Iceland is one of those places that you can’t truly appreciate until you’ve traveled there. No picture or video can really represent the magnificently beautiful landscapes.
We were very excited when we were planning this trip to say the least and there was a lot of planning! Check out this post to see how we packed for our 9 day adventure.
Our Iceland trip was during winter (November 2-10) and we decided to go on a self-driving tour (which is actually pretty popular in Iceland). One advantage of going on a self-driving tour is that you are able to be more flexible with where you stop and also how long you stay at any given location.
We managed to drive through almost all of Iceland during this trip!
Iceland can be broken out by regions: Golden Circle, North, Reykjavik, South, West
Contents
Golden Circle
Gullfoss
This is the biggest waterfall in Iceland and also the most popular. When we went up close, it was very cold and windy so make sure to dress warm. Many tour companies stop here so it can get very crowded. Brea wasn’t able to fly her drone because it was too crowded. There are about 3 photo spots at Gullfoss. There was an opportunity for a fourth, but the area was closed off. This fourth one leads to a closer view of the waterfall on the lower half. In this picture, Brea is on the higher half closer to the falls.
The Great Geysir
Apparently this Geysir erupts every 10 to 15 minutes, so if you don’t see it the first time just wait and it will happen again. The walk to the Geysir is not far from the parking lot – it was a quick 5 minute walk. You’ll see some other small geysers on the way to the big one. The area has an eatery, clothing stores (popular Icelandic stores like 66 North), bathrooms and a gas station.
Haifoss
This was another waterfall that we saw in the Golden Circle. This was also the most frightening experience but it was a sight you definitely needed to see. The waterfall can be seen from a cliff on the other side. It was very windy and cold when we were there. We had to crouch down and crawl sometimes to make sure we didn’t get blown away. But the view was worth it especially since we got there around sunset. Only a few people (1-2 other groups) came around this time.
Take note that it was so windy, the safest place I found was a crack in the cliff to put my feet through to safely take pictures.
North Iceland
Dettifoss
This waterfall was about a 10 minute walk from the parking lot. The entire walk was on snow so make sure you wear snow pants and show shoes. The walk was not on flat surface the whole time. When you get there, you won’t be able to get up close to the waterfall. It was pretty far off but if you have a good lens, you can still get a decent photo. This picture was taken during sunset.
Godafoss
We visited this waterfall at night because we were trying to see the Northern Lights. The tool we used was the Iceland forecast. This was to determine what day and place would give us the highest chance of seeing the Northern Lights so that we weren’t chasing the Lights every day. This tool/website was very helpful to keep us on track and to not waste a lot of energy, time and money with a tour. We arrived at Godafoss around 5PM and waited in the car for about an hour until the sky got darker. You can’t really see the green streaks with your bare eyes – it looked much better and clearer through a camera lens. At first the streaks look like clouds in the sky, but you’ll notice what you are looking at when they start moving in directions that clouds normally don’t.
Grjotagja Cave
Although none of us were really big fans of the show Game of Thrones, we still decided to go see the famous cave anyway. However, since the sun set so early when we were there (around 4PM), we arrived at the cave too late and there was not enough sunlight to really see inside the cave. Flash could not save any pictures. There was a lot of steam so the flash reflected everywhere and the pictures were unusable. This was the closest one taken on the iPhone 7 plus. The sign stresses that no one bathe in the cave.
Reykjavik
Iceland Airwaves
We like going to raves and to go clubbing so we thought it was a great opportunity to go to their music festival. We had to pick up our badges at the Harpa. The downtown area of Reykjavik is involved in this festival. You can attend without buying a badge because some places (restaurants and hotels) hosted their own unofficial partnership with the festival. If you don’t know any of the artists playing or just want to experience the festival, we would recommend buying a day pass and attending the art gallery – it hosts the most popular artists. Alcohol is served at the locations.
Austurbakki (Harpa)
The concert hall is decorated with lights around the building that flow in a motion. There was some construction when we went there as noted in the picture below that ruined our photos. It is near many restaurants so you can just walk around and explore.
Blue Lagoon
We went to the Blue Lagoon on our last free day and unexpectedly spent the whole day there. Make sure you route to the correct Blue Lagoon because there was a gym with the same exact name in Reykjavik. The Blue Lagoon you want to go to is in Keflavik (near the airport). We bought the deluxe package which came with towels, a robe, 2 free face masks, a free drink and a reservation to their restaurant. You definitely should get this package. The robe and towel were worth it alone. You can bring your own towel if you choose to go the cheaper path.
- Before you could go into the lagoon, you had to rinse yourself and also put a lot of conditioner into your hair – if you don’t your hair becomes really hard really fast. If you want to take a picture with dry hair, good luck as some of their staff might “remind” you to shower before entering.
- The lagoon itself was warm and relaxing, but the couple of seconds before you get into the water were very hard because it was still freezing outside. The water wasn’t deep at all (I am only 5 feet and I could still walk around) and we just wandered around in the water with our beers. There are floatation devices at the entrance of the lagoon in case you still need it.
- The bar and the mask bar are at two different ends of the lagoon. Note that there is a map of the lagoon, where things are located, and the temperature of the water at each area. The temperature does not stay the same throughout.
Sun Voyager (Viking statue)
We visited this landmark on the day that we were flying back to LA. It’s a statue on the street facing the water, so there’s really no parking lot or anything. We parked across the street where the cars are in the picture and just walked over. If you go up close to the statue, be careful because the floor is made out of granite and it is very slippery. I even have a video of myself while flying my drone and I almost slip a few times while walking.
The Icelandic Phallological Museum
We just had to go to this museum just for fun. The admission fee is $15 and they even have a small gift shop.
South Iceland
Black Sand Beach / Dc Plane Wreck
This was by far the hardest part of our entire trip. We wanted to walk to the black sand beach but what we didn’t know was that it was a 2 mile or more walk each way. The rain was falling hard and all we could see were our feet because we had to keep our heads down the whole time. The walk felt endless, but then we saw the Dc plane wreck in the horizon. This was a nice surprise because we weren’t expecting to see anything except the beach, even though we were planning to see this too. There were a good amount of other people that wanted to go to the beach too so we thought if they can do it, so can we. We got some blisters and cuts after this walk. Our friend even put on a disposable rain poncho for the whole walk but she said it didn’t work that well for her and still got wet underneath.
Glacier Lagoon
This is a really great place to take pictures at. There are about three parking lots with three different views of the lagoon. The main parking lot is at the cafe where you have to meet for the ice cave tour. The view is an easy walk from all the parking lots – a quick less than 2 minute walk. The main parking lot does have a sign to not fly drones.
Jokulsarlon – Ice Cave Tour
The tour is around $200 per person. There are a variety of different tours to choose and different companies. You could pick what time you want to do the tour – we picked 8:50AM so that there would be less people. The day before we went on the tour, there was a pretty big storm so some of the ice caves were flooded. That meant that the other guides from other companies were trying to find a cave as well. So there were a bunch of other tours happening at the same time because of this. Our guide was very nice and told us some interesting facts about glaciers and ice caves. We drove in the direction of 3 ice caves total. Supposedly the one we finally arrived to was the furthest one, the bluest one and the shortest one. Here’s the company we used: LINK.
Seljalandsfoss
On a normal dry day, the hike to this waterfall would have been easy but on the day that we visited, it was raining and the walkways were all iced. It was definitely an adventure – grabbing on to the grass on the side but they were all icicles. We did make it behind the waterfall in one piece though and it was worth it. You might make some friends at this place because of the difficulty getting behind the waterfall and out of it. There’s another small waterfall a small walk away. You would have to climb some rocks and hills to see it though.
Skaftafell – Diamond Beach
This is located right across from the Glacier Lagoon. You could literally just walk across the street and then be at the beach or you could drive and park at the lot nearby. The beach was filled with glacier blocks that were all different sizes – some were small and some were pretty big. Many people came to the end of the beach. This picture was taken from my drone off to the side and deeper into the beach since other people were flying as well.
Skogafoss
You can walk right up to the waterfall and there are two viewing areas – one from the bottom and one from the top. There is a middle section, but it was closed off. To get to the top of the waterfall, you will have to walk up a set of very steep stairs. There are SOME railings to help.
We visited Skogafoss twice (one day apart).
The first time it was green and dry (filled with a lot of people)-
Solheimajokull Glacier
The drive to this glacier from Reykjavik was about 2 hours. When we arrived, it was only a short walk and then we were already at the glacier. This was the first place that we saw after landing in Iceland and it was a beautiful sight. The glacier was massive and the water and sky were both a surreal blue. We arrived in time as people started to get ready for their tour. We weren’t aware that there was one happening so we just took a self guided one because they were planning to climb the glacier.
There was also a cafe at the glacier where you could get snacks, pastries, coffee, beer and enjoy your surroundings. There is a bathroom for paying customers and free WiFi.
West Iceland
Barnafoss
This waterfall is also known as the Children’s Falls. The name came from an old story about 2 children who fell into the waterfall while their parents were at church. It is connected to the Lava Falls and is a very short walk from the parking lot. When we went, it was lightly snowing so you could make snow angels if you wanted to.
Hraunfossar
This was the cascading waterfalls (“Lava” waterfalls) connected to Barnafoss. The snow was very soft that we started trying to pack them and throw it into the river.
Iceland’s Largest Cave Tour
Don’t be fooled by some of the pictures that you Google – we tried entering the cave without a tour but there was a sign that said only guided tours were allowed. Since we still wanted to do this tour, we decided to join a last minute one that had just left when we arrived (last minute add-ons were okay). We managed to catch up to the group. It was $65 per person. If you click the link, this website shows a video of a good representation of the cave. It was warm inside the cave, cold outside due to the snowing weather. Very informational about rocks and lava.
Don’t forget to visit the duty free store at the airport. We stopped there before going to baggage claim to pick up some alcohol. We never managed to visit a grocery store while we were there. So try to pick up as much items here before you start. The rest of the items we picked up along the way from gas stations.
We also made pit stops during our drive to pet some horses – they were hungry. Be careful they might try biting your hand, gloves, etc or nudge you away haha. True story.
Accommodations
Since we weren’t staying in one area of Iceland for too long, we had to book different hotels depending on what area we were in. Something to note in all the accommodations we stayed in is that they don’t have irons for you to use, not enough closet space, they might have floor heating for the bathroom, and showers do not have shower doors to contain the water so it might overspill. But all the places had breakfast included, or we made sure to get breakfast included. These are general observations for all the places we stayed in.
Iceland Hotel Reykjavik Marina
At this hotel, we booked a family sized room that came with 2 full sized bunk beds. This was a comfortable stay for us (we went with 2 other people).
Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon & Fosshotel Myvatn
The Fosshotels are a chain of hotels in Iceland and the rooms were very nice and spacious.
ION hotel
This was the only luxury hotel that we stayed at. The service that we received when we checked in was excellent – we even got complimentary sparking wine. The rooms had free water and there was also a bar in the hotel called the Northern Lights bar. We were able to see the northern lights again at this location during dinner. Sadly we were not able to use the swimming pool because we didn’t have time.
To some, our trip may seem short (only 9 days to explore a whole country!) but we always manage to make it adventurous and jam packed. There was never a dull moment where we were bored or didn’t know what to do – that’s the beauty of planning and doing your research. Going on a self-driving tour also gave us so much freedom to really dive into Icelandic culture. The next time we visit Iceland, we will probably go during a different season just so we can see what Iceland is like not filled with snow. If you haven’t been to Iceland yet, you definitely need to add Iceland as your next destination!
