Iceland, Where Winter Never Left

We took advantage of WOW Airlines offering non-stop flights from St. Louis in the fall of 2018 and set off for Iceland. In recent months it seemed that everyone I knew had known someone that traveled to Iceland, upon discovering that Iceland gets over 2 million tourists a year, it wasn’t hard to figure out why. Iceland is billed as one of the great unspoiled natural destinations that’s easy to get to from Europe, Asia, and North America.

Iceland on a (Reasonable) Budget

You’ll find a lot of information on the internet about how to do Iceland as cheaply as possible, this is not one of those stories. We also didn’t go all out and spend to regret, this is our story about how we did Iceland without breaking the bank. We learned an amazing amount along the way, and rather than ramble on about it, you’ll find a number of subjects linked to more detailed pages if you’re looking for tips while planning your trip. (Saving Money) Our plan revolved around a cheap flight, a car rental instead of excessive excursions, hotels in good locations (Hotels), and as much do-it-yourself as we could muster. Our goals were to see the Northern Lights, go on a couple of rare excursions, see as many waterfalls as possible, and take in the culture of Iceland.

Northern Lights

The Northern Lights are one of natures most remarkable shows and worth the late night to catch them, we had a whole plan to spend two nights as far away from the city lights as possible later in our trip, but on the third night they appeared above us in downtown Reykjavik. Knowing that the weather in Iceland is generally overcast in October, we jumped at the chance and drove about 15 km out of town and setup shop. We’d been taking classes for a few weeks to better understand our cameras and were pretty happy with the results. This was a stroke of luck for us because our two nights in the country ended up being overcast the entire time. Eight nights in-country, only one showing. The lesson here is that if you get the chance, don’t skip it. (More Info)

Waterfalls and Countryside

Glaciers and Gravity

Iceland has an amazing collection of waterfalls that range from small to spectacular. Some of them are tourists destinations, while others require a bit of country road navigation to find them. We visited the touristy falls like Gullfoss with it’s multiple viewing platforms, Seljalandsfoss that you can walk behind, and Skógafoss with it’s single and double rainbows . We tracked down more rural waterfalls like AEgissufoss, Foss á Síðu, and Hundafoss, and we got plenty of pictures of all of them. Some of the waterfalls have parking lots while others might require you to pull off to the side of the road to get a shot, be ready for company though because anything that looks like it’s picture worthy will draw a crowd very quickly. Tour buses are a constant site and sometimes you’ll have to wait your turn for that perfect spot. (Driving in Iceland)

A Barren and Beautiful Landscape
Along the way we drove the coastline to the black beaches, we drove across what seemed like an endless moon landscape, we saw glaciers working their way down mountain sides, and we even found an iceberg in a lake. There are pull offs all along the major highway but the camera never seems to capture how amazing the landscape is. We were told by a guide that a lot of movies that require an alien planet landscape have been filmed in Iceland, but with the rising tourist population, the popularity among film makers has waned.  

Excursions

Inside the Volcano
We had planned on three excursions but our glacier tour was cancelled due to bad weather, this likely happens enough that a good backup plan or two should be on your list. (Backup Plan) Our next excursion was Inside the Volcano, a trip that took us across a lava field that for us was snow covered on that particular day, and then we were lowered by window washer cart into a dormant volcano called Thrihnukagigur. This was easily our most expensive excursion but where else would we be able to do this? The hike was 3 km each way through a freshly snow covered lava field that made you feel like you were looking for your missing tauntaun on the planet Hoth.

Snorkeling the Silfra Fissure
We took a very unique snorkeling trip while in Iceland, we donned dry suits and went into the freezing cold water of the Silfra Fissure, a crack between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. The water was crystal clear and, with the dry suits, we were made to feel like floating blobs that were just along for the ride with the current. The experience was a bit of an assembly line since they are moving groups through every 10 minutes or so, but it was still an activity that we were really excited to do. This excursion included a return trip to Gulfoss and Geysir Hot Springs with it’s active geothermal geyser. The geyser goes off about every 10 minutes and can attract a pretty large crowd.

We did a food tour through Wake Up Reykjavik where we tried a number of local dishes like Atlantic Char, Icelandic Meat Soup, Fish Stew, a hot dog (made with lamb) from Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, as well as small samples of goose, lamb, horse, cheeses, and a rye bread ice cream. Our only other culinary experience of note was a restaurant called Icelandic Street Food, this is a must for anyone on any budget. For $20 you get a refillable bread bowl of soup, they usually have desserts being passed around, and sometimes they are giving out beer coupons to their craft bar that is two doors down.

Another fun thing we did was visit the spas, there are a few of them in the country but by far the most famous is the Blue Lagoon. This one has been heavily commercialized but is still a great experience, even if you’re only in the country for a day-long layover. The second one we went to was the Secret Lagoon in Fluðir, this one is frequented by locals and is a nice and relaxing stop for a reasonable price.