The Best Of Iceland In A Phenomenal 2 Week Roadtrip

Beginning our trek on July 1, 2019, around the entire Land of Fire and Ice for 14 days, had been nothing short of unreal! I knew it would be awesome, but it’s one of of those places that you just need to see, to really feel. And traveling the country in a camper van gives you an incredible freedom where you can create your own agenda as you go, venture off the beaten path, and take your time soaking it all in. And the fact that it’s daylight almost 24 hours here in the summertime, and never gets completely dark, means you can visit spots at midnight, and not have to share the awesome peace, comfort, and views with anyone else! There are dozens of campervan companies, ranging in budget and style, and we chose Campeasy Camper Vans for their competitive prices and good customer service reviews. We converted the interior of our 4-wheeled Iceland home from a living vroom to a bed vroom on day one, and kept it that way the entire trip, so that we could spend more time enjoying our surroundings and less time making and re-making the bed. And with that, we began our two weeks of discovering some of the most beautiful spots in this varied, gorgeous, surprising country…..

We started our drive along the Southern Coast, and the first stop we came to was one of Iceland’s most famous attractions (and the main photo of this post)- Seljalandsfoss. We got there at about 2:30pm and decide to take a nap in our campervan, because we were tired from the flight and the morning setup/food shopping/driving. When we woke at 5:30pm, most everyone from all the tour buses had already gone, and there were very few people at the falls anymore. This impromptu nap was the best thing we could’ve done, because it set the ‘routine’ for the rest of our days, where we rested and slept during the peak hours of the day, when attractions were the most crowded, and began our sightseeing in the evenings, until past midnight, when the sun was just beginning to color the sky in beautiful sunset hues. And then when the sun would start to come up again at around 2:00am, we would sleep again for some hours and then hit some of the attractions early, before anyone else got there. Then we would get some lunch, and nap again until evening. It was the perfect formula for having secluded venues to ourselves.

Next to Seljalandsfoss, is a smaller, hidden, cavern waterfall, called Gljufrabui, and is a DO NOT MISS on my list of Iceland ‘musts’! Entering through the narrow cavern walls feels like something out of Middle Earth, and you will love the vibe. It’s also far less crowded, as many people do not know it’s there, and they are clammouring to see it’s famous larger sister-falls.

The other ‘Musts’ on the first two days of the Southern Coast, were Skogafoss, and the little hiddern cave waterfall, right near it, called Kvernufoss, another MUST! You have to climb over a sheep gate and walk through a valley to get there, but it is a gorgeous, quick little trek, and the end location is marvelous. We swam at the hidden mountain hot pool, Seljavalalaug, at almost midnight, and hiked about 1.5 hours to the crashed DC-3 plain the next night, around the same time. The bonus was that there were only about 2-4 other people at these otherwise popular sights. It was awesome! We visited Vik, an incredibly picturesque town, and the black sand beach of Reynisfjara, and incredible basalt columns that make you truly appreciate how awesomely wicked Mother Nature is.

On days 3-4, we made our way around the southeastern coast, heading slowly up north, and gobbling up all the incredible sights along the way. The Fjadrargljufur Canyon (Jurassic-looking and not too easy to say), but stunning(!!!), was a great place to fly the drone. The Vatnajokull glacier (the largest in Iceland) was visible all along the road in the South East, right amongst green grassy fields and wildflowers- crazy!! You can book glacier tours, but we didn’t do that this time. We stopped to see the Jökulsárlón glacier lake, which was amazing with icebergs floating in it, and then down the river run off, into the Atlantic Ocean, where they get washed up on the black sand beach and look like huge diamonds- hence the name, Diamond Beach. And probably my favorite, and most mind-blowing sight from all that we saw, are still the basalt columns. We found an ‘upside down’ column waterfall, Svartifoss, which was an easy 15 minute hike that starts at the Skaftafell visitor center. And lastly, but most impressively- an unbelievable canyon called Studlagil, made up of basalt columns that create a straight corridor for the unreal aqua-colored glacial river to flow through. I mean……. seriously?!?! You can access the lookout by following the road to the Studlagil Canyon parking area (which is relatively easy to find), and then we flew the drone down the basalt corridor to get some very close-up shots.

On days 5 & 6, we began to head towards the North, on the Eastern side of Iceland, and planned to stop for the night at a little hamlet town called Seydisfjordur. There’s only one way in and out of the town, via a scenic mountain overpass, which we drove over at midnight, when the sun was setting. The town was so beautiful, and the highlight was the most awesome rainbow road that ever was. As we headed more North, we saw steaming thermal vents at the Hverir ‘boiling mud’ fields, swam in the hot, blue waters of the Myvatn nature pools, and found the cave where Jon Snow and Ygritte had a steamy night of their own (for you Game of Thrones fans). The water was crystal clear & super blue. And super hot!! We also found an aquamarine crater pool in the middle of nowhere, the Krafla Viti Crater, saw the most powerful waterfall in all of Europe (Dettifoss), and drove through the most picturesque fishing villages and landscapes that you can imagine….

Days 7-8. We definitely knew we wanted to venture into the more remote, and less-visited part of Iceland. So we took two days to roam around the western most region, where the puffin-to-human ratio goes to the birds. We found more secluded hot pools and springs than in our whole trip combined thus far, and spent hours just floating and taking in the epic scenery. The natural geological rock formations were almost like sculptures, and the sunsets that lasted three hours and seamlessly melted into sunrises, lit up the landscapes when we took to the roads in the middle of the night.

I tried my best to capture Iceland’s natural beauty, because it is so incredibly varied, and the colors, temperature, and overall mood, changes so drastically from one moment and mile, to the next…….

On days 9 & 10, we discovered the western peninsula and the Golden Circle. I’m pretty sure I called it Snuffellupagus for the better half of the journey. We spent a few hours walking around the coastal town of Arnarstapi, where we saw some incredible rock arches where seabirds nest, and aqua blue water around the cute little harbor. We saw the famous Kirkjufell mountain and waterfalls (also a filming location for Game of Thrones), the black church of Budir, and discovered a hidden ‘gully’ crevasse in the cliffs near Arnarstapi that looked like something else from Middle Earth. During the trek around the Golden Circle, we watched geysers spout hundreds of feet in the air, saw the beloved Gulfoss Waterfall, and of course, Cisco got carried away again over the beautiful landscapes!! …..

We traded in our camper van for Prosecco-infused Blue Lagoon glam—
….. Varying levels of styles.
Nearly 1,800 miles.
Copious amounts of smiles.
Photos by the piles.

After spending 11 days living out of a van, we wanted to finish our trip with some creature comforts (and a hotel) in Reykjavik. The only thing more indulgent than the incredibly luxurious ‘Retreat Spa’ at the Blue Lagoon, was all the lobster cream soup and Skyr cheesecake I could manage to stuff into my face during our last few days enjoying the capitol city of Iceland. The Blue Lagoon, in my opinion, is a must. Not only because it is iconic, and the one place that is unmistakably synonymous with Iceland, but because it feels awesome! This would be a ‘do-not-miss’ if you are able. And, if you have the budget to splurge a little, I cannot recommend the Retreat Spa enough. It’s about 4 times the price, but it is about 100 times worth it. We forewent other creature comforts in order to splurge on this, and we did not regret it. It is extremely exclusive, with its private changing rooms, luxury take-home products, private pools and hidden lairs. It includes exfoliating treatments and silica masks as part of the ‘spa ritual’, and a complimentary glass of champagne or Prosecco. You get a 4-hour window to enjoy all the amenities, which need to be reserved ahead of time, and they limit the amount of people during each time slot, so it really feels extremely private and special. We went in the morning for the first time slot, 8:00-12:00, and we were pretty much the only ones there, with the exception of two other couples who came later. We then had lunch at the Lava cafe, which was lovely, and included copious amounts of delicious sourdough bread and skyr butter! Icing on the top of an awesome cake-day to begin with!

Reykjavik itself was an awesome town! We loved walking around the cute and colorful little streets. The church is one of the coolest and most interesting I’ve ever seen, and the Convention Center is a gorgeous piece of architecture too. We enjoyed fish and chips by the harbor, and had fun walking into bookstores and checking out the local reads. One thing we found everywhere- The Icelandic have a fun sense of humor.

Unrtil next time ….. Aloha, Iceland!