I haven’t traveled as much lately, so what better way than to write about this amazing place? *plugging in the current events to be relevant* with COVID-19 on the loose, I doubt I’ll be able to travel soon. I had very high expectations before coming to Iceland, but the place exceeded them. I was totally blown away by its natural beauty and landscapes. Here is my take on the Iceland highlights, and my quest to feel part of Game of Thrones. Maybe see Daenerys Targaryen? (I failed). If you want to see other landscape views in Europe, go check out my Switzerland post!
Before we go to the Iceland highlights, I just want to appreciate how we were able to make this trip. This was right before COVID-19 became global! There were a number of “scare” points for me, such as applying for my visa. I applied the Schengen visa for Iceland through the Finland consulate here in Hong Kong last January. The staff then told me that there’s a system change and that there’s no guarantee that the visa will be approved within 15 days! The virus was already starting to spread internationally, so I thought this “change” was actually related. Flights were also beginning to get cancelled and a higher chance that our trip was going to be affected as well. Anyway, I got the visa 2 days before our flight, phew! Obviously the trip pushed through otherwise I won’t have a post to write about.
Table of Contents
Arriving Reykjavik
We took a flight from Hong Kong via British Airways with a transit in London. This is where we met friend Kenelynn (special shoutout for planning everything to see the highlights of Iceland!) and 19hours later, we arrived Keflavik airport. We took Bus 55 to reach Reykjavik and checked in our Airbnb. We tried to join the free walking tour that happened at 4pm, but we felt a bit jetlagged and skipped it. Instead, we decided to stay in and eat something fancy. We tried going to a fine dining restaurant called Lobsterhouse. We were fully satisfied (and not just because we were hungry)! Special mention to the lobster soup we had, it was delicious. I’m not really a foodie, so forgive the lack of creativity in food photos!
We actually didn’t spend a lot of time in the capital, aside from buying groceries and checking out souvenir stores. Sorry that I won’t have much photos to share from the capital!
Golden Circle Tour
Our first full day to go around and see Iceland highlights was through a tour group called Nice travels Iceland. We were picked up around 8:30am and went on to for a full day tour.
Þingvellir National Park
This national park is a UNESCO world heritage and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. The park lies in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. To its south lies Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland. This was our first stop and I was already wow-ed by the beautiful sunrise and landscapes I’ve never seen before!
Strokkur
Strokkur is a geysir in Iceland that erupts around every 5-10mins. The water surrounding this area is said to be boiling hot and can lead to third degree burns. There are constant reminders to keep safe as the nearest hospital is located over 50km away!
Gullfoss
Thankful that when we went to this waterfall, the weather was warm and we were able to see some colors. But I also liked how we saw it completely covered in white the next time we drove by it too! Which one is a better view?
Blue Lagoon
Okay, this is usually one of the Iceland highlights you will see around the internet, but I actually didn’t go inside and take a bath (I’m not dirty I promise). We didn’t buy the tickets in advance because we thought there were other cheaper geothermal spas out there. Looking back, we should have tried it because we were in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. Might as well go inside!
Had some time so I tried some long exposure photography. Hello to the crew!
South Coast tour
On our second day, we booked a tour through Your Day tours. We had a great time with our tour guide Andres! He was very helpful, said a lot of (dad) jokes lol, and shared to us some tips for when we were going to drive on our own, and he played Icelandic music throughout for us to appreciate them more.
Skogafoss
Of the many waterfalls we saw, this one probably is my favorite, so I will put this as another one of my Iceland highlights. The Skógafoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in the country with a width of 25 metres (82 feet) and a drop of 60 m (200 ft). Due to the amount of spray the waterfall consistently produces, a single or double rainbow which is normally visible on sunny days. Too bad it was foggy when we came here, but it was still pretty impressive. I think this is also the spot where Jon Snow and Daenerys kissed???
Reynisfjara – Black Sand Beach
This place literally and figuratively blew me away. The wind was howling that day (so I didn’t even try to set-up my tripod, though I wanted to do a bit of long exposure, anyway safety first!). This beach is obviously famous for its black sand, which is due to basalt lava that is all around the place. As seen in the photos below, the sand is very fine and impressive, but people visiting this place need to be more cautious because the waves can be very unpredictable and can take you back to the sea. Andres mentioned that there’s not much land between Antarctica and the shores of Reynisfjara, meaning waves can really build up.
Seljalandsfoss
At this point, after seeing Gullfoss and Skogafoss, I was getting used to the waterfalls already. Unlucky enough, I didn’t get to go to the cave behind the waterfall as they closed it when we were there (?), which is something people traveling to Iceland would highlight. From the photos online, it looks beautiful especially during summer or spring, so I will include it in my list as well!
Self-drive spots!
After a worthwhile 2 days on tour, we finally had the car we rented so that we can explore places on our own and spend more time just taking photos and seeing other Icelandic landscapes. For the trip, we got a Mazda CX5 from Avis, and bought full liability insurance (the weather in Iceland is really unpredictable), GPS and Wi-fi.
Kirkjufell
Ah, yes. The most photographed mountain in Iceland and it is truly one of the Iceland highlights! This arrow shaped mountain is such a long drive from Reykjavik though, so make sure to have some stops along the way. People say the best time to photograph the mountain is during the sunset, but unfortunately it was so cloudy that day. There is also a small waterfall near the parking lot, so don’t miss it! It was a struggle going down because the roads were icy and slippery. Luckily there were ropes that people could hold on to.
Jökulsárlón Glacier
A large glacial lake in Iceland, I mean, I’ve never seen this much snow and much more, icy glaciers!
I strongly recommend this trip as there is a Glacier lake tour that drives you around the glacier. The guide is very experienced and will tell you more about the details and history of the glacier formations. Apparently, the glaciers here are formed by pressure and not by cold weather. The tour takes you inside 2 ice caves.
I touched the ice (I almost licked, but the guide says it’s nothing special lol) and surprisingly, they were not very cold. As they were formed mostly by pressure, their temperature was kept constant at 0 degrees. So that day I learned. Thanks for the new knowledge, Iceland!
Vestrahorn
This place is a long way from Reykjavik and is around a 6-hr drive. What we did was, we went to do the Glacier Lake tours in Jökulsárlón first and proceeded to go here to catch the night sky and hoped to see the Northern Lights (this was the day when the forecast was strongest! So we decided to muscle it out and stay all night). We parked the car near a coffee shop around the entrance where people needed to buy a ticket to enter, but my friends didn’t want to go down anymore, so I went down by myself to take shots. I didn’t get to go to the beach coast as it was so dark and slippery I thought it was a bit dangerous to walk by myself.
Anyway, I was still pretty impressed with what I saw even if the position was not optimal. You can see a feint streak of the Northern Lights at the back and these were probably among my favorite shots of the trip. At this time, I told myself that the landscapes in Iceland will never cease to amaze ANYONE. There’s no way anyone will be disappointed seeing these beauties right?
The unexpected Northern Lights!
Ahhhh. Now I can say the trip is finally complete and I saved the best for last. The reason everyone goes to Iceland during winter (I think, at least that’s why I did) and probably one of the biggest Iceland highlights: the aurora borealis or the northern lights! Upon further research from Google to understand the scientific reason:
” The Northern Lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth’s atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun’s atmosphere. “
People should manage their expectations though, as this is not what you will see with your naked eyes. What I saw in reality were streaks of white cloud-looking formations that moved, I didn’t know I was looking at the aurora lights until we parked the car and I shot these through the camera via long exposure! As we waited and took more photos, the aurora borealis grew in intensity and even danced and split into two!
Seeing the lights is completely by luck with the most important condition being a clear dark sky (even with a clear sky, it is not guaranteed). We tried booking the Northern Lights tour almost every day, but it kept getting cancelled because of poor weather conditions. Ironically, the day we saw it was when we didn’t book the tour! However, it is still recommended to book them because they do increase your chances. They have a team of experts who do their research and forecast where it is the most likely to see the Northern Lights.
… And that concludes my Iceland highlights! What do you guys think?