For my first post I am going to talk about one of my favorite places ever – Iceland! In 2021 me and my good pal Emilia spent 5 days driving ring road, which follows route 1. This route was beautiful because it goes through towns, beaches, glaciers, mountains and endless flat stretches of volcanic rock. We went in December in hopes to see the northern lights but unfortunately did not see them. Iceland actually isn’t the place to go if you are planning a trip around seeing them – that would be somewhere above the arctic circle (northern Alaska, Norway, Greenland, etc). December was still a great time to be in Iceland though. There were no crowds, barely any cars on the road, and amazing wildlife. It was very peaceful.
Here is a map of what we covered each day, not including brief side quests. If I were to do this again, I would spend an extra day on the southern coast and spend a full day in Reykjavík at the end.
Day 1 – Keflavík International Airport to Höfn
We landed at the airport, picked up our rental car, and were driving by 7am! We stopped early on for road trip snacks and sandwich ingredients.
The Reynisdragar rocks are a classic ring road staple, and the beach was beautiful. According to legend, these rocks were trolls trying to drag ships to shore, but they turned to stone when daylight broke. While not all of Iceland’s beaches have black sand, it is common because of the volcanic activity.
There are waterfalls everywhere in Iceland, even on the main road. We stopped at the mulagljufur canyon and walked around.
Vatnajökull National Park is huge, and I would definitely go back to explore it more. We went for an amazing ice hike on the glacier.
We ended this long first day perfectly with PB and J on the floor.
Day 2 – Höfn to Egilsstaðir
Stokksnes beach was the perfect place to start the day. It was incredibly windy, but we got to walk 30 feet to the Viking Cafe for waffles. We had the beach practically to ourselves.
The scenery was beautiful all day and we saw reindeer! The side of the road djúpavogskörin hot spring was a highlight for me. It is completely free and super warm. Perfect after spending the morning on a cold windy beach.
We followed the winding coast for most of the day. The sunsets here are beautiful.
Day 3 – Egilsstaðir to Akureyri
Seyðisfjörður was my favorite town in Iceland and there is a good chance that is because I got to live out my Secret Life of Walter Mitty dreams. It’s also beautiful and really cute.
The road from Egilsstaðir to Seyðisfjörður was where the infamous longboarding scene took place. The road snakes up a mountain and then down into the valley where Seyðisfjörður is. It was super fun to drive.
We saw Hotel Aldan, where the longboarding scene ends and Walter continues on with his journey. It has been painted red.
We went to the rainbow walkway and had cake for breakfast because duh.
As we drove northwest the landscape got much snowier!
We went to the Earth Lagoon Mývatn hot springs, and I honestly liked this better than the Blue Lagoon. There were very few people, and the atmosphere is chill and relaxing. There are lots of geysers nearby as well.
Matching sweaters and a cool scifi pod hostel in Akureyri!
Day 4 – Akureyri to Borgarnes
The day began with horseback riding on a random farm near Varmahlíð. This was a fun surprise.
We hiked through the Grábrók crater, which is the largest of three craters in the area. Iceland is very geothermically active if you couldn’t tell. Over 90% of homes in Iceland are actually powered with geothermal energy!
Annabelle doll emerging from her case to cause chaos and Emilia after getting hit by a car (jk). Tunnels are fun.
Borgarnes was one of my favorite towns. Maybe it’s because there is a water tower and I really like water towers. We went to the town pool which was a lot of fun. They had an indoor and multiple outdoor pools! We were hoping the northern lights would come out for our last night (they didn’t), so we drove around looking for them and found this awesome appelsín (the most delicious drink ever that is basically fanta) statue!
Day 5 – Borgarnes to Keflavík International Airport
Another Secret Life of Walter Mitty fangirl moment – the Papa John’s! While it is not a Papa John’s in real life, it is still a delicious bakery.
We ended our trip at the Blue Lagoon! Yes, I know you aren’t supposed to get your hair wet. I made a mistake.
“To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of life.”
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