What To Do In Iceland

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When Wow Airlines was still up and running it seems as though it was fueling the tourist business to Iceland. I was lucky enough to snag a cheap Wow flight to Iceland and I sure did love it. Even though Wow Airlines is no longer running, Iceland tourism is alive and well. Here are some highlights from my weekender there and what I, and locals, recommend!

The Landscape and Weather

I should start out by saying that Iceland is an island North of Nova Scotia, but Southeast of Greenland. Like many islands, it has sudden weather changes and like many Northern locations, Winter seems to last longer than places more Southern. I went to Iceland in the first week of May. I took a redeye from Baltimore to Reykjavik and watched as the sun never set due to location. Upon landing they had just had a two-foot snowstorm, however due to weather patterns and “increased volcanic activity” most snow was melted by the time we deplaned and left the rental car office.

I often refer to my time in Iceland as “the weekend I never saw the sky”. I’m still not sure if this was because of the storm, increased volcanic activity or just the fog - but I only saw the sky maybe twice and only for a few minutes. This is something to keep in mind and plan for if you wanted to see the Northern Lights during your trip. If you are during fall/spring I RECCOMEND you book a tour and they will actually take you off the coast by boat to see them. If you are going during Winter do not count on it and if you’re going during summer check the Aurora forecast and try to see them yourself.

The weather did also change frequently. There were bats of hard rain, hail, deep fog, heavy snowfall, and occasionally warm sun rays. At the rental car office, they will show you all the scary photos of what can happen to your car if you don’t get insurance - but if you are used to snow the tires were snow tires and you should be fine. The increased volcanic activity did have me a little geeked, however, the photos of ash-covered cars didn’t scare me enough for the insurance package either.

Getting Around

Iceland is unlike other places. Stores and shops open late in offseason and close early. Many places were open from 10am-7pm. The main city of Reykjavik is also SUPER small and does not have buzzing taxis or rideshares. It’s really important that you either book tour services or a rental car. We went with the rental car option because I hate waiting for tour services and like to leave and go as I please and at my own pace. I booked an automatic car ahead of time that had airport pick up. Driving was simple except that road signs are in Icelandic, signs looked different than America but were easy to identify, they drive in KPH (kilometers per hour) and some gas stations you pumped your own petrol and others got pretty mad if you didn’t let them do it.

Using a credit card was easy peasy and we even called our company beforehand to let them know we were traveling. At the airport, I also got a cash advance on my Capital One Venture Card so I had local bills (that were really pretty by the way). The cash was great because you have to PAY TO USE BATHROOMS at most gas stations and some food locations. Also, a few places only took cash! There are supposedly cheaper ways to get money out but since this was a weekend trip I wanted money quickly and then to keep going.

Although English was not their native language everyone we met spoke it clearly or proficiently so we had no problem getting around. There were a few weird words here and there, but I do not expect to go to a foreign land and they cater to me language-wise so I was just happy I didn’t have to brush up on any language skills before travel. SIgns were not in English, but easy to figure out and we learned some words also!

Things To Know…

Booking and planning ahead was our friend. The time change to us was pretty brutal and messed up our sleep schedule for the weekend, but we planned a day to recoup once home. Checking the weather the day you leave is CRUCIAL when packing. I was significantly underdressed the whole time. Boots, a coat, extra socks, hat, and gloves are recommended until you are in the height of summer. Looking online to book the hostel and rental car was a godsend since everything was translated and we knew exactly where to go when we got there. I also knew I wouldn’t have cell service there and prior to leaving I downloaded the entire map of Iceland on Goggle maps before going. I still loaded our entire drive on wifi before leaving each day, however.

Must-Sees…

I really think you cannot go wrong in Iceland unless you do not leave the city and you do not plan to go anywhere. Just on the way from the airport to the city, we passed a BUNCH of places that we pulled off to take some photos and look around. We even stopped at a fishing boat they pulled up shore to tour.

Our first day was really to tour the city, settle at the hostel (we got a private room - these are limited in hostels) grab dinner and recoup for a big driving day the next day. The main problem is that we landed about 6am and never slept on the plane so once 12pm rolled around we were DEAD. We tried checking into the hostel early and they made a HUGE stink about it and actually didn’t allow us to check-in until an hour after check-in (almost as punishment) at 4pm. The city was great. There are plenty of blogs about what to see and where to intentionally go, but we really enjoyed just driving around and stopping at cool buildings, churches, oceanside views and overlooks.

Snæfellsnes National Park

The real magic happened on day two. We decided to drive up to the HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Snæfellsnes National Park. On the drive, there were amazing views though, like this waterfall. And about a dozen other waterfalls and inactive volcanoes. Iceland had MANY pull-off areas on the side of the road to pullover whenever, which was really nice. This whole drive would’ve taken an hour and a half but we stopped a lot which made it about three hours.

There is a literal LOOP you will drive of the peninsula on the road Snæfellsnesvegur. If you think you should stop, just stop - you potentially could miss out on something amazing right? You’ll hit the stops in this order and I recommend stopping every time!
-Ölkelduvatn Mineral Spring
-Ytri Tunga
-Lýsuhóll (stopped here for lunch)
-Búðakirkja
-Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge
-Gatklettur
-Londrangar
-Vatnshellir Cave
-Djúpalónssandur beach
-Hólahólar crater
-Saxhóll Crater
-Svörtuloft Lighthouse
-Skarðsvík Beach
-Svöðufoss
-Rif Beach
-Snæfellsbær
-Snæfellsjökull

(There are many more spots you’ll see that aren’t “named” but you’ll see them and should stop!)

The variety of terrain you’ll see on this loop will blow your mind. You’ll go through dense vegetation, pebble beaches, black sand beaches, grassy fields, mossy fields, mossed over lava fields, mountains, craters, waterfalls and volcanoes. It’s no wonder this National Park loop is so highly recommended because you’ll see so much in such a small area and period of time. Even in Winter, I saw so much!

Food

Food in Iceland was kind of unreal. First of all, keep in mind that the Icelandic Kronic (their dollar) is a lot more expensive than the USD or CAD so food tends to cost more. But this shouldn’t stop you. This food was nomadic, norse-like and wholesome. The restaurant on the way to the national park was amazing as well as Reykjavik Fish and Lemon in the city. There was also a rogue coffee shop hooked to a grocery store that was incredible and had an amazing glass wall with a view that was unforgettable. But many meals were seafood, lamb and root vegetable heavy. Try everything!

Iceland was really a magical world and I highly reccomend a trip! We did not do any tours or lagoons/hot springs. If we did there was one that took you on a deep cave tour (Journey of the Center of The Earth) that everyone reccomended as well as skipping the commercial Blue Lagoon and going to The Secret Lagoon instead. There is also an entire right side of the island we did not get to explore and if you have time many people said it’s worth the time, but that the trip to the National Park was the most important place to go!