we tended to avoid these in favor of more remote spots with water access. From sea cliffs in the fjords, to beach spots in the north and set ups on the top of waterfalls in the south, camping was one of the highlights of the trip. Be sure to pack warm bags and coats and expect wind and rain. This style of travel works well in Iceland were hotels are unimpressive, few and far between and way too expensive. 

EAT

Eating was certainly not a highlight of my travels. To keep theme with our road trip, most of our meals along the Ring Road were enjoyed in the front seat of our car or in our tent. We bought groceries often at convenient stores or bigger grocers and used our camp stove to prepare hot items or dehydrated food we had packed. The produce is some of the worst I have seen anywhere so we ate a little more cheese, crackers and salami than one probably should. While in Husavik we had an excellent pizza meal on the harbor which was a nice change of pace. While in Hofn in the south we also had a nice meal out, having langoustine, which is considered a local highlight. Puffin, horse meat sausage and pickled sheep parts managed to escape out culinary reach this visit, but it’s worth a read to hear about some of the strange nordic items once considered delicacies here.