In March of 2013, I traveled to Iceland for the first time. At the time, I was a law student, and I was going through my last quarter of law school. I wanted something to look forward to post-graduation, so I booked cheap, last-minute round-trip tickets from Seattle to Reykjavik. It was my light at the end of the tunnel as I was writing papers and studying for law school finals.
Day 1: Airport + Reykjavik
Flying from Seattle to Reykjavik takes a little less than 8 hours on a nonstop flight. When I got off the plane, the first thing I noticed was the temperature drop. Living in Seattle, I was used to 50-60 degree Fahrenheit weather in the wintertime. In Reykjavik in March, the temperature was 30-40 degrees Fahrenheit. I was glad to have packed clothing that I would have worn on the slopes for skiing or snowboarding. However, I did forget to pack a beanie and gloves, so those were the first items I purchased in Iceland.
I booked an airport transfer into the city and then checked into a hostel in the center of Reykjavik, where I would be staying for the entire duration of the trip. I was a student with six figures of law school debt, and accommodations in Reykjavik were expensive, so I decided to stay in a 16-bed mixed dormitory within KEX Hostel (Skúlagata 28, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland). The hostel is cozy and rustic, with clean shared bathrooms and nice common areas on each floor. It is across the street from a burger place called Aktu-Taktu (Skúlagata 15, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland), which I visited often. Compared to the United States, the burgers are quite pricey, but they are reasonable by local standards.
Day 2: South Coast Day Tour
Early morning the next day, my friend and I set out for a group tour to the South Coast in a minivan filled with 10-12 people. We didn’t have access to a car during our trip, so we booked some tours beforehand through the IG Tours website (https://www.igtours.is/), which offered the most competitive rates online. The 8-9 hour South Coast tour included the following stops:
- Skógafoss waterfall – 30-40 minute stop
- Reynisfjara black sandy beach – 30 minute stop
- Small town Vík – 30-40 minute stop
- Sólheimajökull glacier – 40-50 minute stop
- Seljalandsfoss waterfall – 30-40 minute stop
My favorite stop on the South Coast tour was the Sólheimajökull glacier because it was very cool to be able to walk under this astonishing natural structure and touch the ice walls. However, I was sad to hear the statistics on the glacier’s reduction each year due to global warming.
Day 3: Reykjavik + Northern Lights Tour
The next day, we slept in and then explored the city of Reykjavik. Several cute shops and cafés were within walking distance of the hostel, and we spent the majority of the day eating and window shopping. While window shopping, we found out that Iceland has extensive folklore around supernatural beings, including huldufólk – hidden people or elves. Certain holidays bring the huldufólk out of hiding, including New Year’s Eve and Christmas. As we wandered around the city, we were somewhat puzzled by the above contraption until we realized that it was a free public restroom.
At night, we embarked on a Northern Lights Tour with IG Tours, which took us deep into the countryside where there was no light pollution. Unfortunately, the lights were on their own schedule, and we spent a couple of hours that night waiting anxiously for something, anything to happen. Just as we gave up and decided to head back into the city, the lights appeared in the night sky above the city skyline. I braved the below freezing temperatures outside and was able to take a few photos before watching the rest of the show from inside the warmth of the heated minivan. My photo above does not do the aurora borealis justice. It was a memorable night.
Day 4: Golden Circle Day Tour
The next day, we woke up bright and early for a group tour to the Golden Circle with IG Tours, which was a 7-8 hour loop. On this loop, we saw everything from craters to waterfalls to geysers to tectonic rifts. It was amazing to see these natural wonders all in one place.
- Earthquake Center in Hveragerði – 20 minute stop
- Faxi waterfall – 15 minute stop
- Gullfoss – “The Golden Waterfall” – 45 minute stop
- Geysir geothermal area – 75-90 minute stop
- Þingvellir national park – 60-75 minute stop
My favorite stop on the Golden Circle loop was Þingvellir (or Thingvellir) national park, which was designated a World Heritage Site in 2004. This park lies in a rift valley on the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. It is also associated with the Althing, the national parliament of Iceland, which was established at the site in 930 A.D.
Day 5: Reykjavik
Our last full day in Iceland was a sad one, as we had fallen in love with this unique and spectacular country. On our last day, we went up to the glass-domed Perlan and the Hallgrímskirkja church (Hallgrímstorg 101, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland) in Reykjavik for views of the city. At 244 ft high, the Hallgrímskirkja church is the largest church and among the tallest structures in Iceland. The views from the observation decks at both destinations did not disappoint.
Another attraction that we enjoyed immensely was the Icelandic Phallological Museum (Laugavegur 116, 105 Reykjavík, Iceland), which we had stumbled upon when walking around the city and could not resist the temptation to enter. As advertised on their website, this museum is the “only museum in the world to contain a collection of phallic specimens belonging to all the various types of mammal found in a single country”. We were amused by everything in this museum, from the penises of different sizes floating in preservation liquid to the penis-shaped door handles leading to the restrooms. It was well worth the admission fee.
Day 6: Blue Lagoon + Airport
On the way to the airport, we had our last stop in Iceland: the Blue Lagoon (Nordurljosavegur 9, 240 Grindavik, Iceland), which served as a pleasant and relaxing end to the trip. This lagoon is a man-made lagoon supplied by a nearby geothermal power plant. The waters of this geothermal spa are rich in minerals like silica and sulfur and are reputed to be medicinal in nature. We floated around within the lagoon for a couple of hours before setting off on our journey back home.
askcami 