For our summer holiday, and due to these special times of Covid, we used the opportunity to explore our own surroundings in Iceland off the beaten path. We decided as a family to travel with style and therefore made the choice to rent a pickup car with a house on top, as we are adventurous and keen on trying new experiences.
DAY 1:
We started our journey by driving to Þjórsáldal, where we set up camp for our first night. Þjórsárdalur is a hidden gem in Iceland that has several large camping areas/sites to choose from. The camping areas are well isolated with woodlands that is convenient as the trees make a great shelter for the windy weather here in Iceland, but also provides privacy so that families make sure to enjoy their stay at the camping sites. We further explored the surroundings and found this beautiful ridge with a walking trail into a forest nearby. We spent some time by the ridge, where we had a lot of fun and enjoyed ourselves by climbing, wade into the river among other fun activities. Further, by the camping area are several walking trails for the family to choose from.
DAY 2:
The next day we decided to drive around in Þjórsárdal to search for new adventures and we stumbled on another beautiful ridge, only 2 km from the camping site, that is surrounded by the most outstanding landscape. When going down the ridge, we needed to wade the ice-cold water to cross the river, which was refreshing. We had a good time playing in the sand, and as the sun was kind to us that day, we felt the need to cool ourselves further by wading the ice-cold river. We challenge you to use the opportunity when you are in Iceland to cool yourself in one of our icy-cold rivers. When the hunger called, we followed a walking trail from the ridge into a forest where we found the perfect picnic spot. From there, we headed for some sightseeing tour, as our next stop was at Hjálparfoss, which is a unique waterfall where two rivers meet and form two parallel waterfalls.
Our next stop was Þjórsárdalslaug which is another hidden gem. Þjórsárdalslaug is a warm swimming pool or more like a large swimming – hot tub. Þjórsárdalslaug was made by the workers who built the Hydraulic Power Station Búrfellsvikrkjun, and mainly built for them to bath in, as the workers used leftover cement and the hot springs to form the pool. The pool is not maintained and therefore open for everyone, and therefore caution must be taken before diving into the pool as the water can get extremely hot. This was a fun experience and it was nice to warm the body after bathing in the icy-cold water earlier that day.
DAY 3:
Heiðarvatn is a popular fishing spot, the landscape, the rocky river and the lake that is surrounded by mountains is magnificent. We also found it extra relaxing to stay at Heiðarvatn, as there is no telephone connection in the area. This is therefore the perfect hidden spot to rest from the constant telephone harassment and to practice being in the here and now, and to really enjoy these beautiful natures that surround you. Heiðarvatn is close to Vík that also has a lot to offer, has a great swimming pool and a lot of great restaurants, if you want to treat yourself during your vacation. We were able to catch some sun, one fish but lost two fishes, overall a perfect afternoon.
As we were close to a location that had been for a long time on our bucket list Then our journey continued to Sólheymarsandur to see the famous U.S. military airplane that crashed in the year of 1973. The location of the plane is 3.5 km distance from the parking space, and we found it challenging to walk this route as there is nothing to see but endless sand until you suddenly reach the plane location. The walk was totally worth it, and we managed to take good pictures. This is a great Instagram spot.
After the walk we headed to Hella for a swim and ended up having dinner in Selfoss.
We truly recommend GO ICELAND and to rent a PICKUP with a luxury house where you can drive wherever you want.
Takk fyrir okkur/Thank you!
