My report is a bit lengthy and you might not get through it all but I want to mention the following cities as real gems that we visited 1) Budingen, 2) Marburg and 3) Vianden. If not for the helpline I likely would not have known about, been drawn to, or just driven by these places. If you are near any of these cities try to stop for a visit. Also, thank you to everybody who responded to my questions as it helped me shape this journey.
This summer 2013 vacation was initiated by our daughter's participation in her high school German class student exchange program. The plan was for me and my wife to explore Iceland for three days before flying to Frankfurt to pick up our daughter, and then visit the German girls we hosted in 2011 and 2012. After that we would drive along the Mosel to Trier, then on to Vianden, Luxembourg City, Verdun, Reims and then conclude the trip with five days in Paris.
Day 1 - Arrive at Keflavik at 6:30AM. Pick up rental car. Sunny weather and mid 50’s. Do Golden Circle tour. Thingvellur: I’m not much of a history buff but try to do a little reading up on the places I am going to visit so I read Egils Saga for some historical background. Walking between the European and North American plates was pretty cool. There are easy trails with beautiful scenery with waterfalls, lakes, distant mountains, and gin clear water. We spent about two hours walking the trails and reading historical plaques before moving on to Geysir. The Strokkur geyser did not disappoint and was the star of the place, erupting every 6 minutes or so. Sometimes a beautiful, large deep blue eye would form just prior to eruption. There are other geothermal features to enjoy and you can hike up the hill for a panoramic view of the area. Gulfoss is a large and beautiful multi-tiered waterfall with a couple trails to viewpoints to admire it from. You can also sign up to ride Icelandic horses there but we passed on that since we didn’t plan on it and did not want to have to do laundry right away. By now it's late in the afternoon, we're feeling a bit jet lagged so decide to head back to Reykjavik, check into our apartment and go grocery shopping. Luckily there was a Bonus just down Laugavegur street that was still open so we could stock up for our stay.
Day 2 - Another decent day so we decided to drive up to the Snaefellsnes peninsula. For timekeepers it took 2.5 hours to get to Helnar using the tunnel shortcut. We drove the loop around the peninsula stopping at various sights before heading south on 56 and then back to Reykjavik for a little over 13 hours from start to finish of this roadtrip. First stop was the visitor center to determine what sights to stop at with our limited time. Down the hill was a little cafe that was famous for their fish soup so we had lunch sitting outdoors with a beautiful view of the cliffs. We then walked along the sea cliffs to Arnarpasti and back. Other favorites were the beach with the lava pearls which made an enchanting clacking sound as the waves receded, Skardsvik beach that looked very tropical with the multi-hued blues of the water, and Saxholl crater which looks like a mini volcano that you hike to the top to view the crater. It’s a very scenic drive with mountains as a backdrop with many high, narrow waterfalls. Only one time did Mt. Snaefellsnes (from Jules Verne “Journey to the Center of the Earth” fame) reveal its peak which was normally obscured by wave after wave of clouds.