Okay, let’s see, where were we? Ah, yes, possible haunted hotel in Bilfrost…
Let me rewind and show pictures of the Godafoss Waterfall. Then, after settling into the hotel we ended day four by seeing an incredible sunset and then the northern lights (plus a Noles win so that was extra nice ha).
The pictures of the lights with the Big Dipper were nothing short of magical to me.
Day 5: For our fifth day we ventured out west to explore Snæfellsnes Peninsula. This peninsula is suppose to be quintessential Iceland, where you can experience a bit of everything. I was especially hoping to see some puffins but I didn’t realize it was too late in the season, shucks! Highlights of the peninsula included a waterfall hike, gorge exploration, and walking over a nature bridge! All super amazing and I would say came in second for me for my favorite spots.
To try to redeem myself from our previous night’s campsite mishap, I found what I thought would be an amazing campsite called the Rock and Troll campsite in Fossatun. The owner was a music exec in Reykjavik and then retired and bought the site and wrote books about the troll folklore and made an incredible campsite combining his two passions. His son currently runs it and is great. You can tell he is also passionate about it all. So, aside from it sounding super cool and unique and checking all our boxes, upon arrival we came to find out it was also one of the most gorgeous spots we stayed at. Plus, we caught a glimpse of the northern lights again.
Day 6: On our sixth day we drove the Golden Circle which is comprised of three main stops: Þingvellir National Park, the geothermal area in Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir and Strokkur (all other geysers get their name from this OG geyser, Geysir, as it is the original) and the Gullfoss waterfall.
Geysir has been mostly dormant for many years, however, Strokkur continues to erupt every 5–10 minutes.
We stopped at a farmhouse on our route and ended the journey with Icelandic hot dogs (vegan for me, of course, and damn good if I might add).
On our way to our final resting spot (close to the airport) we passed the spot of the recent active volcano. We were so bummed to miss it by a few weeks.
On our final evening we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset and laughed at kids being kids (penis drawings are funny in any country apparently; notice the adult trying to ‘fix’ the pictures.)
Not sure when we’ll make it back but we already have thoughts for our next trip. We loved doing it just the two of us but it would be a fun trip with kids too, with all the outdoor exploring.
Let me know if you’ve been to Iceland or plan to go!
Next up for international travel: Jeff is going to Scotland in May for a guys’ golf trip. Bucket list spots for me include Banff in Canada, Greece, and at some point I want to go on an African safari. I really want to go any and everywhere!
Where should I go?
Erika Reid Bell 