Recently relocated from a rural Virginian town, in July 2017 I realized just how easy it is to travel internationally within driving distance of multiple international airports. Traumatized from a 25-hour flight (involving a Dickensian-level of agony over delays and multiple connections), it took me slightly over a year from my move to NJ to consider a flight overseas.

Luckily, several of my coworkers and sometimes-friends, affectionately dubbed ‘the culture crew,’ were more than willing to take a day or two off and travel with me. It still felt like a pipe dream, but after one particularly difficult day at work, I told one of my best friends (let’s call her Trixie LaBleau), “Hey, let’s go to Iceland next week.” Instead of commiserating about my day and feeding into my escapist dreams of travel, she simply said, “Let me check my schedule,” and called me back 30 minutes later with the intent to book tickets. I was so surprised and shocked by the ease of her agreement that I made her purchase the ticket from her computer at the exact same time as I did. Two tickets later, I was on my way to planning my first travel itinerary. What a rush. Researching all the possibilities, clicking through TripAdvisor for the top touristy things we didn’t want to miss, and reading through travel blogs for the out-of-the-way geothermal tomato farms was ridiculously fun.

Before I get to the actual trip, I will note that there are both benefits and downsides of going in either summer or winter. In winter, yes, you have the chance of seeing the Northern Lights, a once-in-a-lifetime light show. However, in the summer, the midnight sun is absolutely gorgeous and it gives you longer days to fit in your travels, which helps if you only go for a few days like we did.

Thursday

Fast forward to a 4ish something flight from JFK to Iceland leaving Wednesday night and arriving Thursday morning. We waltzed through a very short customs line, took a bus to pick up our rental car, and were ready for adventure in our adorable Kia Soul. We rented our car from Lotus and got the extra protection plan for driving on roads that can cause debris. Please be aware, EVERYTHING IN ICELAND IS EXPENSIVE.

There were so many extra taxes and fees in Iceland that we started joking about what would come next (the icicle fee for the glacier tour? the water fee for the blue lagoon?), but in the end, it was definitely worth it.

We dropped our stuff off at an adorable and modern Airbnb and walked around around Reykjavik for awhile before our Blue Lagoon appointments. Laugavegur Street is the main shopping street in Reykjavik, and it was absolutely adorable. There are also little cafes and coffee shops dotted along the street. We stopped into one and had our first meal in Iceland, which was absolutely delicious. Coming from the US, you could taste the difference in the food processing. The water was crisp and the fruits and vegetables were full of fresh clean flavor everywhere we went.

Next, we made it to the Blue Lagoon by 10:45am for our 11:00am appointments. Do purchase tickets for the Blue Lagoon early, as they only let so many people in each hour. I know some people consider this a tourist trap, and it isn’t exactly secluded, but I absolutely loved it. It was the perfect activity to relax after the flight. There are several different packages you can buy, but we just bought the basic package and brought our own robes/towels. They give you a waterproof electronic bracelet that you can use to buy things and settle up at the end. There are stations in the water for drinks and for face masks. You can also take the white mud directly off the rocks, where it naturally occurs.

The most surprising thing for me was that the water is actually a bit thicker than in a swimming pool. Because of the nutrients making it more densely packed, it will take you longer to move from one end to the other. Overall, it was a fantastically enjoyable experience for me, and I would actually go again.

We had planned on exploring Reykjavik some more and late lunch at Messinn, but we went back to the AirBnB and ended up sleeping for a few hours, and waking up in time for dinner. Whoops.

We ended up having dinner at Grillmarkadurinn, and it was a really cool experience. The food was good everywhere, but the Grillmarkadurinn has a great ambiance with stone walls and trendy decorations.

Usually I’ll give anything a try once, but I reached my limit at dinner. I know everyone says to try the fermented shark (Hakarl) in Iceland, but we watched another table try and fail to consume the delicacy, getting a whiff in the meantime, and we couldn’t bring ourselves to be the next victims. I still only half-jokingly maintain that Hakarl is a cruel prank on tourists.

We made it to our 2-hour whale watching tour in the midnight sun (no chance of the Northern Lights in July) around 8:30. It gets pretty cold out on the water even if it’s warm in Reykjavik, so bring a coat or jacket. We actually didn’t see any whales, which we were told was uncommon, but the beautiful sunset views and the operator’s desperation to find a whale kept us so entertained that we weren’t even upset. The operator at one point started spelling the name of the type of whales we were likely to see just to keep talking. Now every time someone is stalling in a speech, we use the quote, “The type of whale that you will see is the Minke whale. Minke. M-I-N-K-E. Minke.” Totally worth it.

 

 

Friday

Even though we were limited on time, we decided to try to cover most of the Golden Circle, a popular tourist route in the south of Iceland, and we ended up hitting almost all of the major attractions in one day!

We planned to have breakfast at Kaffibrennslan but decided to forgo a full breakfast in favor of picking up a some snacks for the day, since we didn’t know how far from civilization some of the natural wonders would be. Spoiler alert: Pretty far. The national budget grocery store is called Bonus, and it’s very easy pick out among all the natural greenery of Iceland since the store logo is a neon yellow, pink, and black drawing of what I can only describe as a demented pig. I mean, look at those eyes. I’m not sure how this became a thing in Iceland, but it is actually kind of fun, and at least it’s an affordable alternative if you’re running out of money on restaurant food. This is where a lot of locals shop on a regular basis, and most will be able to describe to you where the nearest one is located.

Then we headed over to Thingvellir National Park (about 40 min from our Airbnb), UNESCO World Heritage site since 2004. You might know it best as the Eyrie from Game of Thrones, or more specifically, where Brienne battled the Hound. Along with natural wonder, it is also the site of the Althing, the parliament for Iceland from 930 to 1798.

It’s very easy to find a historical walking tour or to sign up for a Game of Thrones tour, but we found it most enjoyable to wander around and enjoy the sites and the nature by ourselves and with a little support from Wikipedia. There are signs posted to tell you which way to go if you are looking for a particular site. At one point on the way to the open-air site of the Althing, I was reading the history on Wikipedia to Trixie as we walked, and another family we passed was listening to their young son read from the exact same paragraph on Wikipedia. It really is a brave new world.

We only spent an hour or two at the park because we had so much to see, though it would have been easy to spend double or triple that. Next up was one of my absolute favorite places on the trip, Fridheimer Farm, located approximately 45 minutes from Thingvellir National Park. Initially, what seemed like a tomato-themed shop was not one of the places I was most excited to see, but I was really hungry by the time we arrived, and I ended up being completely wowed by the thought that went into this restaurant. Also, please not that they are only open from 12-4 each day. Most places in Iceland are natural wonders that don’t really close, especially when it’s light out until midnight, so we were a bit lax with our schedule and almost missed this gem.

When we arrived, we received a full description of the farm, the environmental policy, and samples of the produce (see here for their own description). They use geothermal water to power the greenhouses and specially-bred bees instead of standard pesticides, among other practices. I can’t tell you how tasty and adorable this place was. I ended up buying some of their jams for my mother on the way out, not sure how they would hold up on the trip back, but they ended up being a big hit. I had the ravioli pasta with homemade sauce and pesto, Trixie had the tomato soup and bread, and we split the green-tomato apple pie along with the homemade tomato ice cream. Believe me, I know it sounds strange, but there’s a reason it’s on the Golden Circle. I HIGHLY recommend you stop here.

Next we went to Strokkur Geyser. Be careful in this entire area, as there are a lot of smaller geysers and hotpools that can easily burn you if you touch them. Iceland in general has a lot of geysers, but this is one of the most famous because it erupts like clockwork every 5-10 minutes. Everyone was standing in semi-circle when we arrived, so we just joined them. When the geyser erupted, the water bent in our direction and we got a bit wet, but it was all good fun. We stayed to see one more, and then headed out. There’s a gift shop nearby on the road leading to the geyser where you can pick up some quick food and souvenirs if you need any.

Then we drove a few minutes to see Gullfoss Waterfall. This waterfall is massive, falls in a staircase pattern, and flows into a large crevice. There was actually a lot of walking and climbing staircases here, and it was colder than I expected it to be, so I had to break out a jacket. You can get pretty close, which allowed us to take a lot of amazing photos, but again be very careful. We spent about an hour here, taking photos and just admiring the view. There’s a separate area with a memorial to Sigríður Tómasdóttir, a spelling I had to google and a woman fabled to have saved the waterfalls in the 19th century by threatening to throw herself into them if dams were installed to produce hydroelectric power.

We headed over to the “Secret” Lagoon next (about 30 minutes away), which isn’t really that secret. There’s a small building that you enter to check-in, rent a towel, and shower. We bypassed this, as we didn’t want to get it, we just wanted to see it. The hot springs themselves are surrounded by a beautiful, mossy area, and there is a sort-of walkway that you can follow if you don’t want to get in. I’ve heard people say that this is a less populated/less touristy version of the Blue Lagoon, but the Blue Lagoon is a lot bigger and there were quite a few people at the Secret Lagoon when we arrived. Regardless, it’s a great place to experience one of the natural clear springs Iceland is known for.

Our final stop was Kerid Crater, which was the only thing besides the Blue Lagoon that cost us an entrance fee in Iceland. It was only about $5, but I was still surprised. We almost skipped this because we were tired by the end of the day, but I’m really glad we didn’t. I had seen photos online, but I wasn’t prepared for the scope or the vibrant orange and aquamarine of the crater. It’s all natural, but there’s a path worn around the rim from where travelers have walked. There are also stairs to walk down to the bottom of the crater if you want to see it up close.

We had planned to have dinner at Ostabudin back in Reykjavik, but decided that we wouldn’t make it by the 10pm closing time (Ostabudin has amazing reviews so we were sad we missed it, but it’s easy to get caught up in nature in Iceland).

So after we had seen our fill of the crater, we drove back to the Airbnb, ate some of our snacks, and promptly passed out.

 

Saturday

We woke up and left early on Saturday since we had the largest distance to travel from our Airbnb near Reykjavik to Glacier Lagoon on the eastern side of Iceland in the evening.

We started off at Seljalandsfoss Waterfall (around 1.5 hours from our Airbnb). You can get up close or walk underneath it, but be prepared to get a bit wet from the mist. Don’t miss the beauty of the smaller but charming Gljufrabui waterfall, only a 5-minute walk from Seljalandsfoss Waterfall.

We continued our theme of waterfalls for the day by visiting Skogafoss, one of Iceland’s largest, and only 10 minutes away. You can’t walk behind this one, but it’s very common to see to a rainbow or two due to the amount of mist produced by the waterfall. We were lucky enough to see two.

Another 10ish minutes down the road, you’ll find the parking lot for the Solheimasandur Plane Wreck. We expected this to be a quick viewing, but it’s actually a 2.5 mile walk from the road to the plane. You really feel like you’ve earned it when you get there, but make sure you’re wearing appropriate shoes.

We skipped the Black Sand Beach and lunch, speeding up to make it to our prepaid tour of Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon on the eastern side of Iceland by 6pm. We made it with around 5 minutes to spare, changing our clothes from our tropical morning and putting on as many layers as we could manage (think Joey from Friends putting all of Chandler’s clothes on). Once we were on the boat in the Lagoon, we had an absolute blast. Our tour guide was engaging and funny, describing how the bluest ice floating in the lagoon was from the bottom of the glacier because the densest ice absorbs every other color of the spectrum except blue. A seal even popped up every now and then. We also got to hold a piece of the glacier!

After our boat tour, we raced back to the Black Sand Beach, located in the fishing village of Vik. There aren’t many places to eat out in the more remote parts of Iceland, so we hoped something would still be open in Vik at a little after 9pm. There were only a few options, but Berg, Sudur-Vik, and Halldorskaffi came highly recommended. However, Sudur-Vik requires reservations well in advance, and everything else was closed. We asked a local for recommendations, but the only other thing open was a burger place. Make sure to plan out your food as well as your route for the day or you’ll end up like us!

It actually ended up being the perfect time to see the black sand beach in July, since the sky took on a lavender sunset hue. I had read that the black sand beach was a pebble beach, but once you get past a certain area, it feels just like sand. It was created by lava flowing into the ocean and cooling when it hit the water. There are also beautiful black cliff formations that make the skyline even more beautiful. Legend has it that they are actually trolls that were caught in the daylight and turned to stone.

After laying down and reminiscing on our trip on the completely empty beach for awhile, we drove back to the Airbnb, singing Disney songs (badly from my end) and eating the remainder of our Icelandic snacks.

Sunday

We left Sunday morning, having seen some of the most untouched and vibrant examples of natural wonder that I imagine exist anywhere. We bought souvenirs from the airport, tried on hand-knitted Icelandic sweaters, and had one last delicious Icelandic breakfast. I can’t wait to go back one day!