Iceland is absolutely beautiful! With its Snow-covered mountains, scattered lava fields, and lush green fields as far as the eye can see! …
How we got there!
This trip was pretty incredible! We hopped on a $500 round trip flight to Paris out of Denver. It was more than we’d typically pay but Icelandair has an awesome stopover feature that allows for up to 7 days in Iceland. We ended up going there for 2 days. It definitely wasn’t enough. Because of that, we figured the $500 tickets were worth it. Oh did I say pay? What I meant to say was we used miles and didn’t pay a dime. Check out how!
What we did!
Iceland was a whirlwind. We landed around 8 am, grabbed a rental car, and started driving east. This may not seem out of the ordinary, but we did this after sleeping like an hour on the airplane and our stop for the night was 4 hours away. Red eyes are common and cheap but can certainly be rough.
The drive was worth it because we saw some incredible sights. We stopped by waterfalls and geysers, lave fields and rivers, and we even chased down some Icelandic sheep.
We didn’t plan to stop anywhere specific but we kept our eyes open and google maps handy. We’d follow signs on the road or turn off where Google had sights marked.
It’s hard to describe in words how beautiful Iceland is. It really is like a different planet. There are waterfalls as far as the eye can see and the green hills and fields are breathtaking.
After lots of stops and detours, we finally made it to our Airbnb!
After a quick stop we hit the road again and headed east for 2 more hours to get to Diamond Beach and Glacier Lagoon. It was a lot of driving in one day but it was so worth it!
It can’t be stated enough how amazing Iceland is!
We stopped for a short time then headed back west to our airbnb where we absolutely crashed.
Unfortunately our crash was a major crash. We were super excited to be able to enjoy the location and the morning, but this ideal was shattered as we woke up at 10:55am for an 11:00 check out.. We slept for 11 hours! Which really was disappointing because we weren’t fully able to enjoy the airbnb.
We hit the road and headed west back to Reykjavik. We stopped along the way as we did on the way out but not as much as we wanted to spend some time in the city. Which was did for a few hours that evening. It’s a pretty incredible city. Everything is very nice and it has one of the coolest churches you’ll probably ever see.
Being so far north is kind of a strange experience. We were walking the streets of Reykjavik fairly late in the evening but it seems like early afternoon. Most things were closing down and we managed to grab some food, enjoy the sights, and head back to our hotel.
Where we Stayed!
Our Airbnb was a little off the beaten path but it was probably one of the coolest places we’ve stayed. It’s a small cottage in the middle of nowhere, but it was breathtaking! Large open windows and green fields everywhere, made it a great place for a break.
If there’s any chance you’ll be driving past this point of the island, check out this airbnb!
Transportation
Iceland is an island with like 4 people. Because of this the only way to really get around is to rent a car. There are tours and buses that go around the island but a car is the way to go for sure. We rented a small sedan and it let us go and do whatever we wanted.
Where we ate!
In the city, there’s plenty to eat. It was fairly late when we were wandering around so we found a Fry shop that was still open and grabbed food there.
Other than that we really only grabbed food at grocery stores and gas stations. This is really due to the fact that there’s not much out there when driving around the island. We’d stop at almost every town we’d come across and stock up on food, water, and gas. If we’d had more time we certainly would’ve tried some of the local food and gone to some restaurants, but really we ate as we went.
It’s always fascinating to see the different foods and snacks a country has. Iceland of course followed to norm and had plenty to offer. We really loved their yogurt. I don’t know what makes it so special but it’s the best yogurt we’ve ever had. And of course they have delicious chocolates and other treats worth trying.
Lamb is also huge in Iceland but we unfortunately were never able to try it out.
If anything, their yogurt is a must!
They also love their soda water so make sure when you’re buying water, you’re buying actually water. We ended up driving through no-mans-land with nothing but soda water and it wasn’t the best for thirst.
Gluten-Free in Iceland
There is no shortage of gluten-free food in Iceland grocery stores. Which, when traveling to Iceland is really the only way to get food outside of the city. Every store we stopped at, and often gas stations as well had plenty of gluten-free food options. Often more than you would find in the United States. In Reykjavik, there are also plenty of restaurants that served gluten-free. All it takes is an extra second, and you can find all the gluten-free food you need.
What we Learned!
There are sheep everywhere! But, they’re not wild… People prior to traveling there may tell you to look for the wild horses and sheep but don’t be fooled. They’re not wild. They’re all owned but often wandering.
The largest predator is the Arctic Wolf so the sheep nor their owners have anything to worry about.
If you go to inlets to the ocean there are often seals swimming around. Keep your eyes out for them.
Glacier lagoon, or Jokulsarlon, is a super cool place if you can get out that far in your time there. It’s about 6 hours from the airport but it’s a great place to see glaciers and the above-mentioned seals.
Black Diamond beach is across the road and it’s amazing. Black sand with ice chunks that look like diamonds. If you’ve gone that far you have to see it. It’s unbelievable!
Gas is super expensive. In Aug 2021 it was roughly $7.50 a gallon! You’ll want to rent a car to see the full beauty, but be aware of the costs to drive!
Everything is in km, of course, and so is basically everywhere outside of the US. Many places also have slower limits than we’re used to, and Iceland is no exception. Be aware of the limits and be patient because they have cameras that will catch you speeding.
Grocery stores and gas stations are few and far between. It makes sense, but it’s a real concern. Get food when you pass through towns and keep yourself full-on gas. We stopped at grocery stores often to stock up because there really aren’t restaurants or places to stop. That also means bathrooms. They are just as few and far between so never skip the opportunity.
For many years dogs were illegal in Iceland. Even today there are very few dogs due to the strict conditions that must be met to be a dog owner. This was originally in place to prevent the spread of disease, rabies, and wild dogs. Today it still takes a lot of work to get dogs into the country because they are intent on preserving the local breeds.
Icelanders believe in Elves. Surveys have shown that 55% of the residents believe in the existence of elves and trolls that live in the countryside. They even build homes throughout the country for these invisible elves.
There are roughly 10,000 waterfalls in Iceland! Of course, there are the large famous waterfalls but just driving around the island you will see hundreds of these waterfalls coming over the large rock cliffs. Open google maps and drive to every waterfall and unique spot you come across.
Iceland uses credit cards for everything so there isn’t any reason to worry about Euros or Kronas. It makes the foreign aspect easy with no need to stress or stock up on foreign bills.
Iceland is beautiful and you should take any chance you can to go see this amazing sheep-filled and water-flowing island!