Category: Iceland 2025

(Eden) 

[Pictures at the bottom]

Up until now we’ve been experiencing Iceland Deluxe with the relative lack of wind and overall blue skies — it wasn’t until this morning that we got the full gray skies and drizzle combo that we were anticipating for most of this. We compensated accordingly by sleeping in and making pancakes and eggs and getting off to our latest start yet, which is still almost acceptable because we are still “jet lagged.” 

The rain feels very far away right now because we are currently driving northeast along the Ring Road in southeast Iceland at — spoiler alert — the most perfect of golden hours, with the sun illuminating the grasses in an insane glow. We’ve seen several rainbows as we drive in and out of gentle rain. It is stunning. There are massive mountains to the south behind us and we are driving along mountains that alternate between slopes and sharp cliffs down to the flat plains. We just passed the little town of Hofn.

Now we’re at our campsite for the night.

Returning to the morning: We rolled out of camp around 11:30 and headed west back along Route 1 to Fjaðrárgljúfur, a stunningly green gorge featured in the official Game of Thrones trailer (which only Dad knows). The misty atmosphere was perfect for the location. The view up the canyon from the initial bridge was almost better than the subsequent two lookouts, but all of it was of dark gray rocks covered in beautiful bulbous green moss, with a river flowing serenely down at the bottom. A couple smaller “foss”es trickled down the edges. We did not venture the whole way to the big foss at the end of the trail, but Dad got some thoroughly epic drone shots, so we essentially saw it all.

Then we resumed our voyage eastward, driving close to an hour to Svartifoss, a waterfall located near a massive tongue of the big glacier Fjallsjökull (which is much larger than the state of Rhode Island). It was raining slightly for the start of the hike but cleared up by the end such that we were sweating in the sun. As the saying goes, if you don’t like the weather in Iceland, wait 10 minutes and it’ll be worse — except we again are getting lucky with the sun! I really liked this hike. It was a nice meander upslope along paths that were alternating packed gravel, gravel with plastic grates, and wooden stairs. The waterfall itself was actually unique to the ones we’ve seen so far (I have lost track of the total) — it flows over the edge of a cliff composed of the hexagonal columns of rock like at Reynisfjara, the black sand beach of yesterday. Dad, Elliot, Harrison, and I took a longer frolicky way back across the other side of the gorge, which gave us amazing views of the valley below and glacier farther to the east. It was hard to fathom the scale of literally anything but it was fantastic. We rejoined Mom and Kieran halfway down and frolicked together the rest of the way back. I should start a word bank of the limited vocabulary we employ as a group. We could have most of our conversations using only 20 key words. 

Next was a short drive to the adorable turf-roof Hofs Church and then a bit farther to the Fjallsjökull (glacier) viewpoint. After a very short walk we were rewarded with a stunning view of the massive crevasse-y glacier extending up up up up beyond the small glacier lagoon. Perhaps I will let the pictures tell the story. I lay in the sand with my eyes closed and tried to quiz myself on the details so that I could have the image seared into my brain, but it still isn’t worth my words to describe. The scale is awesome in the truest sense of the word. We took some ridiculous pictures and loaded back up once more…

… only to stop not far down the road at another viewing point! First we went seaward to Diamond Beach, a famous black sand beach where chunks of glacier wash up on shore. The chunks of glittering ice give the beach its name. Unfortunately for us, ice does not fare well in August, so we only saw small diamonds, but it was magical all the same. We meandered under the bridge to the other glacier lookout (Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon) and spent a delightfully long time staring at the beauty there, too: massive chunks of blue and white floating in a massive lagoon before the enormous glacier sprawling down from above to meet the water. There were a million seabirds in the sky, and soon we realized there were also a million seals! We sat on a picnic bench and just stared for a nice while as Dad captured both locations from above before joining us.

Then we started our glorious golden hour drive, following the road as it wove along the coast and among cliffs and rained on and off. So, so, so beautiful. 

We got to our campsite at Vestrahorn, a small campground perched at the base of a towering row of peaks, with an expansive shallow black sand bay and beach stretching out in the other direction. We were a little worried about not getting a spot there but they still had room! Unfortunately, the views were dampened by the low cloud presence that obscured the peaks, but it felt a little like we were at the end of the world. Dad got his drone time; we ate pasta and sauce and hot dogs; and were in bed at a semi-reasonable hour.

(Eden)

[PICTURES BELOW]

This morning we allowed ourselves to sleep in a bit. A quick breakfast and the usual routine of emptying out the black water “cassette” (from the camper toilet), draining the grey water (from the sinks) in the appropriate place, and filling up the camper water tank, we were on the road. 

Our first stop was the majestic Seljalandsfoss. We were still firmly in high tourist territory, so we weren’t surprised by the full parking lot and crowds. Still, very doable, and we found a spot. We followed the line behind the waterfall, which is very cool – a once in a lifetime experience, it felt like. We had read on the blogs to wear full rain gear, which we did and were very glad for! 

We then followed the trail to the right along the cliff to a second major waterfall that is in a cave – a not so secret waterfall. It was extra misty and wet in there, but we had fun taking a few pictures. Once outside again, we shed our waterproof outgear, spread them out to dry a bit, and flopped on the lovely grass in the sunshine. We eventually meandered our way back to the van and hit the road again. 

We passed by a few drive-by sites, including the Fence of Bras (just what it sounds like). We did not contribute. We also stopped briefly at Drangurinn í Drangshlíð 2 — short stop to see UNESCO turf-covered houses. Very cute.

Next up was the powerful Skogafoss – a big single classic waterfall that is visible from the Ring Road. I ran up the stairs and back along the trail to follow the river as it made sooo many other waterfalls. Absolutely insane idyllic frolic of my dreams. The others entertained themselves infinitely with crazy pics close up to the base of the thunderous thing. I got soaked after I ran and it was epic.

From there we drove a kilometer or so to Kvernufoss, where we parked, used the restrooms in the museum, and then walked back a long (1-2 mile) trail into a beautiful moss and grass covered gorge with the falls at the end. It was much less crowded and super nice, and we were pleasantly surprised that we were able to go behind it, too! So much for that once in a lifetime experience. Dad got to drone, too,. The colors today were absolutely unreal: bluest skies, greenest slopes, brownest rock, whitest clouds, rainbowest rainbows. Amazing. We saw sheep on the way there and on the return.

Our next stop was at Sólheimajökull, which is one of four larger glaciers in Iceland!! We hiked out the trail in the partial rain, and the fatigue finally started to hit us again. (As a side note, the rapidly-changing weather systems is something we all have noticed already! You can drive from sun to rain to sun again in just a short time.) Mom and I had seen this during the winter in Jan. 2024, and it looked so different in the summer. We got up close and got to touch some of the glacier itself. It was an awesome experience to see it expanding upward into infinity. Dad’s drone shots were amazing – he was able to fly up into and over the glacier. 

A stunning drive with sweeping mountains and vistas led us to Reynisfjara: Black sand beach!! Sadly, we realized we were out of time and couldn’t hit Dyrhólaey, which had strong puffin potential. But the beach was amazing – wish we had had more time to stay longer ~~ towering columns to the left, beautiful rocky outcropping to the right, stunning scary sea in front with waves that appeared out of nowhere, and a beach of perfectly smooth stones in which to wiggle your toes underneath. Made a lot of penis jokes with said rocks. I decided to  run 1 mi down the beach while dad flew the drone.  

With our energy flagging, we drove to Vik, where we stopped to see the church on the hill and gas and groceries. Super cute.

It was getting late, but we had another leg of driving to do, eastward, with the sun slowly setting. One’s sense of time gets warped here during the summer, since they have something like 18-20 hours of legit daylight, and the “night” is 3-4 hours of civil twilight – never full darkness. It makes for a great full day of sightseeing, but means it can get late without you realizing it. Anyway, Iceland had one last surprise in store for us – a huge mossy lava field that came out of nowhere. The landscape past vik quickly flattened out into infinity to the right and flat until the sharp increase of mountains and beyond that another even more massive glacier. And then, suddenly,  both sides were covered in rocks covered in moss. Other worldly and amazing and we stopped for a short frolic while dad tried to capture it with the drone. 

Our campsite was pretty much a field that someone charges to use! Dad checked in with a lady in a car and we were all set. Although after we started dinner (tikka masala!), we decided to change locations, which led to us “driving while cooking” and “offroading cooking” say Kieran and Elliot. I missed that portion for a frolic since I was out for a run again!. We ate dinner outside on our folding table and chairs and would have been on track for an 11pm bedtime if we were not all six of us yoppers. It was so lovely and relaxing to be outside in the forever dusk.

(Eden)

Today we: Woke up and enjoyed the insane wind blustering across the lake towards us. Had a search and rescue party spread out to locate my phone, which ended up being inside the campervan. It felt amazing to get a full night’s sleep. 

After a simple breakfast of hot oatmeal, cold cereal (including Weetabix!), orange juice, and coffee (for dad), we finally got on the road (maybe by 1030?). We headed to Kerið Crater, where we walked the ridge high above the lake and then the perimeter of the volcanic lake down in the crater. Before leaving we sampled some Icelandic lamb soup from the food truck in the parking lot. Yum, although not all of us are huge fans of lamb. 

Then we backtracked north again to Þingvellir National Park: insane beauty. The kids table made sandwiches for all as dad drove, an epic reversal of normal roles as we passed sandwiches forward to Mom and Dad. The park was beautiful and blustery: meandering between walls of volcanic rock, views upon views, an impressive waterfall, Dad’s ideal drone shot (drones weren’t allowed, but he still got nice pics), skipping through the canyon, poking along through woods that reminded us all, separately, of our favorite New Hampshire camping spot, Pawtuckaway State Park, convo about our individual funny manifestations of benign OCD stuff as we walked towards the church, and back up again to the entrance.

On the way out of the park the kids table constructed a charcuterie board, which was infinitely fun to create and pass forward to the driving team.

We impromptu stopped at a dairy farm recommended to us by the visitor’s guide I picked up at the penis museum, run by four siblings. We shared some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had while watching the milk donors themselves, and then got a start on the digestion while bouncing on an insane inflatable bouncy bubble while Mom chatted with Lancaster girls. 

Our next stop was Geysir, the OG geyser that all others are named after, apparently. It erupts pleasantly frequently, like every 5-7 minutes. We watched a few cycles, took pics and vids, and walked around a few of the other geothermal features before escaping the sulfur smells. 

Then to Gullfoss waterfall: what some have claimed is the most beautiful waterfall in Iceland and more beautiful than Niagara. It was beautiful. Misty and rainbowy. I feel like I should write more about this and less about the dairy farm but by this point we (I) were feeling a little sleepy. It was stunning and I was really glad to see it but I also think waterfalls scare me enough that I’m not overly excited to keep seeing them. Bad news for tomorrow!!

Then to the Friðheimar tomato farm. The main restaurant was closed but we sat at the bistro, sharing tomato soup and filling up on bread. We ate under the grape vines and adjacent to the tomato greenhouses. Today was very farm to table — since we also split a lamb soup at the crater. I guess there’s a huge incentive to eat local given the constraints of importation.

Then a beautiful almost-sunset drive south to finally meet up with Route 1, the Ring Road, to pass through Hella for our campsite tonight. It is part of a camping pass that we bought for not much and means we have hundreds of neighbors but you would never know it once the blinds are up.

Dinner quickly became legendary, and involved ramen. Except it was spicy ramen because I didn’t read the label but just got excited about it because all of my friends eat it. But importantly none of us had tried it before. I put in three packets of soup base for five ramens and it was still the spiciest ramen I have had in a long time.

The legend: Elliot asked how much we would pay him to drink the dregs of his broth. Harrison said $5. Elliot began drinking. Now that I’m writing it is infinitely less funny to articulate into words so maybe I’ll stop. But mission successful and Elliot is now $5 richer.

All of this is so deeply insufficient but just need to put SOMETHING down.

Dad was commenting today about how it is interesting that almost all of the sites have a parking fee but no per person entrance fee. In a way, a larger family benefits from this policy, although we were comparing it to the US, where for the national parks, at least, you could buy an annual pass that would give you affordable access to all of the sites. We are paying approximately $12 per place to park the camper and have always found a way to squeeze in somewhere. Both mom and dad are getting proficient at parking in tight spaces! 

(Lin)

Today lasted forever, regardless of how “today” is quantified.

On Wed., August 6, we stuffed final belongings into bags and said our last goodbyes to Ace at 2pm EST on August 6, and then loaded into the minivan for the ride to Boston Logan. Thank you to Ryan for taking the vehicle back home. We took off around 7:15 pm, had a fairly uneventful 5 hour flight to Keflavik, Iceland, and arrived at 4:45 am. The camper van rental place didn’t open until 9 am, so we spent four sleepy hours in the airport, snacking on breakfast goodies and coffee until the taxi came for us at 8:40 am. 

It took an hour plus to be introduced to the camper van, agree to any and all liability (or so it seemed), and then transfer our items to the camper (named Frigg, after an Icelandic goddess). The van seems great – sleeps all six of us (everyone shares a full-sized-ish bed), has a fridge, 3-burner gas stove, and a full bathroom. We all agreed it felt a bit like our sailboat, but with less room! It’ll feel tight after two weeks, but we’ve done this kind of close traveling for years and love it. The camper van is a stick shift, so only Lin and Jo can drive it…which is probably okay. The roads here are somewhat narrow, with very little shoulders, and traffic barreling down at high speeds on the opposite side at times. 

Our first stop was at Costco, where we loaded up with food items that will last us at least a week. Iceland is incredibly expensive in most regards, especially with food. We are saving a ton by not eating out and making our meals in the camper. 

From Costco we headed to Reykjavik, where we parked at the Hallgrimskirkja church, the main iconic cathedral in the city with its soaring steeple. We sat to listen to an organ concert, which was lovely, but also sleep inducing, since most of us were running on only a few hours of sleep. We decided to keep moving, and walked down the hill to a cinnamon bun place that Eden and Jo visited when they were in January 2024. Eden was on her way to a semester abroad at Oxford, and Jo decided to make it a fun Iceland stop on the way there. They rented a car and drove around the south part of the island in the snow and dark for five days. So it was great to have their experiences to guide us at first. 

We then headed down the hill to the waterfront, where I flew my drone to catch some city and cathedral views (after carefully reading the regulations). The family briefly stopped by the Penis Museum (yes, really), before heading to the pedestrian zone to window shop, thrift, and take pictures at Skólavörðustígur, the iconic rainbow road. 

On the road again, everyone zonked while I drove and Eden navigated. We rented a hotspot for the van for the week, so everyone has access to their phones (for better or for worse!). Google maps seems to mostly work just fine. Eden and I put together a huge itinerary with various stops that makes it relatively easy to navigate. But we also want to have flex time to explore or spend extra time at spots! 

Our first stop was rather ambitious given our condition: a five mile in and out hike to the Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River, which was both tiring and excellent. The landscape started rugged but turned into lush green hills and cliffs, sort of a mini-Scottish highlands. There was a waterfall along the hike that I pulled out my drone for, of course. At the springs, you can sort of choose your own adventure, with the hotter water upriver, and the cooler water downriver. We found a middle compromise and lounged for nearly an hour before awkwardly changing in the open under towels (as did everyone else) and then hiking back. Sheep are everywhere in Iceland, and I had a little conversation with a lost one on the way baaaaack. 

Finally, finally, we drove to a cute boy scout-esque campground down a beautiful small lane under pink skies of purpley clouds with insane mountains and the coast and ok go playing. Turns out it is next door to the forest service house Eden and Jo stayed at!

It somehow had gotten late – like 10 pm or so, but of course it was still very light outside, something that seems actually quite convenient. We ate Costco udon, all had much-needed hot hot showers, and eventually figured out how to configure all six of us into such a contained space. 

It was an epic, awesome day, and it is so exciting to be here.  We are all so tired — perhaps an average of 2 hours of sleep among us.

Some pictures below; I’m not sure my drone vids can be posted on wordpress yet. Click on each picture for larger versions.