My friend, Jill, and I spent Labor Day Weekend in Iceland and had a phenomenal time. I absolutely loved Iceland. It reminded me so much of New Zealand, but with shorter drives between attractions. We tackled most of the southern coast highlights, but I hope to go back some day and explore the northern coast.
Fri Aug 30
Our evening flight out of JFK was a bit delayed, but I forced myself to go to sleep. Around six hours and a below average sleep later, we landed in Iceland! Border control and customs were a breeze, so we had time to grab coffee before hopping on the Destination Blue Lagoon bus. We had pre-booked the transfer from the airport to the lagoon.
Jill saw the Blue Lagoon from the plane. I must have missed it, which is surprising, because it’s big. We arrived just about 8am when the lagoon opens. The locker rooms and the lagoon itself were not crowded whatsoever. We got our complimentary silica masks, some Gull beers, and another mask. I went with algae and Jill got a lava scrub.
When you shower before entering the lagoon, they recommend leaving conditioner in your hair because the silica in the water can make hair a bit unmanageable. Now having been, I would highly recommend a high pony or top knot to keep hair as dry as possibly. I left mine down and it was knotty for a full 24 hours and 2 showers later before I could get it back to normal. After showering and sitting for coffee, we took the bus transfer to Bus Stop 1 in Reykjavik. It was a seamless experience and the bus had Wi-Fi which I appreciated. We walked about five minutes to the Exeter Hotel to check in and change.
We grabbed a hot dog from the Baejarins Betzu stand. I was envisioning a glorified New York City dirty water dog, but Jill insisted we go. The dog was surprisingly good, topped with onions, ketchup, a white sauce, and crunchies. We walked over a couple blocks to our whale watching company hut on the pier only to realize that our tour had been cancelled due to rough seas. We rescheduled for Tuesday, when we would be back in Reykjavik.
Instead we walked to Hallgrimskirfkja Church. From the church, we got 360-degree views of Reykjavik. We wandered around Reykjavik for some time, popping into some gift shops, then back to the hotel. We changed into our cozy robes and headed to the hotel’s sauna. After a shower, quick power nap, and Nespresso coffee from the machine in our room, we headed to the lobby for some pre-dinner drinks (cheap ones, too). We found some games to play to pass the time: Connect Four and Scrabble. By the time we left for our dinner reservation at Fish Company, it was crowded.
Dinner at Fish Company was hands down one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life. I started with the salmon tartar prepared with mustard seeds, celery, and horseradish. Then I got the arctic char main course with giant scallops and a beer foam. Jill got cod and lamb. Everything was to perfection. We walked back to the Exeter Hotel after what felt like an endless day, closed the blackout curtains, and went to bed.
Sat Aug 31
We woke up around 7am for breakfast at the hotel. I was very happy to see a classic Nordic spread: fruit, yogurt, breads, herring, meats, cheeses, coffee, and various juices. After breakfast, we checked out and got a cab to bring us to our rental car. The walk would’ve been close to 30 minutes, and with our bags we didn’t feel like making that schlep. We paid the taxi driver in cash, though I believe he would have taken a credit card.
Our first stop was a waterfall where “the dragon ate the goat” in GoT, according to Jill. It was called Thorufoss and it was beautiful. There were some cute sheep grazing in the area, too. Little did we know we would see hundreds of sheep throughout the weekend.
We then made our way to the Thingvellir Visitor Center. We paid 750 ISK and parked in P1. We walked along the park’s pathways (about 1km) to Oxararfoss. There was a nice man-made platform for viewing and taking photos. We continued through the canyon to the end and learned we were walking along the tectonic plate line. The walk back was about a mile and a half. By noon, we were back in the car on the way to Gulfoss.
It was lightly raining when we arrived at Gulfoss. We chose the lower viewing route, which was equally as crowded as the top. The falls were massive. Gulfoss is a two part waterfall, and Iceland’s first environmentally protected waterfall. There’s a huge, constant cloud of mist that sits above the second fall. We stopped for some photos and videos, then scurried back to the dry, warm car. Luckily Saturday was our only rainy day.
On our way to Geysir, we stopped to make some roadside pony friends. There were four of them right by the road and the owners sold food to give them. Strokkur is the name of the big geyser and it erupts every couple minutes. We watched it two or three times and then looked at some of the other, smaller geysers.
We drove about 30 minutes to the Secret Lagoon. We checked in, put our stuff in lockers, and grabbed lunch before going in. There’s a fish and chips stand right outside the lagoon, so we ate there. The fish was amazingly tender, and the fries were thin and crunchy. On an average day, we could have split an order (1890 ISK), but we were both hungry. After going to the Blue Lagoon, the Secret Lagoon was unimpressive. It’s more of a natural swimming lagoon, surrounded by grassy land and pools too hot to touch. Jill and I agreed that the highlight here was the fish and chips.
Our next stop was Kerid Crater. The crater was formed about 6,500 years ago. There was an eruption followed by a landslide into the magma chamber. Today the crater is 270 meters long, 170 meters wide, and 55 meters deep. We walk around the circumference of the rim and then down into the crater to the water’s edge.
We got back in the car for a longer ride, about 50 minutes, to our hotel in Hvolsvollur, Hotel Hvolsvollur. We stopped in the town of Selfoss to go into Kronan, a grocery store. I needed coffee and I thought we could maybe find a little snack. I walked out with a premade Starbucks cafe au lait and pretzels and Jill wanted grapes and chips, so we got those, too.
After 165 miles of driving, we took nice warm showers and walked to the Vahalla Restaurant and Saga Centre. We knew there would be axe throwing and possibly a reenactment of some sorts. We were right on one thing: there was axe throwing. We both tried a dozen times or so. I was able to get the axe in once, but Jill wasn’t so lucky. The food was fine; we both got burgers. It was no culinary experience like Fish Company, but it was quick and close to the hotel.
Sun Aug 1
Our alarms went off at 7am to pack up and go eat breakfast. The breakfast at Hotel Hvolsvollur was standard, nothing spectacular. We were on a semi-tight schedule for the day because we had to get to Jokulsarlon by 4:30pm.
We arrived at Seljalandsfoss at 8:30am. There’s a series of four waterfalls. The first was the biggest and we walked all the way around the backside. The last we hiked over a riverbed to get to. All of them were beautiful. This was one of my favorite stops.
Then we drove to Skogafoss. As soon as we turned a corner around the mountain, we gasped, and we knew we were there. Even from the main road, the waterfall was huge. And because of the constant mist from the fall, there was a nice big rainbow. We walked up what felt like a million stairs to see the falls from the top. Jill’s Apple Watch said our elevation gain was 394 feet. There’s then a trail that continues along the river. We walked a bit up the trail but realized there was a much longer hike ahead of us to more waterfalls. We weren’t prepared for that, so we turned around to go back down.
We drove 15 minutes to the Dyrholaey Lighthouse. The view from the edge was unbelievable. There’s a natural arch that sits in the ocean. We could also face inland and see mountains for miles and miles. We drove around to the Black Sand Beach. In addition to the cool sand, there are giant hexagonal columns of rock. These form when magna cools slowly, we learned.
We ate lunch at The Soup Company in Vik. I got a prime beef soup in a bread bowl that they call lava soup. It was so good! Jill got a sampler that also included a lamb soup and a Mexican chicken soup.
We drove to the Jokulsarlon Glacier for our 5pm Glacier Lagoon Zodiac Boat Tour. We suited up in giant yellow and black jumpsuits to stay warm and dry. We met our guide, Will (a cutie), and walked to the zodiac boat. In the last 100 years, the glacier has retreated 8 kilometers, creating the 30 square kilometer lagoon that he drove us through. The saltwater coming into the lagoon prevents the glacier from refreezing year after year. And the black lines visible in the glacier are layers of volcanic ash. We stayed out in the lagoon for a little over an hour.
After the tour, we crossed the street to Diamond Beach, where small pieces of icebergs wash up onto the black sand beach, resembling diamonds.
We drove to our hotel, Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon, to check in and shower for dinner. We ate at the hotel, and while the food was good, the service was very bad. We sat for an hour before receiving our starters, and we had to ask the waiter where they were. On the flip side, by the time dinner was done (10:30pm), people were gathering outside to see the Northern Lights. We saw the lights, faintly, and a handful of shooting stars. It was amazing!
Mon Aug 2
We woke up promptly at 7am again to eat breakfast and get on the road. The hotel was a 25 minute drive from Skaftafall Tour Center, where our 3 hour glacier hike departed from. We arrived with many layers in tow. We were fitted for crampons, picked up a helmet and ice pick, and put on a harness.
The hike started with a rocky bit, a short bridge, then a steep rocky hill. Once we were at the ice, we put our crampons on and learned how to walk in them. We got very lucky with the weather: sunny, cloudless, and in the 50’s. By the end of the hike, all I had on was a t-shirt and a Patagonia fleece. Hiking up the glacier was difficult at times, but such an awesome experience. Jill’s watch clocked 853 feet in elevation gain, but looking back at the glacier from the trailhead, we barely made a dent in it. Post-hike, we grabbed lunch at a local cafeteria.
The drive back to Reykjavik was 3.5 hours, so we stopped a couple times along the way. The first stop was Fjadrargljufur Canyon. There were a couple viewpoint platforms that allow you to see the winding river deep inside the canyon. We also stopped at the Kronan in Vik to grab water and snacks and to use the bathroom. Our last stop was Reykjadalur. We hiked up to the valley, but not as far as the thermal bathing pools.
We stayed at the Center Hotel Plaza in Reykjavik this time. It was nice, but I preferred the Exeter Hotel. We managed to find free street parking for the rental car. We checked in and showered, then drove to return the car. Close to the rental car center was Hlemmer Matholl, a food hall. We each got a bowl of pho and shared a pizza (very Icelandic, I know). We wandered back towards the hotel, stopping for souvenirs and beers along the way. The hotel concierge told us that our best bet to see the Northern Lights would be from the pier. We walked out and waited 20-30 minutes but saw nothing.
Tues Aug 3
This was our first “late” wake up day. We set alarms for 8am to get breakfast and get ourselves to the dock for 9:30am. Our Special Tours Whale Watching had been rescheduled from Friday. The boat went out through Faxafloi Bay out to the Atlantic. One of the crew put on a headset and climbed to a higher deck than we could. She kept a keen eye out for wildlife and told us when and where to look. We saw a pod of white beaked dolphin, a couple minke whales, and a small pod of harbor porpoises. The other species that they sometimes see in the Bay is humpback whale, which I would have really enjoyed seeing. Nonetheless, we saw three of the four common species.
We grabbed lunch at Seabaron on the pier because they had a langoustine soup special that also came with a grilled fish skewer. After that, we packed up and checked out. We had arranged for a bus transfer from Reykjavik City Hall to the airport.
Cash and Credit Cards
We took out 24,000 ISK for the two of us, which equated to about $190 USD. That was far too much cash. I’m not sure we even needed cash at all. Card readers are all over. Even the hot dog stand in Reykjavik had one.
Since American credit cards don’t have pin numbers like the European ones, Americans typically need to sign receipts when using credit cards in Europe. To avoid this extra step, we used Apple Pay wherever there was a card reader. It was super convenient.
Packing
I was very afraid of being cold during the trip, so I had many outer layers packed. We got lucky with only one day of rain, and a sunny 50 degrees the other days.
For jackets I had a waterproof shell, a Patagonia insulated jacket, a North Face vest, a Patagonia fleece, and sweats for the plane rides.
Underneath those layers, I wore a t-shirt and leggings during the day. Then at night, I wore a sweater and jeans.
To keep my feet warm and dry I wore my Timberland boots and warm socks during the day. At night I wore black Supergas because we never walked too far.
I brought a car charger for us to use during the day and a converter for the hotels. Jill and I also each brought a Swell bottle. I used mine for water (tap water in Iceland is wonderful), but Jill used hers for coffee.