From Finland it was only about a 4 hour flight to Iceland. We only had 5 days so we stayed in Reykjavik and took a few day trips to see as much as we could. This was a good way to do it on a first visit, but next time we would rent a car or mini-motor home, and do the whole island.
The natural beauty here is incredible. As we learned, Iceland is the youngest part of Earth - only 45 million years old! So yes, volcanoes, waterfalls, geysers…it’s all here.
Everything is expensive here (one reason for only a short stay), but we found a “reasonable” small hotel through Booking.com that was right near town, was clean and had a nice little breakfast. Of course we came in during some kind of local festival (we had no idea), so we were greeted with fireworks!
You really can see so much on the day trips. We did two - one to see the south part of the island and one to do the famous Golden Circle.
On the trip to see the southern parts of the island we saw the beautiful Skogafoss waterfall, along with many others. We also made a stop on the black sand beach and were lucky enough to see a few Puffins. Lucky because we were told they had already departed for the season. I guess some of them wanted to stay an extra day.
A quick stop to visit the glacier before we head back to town. The glacier has receded quite a bit but is still incredible. There were many groups hiking on the glacier - not us - we were ok to see what we could!
Back in Reykjavik we wandered the town. Many shops and little restaurants and bars to visit, and lots of incredible street art and murals.
They are famous for hot dogs here - maybe because they are affordable! They are good for sure. One place had Bill Clinton visit (and others). Needless to say…I tried a few hot dogs.
We stopped at another little place, supposedly famous for local food. Cafe Loki had one item on the menu “must try”. It was fermented shark, with a shot of Brennivin the local aquavit. Well, I tried it…then asked the waitress for another…shot - to get the shark down!
The town of Reykjavik is great and walkable, although we did take the red bus so we could see as much as possible. And there is excellent food here beyond just hot dogs.
We had a second great day trip to see the Golden Circle. We started with a stop at Thingvellir National Park. The park sits atop the Mid-Atlantic ridge that separates the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. Also a visit to Gullfoss Waterfall, which gives Niagara a run for the money!
From here we went to the town of Geysir, to visit - yes you guessed right - the geysers! Pretty incredible to see.
Now on to the famous Blue Lagoon. At 102 degrees the waters are rich in minerals and we had a chance to soak for a couple hours. And of course there was a float up bar. The Blue Lagoon is closed now as there are serious volcano issues in the area - glad we had a chance to visit when we did.
Back to Reykjavik and a chance to see a few more sights before we headed back to the US. We had a great time here and hope to have a chance to visit and spend more time here soon.
Sorry it took so long to get this final post from this trip out, but hope you enjoy it. And hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.
All the best,
Tim & Eileen
