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Here’s a rough recount of our itinerary. Also tried to post daily for this one on my instagram, went okay!

Note: Here’s a brief lesson in Icelandic to help you with the names. When you see anything ending in ‘foss’, it’s a waterfall. Okay, you’re ready.

Day 1: Sun 8/28/2016 – Reykjavik

  • Arrived in Reykjavik, landed 6am
    • Icelandair, direct from Denver! Note: buy food in airport. Purchase only on plane.
  • Met up w/ travel buddies, picked up Rental car (09 Subaru Forester) from agency near the airport
  • Drove to Reyjkavik, walked around a bit, grabbed breakfast+coffee at a random place we walked into: Fish and More. Smoked salmon. Good! I recommend.
  • Drove the Golden Circle
    • Gullfoss (hint: waterfall. first of many. absolutely incredible)
    • Strokkur (awesome fountain geyser, erupts every 7 min or so)
    • Efstidalur – farm hotel. We just got ice cream here :)
  • Stopped at grocery store after it finally opened around 11, after trying twice and hitting different closed ones. Grrr.
  • Blue Lagoon at 8pm, watched sunset. Expensive, crowded, and touristy, but was nice to relax in a hot spring (one of only 2 we did). And the water really is blue.
  • Tried to hit up some bars in Reykjavik, but Sunday night is not exactly the best time for this. Ended up eating at popular little hot dog stand that was thankfully opened after the bars’ kitchens closed. Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur. Though pretty sure it was pork. Supposed to order with ‘the works’. It tasted quite unusual, mostly I think due to the sweet, fried onion, and the special sauce.
  • Slept in AirBnB near Reykjavik, lovely farm guest house w/ horses outside

Day 2: Mon 8/29

  • Woke up late due to some awful jet lag
  • Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park.
    • Almannagjá (tectonic/lava gorge you walk through)
    • Used to be the seat of the Icelandic national parliament. But if there were remains, we hiked a mountain and got lost instead of seeing that. Good views though, esp of the huge lake!
  • Back to Reykjavik for the evening, tried some “traditional Icelandic” tapas, including Kjötsúpa (lamb meat soup – amazing!), mink whale (I know, I feel terrible), Skyr-based deserts (Skyr is an Icelandic yogurt reminscent of greek yogurt, and it is everywhere), dried fish with butter.
  • Walked around Reykjavic some more, including Hallgrímskirkja (cool concrete church, sticks out like a proudly sore thumb compared to the rest of the city)
  • Wanted to do Hveradalir (natural hot spring, 2-hr hike), but ran out of time.
  • Slept in AirBnB in Hvolsvöllur, briefly met some Australian girls. Notable because we hardly ever saw people after dark, much less talked to them :o

Day 3: Tues 8/30

  • Woke up at 5am to go see a collection of 4 waterfalls at sunrise. My idea I’m sad to say. As Ed said, only thing worse than traveling as an amateur photographer is traveling with one :D
    • Most popular of the 4 is Seljalandsfoss.
    • Anyway, it was worth it. Started getting crowded around 8am.
    • Coolest one is the last of the 4, Gljúfrabúi (“Canyon Dweller”). Have to enter through a canyon, it’s like a private room with a huge waterfall gushing all along one wall, like it’s coming straight from the sky above.
  • Went back to the AirBnB, where we crashed, ate breakfast, and showered. Back on the road at noon.
  • Skógafoss. Another damn cool foss. Large and popular.
    • Traveled by Eyjafjallajökull (volcano) and Skogar, wish could’ve spent more time here.
  • Arrived in Vik, where we spent the night at an AirBnB.
  • Ate at a restaurant in Vik – had Plokkfiskur (mashed fish). Good!
  • Went to black sand beaches in Vik as the sun was setting
    • Waves are incredibly powerful
    • Basalt columns
    • Puffins
  • Drove to the lighthouse in Vik as night fell, became increasingly foggy. Only ones there were two American guys who offered us a joint. Took some photos and watched the lighthouse beam try futilely to pierce the dark haze
  • Back at our apartment, watched ate Nutella and toast and watched Icelandic TV
  • Missed: Solheimasandur plane crash site. moderate hike.

Day 3 of Iceland: waterfalls! woke up at 5am to see a series of 4 waterfalls at sunrise. So cool. Trotted around there for a couple hours, then back to the AirBnB where we crashed until noon. Then drove on a dirt road to a glacier and mountain, through a series of epic green cliffs punctuated by stray sheep and more waterfalls. Then Skogafoss (pictured! Giant waterfall in Southern Iceland. Saw dozens of waterfalls today, it's crazy! Most are on my dslr, but used cell phone for this one because the amount of spray this thing produced on the lens was maddening! Then continued on past the volcano from Walter Mitty (I really need to look up these real names later), along gorgeous small towns, farms, churches, and more epic cliffs, all shrouded in a dense persist fog. Finally, made it to Vik, where we are spending the night tonight. Had a dinner of Plokkfish, basically mashed potatoes with cod smashed in, with spices and butter. It was quite good. With the sun setting fast, we sped to the black sand beach and basalt columns, where puffins flew overhead as exceptionally angry waves crashed through that persistent mist. Finally, night now firmly entrenched, we drove up through the fog and watched an old operating lighthouse dutifully perform its function, attempting unsuccessfully to penetrate the fog with rotating fingers of warm yellow light. Eerie, yet mesmerizing. Good day all in all! #waterfall #iceland #skogafoss #wanderfolk #optoutside

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Day 4: Wed 8/31

  • After a Skyr/toast/eggs breakfast from the nearby grocery store, we drove back to the black sand beach. Way more cheerful in the sunlight. Hippies stacking rocks, dogs running in the surf, dozens of puffins swooping chaotically over the basalt cliffs, and even a paraglider.
  • Fjaðrárgljúfur – canyon, 100m deep and 2km long. Awesome.
  • Skaftafell National Park
    • Svartifoss
    • Missed: Laki craters, Jökulsárlón glacier
  • Ice Lagoon Zodiac boat tour (Jökulsárlón lagoon). REALLY COOL. Saw seals, sea gulls raced alongside the boat, touched ancient ice, heard tales of sheep farming from our guide. Didn’t see any ice break off the glacier, but so it goes
  • Another area I wish we could’ve spent more time in (Southern Iceland)
  • Dinner in Höfn at Pakkhús. Lamb. Creme brule with homemade licorice for desert.
  • Stayed in a hostel about 30 min outside of Höfn

Day 5: Thurs 9/1

  • Stopped in Höfn one last time, for fish & chips & groceries.
  • Driving. Lots of driving.
  • Stopped briefly by one of the farms to pet and photograph some of the horses that had wandered over
  • Stopped along several beautiful little coastal towns
  • Admired the huge eastern Fijords, some with large swan populations close to shore
  • Dinner in Egilsstaðir, which is the largest town in East Iceland. The drive up from the coast to the town is beautiful. Baked cod with sweet potatos and salad.
  • Stopped in many more small towns.
  • Stayed at an AirBnB in Vagnsstaðir. Charming small town on the coast.
  • Watched a shitty movie from the owner’s extensive collection – Babylon A.D.
  • One of our party woke us up around 3am with one word – “aurora!”
    • We ran outside and caught the tail end of a brief period of activity, hard to spot this early in the year and with so many town lights around. Whispy white, almost like clouds but faster pulsing and flowing, otherworldly. Faded to black night and we went to bed.

Day 6: Fri 9/2

  • Lots more driving. Stunning Fijords and tiny costal towns. The water in the fijords was surprisingly still in the mornings.
  • Left the coast and entered highlands. Very empty, not even much grass.
  • Hverfjall volcano crater
  • Detifoss – most powerful waterfall in Europe
  • Grjótagjá – natural springs underground in lava cave, one of the Game of Thrones film sites. Swimming not allowed/too hot sadly. Supposedly used to be more secret but word has gotten out, and was fairly crowded.
  • Namafjall steam vents/mud pits
  • Mývatn Naturebaths – did get to swim in this one! Again, fairly crowded and touristy, but way cheaper than blue lagoon and watched another gorgeous sunset
    • At the end, saw a brief flash of really powerful northern lights! The whole place gasped as a streak of brilliant green and purple raced and swirled rapidly overhead, before graying and slowly fading back to the dark blue of the twilight.
  • This whole area near Mývatn is another really cool area, rich with volcanic/geothermal activity and I wish we could’ve spent more time here!
    • [http://www.visitmyvatn.is/static/files/mustdolist.pdf]
  • Made it to Akureyri, the “capital of northern Iceland”, where we were staying two nights.
    • Ate at a small food stand serving the Icelandic meat stew and hot dogs
  • Waited until about 2am, then drove out of town to look at the northern lights again

Day 7: Sat 9/3

  • Bummed around Akureyri in the morning, shopping and eating. Really good fish and chips. Ed tried fermented shark, apparently it was pretty bad :D
  • Whale watching in Húsavík. Really cool. Whales are beautiful creatures.
  • Dinner in Húsavík as well. Beautiful fishing town.
  • Was dark by this time, but still hit up Goðafoss. Wish we’d seen this one in the daylight, but was awesome being pretty much the only people there in the starlight.
  • Northern lights!!!!!!!!!!!! Until it got too cloudy.
  • Back to Akureyri for some bars, but we ended up taking it easy

Day 8: Sun 9/4

  • Botanical gardens in Akureyri
  • Drove through some small one-lane tunnels and small fishing towns in northern fijords, near Siglufjörður. Beautiful drive off the ring road.
  • chased some sheep, to our great amusement and the sheep’s exasperation I’m sure.
  • Tried to see seals in Húnaþing, but saw none :(
    • Did see some more amazing ocean sunset specimen
  • Slept near Hvammstangi in the most amazing AirBnB, isolated house near the coast

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Day 9: Mon 9/5

  • Drove back to Reykjavik. Some of the most beautiful land so far (or maybe just the freshest in my mind)
  • Explored a 1km cave, we were the only ones inside. Can’t remember the name.
  • Arrived in town and relaxed/explored a bit.
  • Wanted to stay up all night, but unfortunately monday nights are not good party nights either. Everything shut down by 1am
    • Slept in our car

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Day 10: Tues 9/6

  • Drove back to the airport at 5am, returned our car
  • Flew back to the US
    • The following bullets are complaints/my memories, no need to read.
    • 8-hour layover in Boston for me! Got to get out and explore. Good bus system.
    • Delayed flight –> arrived in Denver at 1am and had to spend the night on a bench
    • Wed 9/7 now. Bus back to Boulder at 4:20am (oh, Colorado). House at 5:30am.
    • Shower and work.

A good trip!

General Thoughts:

  • So many sheep! Fences are actually to keep them out of the pastures!
  • Beautiful country. Soooo pretty.
  • Not many trees! Lets you see as far as you want, so you can see all of the..
  • waterfalls (-foss in Icelandic) everywhere!! And not puny things. Them glaciers are melting fast.
  • Those icelandic ponies are adorable. And friendly. And seem so happy and free.
  • Not many people, especially once you leave Reykjavic. Saw way more sheep/horses than people.
  • Don’t speed!!! There are cameras. And according to Reddit there’s no grace speed of 20kph or whatever :/
  • People seem way more in harmony with the land than in the US
  • Grocery stores close early (6pm), so plan ahead. In all the smaller towns, there are almost no restaurants, and what few there are, are expensive ($25-45 USD).

Things I missed, but would like to do if I go back:

  • Þríhnúkagígur volcano: The world’s only volcano you can enter
  • Eyjafjallajökull – volcano erupted in 2010, causing massive disruption to European flights. Featured in Secret Life of Walter Mitty. We drove near, but it was very foggy and we were short on time.
  • Ice cave – really can only do this in the winter.
  • natural hot springs
  • Glacier walk/ice climbing
  • Culture/museums
  • more northern lights
  • Generally ride bikes/hike. I don’t feel I can ever truly experience a place’s beauty from inside a car.
  • Vidgelmir Cave