Sherb
Ban reason = Abuse of Mods
- Dec 26, 2010
- 1,968
- 18,139
The wife and I just got back from eight days in Iceland. It was definitely one of the most amazing experiences of our lives.
We flew from Atlanta to New York City and then to Keflavik near Reykjavik. Total travel time from getting into the car at home to stepping off the plane in Iceland was 22 hours. Sleep on the plane was minimal, and we ended up arriving in Iceland at 6:45am and hitting the adventure immediately.
The first stop heading south was beautiful Urridafoss, and then Seljalandsfoss, a tourist heavy 200ft waterfall visible from three miles away on the Ring Road.
We also checked out Gljufrafoss, but the crowds were too heavy to get into the cave area to the waterfall. Then we ventured to Skogafoss, just as high but far wider. People for scale, this sucker was massive.
After that we were headed to the hotel and saw a pull off with lots of cars parked. It looked like a path to the black sand beach, so we parked and started walking.
For two and a half miles... in extreme winds. Until we reached the fabled Solheimasandur Plane Wreck, a US Navy plane that crashed on the beach in the 1970's.
The next day we woke up and went to Dyrhólaey. I wasn't expecting much, and it ended up being one of my two favorite excursions. The waves crashing on the rocks and the black sand were incredible.
Then we hiked five miles from the parking lot to the Dyrhólaey Lighthouse, passing the Arch on the way.
After that we drive to the Reynisdrangar Rocks, where there were black jagged basalt caves and gigantic rock formations right on the beach.
We then took a long rainy drive to Fjaðrárgljúfur, unsure about what to expect. It ended up being a magnificent canyon with an amazing waterfall at the end of it. People for scale in the next image.
Then we checked out Systrafoss a little further South. Usually this waterfall is dried up, but three days of rain and snow had it flowing hard.
On the way back to the hotel we checked out the Mossy Lava Rocks and Lava Rock Stacks near Vik.
The following day we woke early and headed to Systrastapi, a smaller waterfall but we were able to get very close.
We also took a side trip to Þjofafoss before taking another hike to Svartifoss. What an amazing moment, and the sun finally came out!
After Svartifoss we drove all the way to the Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach in Jökulsárlón, which was surreal. The colors were from the massive Vatnajökull glacier.
The next day we drove for hours and hours and ended up at Hengifoss, doing a very steep hike to get to the falls, which were massive. They're on the right. We also got to see Litlanesfoss on the way up.
I stopped for a little while to take it all in.
After that we continued our drive to Gufufoss. The drive got very snowy.
It was very much worth it. Think of Skogafoss, but without people.
From there were drove to the Viti Crater, which was completely frozen over. To get to the crater, though, we passed through the Krafla Power Station, which was awesome.
Then we checked out the Myvatn Nature Baths and relaxed after 11 hours in the car that day. The following day we woke up and went straight to the Grjotagja, a hidden grotto in Myvatn. You may recognize it from Game of Thrones.
Then we looked at the Boiling Mud Pots, and ventured backwards to the incredibly powerful Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe, and the setting of the first scene from Prometheus. Upstream from Dettifoss was Selfoss:
And then we drove to the equally striking Godafoss. As the stories go, In the year 999 or 1000 the lawspeaker Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði made Christianity the official religion of Iceland. After his conversion it is said that upon returning from the Alþingi, Þorgeir threw his statues of the Norse gods into the waterfall.
After Godafoss we made the long drive to Akureyri, the second largest town in Iceland. It is a beautiful place full of extremely friendly locals. It is located at the end of the Eyjafjörður fjord.
Near the city we made friends with some horses:
The next day we drove to Helgafell and performed a cool, quiet ritual associated with the hill, and then drove to the striking Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss.
We then checked out the Black Church, Búðakirkja:
And did my other favorite thing, the Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge. This place was beyond words. We walked into a crack in a cliffside and up a fast-flowing creek to a canyon with thousands of birds circling overhead. Size comparison, on the left hill, to the right of that small snow area, there is a man standing.
We then went 100+ feet underground into the Vatnshellir lava tube. That was an awesome tour:
After this the weather turned crappy, so we drove around the rest of the Snæfellsjökull Park area and saw some more black sand beaches and crashing waves.
The following day we drove a long few hours from Hellnar all the way to Reykjavik for a Puffin Tour, where we saw thousands of puffins flying all over.
Then we spent the afternoon on the extremely crowded Golden Circle, including Thingvellir National Park/Oxarifoss, the Strokkur Geyser, and the incredibly beautiful Gullfoss, as well as the Kerid Crater Lake, which was NOT frozen! People available in each of the below images for size comparison.
At this point we were set to spend the remainder of our trip exploring Reykjavik, the capital city of Iceland where over 2/3's of the residents of the country reside. It was quite the change from the scenery we had been accustomed to!
We saw the Cathedral of Christ the King with sun shining through the stained glass:
We checked out Hallgrímskirkja and rode the elevator to the top for a view of Reykjavik from its highest point.
We walked to the Sun Voyager Sculpture and the modernist Harpa Concert Hall:
The street art and buildings in Reykjavik were incredibly beautiful:
We also checked out the Blue Lagoon on our last evening in Iceland. It was a great experience, but a little too crowded for my tastes:
All in all, an amazing trip. The above images were just the highlights. We easily did 10-12 things a day and made many stops on our Ring Road journey. Highly suggest it to anyone! I am working on a thread to create a travel site for this trip to recoup the expenditure. It's viewable here: https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/turning-a-vacation-into-a-profit-machine.928571/.
I am more than willing to answer any questions you may have. Thanks for checking out the thread!
We flew from Atlanta to New York City and then to Keflavik near Reykjavik. Total travel time from getting into the car at home to stepping off the plane in Iceland was 22 hours. Sleep on the plane was minimal, and we ended up arriving in Iceland at 6:45am and hitting the adventure immediately.
The first stop heading south was beautiful Urridafoss, and then Seljalandsfoss, a tourist heavy 200ft waterfall visible from three miles away on the Ring Road.
We also checked out Gljufrafoss, but the crowds were too heavy to get into the cave area to the waterfall. Then we ventured to Skogafoss, just as high but far wider. People for scale, this sucker was massive.
After that we were headed to the hotel and saw a pull off with lots of cars parked. It looked like a path to the black sand beach, so we parked and started walking.
For two and a half miles... in extreme winds. Until we reached the fabled Solheimasandur Plane Wreck, a US Navy plane that crashed on the beach in the 1970's.
The next day we woke up and went to Dyrhólaey. I wasn't expecting much, and it ended up being one of my two favorite excursions. The waves crashing on the rocks and the black sand were incredible.
Then we hiked five miles from the parking lot to the Dyrhólaey Lighthouse, passing the Arch on the way.
After that we drive to the Reynisdrangar Rocks, where there were black jagged basalt caves and gigantic rock formations right on the beach.
We then took a long rainy drive to Fjaðrárgljúfur, unsure about what to expect. It ended up being a magnificent canyon with an amazing waterfall at the end of it. People for scale in the next image.
Then we checked out Systrafoss a little further South. Usually this waterfall is dried up, but three days of rain and snow had it flowing hard.
On the way back to the hotel we checked out the Mossy Lava Rocks and Lava Rock Stacks near Vik.
The following day we woke early and headed to Systrastapi, a smaller waterfall but we were able to get very close.
We also took a side trip to Þjofafoss before taking another hike to Svartifoss. What an amazing moment, and the sun finally came out!
After Svartifoss we drove all the way to the Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach in Jökulsárlón, which was surreal. The colors were from the massive Vatnajökull glacier.
The next day we drove for hours and hours and ended up at Hengifoss, doing a very steep hike to get to the falls, which were massive. They're on the right. We also got to see Litlanesfoss on the way up.
I stopped for a little while to take it all in.
After that we continued our drive to Gufufoss. The drive got very snowy.
It was very much worth it. Think of Skogafoss, but without people.
From there were drove to the Viti Crater, which was completely frozen over. To get to the crater, though, we passed through the Krafla Power Station, which was awesome.
Then we checked out the Myvatn Nature Baths and relaxed after 11 hours in the car that day. The following day we woke up and went straight to the Grjotagja, a hidden grotto in Myvatn. You may recognize it from Game of Thrones.
Then we looked at the Boiling Mud Pots, and ventured backwards to the incredibly powerful Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe, and the setting of the first scene from Prometheus. Upstream from Dettifoss was Selfoss:
And then we drove to the equally striking Godafoss. As the stories go, In the year 999 or 1000 the lawspeaker Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði made Christianity the official religion of Iceland. After his conversion it is said that upon returning from the Alþingi, Þorgeir threw his statues of the Norse gods into the waterfall.
After Godafoss we made the long drive to Akureyri, the second largest town in Iceland. It is a beautiful place full of extremely friendly locals. It is located at the end of the Eyjafjörður fjord.
Near the city we made friends with some horses:
The next day we drove to Helgafell and performed a cool, quiet ritual associated with the hill, and then drove to the striking Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss.
We then checked out the Black Church, Búðakirkja:
And did my other favorite thing, the Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge. This place was beyond words. We walked into a crack in a cliffside and up a fast-flowing creek to a canyon with thousands of birds circling overhead. Size comparison, on the left hill, to the right of that small snow area, there is a man standing.
We then went 100+ feet underground into the Vatnshellir lava tube. That was an awesome tour:
After this the weather turned crappy, so we drove around the rest of the Snæfellsjökull Park area and saw some more black sand beaches and crashing waves.
The following day we drove a long few hours from Hellnar all the way to Reykjavik for a Puffin Tour, where we saw thousands of puffins flying all over.
Then we spent the afternoon on the extremely crowded Golden Circle, including Thingvellir National Park/Oxarifoss, the Strokkur Geyser, and the incredibly beautiful Gullfoss, as well as the Kerid Crater Lake, which was NOT frozen! People available in each of the below images for size comparison.
At this point we were set to spend the remainder of our trip exploring Reykjavik, the capital city of Iceland where over 2/3's of the residents of the country reside. It was quite the change from the scenery we had been accustomed to!
We saw the Cathedral of Christ the King with sun shining through the stained glass:
We checked out Hallgrímskirkja and rode the elevator to the top for a view of Reykjavik from its highest point.
We walked to the Sun Voyager Sculpture and the modernist Harpa Concert Hall:
The street art and buildings in Reykjavik were incredibly beautiful:
We also checked out the Blue Lagoon on our last evening in Iceland. It was a great experience, but a little too crowded for my tastes:
All in all, an amazing trip. The above images were just the highlights. We easily did 10-12 things a day and made many stops on our Ring Road journey. Highly suggest it to anyone! I am working on a thread to create a travel site for this trip to recoup the expenditure. It's viewable here: https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/turning-a-vacation-into-a-profit-machine.928571/.
I am more than willing to answer any questions you may have. Thanks for checking out the thread!
