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Great photos!
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A lot of driving but seems like you saw a lot of beautiful places. The pictures are great. I especially love the sheep one. (-:
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WOw, that sounds like awesome trip and the photos are great!
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Day 5: Areas to the east of Kirkjubæjarklaustur
After a couple of long days in the car, we were ready to stretch our legs. It would be the first of three days averaging around 20,000 steps, according to the Fitbit. We headed east from the farm. Our first destination was Vatnajökull National Park, where we did two different hikes of approximately 1.5 hours each from the Skaftafell visitor center – one up to the waterfall and one to the face of the glacier. Both are labeled “easy” hikes, but some level of fitness and stamina is required – also sturdy shoes for walking on the uneven terrain and rocks. The glacier, by the way, is one part of Vatnajökull, which covers about eight percent of Iceland and is Europe’s largest glacier. You can see other parts of it all along the drive we took today – and even farther to the east than we went. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...36d65374d6.jpg Hike to the waterfall https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...54145b378b.jpg Skaftafell https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1af1a82e88.jpg Glacier walk The visitor center is a busy place (parking fee required, with a pretty slick system for paying), with many cars and people coming and going. There is also a large adjacent campground. The abundance of trails, however, disperses people fairly quickly, so we never really felt like we were “marching in a line.” There are many other hiking options, but we wanted to push on to see Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon, which is fascinating to watch. The colors of the ice range from dull gray to brilliant turquoise, and the icebergs range from huge to tiny little formations near the water’s edge. There is a “channel” where you can watch them float out towards the sea, although I think most melt by the time they get there. We did not opt for a boat ride – we were able to see it just fine from various vantage points. Try to get away from the main parking lot, where most people tend to cluster. And yes, there were many people here, including one couple in wedding attire posing (mostly her) for photos. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0fd3517e9d.jpg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...671274b337.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9b84fff63a.jpg Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon On the way back, we made an impromptu stop at the other, smaller glacial lagoon, Fjallsárlón, which we liked even better because of the closer proximity of the glacier. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8ae5a8d196.jpg Fjallsárlón glacial lagoon We were pretty hungry after all the walking. On the drive back, we researched restaurants in and around Kirkjubæjarklaustur and picked Systrakaffi, which turned out to be very popular. By 6:30 pm, there was quite a line of people waiting to be seated. The notable thing about our dinner was the pizza named “Exorcist,” which was actually pretty good. We had enough left over for dinner the next night ($64 for the pizza, a very substantial chicken salad and beer). https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a168da7bf.jpeg Today's map: https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...934fd7230d.png |
Wow, what an awesome trip report, complete with maps! Thanks for sharing!
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Nice trip report. I am going next month but not as brave as you. I am basing in Reykjavik and taking guided tours out. This is a "let's check it out" trip because if we like it, we will go back as I decided not to do a full week.
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Love the lagoon photos.
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Day 6: To the west of Kirkjubæjarklaustur
Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon is on some lists of “hidden gems,” but we didn’t find it to be all that hidden anymore. In fact, there was a tour bus in the parking lot, and the impact of tourism has restricted sightseeing at the canyon to a well-defined path and recently constructed viewing platforms. Fences prevent people from going out to the very edges (as was previously possible based on paths in the grass) or into the base of the canyon itself. Nevertheless, it is still a very pretty canyon with a large waterfall – and it is particularly scenic in the sunlight, as we had on this morning. For us, it was less than 10 minutes from our farm, so a natural start to our day and a nice walk to get us going for what was to come (little did we know…). https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8f771b0260.jpg Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon An hour later, we parked and started the walk out to the remains of the Navy plane at Sólheimasandur beach, located about 20 minutes west of Vik. It had been a while since I read up on this. I remembered the number 2.5, thinking that was kilometers from the parking lot to the beach. No, it is actually about 2.5 miles – big difference, and about 40 minutes of walking. Nevertheless, hundreds of people do it every day. We hoped it would be worth it – and it was primarily because of the very elaborate wedding photo shoot in process, with three photographers and several handlers. Soon after we got there, an ATV tour of about a dozen people showed up, all in orange jumpsuits and helmets. Once they all started milling around the plane, it looked like the rescue crew had arrived. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f76592ff1f.jpg Sólheimasandur beach We also checked out some of the coastal vantage points at Dyrhólaey, including the “arch” and other rock formations. It was fairly crowded here, but it was the wind, however, that drove us away and back east toward our farm. At this point, we had driven past the Hjörleifshöfði Promontory several times, so we decided to detour down the dirt road towards it. It was sunny out and the promontory is surrounded by fields of Alaskan lupine, so it made for some nice photos. There is a black sand beach with a cave at the far end, by the ocean. Finally, we’d found a place with no people around. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...68656916cc.jpg Dyrhólaey https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...80185ba8c4.jpg Hjörleifshöfði Promontory We ended our sightseeing with the two waterfalls around Kirkjubæjarklaustur, Systrafoss and Stjornarfoss, which also offered the advantage of few, or in one case, no, visitors. The former has a fairly steep pathway to the top where there is a big lake that feeds the waterfall. This was the one time where I would have liked to have had the hiking poles for the walk down – alas, they were in the car. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cf50d19a35.jpg Stjornarfoss Today’s meal out was lunch at a relatively new brewery/burger place in Vik called Smidjan, which we rather liked ($54 for a very good burger and fries, plus 3 beers). Dinner, of course, was the remains of the Exorcist. And today's map: https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...03ebb371fa.png |
I commend you on your ability to spell the places you went to. I have never seen such long, unpronounceable names as we saw in Iceland. You are really making me want to go back!
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Thanks, all. I'm glad you're enjoying the report.
sassy27, enjoy! |
Originally Posted by Sberg
(Post 16765025)
I commend you on your ability to spell the places you went to. I have never seen such long, unpronounceable names as we saw in Iceland. You are really making me want to go back!
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Nine of us spent three days and two nights with our Icelandic hiking guide. None of us could pronounce his name despite asking him to say it very slowly many times. It was Gajun somethingorother. He kept saying “call me John”.
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What a great report. Thank you so much.
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Originally Posted by ms_go
(Post 16763510)
We just returned from a one-week trip to Iceland and wanted to share a little about our experience in case it is helpful to others. We took a lot of input from this board as we planned our trip – so thank you to all who have posted in the past and particularly to Melnq8, who sent us some maps and booklets she collected last year while traveling around the country.
Our last couple of trips have been city trips, so we were itching for a little fresh air and scenery. We had seven nights to play with, which isn’t a lot, but it’s what we can muster at the moment due to work, aging cat, aging parents and other matters. We tried hard to work that into a trip around the entire ring road. Ultimately, we decided we wouldn’t enjoy having to pack up and move accommodations every night, and renting a camper, while maybe fun for a night or two, would get old quickly. Instead, we settled on this plan: · 3 nights in the west · 3 nights on the south coast · 1 night in Reykjavik prior to our 11:55 am flight home Getting there We flew Chicago-Newark-Keflavik and reverse on United, which just began flying to Iceland in May. Newark is – how shall I say this politely – not our favorite airport. On the outbound portion of the trip, thunderstorms earlier in the day caused havoc and forced a lot of diversions, including the plane that was to take us to Iceland. On the return, the weather was great, and our flight arrived early. We breezed through Global Entry only to wait an hour for our checked bags (vs. <15 minutes at ORD later in the day). Accommodations We wanted at least some kitchen facilities in our accommodations so as not to have to eat all meals out. Accordingly, we looked for apartments rather than hotels and eventually booked everything through Airbnb. Two were rural, on farms. We were very happy with all of them. Near Búðardalur in the west (3 nights; $142/night plus fees): This is an actual and modern tiny house (just like the kind on HGTV) on a farm with a long history. It once was part of the property of Erik the Red, and the Eiríksstaðir homestead museum is just down the road. Written history indicates Erik gave the property to his slaves. In the 16th and 17th century, it became the site of an annual feast for common workers that was eventually banned due to “indecency.” The host provides breakfast in her kitchen each morning, and we enjoyed our visits with her. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/11178408 https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c4ba488518.jpg The tiny house Near Kirkjubæjarklaustur on the south coast (3 nights; $208/night plus fees): This is on a working sheep farm that extends up a large valley. We enjoyed a lovely hike up the valley to one of the waterfalls on the property – a rare opportunity to hike without other people around. The farm has been in the host’s family for four generations. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/18946955 In Reykjavik (1 night; $145/night plus fees): This is a well-located and well-furnished apartment in an area that is convenient but quiet and mostly residential. As a bonus, we found parking right in front of the apartment. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/19553562 All three of these are fairly popular properties. We booked the first two last fall, after we’d made flight reservations. We booked the Reykjavik apartment in January. |
I wish I could admit to good spelling. Instead, I've become good at copy and paste! I cannot, however, pronounce any of it - and we really tried.>>
During the lunch break in a recent cricket match to which i was listening, there was an interview with a Brit who is involved with the Icelandic cricket team, talking about the Icelandic language which he clearly spoke very well. He said that the written language of the Icelandic Sagas bears no relation to the way it's pronounced and seemed to be saying that that applies to present day Icelandic too, though i seem to remember being able to make some sort of sense of it at the time. Anyway there's something to look forward to next time you visit Iceland - going to a cricket match. |
Day 7: Back to Reykjavik
After packing up, we took a very nice 90-minute hike up the valley of the farm on which we were staying, past a fairly substantial waterfall (one that would probably attract some cars if it was along the ring road) and up to some turf houses where the farmers keep some of their sheep. It was a lovely hike by any measure, made all the much better because we had it all to ourselves. We could have kept going, as the farm extends much further into the valley, but we wanted to have some time in Reykjavik later in the day. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...577422543f.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...553551a11b.jpg Hiking on the farm Once on the road to Reykjavik, we were retracing our steps. Since the weather became progressively worse as we headed back west, we just buckled in and didn’t stop until we reached the street of our Airbnb apartment in the city. Fortunately, the rain slowed once we were in town, so we were able to spend a few hours meandering around the city center, while also keeping tabs on the World Cup. We didn’t have an agenda per se – for example, no museums. We did stop in the Hallgrimskirkja church. We found the city center compact, relaxed, colorful in spots. We would have love to spend a little more time outside and along the waterfront, but the wind kind of wore us down. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f7a39bcee3.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e0a39913a0.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cf7015e906.jpg Reykjavik We figured being in the city was a good opportunity for one splurge meal, for which we chose Restó (at about $175 for two appetizers, two mains and a bottle of wine – not too far off what we would have paid in Chicago with taxes and tip). Oh, and Reykjavik was one place name on our itinerary that we did not have too much difficulty pronouncing. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a8e7d64d95.png |
Day 8: Back home
I mapped the route to the airport over dinner the night before and was surprised when it said the drive would be 70+ miles and nearly two hours. What I didn’t note was that wasn’t the shortest route. It actually took us only about 45 minutes along the coast road, and we were in the airport well before the United Airlines check-in counter even opened. Not much to report from there, other than that the Icelandair Saga lounge is pretty nice and puts out a nice spread of food. And we got one last chance to enjoy the brisk weather while boarding the plane. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...734297abae.jpg Oh, and we had a great view of Greenland on the way home. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f242d4f92a.jpg Greenland We’ll be back later with some final thoughts and, eventually, a more photos. |
Quite an adventure !
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Thank you again. I enjoyed coming along.
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I have to admit ms_go this isn't the first trip report of yours that I read right before going to the same place. You give me comfort when not knowing what to expect. The details are exactly what I am looking and the pictures are getting me excited.
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