Iceland! for 5 nights

Where we stayed
I booked my Reykjavik Airbnb months before the RS Iceland book came out, then realized I really wanted to see the glacier lagoons on the southeastern coast, which are well beyond a day trip from Reykjavik.The solution was to book a second Airbnb for one night in the southeast. Expensive, but we only had to pack one small bag and hit the road.

In Reykjavik we stayed in Jon Kristinn & Alfrun’ s lovely Airbnb apartment in a quiet suburb 10 minutes from the center of downtown. Pristine, newly furnished, and the perfect 2BR for us. In Iceland you open your windows to regulate the temp. I would choose singing birds over party central any day. Sleeping in the midnight sun is challenging enough!

Lambhus Cabins, way out in the country, 30 km west of Hofn, are a group of red tinyhouses facing the Vatnajokull Glacier, with the owners’ half dozen Icelandic horses looking in your windows from their fenced pasture. The cabins are immaculate, the view amazing, and the queen bunk beds comfortable, but requiring some agility (and sense of humor.) There are nearby farms that offer dinner and breakfast, but we weren’t aware of this until we read the info in the cabin. At almost $300/night they seemed expensive, until I saw a pup tent in the area renting for almost $100.

What we ate
A lot of sandwiches! Seriously. Food is Iceland is extremely expensive, much more than I remember in Norway or Denmark, though it’s been a while. Made Switzerland look like a budget destination. I actually brought a jar of peanut butter and jelly from home. Our grocery run to buy drinks, sandwich fixings, chips, bananas, cookies, and skyr, cost $90.

We ate twice at a $$ Rick Steves rec in the harbor which had wonderful fish: Kaffivagninn. About $100 for 3 people, and we drank table water, like most of the locals.

Had $25 hamburgers on the road to Vik. The ice cream from the farm on the Golden Circle near Geysir, had windows looking at the cows in the barn, so was totally worth whatever it cost.

Our best find was the Braud bakery in downtown Reykjavik, famous for their cinnamon rolls. Everything we got there was wonderful. Easy to find. The outside is painted with colorful hippie- style graffiti. We went there every day.

I had no idea, but Reykjavik has a Costco!

What to pack
If you’re not liking Iceland’s weather, the one thing you can be sure of is that it will probably change in a few minutes! The forecast of lows in the 40s made me over prepare for cold. I was fine with a packable down vest and a hooded rain shell. Grandson rotated a packable down jacket, a rain shell, and his hoodie. We never wore our gloves and scarves, but we never experienced windy days either. A friend who had visited in spring advised me to bring my hiking boots. Not critical in summer. I wore them, but not enough to justify bringing them. They were more useful for packing the peanut butter and jelly....

If you go out on one of the glacier lagoon boat trips, they will suit you up in their own heavy expedition jackets. I have only five days of weather experience in Iceland, but I think you can count on some rain.

What to see and do
With the sun shining til midnight, you can make lazy morning starts and still have hours of daylight for touring. Loved that part. (Sleeping in semi-dark rooms, not so much. Wish I’d kept my airplane sleep mask.)

The Blue Lagoon
Glad we went our first night. After hours in airports, it was wonderfully relaxing. Two hours was good. Probably not the best $100 experience I’ve ever had, but no way was I going to Iceland and missing the Blue Lagoon. Book online ahead of time. Kids go free, which dilutes the price a little. Once you're inside, with your bracelet and towel, there’s a long hallway to the locker rooms. Don’t take the first lockers you see unless you fancy long walks to and from the showers. Go up the next hall and you’ll find more lockers that are closer to the showers.

Golden Circle
An easy day trip from Reykjavik, though there’s more dramatic scenery elsewhere. Glad we did this first. I was a little concerned it might be bumper to bumper buses when we left Reykjavik about noon, but taking the longer scenic route (in the RS book) we passed maybe three cars in the first hour on the way to Pingvellir. Stark, dramatic scenery reminded me of both Norway and Montana.

We filled the rest of our day connecting the easy to reach Geysir Geothermal Field and the roaring Gullfoss waterfall, both of which had a fair number of visitors but not huge crowds, then a quick stop at the Kerio Crater on the way back to Reykjavik. This made for a pretty full day without a lot of hiking or a stop to soak in a hot spring. If you want to do it all, get moving earlier than we did.

South Coast — green hills, glaciers, waterfalls, and black sand beaches!

Seljalandsfoss waterfall was my favorite. Not the biggest, but so green and beautiful, and you can easily get as close and as wet as you want.

Skogar waterfall is bigger, but not quite as scenic.

Black sand beach at Reynisfjara is starkly beautiful, even on a cold gray day. Thick black sand, a coating of smooth grey rocks, and basalt columns to climb. Be sure you understand about “sneaker waves.” (We were cautioned even by our hosts in Reykjavik.)

If you’re not going beyond Vik, this is the area to see a glacier, maybe do a glacier walk.

The Lava Centre sounds very interesting, and we may have missed a great learning opportunity, but were traveling with a 10yo who was spooked in 2nd grade by a science unit on Pompeii. Made a judgment call to take a pass.

Southeast Iceland - Vik to Hofn - mountains, glacier lagoons, lupines, waterfalls, moss-covered volcanic fields!

This was the most dramatic and varied scenery, my favorite area. It’s too far to go on a day trip from Reykjavik, but with one overnight in the area you can see a lot.

Jokusarlon glacier lagoon is the jaw-dropper sight. You catch a glimpse of it from the highway. Turn off where all the other cars are going. Unforgettable view of icebergs and the occasional black seal bobbing in the water right in front of you. Amphibious truck/boats queuing to take visitors out in the lagoon. There was a small, steep sandy beach area with grapefruit size balls of ice scattered on it, which I LOL thought was the...

Diamond Beach is across the highway from the Jokusarlon lagoon, and there’s no real sign for it. You can’t actually see it from the highway, but you will probably see a line of parked cars. As chunks of icebergs breakup in the Jokusarlon lagoon, they float down a short river, under the big bridge, then out to sea. But some chunks wash up on the black sand at Diamond Beach, and some are as big as small whales! Blue ice is newer ice, but as the chunks melt they become lacy and transparent — a magical thing to see. This lagoon and beach, across the road sites, were my favorites in Iceland!

Fjallsarlon glacier lagoon is about 10 minutes down the highway going toward Vik. There’s no big sign, and you can’t see this one from the highway. It’s not as big or touristed as Jokusarlon, but very beautiful and peaceful. We went out in a Zodiac that quietly took us close to the glacier itself. Made reservations online the night before. We could never see more than one other Zodiac in the distance. A special experience. We had a perfect weather day, but they suit you up in warm, expedition coats that should be fine even in worse weather.

All of these sights are on the Ring Road encircling Iceland. It is a narrow, two lane, steep shouldered road with one-lane bridges where you need to pull off and take turns. Iceland only has about 350,000 people total, and they’re not living in this southeastern corner of the island. Between Vik and Hofn there is about one gas station! There is an occasional roadside porta-potty and picnic table, but there are precious few scenic pullouts, and they need one about every few miles! Beautiful, dramatic, constantly changing scenery.

Reykjavik
The last day of our two week trip, and with not so great weather, we spent a low-key day in the city itself. Reykjavik’s downtown is small and walkable, with some galleries and more tourist shops. There are probably more interesting things to see, but a walking tour in the rain did notappeal. The severe, vertical church has an austere, peaceful interior and a great view of the city from the bell tower. The organist was practicing when we visited, which was wonderful.

I love museums of all kinds, but after a week in London with some of the world’s finest, and free, museums, didn’t have a strong desire to do museums here. I don’t mind paying when there’s interest, but wasn't anxious to fork over $70, for example, to see whale models when I sensed only the mildest of interest from my travel partners. If I were here longer, think I would investigate whether the Reykjavik card might be worthwhile. On my own, I would definitely have checked out the art museums.

I don’t love zoos, but Reykjavik’s is more of a petting zoo of well cared for farm animals, and my grandson and I both liked it. Takes less than an hour to see all of it. It’s tiny. The “aquarium house” has iguanas, some frogs, and ants!

Continuing along the harbor past the landmark Sun Voyager sculpture, we found the windy point where the wind surfers launch. Fun to watch as long as we could stay vertical in the wind.

Parting thoughts
Iceland has some of the most dramatic scenery I’ve ever found. I think I read they’re the most highly educated country in Europe. There was no obvious poverty or homelessness. I would guess that most Icelanders fit in a fairly homogenous upper middle class strata. In contrast to the very high prices here, it doesn’t feel consumerist driven. Although some Icelanders must be benefiting from this newfound tourism, I hope we’re not annoying the rest of them. I really want to come back and see more, and I fear I better do it before we turn Iceland into the next Cinque Terre.

I can't thank you enough for your thoughts on Iceland and London. We head to Iceland in a couple weeks with our boys (ages 10 and 14), and London is on the short list for a trip, so this is very helpful. Your grandson is so lucky to have grandparents like you! How was his energy/stamina once you got to Iceland? I could see my own 10 year old getting a little tired at that point.

Ruth! Thank you! This trip report is excellent and filled with terrific info and insight. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to help us all with our planning or dreaming. Terrific.

Paul

Ruth,
Great report! I almost felt like I was there with you.

Thanks for your great report.

Great report, Ruth.

MH:
I found 8 nights in London to be just about right. Like to leave a party while it's still fun. I intentionally tried not to push him too hard, even though there were plenty more things we could do. Near the end in London, I know we took more taxis for sure. Iceland was so much more low key. If we had done that first, he might have gotten more restless with all the time in the car, and there was a lot for three days. We did try to get out and see something every hour or so, but we probably would have done even more physically if it were the beginning of the trip. I was impressed with how well he managed it all. In Iceland we did later starts, fewer sights, stayed up later, and gave him more screen time. Honestly, he was an excellent traveler.

In general, I was always a little surprised that my kids, teens, and twenty somethings seemed to have less stamina than I did. Maybe because I had more invested in the trip. Maybe because they live more in the moment. Maybe I'm just a better traveler now. I'm sure I have more generous expectations of a grand child! The pick-me-up power of ice cream should never be underestimated either!

Glad you had such a memorable trip with your grandson. It was a pleasure to read your report.

Loved your report Ruth. I have several friends who have been to Iceland and other than the expense, I only hear wonderful things!