The one-liner I kept saying to everyone who asked “how was Iceland?!” was that it felt like driving on Mars, truly another world. Snowcapped hills surrounding the city, winding roads through fields of mossy rocks, collapsed volcanoes rising out of nowhere with glaciers spilling down, the most wild mercurial weather I’ve ever seen, and my favorite, the black sand beaches. Very Nordic, very Scandinavian, very cool.
Renting a car is a must. The cumbersome tour buses just looked like a beacon of discomfort, and I have to say that having a spare pair of dry clothes + snacks and warm socks in the back seat was the ultimate luxury. We took a day to explore Reykjavik and then spent two days driving up and down the Ring Road soaking in as many of the sights as we could. Shoutout to Eric for driving every last bit of it, I’m a way better co-pilot than navigator, I swear.
Be ambitious when planning your trip! You can pack in more things than you think, and we also stopped for natural wonders we hadn’t even heard of. Iceland truly blew me away. For us, it was a very independent traveling experience. We spent long afternoons at Starbucks researching for our trip, and kept a running Google doc of all the places we wanted to see while we were there. Also, once I told some friends I was going it turns out many friends of friends had been before and sent me lots of tips, so spread the word!
TO LISTEN | Catch and Release (Deepend Remix) by Matt Simons — prepare yourself to be amazed by the way the world just is in Iceland
TO STAY | We snagged an extra cute Airbnb in an old Scandinavian house. There were gorgeous 100 year old pine floors, a mega-comfy bed, and very clean showers. I’m a huge proponent of Airbnb, and unless I have a friend who lives in my destination, you can bet I’ll be staying in an Airbnb.
TO EAT | I have to be honest, the food left a lot to be desired in Iceland. Everything has to be imported to the island, so most meals are at least $30 per person. For that reason, and since this was only destination 1 of our trip, Eric and I usually kept things simple for meals. We always had Icelandic yogurt and granola bars from the little grocery store around the corner for breakfast. And we tried a Fish and Chips place one night for dinner that was pretty good. Also, Reykjavik Roasters was a hip coffee shop we went to twice and loved! And shoutout to the cute teeny tiny bakery right down the street from it (get the cinnamon buns if they're fresh from the oven!). The standout food though, was the hot dogs. You may think I’m crazy until you try one. But truly...they’re FANTASTIC. Most of them are made with lamb and served with crispy onions and an array of sauces. Find them at nearly any gas station (forget what you know about 7/11 hot dogs, ok?), we got one everyday I think. And don’t forget to stop by Baejarins Beztu Pylsur in Reykjavik, the best!!
DAY ONE | We hit the Blue Lagoon on the way in. It was as gorgeous as everyone said it was, definitely a must on the to do list, even if it is for tourists. You must book well ahead of time! We waited way too long to book our slot and there wasn't anything left, luckily Eric talked our way in, but save yourself the groveling and book weeks, months (if you can) in advance. Oh, and LOAD your hair up with conditioner! I even went back inside to put on more halfway through and my hair still ended up like Medusa afterwards. Once we got to town we spent the day exploring Reykjavik. Highlights include Hallgrímskirkja church, the corrugated tin houses painted in primary colors, and the Sólfarið sculpture by the water. The city is exceptionally walkable. We walked from our airbnb to the other side of town (about a mile) no problem. But if you do want to drive there is lots of street parking, and we took a taxi to get our rental car very early in the morning. Tip: the taxi, along with nearly every other establishment prefers credit cards. A very different experience for me from the rest of Europe, but it made paying for things very easy.
DAY TWO | We drove south on the Ring Road with the ultimate destination of Glacier Lagoon. The beauty of the Ring Road is that any destination is quite literally, right off to the side of it. We stopped at Selfoss, Skogafoss, Black Sand Beach, Vik, Glacier Lagoon, and of course, the beautiful Diamond Beach. We then drove the 4 hours back to Reykjavik that night as well. It wasn't a bad drive, more gorgeous than anything, and we saw every type of weather imaginable (hail, rain, snow, sun). And the wonderful part is you can pull off nearly anywhere and take photos, or just gape at the otherworldly landscape. I only wish we had more time so we could've gone further! The eastern side of Iceland was admittedly a little intimidating to me, but knowing what I know now, it's easily travelled to, with plenty of small inns and guesthouses to stay at along the way. I'm already plotting a summertime trip where we drive the whole circumference of the island...
DAY THREE | We took the Ring Road north this time headed towards Thingvellir National Park (also one of the most fun names for a national park I think I've ever heard). Today we really did stop probably every thirty minutes for beautiful mountains, new sights we hadn't heard about, and (finally!!!) the famous Icelandic ponies! I wish you could hear my squeals of excitement when we finally found some close enough to the road to pet and photograph. Eric still swears he heard them talk when we were walking away (big wink). We drove a little aimlessly stopping at whatever struck our fancy - Gulfoss (famous waterfall), Geysir (geysers), and the continental divide in the park...this is all referred to as the Golden Circle in Iceland. It was pouring rain most of the day but that's what's just so lovely about having a car, you can just wait it out while staying warm and dry.
Some specifics in case you're interested: we used the Blue Lagoon bus service to get from the airport to Blue Lagoon and then into the city. We took a Gray Line Iceland bus from our place to the airport when leaving which was super easy and had wifi on board! A little tip though - the buses don't pick up from specific Airbnb addresses, so we just found a hotel around the corner from our place and used that as a pickup and dropoff point for all our buses and taxis. We flew Wow Air and it was really easy! Don't expect comfy big seats or in-flight entertainment, so bring a book and lots of snacks.