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Day 1: Reykjavík
Our flight landed in the morning, so we immediately grabbed our rental car through Blue rental, and started driving into Reykjavik. I had previously read up on the driving rules in Iceland and I was fearfully anticipating the dreaded two-lane roundabouts that gave the inner-ring right-of-way! Fortunately it became very quickly clear that everyone else was also terrified and I quickly learned how to anticipate the various types of drivers as we all learned to navigate the vehicular circles.
Laugavegur Street
Our first stop: Laugavegur Street. After a quick (and expensive) Lunch at Cafe Loki where we tried some traditional Icelandic food including lamb soup and Rye bread, we walked down the street to see the striking Hallgrímskirkja Church. Looking at the columns, I quickly commented that they reminded me of volcanic basalt columns, only to quickly discover from my travel companions that it was indeed an intentional architectural design. Exciting, we’re off to a great start!
We paid the extra fee to ride the elevator to check out the bell tower, and the view from there.
Day 2: Golden Circle Adventure
We came back to Laugavegur Street the next morning to grab some food before we headed out on our drive to begin our scenic nature tour.
Thingvellir National Park
After driving 45 minutes, we arrived at Thingvellir National Park. Known for Almannagjá, a narrow valley gorge splitting the tectonic plates of North America Europe.
There’s an accessible overlook that is paved and gives a beautiful panoramic view of the rift valley, however if you want to walk through the gorge down to the waterfall, it’s a more gravely hike. It’s an easy moderate hike aside from the initial slope down. There are branching trails that wander off through different parts of the park, and it’s clearly marked where to find the waterfall.
The short hike is rewarded with what was our first waterfall view, Öxarárfoss. Yes, foss means waterfall and will be redundant. I’ll probably not be consistent about that.
Geysir / Haukadalur Geothermal Field
The next stop on our Golden Circle adventure was the Haukadalur Geothermal Field to catch a geyser erupting.
There were a handful of pools, but the 2 main geysers are Geysir itself and Strokkur, which erupts more frequently, and is the one which everyone was watching and we captured on camera.
We spent around 30 minutes trying to capture a video of the geyser, which erupted roughly every 5-10 minutes, missing it a couple times due to tired arms and some geyser “burps” which were brief moments where our hopes got up only to be disappointed. But we finally caught a good eruption and we told ourselves it was worth the wait.
Gullfoss
After a quick dinner at the Geysir, we continued on our way for one of the more impressive waterfalls, Gullfoss!
The wind really started to pick up while we were here, which resulted in sprays of water getting tossed up into the air, not only spraying us with cold water, but also creating beautiful temporary rainbows. Wearing waterproof clothing was incredibly important at this point, not only for the water, but for the constant wind.
We were already late in the day local Iceland time, however since it is Summer, there’s plenty of sunlight left. Before we could get to our stay for the night, we had one more waterfall to visit along our way.
Bruarfoss
Off of the beaten path, Bruarfoss is a smaller waterfall that requires driving along a dirt road to get to it. It’s on the smaller side, but what it lacks in size it makes up for with a beautiful blue color. You could probably spend around 15 minutes here and be satisfied, but I enjoyed being away from the crowds of tourists.
At the time of our trip, unlike most other locations, there were no available bathrooms, so be sure to take a break before you come here.
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