Fire and Ice: How to Explore Iceland, Week 1

To summarize two fabulous weeks in Iceland into one 1200-word blog post is an impossible ask. I shared one of the highlights in my 9.17 post about following inner guidance. When a client recently asked about my process (50 journal pages and 2000 photos later), I replied that every international trip is different. She got me thinking of a two-part blog topic: How might others explore Iceland if they have two weeks? Below are highlights from week 1, counterclockwise from Keflavik to Lake Myvatn.

Four Organizing Principles

Looking back on this trip, the four organizing principles around enjoying the Ring Road with my family included:

• Get everyone involved in the planning stage so the trip would be engaging and stimulating for all three of us
• Be as mindful and present as possible, which meant writing 50 (not 150) journal pages and getting sleep at night, not naps — we tend to go hard and experience as much as possible
• Explore on foot, whenever possible (I did 6 solo morning excursions), to experience each region more completely
• Highlight one event per day, to “file” 14 mental video snippets in a more orderly way

Using this organizational strategy, I will try to summarize 2000 photos and two fabulous weeks into two posts, as we made our way counterclockwise around the island.

Explore Iceland: See an Erupting Volcano

On August 29, my husband, daughter, and I took an 11 p.m. direct flight from SeaTac to Reykjavik, arriving at 1:30 p.m. local time on my birthday. Jetlagged, we set out to explore Iceland, deciding that our highest priority (after picking up our rental car and getting a SIM card) was to see the Svartsengi fissure eruption before it ceased.

We drove south of Keflavik to about 3 km north of Grindavik (Zone 1 in the linked map above), close enough to smell sulfur and catch sight of fountains spewing lava about 100 feet high. To keep my camera steady in the 20-30 mph wind, I ducked into a depression several feet deep which made photos appear to be right above the earth. This was my first international eruption unless I count those on the big island of Hawaii. What a memorable birthday experience!

Atlantic Puffins on Vestmannaeyjar Island

If day one’s highlight was the fissure eruption, day two was Atlantic puffins. We’d specifically designed our trip around the Ring Road to go counterclockwise to see the puffins before they migrated south. A late morning ferry took us to Vestmammaeyjar Island (Westman Island, also referred to as “Puffin Island” in bird parlance.) We drove to Storhofdi, the southern tip, and braved increasing winds to enjoy hundreds of puffins outside their burrows.

Wood Stove Pizza

Not only did we enjoy the puffins, but we also enjoyed the best pizza I’ve had in over a decade. Who knew, on a little island? Pitsugerdin is a local Italian pizzeria with a wood-burning oven and delicious, unique choices of pizzas. Part of the challenge we faced was we wanted to explore Iceland cuisine. We ordered one cheese and tomato, one sausage, Pepperoni, peppers, and cream cheese (below). I had heard that European flour is different from US flour; I didn’t even worry about it not being gluten-free. Sure enough, we had pizza four times in two weeks, and I didn’t experience gluten sickness a single time.

As the wind picked up, our hiking prospects disappeared in the clouds, so we arranged to catch an earlier ferry to the mainland. Several children had captured pufflings (immature puffins) that got disoriented and ended up in town; their parents released the birds off the back deck so they could make it to sea.

Our return trip should have taken roughly 30-40 minutes. The seas were so rough that we couldn’t dock in Landeyjahofn; instead, our captain added three hours to our journey to reach a more protected port, Þorlákshöfn. (Don’t ask me how to pronounce it.) Had we kept to our original plan, we would have been stranded on the island overnight.

Explore Iceland: Visit the Golden Circle

Still facing high gusting winds, day 3 featured the Golden Circle, a high-tourist drive out of Selfoss that included walks around Kerid Crater, through Thingvellir National Park (where two plates diverge as new land is created), the Geysir geothermal area, and Gullfoss waterfall. Many people wanting to explore Iceland will hit the Golden Circle in a few days on their way elsewhere.

We felt a little as though we were geyser snobs. We’ve seen Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, so we expected a little more from Strokkur, in Geysir, which erupts roughly every 6-12 minutes for about a second.

Our winner for the most unique experience on Day 3 was dinner at Ingolfsskali, a traditional Viking longhouse near Selfoss. My husband tried fermented shark and ordered the lamb dinner; our daughter tried the fish, and I had fried duck confit with lentils and cherries. Worth trying once. And no, I didn’t try the shark but I did try a tiny bite of dried fish that came with his order. My claim to Icelandic food fame was having Skyr (Icelandic yogurt) every single morning.

South Iceland Ice

Day 4 was our longest driving day. We traveled from a hostel in Holmabaeir to a quaint green cottage at Skaftafell, enjoying the glaciers and spectacular waterfalls along the South Coast. In the morning, we climbed 467 stairs up to the top of Skogafoss in Katla Geothermal Park, spending about 75 minutes admiring three of the many falls along the lower stretch of the river.

As we continued to explore Iceland, we added a stop at Katla Wool Studio, a local yarn shop in Vik; a grocery store for a replacement water bottle that didn’t make it into the car from the previous Air B&B; Jokulsarlon Lagoon for wonderful photographs; and Diamond Beach to explore ice fragments sculpted by waves on a black sand beach near the glacier lagoon.

By this time, one thing we learned was to procure groceries at the local Bonus (with a round pink pig) whenever we spotted them, as they’re only open from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. or, in some locations, 12-5 on Sundays. Our dinner at a local Hofn pub was a delicious surprise. We each got an order of their version of “nachos,” plank fries with cheese and bacon.

Hike Studlagil Canyon

Among the many highlights of week one, Day 5 may have been the most memorable. Not only did we see stunning eastern fjords landscapes, but we had a lovely four-mile round-trip hike through some of the most stunning geology I’ve ever seen.

Our daughter researched the south and east areas of Iceland and found a gem of a hike known as Studlagil Canyon. We had a turn-around time to get to our lodging near Egilsstadir for a homemade dinner, so we headed out briskly from the parking area to spend as much time as possible exploring.

One picture simply could not do it justice, so I’ve shared four. While my husband and daughter scrambled low over the eroded columns near the river, I explored the high path to the upper falls before finding an easier path to join them by the “island” in the center (lower right photo.)

Explore Iceland: Take in Lake Myvatn

Beyond Studlagil Canyon, near Lake Myvatn, we caught our breath, staying for two nights (days 6 and 7) an hour south of Husavik. High winds were so strong — whitecaps on ponds had us guesstimating 40 mph sustained with 50-60 mph gusts — that our whale-watching trip out of Husavik got canceled.

That didn’t stop us from visiting the “Diamond Circle“, North Iceland’s tourist loop akin to Reykjavik’s “Golden Circle.” In particular, we stopped briefly at Dettifoss and then discovered another hidden gem, Asbyrgi Canyon. It’s a horseshoe-shaped canyon forty-five minutes from Husavik with basalt walls about 100 meters high.

When we first came into a clearing, I gasped in surprise, partly because the water was so still (unlike the gusts we’d experienced all morning), and partly because the waterfowl were enjoying the peaceful solitude of the emerald water.

On our return drive to Lake Myvatn on day 6, we stopped at Grjotagja Cave (a small lava cave of Game of Thrones fame) and decided to hold off visiting Godafoss the following morning when it wasn’t as windy.

We took advantage of some much-welcomed downtime for the first time since we began our journey. Our second and third nights of pizza (this time from Daddi’s Pizza) had us enjoying a family game of Skip-Bo and shooting photos of a beautiful sunset (see above).

Week 1 Takeaways

Out of 2000 photos and 50 journaling pages, it’s hard to give my top five takeaways for someone wanting to explore Iceland, but I’ll do my best.

• Iceland is a destination in its own right, not just a stopover to other places in Europe. We had originally planned to spend 4 days in Iceland on our way to France, but we had too many things we wanted to experience. Each region is unique. To get the whole experience, driving the Ring Road made sense. Two weeks felt perfect.
• There are SO. MANY. WATERFALLS! We found ourselves looking for other features and experiences. At one point, my daughter said something to the effect of, “How many waterfalls do we have to see?” Yes, we saw the most popular ones, but as you can see, Iceland has so much more to offer than just waterfalls.
• The people! We met wonderfully kind Iceland hosts – hearty people who pretty much do everything because they have to. The evening after visiting Studlagil Canyon, we checked into the Litlabjarg Guesthouse. Our hostess prepared a delicious home-cooked meal for us of breaded cod and potatoes, salad, and a coffee cake even I got to enjoy — with a scoop of ice cream. Afterward, we chatted with her for a good half-hour. Delightful!

• Birds – we were under the impression that most of the birds would have flown south by September. But we encountered 53 species (30 life birds) including several hundred Atlantic puffins.
• Language — because Iceland has such a small population, almost everyone learns English. We had no problems communicating; I even practiced French with a Frenchman who knew little English!

More to Come…

Rested from our stay at Myvatn and ready to continue, we headed into week two to enjoy, among other things, a petting zoo, horseback riding, northern lights, a witchcraft and sorcery museum, whale watching, and a trip partway up Mt. Esja which I’ve already posted. Stay tuned!