JULY 2017: FOUR DAYS EXPLORING SOUTHERN ICELAND WITH MY SISTER, EMMA, AND VISITING OUR FORMER AU PAIR, LINDA
Day 1: Reykjavik
After a sleepless overnight flight, we arrived early in the morning and were picked up by Linda. Thanks to the internet, it's been so easy to keep in touch with her since she took care of us at our home in New York some 22 years ago. She's visited us in New York a few times since then, but it was truly lovely to be able to visit with her and her family in her home country.
We spent the day touring downtown Reykjavik and Linda's neighborhood on the Seltjarnarnes peninsula with Linda and her husband, Trausti. It was such a treat to be able to explore the city with two people who have seen the recent boom in tourism from the very beginning. Sadly, the downtown area has been taken over by restaurants catering to tourists and "Puffin store" souvenir shops. We were able to explore many areas of the city with our local guides, though, which I'm always grateful to do. We made it to 8pm Iceland time, when it was still completely bright out, before we had to go to sleep.
Day 2: Reykjavik to Vik
Emma and I headed out by 8am to start our road trip around southern Iceland. Unfortunately, Linda and Trausti had to stay home with the kids, but they were gracious enough to lend us their car. We planned to see the sights west of the small town of Vik before backtracking a bit to the guesthouse we found.
In terms of navigation, driving in Iceland could not be easier. The M1 "ring road" goes all around the country and the side roads off of it are labeled in numerical order. That didn't stop us from getting a bit lost trying to find said side roads at certain times, but besides that and the tour busses zooming by us, we had few issues.
Emma and I headed out by 8am to start our road trip around southern Iceland. Unfortunately, Linda and Trausti had to stay home with the kids, but they were gracious enough to lend us their car. We planned to see the sights west of the small town of Vik before backtracking a bit to the guesthouse we found.
In terms of navigation, driving in Iceland could not be easier. The M1 "ring road" goes all around the country and the side roads off of it are labeled in numerical order. That didn't stop us from getting a bit lost trying to find said side roads at certain times, but besides that and the tour busses zooming by us, we had few issues.
Day 3: Vik to Jokulsarlon
The second day of the road trip had quite an ambitious agenda, as we wanted to make it 3.5 hours from our guesthouses to the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon. It was well worth the drive and pictures hardly do it justice. As we drove back to the guesthouse, we stopped for a hike in Skaftafell National Park and stopped at the Fjadrarglijugur canyon. Based on the weather reports, we knew it would be our last day of beautiful weather, so we tried to make the most of it.
The second day of the road trip had quite an ambitious agenda, as we wanted to make it 3.5 hours from our guesthouses to the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon. It was well worth the drive and pictures hardly do it justice. As we drove back to the guesthouse, we stopped for a hike in Skaftafell National Park and stopped at the Fjadrarglijugur canyon. Based on the weather reports, we knew it would be our last day of beautiful weather, so we tried to make the most of it.
Day 4: Return to Reykjavik via the Golden Circle
Our final day in Iceland brought quite a bit more rain, but we tried to make the best of it as we drove the "Golden Circle" route back to Reykjavik. For people who only have a day or two in Iceland, they generally do a tour of this route and that's all they're able to see. While the sights were still very cool, I'm definitely glad we were able to see more of the country, especially with great weather.
Our final day in Iceland brought quite a bit more rain, but we tried to make the best of it as we drove the "Golden Circle" route back to Reykjavik. For people who only have a day or two in Iceland, they generally do a tour of this route and that's all they're able to see. While the sights were still very cool, I'm definitely glad we were able to see more of the country, especially with great weather.