Note: How to read this blog post.
Be sure to click on each photo or cluster of photos, they will expand and you can see them in their full glory.
Take breaks. I know its a long one but it was such a great adventure, we had to share it all.
Click the links that show up in a different color to learn more about each place we stopped.
Enjoy!
For our One Year Anniversary we went to Iceland. We have been talking about going to Iceland since before we even got engaged. And now we finally did it! We rented a camper van and drove the Ring 1 road around the entirety of Iceland. About a month before we went, my brother and his family went to Iceland as well. As part of their homeschooling homework and in preparation for their trip, my niece created a wonderful PowerPoint presentation about Iceland. From that we learned; the island of Iceland is about the size of the state of Kentucky with a population of about 337,780 people. The current exchange rate was about 1 ISK to .0093 USD which meant gas for the van was about $9.00 dollars per gallon. The average temperature in July is around 55 degrees fahrenheit and if you were to drive the Ring road straight through with no stops it would take 18 hours. For us, we did it in 5 days.
Originally, I thought I would structure this blog post by saying...Day One: We did this, this and this. Day Two: This and this and so on... However, since the sun never set and we were able to capitalize on our jetlag by staying up all night and sleeping during the day to avoid tour buses and mobs. Our days and nights all ran together and so I have tried to structure this blog post by regions and things we saw along the way.
Part One: The Arrival
We flew overnight and arrived in Iceland at 10:00 a.m. The Keflavik airport is about 45 minutes outside of downtown Reykjavik where our camper van rental company is located. After our flight with our XXL leg room and amazing views over Greenland, we cleared customs (lickety split) and boarded a bus to a taxi to our camper van. We rented from Campeasy and it really was easy. We got our big green 4x4 camper van that we lovingly named The Hulk for the week. The van included bedding, a sink, a cooler, a mini heater, a camp stove and GPS. Not to mention the ability to go anywhere! After getting moved into The Hulk and grabbing a quick bite to eat, we were ready to hit the road.
We decided to drive the Ring clockwise because many of the books (my favorite being Rick Steves Iceland) and blogs we researched with suggested this as a great way to see amazing sights that just kept getting better and better. And they were right! We left Reykjavik and drove North towards Borgarnes where we stopped at the local grocery store and stocked up on some coffee and road trip food.
Part Two: Our Journey North
We continued on and decided to pull over for a nap since we had been going strong for 16 hours at this point. We stopped at the Saeberg HI Hostel which was nice enough to let us "camp" for a few hours just long enough to take a nap and use their bathrooms for a super low price.
After our nap, we stopped for some nice, warm sheep soup with some of the most amazing bread and butter we have ever had. I am now a huge fan of Icelandic butter.
Then we headed toward Glaumbaer. These turf roof farm houses show how Icelanders lived for centuries. The tops of the houses are covered with grass to help keep warm in a land that has very limited fuel sources (aka: no trees for fire). Fun fact: Only Birch trees are native to Iceland, all other trees have been brought here by humans.
After exploring the farm town, we went onward to Akureyri, Iceland's second city and the unofficial capital of North Iceland. By this time it was about 2:00 a.m. and we were ready to find somewhere to sleep. That actually became more of a challenge then we had expected and we ended up sleeping in a parking lot next door to a campground for about an hour. But when the views looks like this, you can't be sad even when sleeping in a parking lot.
The next stop was
Godafoss
, the "Waterfall of the Gods". A horseshoe-shaped waterfall that is about 40 feet high but about 30 yards wide. We arrived at the falls around 4:00 a.m. Remember, the sun didn't set, so we still had great visibility and the place all to ourselves!
We made some coffee in the parking lot and enjoyed the beautiful morning scenery.
After our coffee break, we continued on to Lake Myrtvan where we visited some lava fields and flew the drone for a little while. The lake is about 14 square miles with a lot of bays and is surrounded by volcanic features. We skipped the Sigurgeir's Bird Museum but we did visit the Dimmuborgir Lava Formations. The Myvatan area of Iceland has hot springs, lava fields, craters and the cave where Jon Snow and his wildling lady friend, Ygritte, kept each other warm in the first season of Game of Thrones. Several filming locations can be found all around the island.
From here we ventured on wards towards the next big waterfall on our route,
Dettifoss
. (by the way, "Foss" means "Waterfall" in Icelandic). This one was about 25 km off of the road and we had to take an extremely bumpy dirt and gravel road to get there. On the way, the Sleepys really hit hard so we decided to camp at Iceland's version of
Hipcamp
. We found a campsite in the back of the
Grimsstadir Tjaldstaedi
guest house. They had awesome bathrooms and super friendly staff. We slept here for about 5 hours and then continued on to our next waterfall.
When we arrived at Dettifoss we were absolutely humbled by this massive movement of water. It is about 340 feet wide and 150 feet tall.
Part Three: The Eastern Side
By this point we realized we were booking it pretty fast through the country. You can't blame us though, every time we turned a corner, things just got better and better. For instance, we found this waterfall just on the side of the road. The guide books and maps didn't even find Rjukadafoss worthy of putting on the map. But we thought it was awesome.
We continued on to the town of
Egilsstadir
where we stopped for a bite to eat and some ice cream! Then we took a lap around the town and stopped at another waterfall where we were greeted by some locals. (the sheep)
Then, we were off to the most scenic route in all of Iceland. Highway 93 to the village of Seydisfjordour. It was stunning. Rick Steves said this was one of the most scenic routes in all of Iceland, and man was he right. As we drove through the pass and curved through the switchbacks, the landscape just kept getting better. We even found this amazing waterfall just chilling on the side of the road.
And then the beautiful road lead to an adorable little town with some of the most picturesque views possible. It felt like we were dropped inside of the village with the train set under the Christmas tree (although there was a complete lack of trains in all of Iceland, I noticed).
Seydisfjordour is home to an art academy and some microbrew pubs. After some beers and a stroll around town we jumped back on the beautiful road and got to see some amazing colors in the midnight sky.
By this time we were getting very sleepy and silly. I came up with some sheep jokes that at the time were hilarious. What do you think?
Sheep joke 1: Hey ewe, get out of the way!
Sheep joke 2: Go to sleep sheep, go count yourselves!
We decided to pull over to sleep for a few hours and found an amazing spot in the valley.
Part four: The Fjords
When we woke up we started the next leg of our adventure. The eastern coast and through the fjords. The fjords are long, narrow, deep inlets of the sea between high cliffs, typically formed by glaciers. The Eastfjords are dotted with a few small towns. None of which were open for any kind of business at 8 a.m. when we arrived and were looking for breakfast.
To pass from town to town through the mountain range they have built huge tunnels through the mountains instead of disturbing the scenery of the mountain side.
The fjords open up to the beautiful eastern coastline that really reminded me of our California Coast and our Hwy 1. Along the way we stopped for a nap on the side of the highway. Throughout our trip, we only stayed in designated campgrounds once. The freedom of the van allowed us to pull off on to side roads and pull outs. On this day, we popped open the back of the van and had a great nap with a view!
When the wind became too much to keep sleeping through, nap time was over and we continued on our way. We drove toward the city of Hofn. Along the way we felt dwarfted by giant mountains and inspired by the sea. We also found this random red chair nailed into the roadside. One can only assume that it would make a great photo stop.
We pulled into Hofn (a fishing town) and had some amazing Lobster Festival pizza and visited the Hot spring in Heffell. The hot spring were not very hot but they sure were pretty. We went for one of the smaller, cheaper and less known hot tubbing locations as neither one of us had any desire to do the traditional Blue Lagoon tourist filled craziness. Our hot tubbing experience was very pleasant.
After the hot tubs we went back to Hofn and met up with my friend Michelle, who I taught with in Virginia and who was also traveling in Iceland for the month of July. We had been watching each other's adventures on social media and as she and her friend were traveling counter clockwise around the Ring and we were going clockwise. Hofn was the perfect spot where we overlapped. It was great to swap stories of where we had already been and get a first hand account of what we were about to see.
Between the time when we left Hofn to visit the hot tubs and then went back to meet up with Michelle, the road crews had repaved the road without causing a single traffic jam. Allowing Ryan to get this fantastic photo.
Part Five: Iceberg right ahead!
On the southern part of the island is Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. It is quite literally, on the side of the road and it is amazing! Please be sure to click through each of these pictures. We arrived at midnight and had some of the most stunning colors happening in the sky.
The wind and cold were INSANE and the wind storm that followed was no joke. When we picked up the van way back in Rekjavik, the van guy told us to be careful when opening our doors in the wind because they could be blown off. He was not kidding! We decided to wait it out at Diamond Beach across the street from the glacier lagoon and wow, it was a scary night, but we were safe inside The Hulk.
The next morning, around 5:30 a.m. the winds had stopped and we were once again, the only people at the site!
We went on to Fjallsarlon Glacier Lagoon and into Skaftafell National Park. The park had several hikes and adventures all along the glacier's edge. We, of course, found more waterfalls and it was awesome. We also left the park and went to a fancy pants hotel with the hope of finding a nice warm breakfast after our night in the wind-shaken van. We had great success at the FossHotel Glacier Lagoon. We felt a little out of place, as we had not showered in the past few days and the people staying at the hotel were not the typical people we would hang out with, but breakfast was hot and the hotel was warm so we were happy.
Part 6: Black Sands Beach
About 86 km east of Vik we stopped to investigate the green fluffy moss that was growing EVERYWHERE. We also came across Laufskalavarda, where tradition tells of the large farm that was destroyed here by the first ever recorded volcano eruption. The main lava rock stack was erected in their honor and now everyone passing by is suppose to add a stone to bring good luck upon their journey. We added our rocks to the stacks for good luck.
The valley before you get to Vik is amazing! We arrived in Vik around noon and the beach was WAY too crowded for us. So we found a lovely place to nap among the purple flowers. These purple flowers were EVERYWHERE and they were beautiful! They are called Nootka lupine and they were introduced to Iceland from North America to help fertilize the soil and combat erosion. Like most invasive species, they have taken over. But they sure are pretty.
When we felt we had waited out the crowds long enough, we went back to Vik and explored the Wool Factory for a little while and learned what happens with all of the sheep on the island. We had some soup (sheep soup) and ventured to the Black Sands Beach of Reynisfjara. With its enormous basalt columns and sneaker waves that often sweep stupid people out to sea, this area was world famous even before it was the site of some gruesome battles beyond the wall in Game of Thrones.
* Don't forget to click on the photos to see them in full size.
Part 7: On to more water falls
The next waterfall on our route was an important one. This waterfall was the driving force in Ryan's desire to visit Iceland. Skogarfoss is is about a 200 ft drop and truly was impressive. We arrived here around 10:00 p.m. and waited in the campground at the bottom of the falls until more of the people got our of the way. I had read other traveler's blogs who talked about how cool it was to camp at the base of the falls and they were right.
At midnight we moved on to Seljalandsfoss, the one you can walk behind. This waterfall is fed by the river coming from the glacier that sits atop the volcano that erupted in 2010. Again, we were the only people here and it was amazing! As we were leaving we did see another group of people. A man in a full on tux and his girlfriend he has just proposed to earlier that day and their friend/photographer. They were about to get some really awesome shots! (Like these)
From here we wanted to get to one more waterfall before morning. We left around midnight and drove straight through the night. Again, the sun never fully went away so it was still sort of light. We had made it far enough around the Ring that we were approaching what is called the Golden Circle. We turned off of the 1 and on to the 30. Ryan was a trooper and drove until 2 a.m. when we arrived at Gullafoss, "Golden Falls". It was FREEZING but we were alone and it was great!
Around 3:00 a.m. we decided to take a nap that we planned to only be for about 3 hours. We set an alarm for 6:00 but somehow, when we woke up it was 10 a.m. We missed our window of No Tourists and now the parking lot was almost full and the tour bus parade had begun. The Golden Circle is the area of sites and locations closest to Reykjavik so therefore, it is the most heavily traveled by the typical tourists. Bus tours leave from the city almost every hour and take people to these next few spots that we visited. It was a completely different feeling from when we were all alone on the roads in the North and in the East to now where we had some traffic and finding parking spots became an issue.
But we pushed through and saw Geysir (a little like Old Faithful) and Pingvellir (where the two continents come together).
From here we decided to head South again and we just set the GPS for the town of Porlashofn, a small port town on the coast. Then we headed West and drove through some amazing lava rock fields on one of the foggiest days ever! (Which is saying something coming from us...we live in San Franscisco!) We drove on to Grindavik, known for being the closest town to The Blue Lagoon and continued to the end of the peninsula to the Gunnuhver hot springs. A unique characteristic of the Gunnuhver hot springs is that the groundwater here is 100% seawater, unlike other geothermal areas on the island. Danger is very real with temperatures over 570°F and the smell of sulfur is ever present. This is not your typical "go for a soak" hot springs.
By then we decided it was time to sleep again so we could prepare for our last full day in Iceland. We pulled off the road at what we thought was just a regular old pull off rest stop. However, as the fog cleared a little bit I was able to realize it was actually Brímketill, an awesome naturally shaped little pool of a hot spring that was once called Oddnýjarlaug because a troll woman called Oddney once occupied the spring. It’s just by the ocean and gave us another fantastic view to wake up to.
Part 8: Reykjavik
Around 7:00 a.m. we woke up, made some van coffee and said good-bye to our solitude. It was time for our journey to bring us back into the city where we had decided to book a hotel for our final night in Iceland. Let's be honest, we really did not want to be "those stinky people" on the plane. We needed hot showers and space to repack all of our stuff. We pulled into the Hotel Heidmork around 10:00 and the awesome owners allowed us to check in early!
Once we were showered and refreshed we were ready to explore the city and capital of this amazing country we had just spent 6 days in.
We walked around town for a few hours, stopped at the Lebowski Bar for some White Russians and by then it was time to head back to our hotel. We watched some Icelandic TV and tried to get back on a semi-normal sleep schedule so that we would be able to wake up for our departure the next day.
With heavy hearts, we cleaned out The Hulk and said our good-byes. The CampEasy staff drove us to the shuttle bus station where we boarded the bus back to the airport. It had been 7 days of amazing adventure which showed us how great camper van traveling can be. We have decided that as many of our future travels we can do in a van will totally happen.
So for now we say: Thank you Iceland, you are filled with wonders and magic and we plan to be back again one day.
