Three Day Stopover in Iceland: Part 2

In my previous post, I explained a lot about why we wanted to stop in Iceland on our way to Germany and Poland, but now I want to explain how we did it, and with as little luggage as possible.

For 18 days and two different climates, we packed 5 moderate sized carry ons, total.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Two carry ons for winter clothes (Iceland) two carry ons for summer clothing, and small one for toiletries.  Inside, we packed two small duffels to pack with goods for souvenirs and we ditched almost all of our toiletries that weren’t necessary on the way home.  Each person wore a backpack with one spare change of clothes and a bathing suit (no unpacking suit cases for the Blue Lagoon upon arrival).  For the two days we spent hiking on beaches and near waterfalls, this is what we wore:

-Dry fit tights and long sleeves for base layer

-Heavier pants layer (like sweats, wore only by kids)

-Rain pants

-Chambray shirt

-Down sweater (Patagonia)

-Rain jacket

-Beanie hats

-Smart wool socks

-Rubber boots (hiking boots for Dave)

Everyone who wanted to stay dry, stayed dry . . . except Carter, who had an unfortunate run in with a wave when he tried to release a fish back into the sea.  No good deed goes unpunished, am I right??  As you will see from the photos, people stripped layers as the day warmed up, but the cold mornings demanded the full list above.

Day 2:

08:00  Seljalandsfoss.  The iconic waterfall that you can walk behind (and the reason for wearing rain gear).  It’s magnificent.

09:00 Skógafoss.  Most Instagrammed waterfall on earth!!!!!!  I made that up, but I would put money on it.  If you go at the right time, you can even see a rainbow . . . or a double rainbow!  In the summer season, the land beyond the top of the stairs is accessible and you can hike along the river that feeds the waterfall.  It’s just breathtaking (the photo of Jackson above was taken at the top of the waterfall here).

10:00 Sólheimajökull.  Driving east on Route 1, there is a small turn off toward the glacier.  From here, you can do guided glacier walks, which we did back in 2015.  When researching our stops, we originally eliminated this one, because Sawyer’s feet are too small to use the crampons, so he wouldn’t have been able to walk along the glacier.  But, it was perfect, because even if we didn’t walk ON the glacier, we got close enough to see it and were able to climb under one part that was marked, and the boys were awestruck when they got to run their fingers along the surface of it.  

11:30 Vík í Mýrdal.  We parked at the tourist stop for bathroom breaks and access to the black sand beach here.  It was a gorgeous day, we walked along the beach and it was warm enough to shed some layers and Sawyer even put his feet in the water.  We hiked to the end of the beach and back, grabbed a snack and moved on to . . .

13:00 Reynisfjara Beach.  This was by far the most crowded place we visited, parking was a bit of a challenge.  In 2015, when we visited the cafe at the top of the hill, we ate lamb soup and the servers spoke only Icelandic.  Not the case this time, as it was packed with tourists, but still delicious and worth the stop.  The basalt columns on the beach are wondrous creations, and it’s impossible not to be awestruck by their size and shape.  Unfortunately, this was the spot where Carter was met by a wave, and nearly lost his mind while we were dumping water out of his shoes and ringing his socks out.  This is where being “flexible” comes into play (aka letting your kid run shoeless in a rocky field).  At this point, the weather was warm and these kids were stripping clothing left and right, so no different than at home but definitely more embarrassing.  

16:00 Dyrhólaey.  There is a hill with the lighthouse on top that looks down toward a naturally formed stone arch in the middle of the sea.  It’s pretty amazing.  The afternoon light was beautiful here, and if it weren’t for two very unhappy, tired people (one shoeless), I could have stayed here for hours!   

Seljalandsfoss

Skógafoss

Sólheimajökull

Vík í Mýrdal

Reynisfjara

Dyrhólaey . . . perhaps we pushed too hard??

We headed back to our Airbnb, had snacks for dinner (that’s how we vacation, with cheese and meats, and crackers!!), Carter worked on updating his YouTube, we wandered around the farm, and hung out with our Icelandic cats, Snulli and Bolli.  And Sawyer ran around the yard nude like he was on the cover of that Sigur Ros album with Gobbeldigook (tbh, I played Sigur Ros nonstop in the car while we drove in Iceland, so maybe it was my fault).

DAY 3

We spent the entire day with a guide on a super jeep tour from Midgard Adventure (we found them through wiiceland.com, a fantastic resource!).  Our guide, Disco, was THE BEST.  He took us across rivers in the jeep, we hiked to waterfalls (a few sites from Game of Thrones filming), picnicked at Þórsmörk, hiked to the top of a hill that looked all across the landscape, toward waterfalls, the sea, and inland toward the glacier.  On the way back, we stopped at Þórsmörk Volcano Huts and another waterfall.  It was once of the most incredible days of my life, the beauty of Iceland just takes my breath away and I was so lucky to experience it with my family, all five of us.   

Þórsmörk

Water so pure you can drink from the streams . . .

Þórsmörk Volcano Huts

More Caves . . .

Despite all the planning, people were wet.  On purpose.  Good thing our Airbnb came with a dryer?

The next morning, we left at 3am to catch our flight to Berlin, which was a complete 180 degree turn from being out in the cold, quiet countryside to being in a warm city.  It’s wild to go from one to the other.  Stay tuned for our trip through Germany + Poland . . . and thank you for following along!