In just about a month, Chad and I leave on our 13-day road trip through Iceland. Why Iceland? you may be asking and I have to admit, a year ago I would have been asking the same thing! No one was going there a few years ago and now everyone seems to be going! After months of research, reading online blogs and looking at images, I can't wait to visit this crazy beautiful and unique place filled with spectacular waterfalls, glaciers, volcanos and geothermic regions, black sand beaches and gorgeous fjords, plus cute Icelandic horses which are different from horses anywhere else! They say that sometimes you can experience all 4 seasons at one time depending on which direction you look.
Quickly go get your Iceland map (or look at the picture above), so you can follow our planned adventure around the Ring Road, an 828 mile (or so) paved road circumventing the "land of fire and ice". Since weather conditions can seemingly change instantly in Iceland, and in late May we could actually still enjoy a sudden blizzard, everything is dependent on having great weather luck. We will have very long days, so hopefully we'll get everywhere we plan to be on the day we actually plan to do it. FYI, these very long days also means we won't get to see the Northern Lights this time of year as it just doesn't get dark enough. And yes, even though it is May and pre-tourist-season, I did not want to leave anything to chance and already made all room reservations through Booking.com. Some accommodations include breakfast, some nothing, and some have small kitchenettes, so we will have to buy a cooler on day one and stock it with food! We hear the food is expensive and restaurants are super pricey, but at least we can drink the water right from the source!
So here's our proposed itinerary and get used to some crazy Icelandic words which I have no idea how to pronounce...I now know that "jokull" means glacier, "fell" is mountain, "foss" is waterfall and "hraun" is lava. "P" sounds like "Th". Look up some of these destinations, look at pictures, to get a feel for what we will be seeing on this unusual Arctic island. So let's talk Icelandic...
We leave at 4:30 pm EST on a direct flight from Miami to Reykjavik (Keflavik Airport) on WOW Airlines. Yes, I did say WOW Airlines (which no one has ever heard of unless they have also traveled to Iceland). It's a totally no-frills airline, which advertises some $200 fares out of Boston and New York. Our flight will take about 7 hours so this means we'll land at some "god awful body time", after a no-sleep flight. (FYI...We're actually paying a little more than $200, upgrading to extra large bulkhead seats, plus a carry-on and checked suitcase each, but the international fare was still pretty reasonable...if you go, check online for additional airline discount offers and codes.)
Our first afternoon and night will be spent in Reykjavik, after arriving at (ugh) 4:00 am Iceland time, picking up our 4 x 4 and reserved portable WIFI, and spending a long morning relaxing and eating at the Blue Lagoon, where we have an 8:00 am reservation. Hopefully we'll see some sights in Reykjavik before crashing.
Nights 2 and 3 will be spent near Hella on the west end of the south coast, after traveling the popular Golden Circle and visiting Pingvellir Park, Geysir, and Gullfoss and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls. While there, we also plan to take a private "super jeep" day trip into the interior to the Porsmork Valley.
We then will continue along the south coast towards Hof, where we spend the 4th and 5th nights. The drive takes us to the unique Reynisfjara rock formations and Reynisdrangar basalt columns on the black sand beaches near Vik and Skogafoss waterfall. We'll visit the massive Vatnojokull Glacier where we can hike the glacier in crampons or snowmobile, visit the magnificent black basalt waterfall Svartifoss and hike the Fjadargljufur Canyon. Heading further east, we'll visit Diamond Beach and the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon where we can go out on the sea by boat, touring the floating glaciers and hopefully seeing some seals and other sea life.
Our 6th day is spent driving up the picturesque eastern coast, visiting Hofn for a lunch of Icelandic langoustine, exploring the majestic East Fjords and hopefully seeing seasonal puffins and herds of unique Icelandic horses along the way, hiking the waterfall Hengifoss, and spending the night in Egilsstadir in the northeast. Visiting the coastal artist community Seydisfjordur is an option.
We will spend the next 2 nights in the "moon-like" landscape of the north where we'll sleep at a working farm B&B in Laugar near Akureki. We'll visit massive Dettifoss and Godafoss waterfalls, hike the Hverir and Dimmuborgir geothermal areas and volcanic craters near Lake Myvatn, explore the coastal fishing village of Husavik where we can go whale watching, and enjoy more steaming nature baths, including seeing some GOT sites (especially a cave involving Jon Snow and Ygritte.)
After leaving the north coast, we travel around to the west side, bypassing the still-cold West Fjords in the northwest region, and heading to the Snaefellsness Peninsula a few hours north of Reykjavik where we'll spend 2 nights in Grundarfjordur. We'll hike Kirkjufell Mountain and explore more waterfalls, Snaefensjokull Glacier and rocky cliffs and black sand beaches along the western coast.
Our ride south back towards Reykjavik will include visiting the Hraunfossar Waterfall and hiking Glymur Falls. Our final 2 nights will be spent in or near Pingvellir Park enjoying more day hikes and hopefully getting to ride some Icelandic horses. We'll stay one night in the park at the Ion Adventure Hotel (our splurge) and our final night at a guesthouse near Selfoss where we also hope to hike to a natural hot spring. No snorkeling between two tectonic plates at Pingvellir for these two "seniors"!
Our plane departs on our last day at 6:00 pm, so we have plenty of time to get to the airport and return our rental car.
Keep your eyes open on Facebook for my daily updates starting May 20!
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