Wow! I mean, wow! I don’t think human language has invented the words to describe the pure and true beauty of Iceland. Beyond every bend was postcard like scenery. Every minute of this fantastic trip will be cherished in my mind.
With only 8 days to see the entire island, we began with extensive planning of our route and destinations along the way (and by “we”, I mean my girlfriend) Morgan and I (Cody), decided that freedom and comfort ability of a camper van was the best route to take, pun intended 🙂She and I even joked that this would be relationship boot camp, spending every second of 8 days together! Our friends all joked that we would come back joined at the hip or single, ha!
As a bonus, we made a TV episode for each day of our fantastical iceland trip! If a picture is worth 1000 words, how many words does 8 episodes of Icelandic awesomeness equate to?! We wrote brief descriptions of our day, but watch the videos for our day by day, play by play! 🙂 Enjoy!
Travel Day
Intro
This is our travel day from Seattle, USA to KEF airport! Nothing too exciting unless you’re a close friend of family member ?
Volcano + Hurricane = Flurricano
Day 2
A big part of this is a story about our camper we named, Lady Fjorda. Pronounced “Fa-Jorda” (Like a Ford, even though she was a Nissan) I have to give credit to her as she truly made our trip! Some might just call it a camper or RV. Not our home on wheels. Not our full kitchen, 1 bed, no bath, luxury apartment. She was something special. Embracing us with an open trunk and full heart… and a full tank of diesel.
Read more: Camping sites in Iceland
The moment we were asked to step outside and meet her. Morgan and I burst into chorus of the unmistakable Edward Sharp and Magnetic Zeros Song “Home.”
Well, hot and heavy pumpkin pie
Chocolate candy, Jesus Christ
Ain’t nothing please me more than you
~
Home, let me come home
Home is wherever I’m with you
Okay, that was a joke, but we couldn’t wait for our journey!
30 meter per second gusts (67mph) ! Rain coming sideways and hitting our faces like razor blades! This is what we arrived to at Þrihnúkagígur Volcano on the first day.
We hiked 3.2km (2 miles) to the base of the Volcano and lowered in magma chamber of a dormant volcano.
The gap is so big a statue of liberty could fit in with room to spare! After narrowly escaping the weather, we headed toward the town of Sellfoss where we stopped by a community pool and took a relaxing bath. With the jet lag in play, Morgan and I have never been so tired in our lives! We found a camping ground on the way and crashed like chunk of melting glacier!
Snorkeling between tectonic plates!
Day 3
We were exploring the Golden Circle, Sellfoss, Geysir. Our eyes were glued to the alien landscape and jagged rocks! Morgan surprised me with a special snorkeling activity between the tectonic plates in Þingvellir National Park!
Drive, Drive, Drive!
Day 4
Snorkeling in Silfra
This was our longest day on the road! We started from Ólafsvik to Akureyi to Mývatn this day! On the way there, I insisted on trying to find an Olis to save a few $$ on gas. However… that wasn’t the best idea. I’ve promised to follow Morgan’s family rule from now “If you’re at ¼ a tank, its time to fill up.” Nonetheless, we made it from Ólafsvik to Akureyi! What a long haul!
Read more: Fuel stations in Iceland
Foss Day (Waterfall day!)
Day 5
Dettifoss – Check!
Seyðisfjörður – Check!
Gufufoss – Check!
Lobster Dinner in Höfn – Check!
What a day! We saw hundreds of waterfalls along this day’s journey. And even a surprise seal came to say hello in a lake. We ended the day at a glacier lake! Morgan is claiming this one for herself.
Hike Place Market
Day 6
18.7 miles today! That’s what our iPhone GPS had tracked us! We hiked so much! One of the most memorable was during the middle of the day, we saw a huge mountain on the plains of black sand beaches. We immediately decided to pull over and scale the mountain. We found a viking tombstone buried at the top, and miles of lavender flowers along the coast.
Read more: Be safe in Iceland
Water Day, falls, pools, hot springs/river & more!
Day 7
Today is our last day on the road, we start it off by going to see yet another waterfall, Seljalandsfoss. This one was unique as you could hike behind it! Needless to say, we got soaked, but it helped to hide the tears of sadness as we knew we had to say goodbye to Lady Fjorda today. After an awakening stroll through the waterfall, we back-tracked to visit Seljavallalug to take a dip in the hot-spring fed pool which was built in 1923.
This was one of our favorite stops during the trip! The pool is hidden in the valley, between gorgeous mountains. After a relaxing soak, we hit the road for our final destination to a river/hot spring. We hiked about 2km, being swarmed by flies for about half the way…but battling the flies was 100% worth it! During this hike, we came across the natural hot-spring, a glorious heated river. Which to our surprise, was much warmer than we anticipated. We actually decided to get out and sunbathe as we needed to cool off. This last stop was the perfect ending to our road trip. Alas, it is time to end our journey with lady Fjorda.
Reykjavik, Blue Lagoon
Day 8
After arriving in Reyakjavik we stayed at a lovely place called Hotel Fron. Morgan found a tasty Tapas spot where we tried whale, reindeer and fermented shark! Yum! It was such an amazing trip and the memories made will always be with us.We hope to return one day for a winter adventure! Thank you again Lady Fjorda and Rent.is. We will be back!
Find more of our trip on instagram! #GrandeIceMoCo
Read more: A Magical place called Iceland
Happy Camping! #CamperStories
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