Ridiculous Iceland

The adjective "Ridiculous" may seem like an odd one to describe an entire country, but after only two days driving the Ring Road in Iceland, "Ridiculous" was the perfect descriptor -- never a curve or turn could we take that didn't end up with a new edition of mind-boggling landscape and scenery. If it is possible to gawk for nine days straight, then "gawk-fest" sums up perfectly "What I did on my Summer Vacation in 2025." 

Most tourists go counterclockwise along the primary highway (the Ring Road) around Iceland starting with the famous (and often overwhelmed with tourists) Golden Circle near Reykjavik, heading south, then east, then north, then west, and finally re-entering Reykjavik from the north. 

We chose to go the opposite way.  

With my annoyingly "thin blood", a result of having grown up in Florida, I thought it made sense to start with the coldest weather first, in the North, and progress to a more pleasant climate in the South as we approached the end of our visit.  

While I tried my best to condense our clockwise adventure around Iceland into a single blog,  I failed miserably -- the memories cascading onto the page simply went on and on and on despite my attempts to control myself.   If you prefer to view highlights of Iceland with a minimum of text, here are a few slideshows:

Snaefellsnes Peninsula (Northwest Iceland)

Studlagil Canyon (Northeast Iceland)

Skaftafell Preserve in Vatnajökull National Park (South Iceland)

A Sampler of Icelandic Waterfalls (All over Iceland)

GullFoss (Golden Waterfall, along the Golden Circle near Reykjavik)

Flora and Fauna of Iceland 

Beautiful Icelandic Horses 

For more of my rambling on Ridiculous Iceland, a day-by-day look at our trip:

Day 1, Reykjavik and Thingvellir National Park

Day 2, Snaefellsnes Peninsula

Day 3, Húsavík

Day 4, Studlagil Canyon, Vox Baths, and Fossadalur

Day 5, Surpises, JökulsárlónLagoon, and Diamond Beach

Day 6, Vatnajökull National Park 

Day 7, Vik, Canyons, and More Waterfalls

Day 8, The Golden Circle

Day 9, Reykjavik

Weeks later, I miss being in Iceland and I remember it as if it were yesterday.  Of all the places I've been in the world, Iceland is definitely at the top of the list (right up there with home).   

Iceland, Day 9: Reykjavik

Our last day in Iceland landed us in a city.   Alas,  I am a country mouse.  

One guess how that worked out... 

The Harpa Concert Hall is unique and interesting with over 700 LED lights illuminating the outside of its rather cubic structure. I am totally  convinced that some of the glass architecture could hypnotize you if you stared at it long enough.   Which I didn't, because my head (and heart) were still elsewhere ... in the more remote corners of the country.  

The Hallgrimskirja is a structure with a unique architecture meant to resemble the basalt columns that are scattered throughout Iceland like dandelions in the spring. The church is named after a famous Iceland poet and pastor (Hallgrímur Pétursson) who wrote the Passion Hymns that track the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (which non-coincidentally make them very popular during Lent).   Interestingly, this church is the second tallest man-made structure in Iceland.   

I tried my best to absorb the history behind the church with sincere interest but my mind kept wandering back to basalt columns.  

Moving along.

The fish stew was tasty.  The weather was very nice.  The people seemed friendly. There was lots of shopping.  

But a a country mouse coming off of eight days in the unspoiled wilderness that is Iceland... what can I say?   I wanted to drive away and go stare at some more snow capped mountains, seals, waterfalls, glacier.... anywhere without pavement.  

I know.... Bad attitude.   

And my attitude didn't get any better when I boarded a plane back to the States.  Sigh.   

Iceland, Day 8: The Golden Circle

Click here for a tour of Gullfoss (The Golden Waterfall)

The Golden Circle is not a circle.  It's not particularly golden either.  Instead, it is a squiggly oblong shaped route west of Reykjavik that gives the (very) busy tourist "Iceland in a (two hundred mile) Day".  Having just seen Iceland in seven days (still not enough time by any stretch), I was curious to see how well the Golden Circle represented what we had just experienced over our first week in Iceland.   

I think we saw more tourists in ten minutes along the Golden Circle than we saw the entire week prior.  And, we were greeted at multiple visitor's centers with massive opportunities to shop everything from outdoor clothing to souvenirs to socks.  And, we actually had to hunt for a place to park. Fortunately, we were charged for parking just like he rest of Iceland, so at least that part was familiar. 

None of this is to say that the Golden Circle is anything less than spectacular.   Of the many sights along the circle, Gullfoss (Golden Foss) is likely the most well known.  Though not the tallest waterfall in Iceland (total drop of about 105 feet) nor the widest, it is one of the largest (109 cubic meters pass through the fall every second) and undoubtedly one of the most awesome.  Gullfoss was almost lost early in the twentieth century when there was talk of converting it to a hydroelectric power station.  The rainbows across the falls would have been very upset by this, as would the thousands of tourists who visit the falls every year.   Fortunately, the daughter of the man who owned the land on which Gullfoss sits fought off the developers and Gullfoss remains an unspoiled delight.   

Also on the Golden Circle is the Haukadalur geothermal area where the geyser named Geysir is famous not so much for its very powerful eruptions (which happen rarely and only after major earthquakes) but for providing the name "geyser" to similar geothermal features around the world, including in America's Yellowstone National park.   While we could only watch low profile bubbles steam from the inactive Geysir, the nearby Strokkur geyser was happy to erupt every 15-20 minutes.  Not quite Old Faithful but impressive nonetheless.  

While Gullfoss and Geysir were swarming with tourists, there was also no shortage of sights that were much less populated. As the northernmost of four craters along the Tjarnarhólar fissure, Kerið crater was formed by a volcanic explosion and is about 180 feet deep and between 560 and 890 feet wide. The crater came into being between six and nine thousand years ago (a few years before I was born).  It is a clear reminder that we were walking and driving on land created by past volcanic eruptions and prone to future eruptions.   

Straying away from "the sights", we also had the opportunity to visit the small village of Solheimar which is an ecovillage internationally recognized  for its organic farming, use of geothermal energy, and other ecofriendly practices.  While the outdoor art, trolls, and quaint qualities of Solheimar were nothing short of charming, my favorite part of our visit was the opportunity to roam the greenhouses, particularly the wide variety of tomatoes.  If it were allowed, I would have sat in the greenhouse all afternoon and munched on tomatoes, but alas, I could only observe... 

Along the Golden Circle, we also landed at some "lesser" sights (that weren't lesser at all).  Among them was one of the "bluest" waterfalls in Iceland (Bruarfoss) which is fed by the upstream glacier and filled with the glacial flour that interacts with light to produce a unique and beautiful blue. The road to Bruarfoss was well outfitted with potholes, some enormous enough to swallow our tires... which while difficult to traverse, meant that we had a relatively solitary and secluded time at Bruarfoss.  

Heading back to Reykjavik via Thingvellir National Park (our first stop along our Iceland adventure), we landed at a lovely campground for our last night in Iceland.  Mosfellsbaer Campsite was more like the campgrounds we were accustomed to in the states with assigned spaces. The hot showers, clean facilities, the view of the mountains in the distance, the warm temperatures (in the fifties... Yay!), and the breadth of native and planted flowers made for an excellent end to our Iceland travels.   

The only problem with Mosfellsbaer was that it marked the end of our time in Iceland.   Sad. Sigh.

Iceland, Day 7: Vik, Canyons, and More Waterfalls

Click here for a Sampler of Icelandic Waterfalls (slideshow) 

The ominous weather that threatened to take over our vacation late on Day 5 disappeared by this morning (Day 7).  The sunshine returned and continued to spoil us as we travelled among the wonders of Iceland.  At a reasonable morning hour, we departed Vatnajökull National Park and continued heading west along the Ring Road. Our first stop was an impulsive one -- at a roadside pullout that looked like an ordinary river flowing parallel to the road... until we followed the river upstream and found (surprise, surprise) another amazing waterfall.  Fossalarfoss was actually a series of waterfalls ... smaller than most but certainly not lesser.  Fossalarfoss were formed along a lava field that emerged from a massive volcanic eruption in the 1700's.  I'm glad I wasn't here for that particular eruption... I'd take the nippy breeze over molten lava flow any day.   

As we continued west, the waterfalls continued upping their game both in frequency and gawking score, so we had many stops to make, some planned and many spontaneous.  After Fossalarfoss, we stopped (by design) at a massive geological gem called Fjadrargljufur Canyon.  Two kilometers long and a hundred meters deep, the Canyon and its accompanying hike kept us busy for the remainder of the morning.  Of course, the canyon came with its own stunning waterfall (not shown here).   

Our next stop heading west was the charming town of Vik where we stopped for groceries and went in search of a campground that our GPS swore existed but didn't.  After navigating a number of truly exceptional potholes, we gave up looking and drove up the hill to have lunch in the parking lot of this adorable looking church while enjoying the view down below.  In the distance along the beach are a number of Icelandic horses trotting along the sand as if they were posing for this postcard photo.  

The lupine fields continued to add their blue and purple highlights to the fields and the hills almost everywhere we went.  I expected beautiful flowers everywhere in a humid tropical or subtropical climate but to see these blankets of color in such a cold climate was a delightful surprise that followed us around the whole of Iceland.   

Our late lunch came to an untimely end as a dense fog rolled in from off the coast and swallowed our views.  We reluctantly rolled out of Vik but the persistent fog insisted on following us to the Puffin preserve.  Fortunately, the Puffins had their cold weather parkas on and remained unperturbed by the cold wind and the wet, heavy air.   The Puffin is truly the most adorable bird that lives in the cold climates of the world (well maybe they are tied with penguins) and we were fortunate that it didn't seem particularly shy while umpteen tourists took umpteen times umpteen photos of it.   

At some point, in between Puffins and the closing of the Puffin preserve, the freezing wind finally caught up with me and I was very ready to give up for the night and be warm.  Once we got more serious about finding camp for the night, we landed without incident at a campsite in the middle of a town called Selfoss, just a few miles from the Golden circle and adjacent to a construction site (which certainly spoiled the whole camping vibe).   But our site was nevertheless functional and warm enough to cook, rest, and sleep.

So we did.

The End.

Iceland, Day 6: Vatnajökull National Park

Click here for Vatnajökull National Park (slideshow)

Today, the previous day's weather forecast prompted yet another change to the long forgotten preplanned itinerary.  When we rented the camper, we were given ample and multiple warnings about not driving The Beast in winds over 15 m/sec (30ish mph).  So, with high winds in the forecast, we selected a campground in an inland area that looked to be sheltered from the worst of the weather. We landed at the sheltered campsite in Vatnajökull National Park at 10 in the morning, a far cry from our usual late evening arrivals on previous days.  

Parked and sheltered, we declared the day a rest day.  

While we were fully intending to hide out in the camper in heavy rain and just chill, the heavy rain failed to materialize and it was easy to ignore a few sprinkles and head out on a "short" hike. An hour later, we arrived at a waterfall called Svartifoss surrounded by basalt columns that appeared to fall like the water -- into the pool below.  Whether viewing the falls from a distance at the footbridge or up close where we could feel the mist from the falling water on our exposed skin, the falls merited far more than just a passing glance.  We rested long enough that climbing the hill on the other side of the falls toward a not-too-distant summit seemed like a reasonable thing to do.   

At the summit, we had panoramic views of the lowlands below, of glacial arms of the Vatnajökull ice cap in the distance, of an old, abandoned farm, and of a variety of flora that easily kept us going for several more miles.  Rest day was officially cancelled, but we had no objections.  Heavy rain never materialized and the cloud cover remained overcast but nowhere near ominous.   

In the late evening, we took advantage of the endless daylight and hiked to the Jökull glacier on the opposite, eastern end of the park, I had never been up close and personal to a glacier, particularly with almost no-one else around to disrupt the tranquility, which made Jökull even more of a treat.  Had the air not reminded me of how truly cold the glacier itself was, I would have remained at the foot of the glacier much, much longer.  But I was too easily tempted by the warmth that lurked back at the campsite inside The Beast, so we turned and headed back to camp before midnight.  

On the hike back to camp though, my mood turned darker as I pondered the glacier's retreat and the far-reaching effects of climate change. 

I guess turning my mind off on vacation wasn't really the option I thought it was.   

Iceland, Day 5: Surprises!, Jökulsárlón Lagoon, and Diamond Beach

I have a confession. On the morning of Day 4, I gave up on my commitment to tolerate instant coffee while camping (or camper van'ing) my way across Iceland.  Having found a lovely latte in our remote campsite of the previous night, I felt confident that I could successfully hunt down a latte in the small town of Djupavogi -- our first stop of the day. And so I did.   

While temporarily in a delightful state of contentment induced by warm milk and quality coffee, I toured the town and found, of all things at the end of the road, a rather odd collection of eggs.  34 of them, in fact. All granite. All far more than life-size. Each egg represented the egg of a nesting bird in the area, created by the Icelandic artist by Sigurður Guðmundsson, installed in 2009, and named "The Eggs of Merry Bay." 

Eggs and a Latte were a lovely start to another beautiful sunny day and even better, the temperature had ventured upward to the point that the first digit on the thermometer was actually a four (Fahrenheit).  Departing Djupavogi and heading west, we impulsively turned into a random picnic spot and discovered a Surprise Beach ... which quickly prompted a hike along the water's edge and yes... yet another delay to our "itinerary."  

Unfortunately, by the afternoon, the unthinkable started to surround us. The sunshine we had begun to take for granted over the previous four days began to vanish behind ominous clouds and increasingly strong "breezes".  The threatening weather did not take much away from the impressive Jökulsárlón Lagoon though. Studded with floating glacier "debris" the lagoon looked more like we had landed on the wet side of the moon than remained on land on planet earth.  

Despite the wickedly cold wind, we lingered for quite a while along the lagoon's edge and on nearby Diamond Beach, turning back to the camper van only when I was rudely attacked by an incoming wave that soaked my already cold feet.    

As we headed further to the West along the Ring Road, we faced limited camping options -- in  part because of an ominous weather forecast and in part because we had once again failed to make steady progress along the Ring Road. With all the waterfalls, mountains, and assorted other sights, what's a tourist to do?  Drive?  Make good time?   No. Not possible.  

Late as usual, we landed at Svinafells Campsite for the night -- which is a fine place to camp as long as you have little interest in taking a shower, much less a hot one.   

Iceland, Day 4: Studlagil Canyon, Vox Baths, and Fossadalur

A Day of Rocks, Lupine, Waterfalls, and Warmth

Click here for a tour of Studlagil Canyon (slideshow)

At 5:30, I awoke to a dusting of snow on everything in the campground, including our windshield. As the snow continued to fall, I was suddenly even more grateful that I was "glamping" in a camper van rather than sleeping on the ground in a tent.  With that in mind, I rolled over and went back to sleep.  After all, who gets up at 5:30 while on vacation?  or ever?

As we hit the road for the day, I realized that even with a good heating system, I had turned into some semblance of a popsicle whose chances of thawing out were diminishing with every passing kilometer.  I held out hope that the temperatures would bump up a little bit as we started to head south.  

But first, while still in the North, we headed toward the stunning basalt-column-ridden Studlagil Canyon (home of fascinating hexagonal basalt -- who ever imagined that rocks could crack into perfect hexagons just because a ton of molten lava happened to pass by?)

Leaving the canyon and navigating several miles of terrain that barely passed for a road, we drove past a few mind-boggling waterfalls en route to Vox Baths, land of delightfully warm (and some hot) pools.  We took an afternoon off to bask and soak until my teeth forgot about all their chattering of the previous days and my body temperature returned to a comforting 98.6 degrees. 

I spent the afternoon A Happy Floridian... 

After leaving the baths, we turned further south and drove along the coastline that was as was now typical to our driving experience... ridiculously stunning.  We had to endure another forty or fifty miles of amazing scenery and stopping at every possible portion of road that looked remotely like a safe turnout to gawk and take ever more photos. 

Our inability to continue driving for any length of time predictably led to arriving at campsite relatively late. But by mid-evening, we landed at our very favorite campsite of the trip (Fossaadalur), greeted by a warm and friendly camp host, lovely facilities, and yes, you guessed it -- another round of mind boggling landscape and views. 

I fell asleep dreaming about snow covered mountains, voluminous waterfalls, and endless fields of lupine.   

Iceland, Day 3: Húsavík

Click here for A Peek at Humpback Whales and other Flora and Fauna of Iceland (slideshow)

Prior to our arrival in Iceland, a massive winter storm (that's right ... a winter storm at the cusp of summer) had made the roads impassible in North Iceland.  Many sights and attractions remained closed and multiple vehicles (including a camper van very similar to our own) remained overturned by the side of the Ring Road. While on land, the storm had vanished by the time we arrived, the open seas were a different story.  Fortunately, Gentle Giants Whale Watching gave us ample opportunity to reschedule our previously scheduled, morning whale watching tour.  After the marine conditions weather forecast for the morning made me seasick just reading about what was going on in the open sea, we were both very agreeable to postponing the three hour whale watching tour to the afternoon.  After all, we reasoned that it was Gilligan and his friends who went amiss after a three hour tour and I certainly wouldn't survive a day on a desert island in the Icelandic North.  

On the tour, we were given a rugged, waterproof onesie to keep us warm on the boat. While I would like to say that the boat cruised amid calm, soothing waters and I remained warm and cozy in my onesie (layered over a sweater and a heavy parka), I would be lying. While stumbling around on the boat as it slammed to and fro into this or that wave and being greeted by walls of spray on a regular basis, I had a very memorable time that understandably involved few level photographs and even fewer photos of the multiple humpback whales we were so blessed to see amidst the turbulent conditions. I will forgo a description of the seasick passengers although I did discover what our guide's advice to "feed the fish, not the boat" meant.   

After warming back up thanks to a very generous heater in the camper van, we set out to Myvatn Lake which hosted a field of pseudo-craters.  The pseudo-craters were formed when hot lava flowed over wetlands, boiling the water underneath and causing explosions that henceforth became craters.   They were quite a sight, even in overcast conditions.

Distracted by the "pseudo craters" at Myvatn Lake, it was getting quite late before we became equally quite as serious about finding a place to stay for the night.  As we searched, we soon discovered that the first two weeks of June were not yet tourist season and many campsites were still closed, so it was much much later into the evening when we landed at the adorable Möðrudalur Campsite, several miles along a rather bumpy unpaved road, and seemingly squarely located in the middle of nowhere. Whether in nowhere or somewhere didn't matter at that point and we settled in for a snowy night (yes, that's right -- snow).  

Iceland, Day 2: Snaefellsnes Peninsula

Click here for A Drive along the Snaefellsnes Peninsula (slideshow)

If we were in a bygone age of traditional analog cameras and printed photographs, the pictures from the Snaefellsnes Peninsula alone would have cost me enough to merit a line item in my annual budget, on par with the cost of the entire travel expenses associated with the trip. But thanks to the digital age, I could snap away at everything in my path that made me gawk (which turned out to be almost everything in my path).   

Fortunately, the day started out with a dramatic drop in jet lag and both of us were sufficiently alert to drive without incident.  Even in the passenger seat, there is no reasonable opportunity to nap because there is far too much to see and never a break (at least that I observed) in the stunning landscape that was long enough to get bored or sleepy.   

Our day started out with a drive through acres and acres of lava beds decorated in patches of olive green moss that made it hard to believe that these fields were once molten hot and devoid of any life.   Of course, these lava beds had an entire millennium to re-establish vegetation, so it shouldn't have been a surprise that a vast majority of the lava was covered in living, growing things.   

I'm not a big fan of moss, but mixed with jumbled lava, both made a unique and lovely landscape.   

After many miles of lava beds, we arrived at the small village of Hellnar on the coast, rolled out of the camper van, and headed out for a hike along the North Atlantic Ocean to the more populated village of Arnarstapi. Rock arches and basalt cliffs were amply supplied with bird excrement, which may sound unattractive and off-putting, but actually made for surprisingly artistic views along the hike.  Seeing such a multitude of birds nestled in cozy holes in the cliffs also made it difficult to be annoyed with their indiscriminate droppings.   

After returning to Hellnar, we set out on the road again, circling clockwise around the remainder of the peninsula.  An impulsive stop at a roadside parking lot (where other vehicles and tour buses abounded) brought us to the Longdrangar pinnacles -- two basalt cliffs that achieved their prominence by the erosion of softer rocks that surrounded them.   

All the impulsive stopping did little for catching up on our itinerary, but we were both content to call the itinerary a suggestion and dispense with it when necessary.  

After leaving Longdrangar, we had the pleasure of driving through a cloudburst with windshield wipers that had long since seen better days, but the rain didn't last long and we returned to driving in sunny conditions along miles and miles (or if you read the road signs -- kilometers and kilometers) of snow capped, volcanic mountains that stood out in the surrounding valleys and low hills.    

Our luck with campsites changed during out second night out as we stayed at a lovely, clean, well equipped site among the trees at Varmahlíð.   Although the sweeping mountain views of our first night were absent, our cozy spot among the trees and the lack of bacteria, slime, and other disconcerting sights  in the bathroom and shower facilities made for a lovely overnight stay, despite the persistently cold (and non-summer like) temperatures.   

Iceland, Day 1: Thingvellir National park

Day 1, Reykjavik and Thingvellir National Park

On Day 1, we departed Reykjavik after stocking up on groceries and headed North. Our camper van had already earned the nickname The Beast (because we never had trouble finding it even in the most crowded parking lot because it towered over nearly every other vehicle). Despite its size, it was surprisingly easy to drive, so we.... drove... a lot. 

In the North, the weather did not disappoint.  Despite the fact that it was June, it was COLD, COLD, COLD...  plenty of sunshine and umpteen layers of clothes and a warm beanie did help keep me from abject misery... at least most of the time. 

Despite the COLD, we started at Thingvellir National Park, UNESCO world heritage site, Iceland's first national park, and the founding site of Iceland's parliament in the year 930.  If that weren't riveting enough, Thingvellir is also geographically located in a rift valley that divides the North-American and Eurasian continental (tectonic) plates. Not the best place to be during an earthquake, but the scenery was typically Icelandic -- stunning and breathtaking:

After leaving Thingvellir, jet lag from the overnight flight caught up with us and we traded places as we each were tempted in turn...  to fall asleep at the wheel.  Our original itinerary had put us spending the night somewhere on the way out of the Snaefellsness Peninsula by late evening (there was no nightfall in early June in Iceland -- only twilight that lasted for a good few hours before yielding to sunrise in the middle of the night). But the reality of functioning on no sleep after flying across a few oceans sank in and we stopped short of the peninsula at a campsite called Farm Holiday. Farm Holiday had no shortage of great views but we sound found that the bathroom/shower facilities were to be avoided unless absolutely necessary.