Thursday August 14th, 2014
We reach Iceland, with a stopover in Germany. When we arrive it’s late, we rent a car and reach our guesthouse in Reykjavik. We go to sleep.
Friday August 15th, 2014
We begin our journey in Iceland under a cloudy and cold wind. Our first destination is Thingvellir, an area where it is clearly visible the cracks between the earth’s plates.
It’s also the birthplace of the Icelandic Parliament, over 1000 years ago. Then we descend into the crack (through an easy path). We go straight to Geysir, the geyser from which all the other geysers take the name. Geyser is no longer active as before, but there is Strokkur, which is very active, dropping its jet of water every 10 minutes. Our next stop is Gullfoss, a mighty waterfall that flows into a narrow gorge, raising great clouds of water. We continue our day to Seljalandsfoss, another waterfall where you can go to a small cave behind / under the waterfall. The rain and the water of the waterfall make us completely wet.
Before reaching our next guesthouse is time to stop another waterfall, Skogarfoss, and here we find ourselves completely soaked. After a stop to the guesthouse to change our clothes, we go to dinner and then (it’s dark) we go up to Dyrholaey, where we should see the nests of puffins. We do not see even one, but the view is still nice.
Saturday August 16th, 2014
Today is sunny. Before breakfast we return to Dyrholaey, to admire the view with the light of day, especially the black lava beach and the rock arch in the sea. Then we go down to the sea, where we finally see some puffins. A short distance away there is the beach Reynisfjara, with its basalt columns.
We continue in direction of Vatnajokull glacier, the largest glacier in Iceland. On the way we find two Belgian girls that ask for a lift to Skaftafell. Here we look at the waterfall Svartifoss, with basalt columns and we also pass by the waterfall Hundafoss.
Then we go to the base of the glacier (we arrive very close), in the river there are numerous icebergs. We follow the glacier and reach Jokulsarlon, a lagoon where there are plenty of icebergs and where you can take a boat and take a trip among the icebergs, definitely a worth trying experience.
In the evening we stop to sleep in Hofn.
Sunday August 17th, 2014
We go now to Hofn Hornafirði where there is a natural park, and we admire the beautiful nature.
We continue to Djupivogur and we stop at one of the many beaches of lava. A Djupivogur there are large stone eggs made by a local artist, which reproduce the various types of eggs of birds present in the area.
We pass the Berufjordur and Stöðvarfjörður heading Egilsstadir. We take a detour from our itinerary and we go to Seydisfjordur, admiring numerous waterfalls along the road. The town of Seydisfjordur is small, but has many wooden houses. We go back to Egilsstadir, where we find our hotel and after dinner walk the Lagarfljot, where according to legend there is a sea monster: we didn’t see it.
Monday August 18th, 2014
Today we leave the main road to go to Modrudalur, a small country with few houses in peat. The weather is cloudy and it’s pretty cold.
We move to Dettifoss, another impressive waterfall and arrive at Asbyrgi, a valley in the shape of a horseshoe, carved in ancient times by a glacier. Moving from there we stop in Tjornes, finally there is the sun and we can admire the beautiful cliffs. We stop also in Husavik to visit the church and the local history museum. In the evening we should be in Myvatn, there is still a bit of time, so we stop to see some geysers.
Myvatn is a large lake surrounded by numerous craters of volcanoes now inactive. In particular there is a path through 5-6 craters, by the lake, really nice. And it’s the sunset.
Tuesday August 19th, 2014
Before breakfast we walk back along the path among the craters. Not far away we stop to Dimmuborgir, with strange lava formations. There are various paths, a few kilometers long, we choose a medium one. We continue and we stop to Grjótagjá, a cave with thermal water. Notwithstanding the entry is not exactly easy, there are some rocks, the view inside is really beautiful, and worth the little effort made to enter.
Our next stop is Namaskard, an area of bubbling mud pools. The panorama is truly unique, it seems to be on Mars, the red earth, the gray mud, sulfur, blue sky create a mix of colors really incredible.
Then we come to Viti, an inactive volcano, in whose crater there is now a lake. We turn around the lake, but not happy, we climb up the mountain, Krafla. The climb is quite exhausting (the descent will be rather difficult), but the view is 360°: below us the lake, a bit more distant a lava black tongue. It stands in the middle of the scenery, and behind us another crater of an old volcano, really big. We go down over the lake and we reach the lava flow of Leirhnjukur, where, in addition to the lava, there are still numerous fumaroles, from which columns of steam come out.
We return to the car and go looking for Storagja, another thermal cave. The signs don’t help us to find hit, we see a rope attached to a rock that enters into a crevice, perhaps it is that, but we do not know. We go ahead and shortly after stumbling on the path I sprain my ankle. Last stop of the day is Godafoss, I watch it from distance due to the ankle problem.
In the evening we arrive in Akureyri. I decide to stay at the guesthouse for not walking, but before dinner I go to the hospital (so I see how an hospital is in Iceland), where they say it is a sprain and give me some pads (I also saw an Icelandic hospital!). It’s already late, and many restaurants are already closed or are closing. For dinner we have to go for a pizza.
Wednesday August 20th, 2014
Today we go to Siglufjordur, along the fjord, and we cross some very special tunnels (they are alternate way, with some widening in the tunnel). We continue to Hofsós, where there are some historic buildings and hexagonal basalt columns shaped by the sea.
We stop then to Grof, where there is a wooden church covered in peat. The interior is very nice, and the appearance is suggestive. The next place is Holar, where there is a church with many works and an high bell tower, from which we can admire the surrounding landscape. There are also some house-museums in peat. At Glaumbaer other houses in peat, they can be visited, showing what life was like in the old times. Finally at Vidimyri another church in peat. We go across the Vatnsnes peninsula, very beautiful, and we stop at a rock arch in the sea at Hvitserkur.
In the evening we arrive in Reykholt where we have dinner and sleep.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
The first stop today is a waterfall, Hraunfossar. The peculiarity of this waterfall is it’s flowing over an block of lava, less impressive than other waterfalls, but definitely unique.
At a short distance away there is also the Barnafoss waterfall, small but impetuous. We continue along the coast in the Snaefellsnes peninsula where we can admire the volcano’s crater Eldborg and basalt columns perfectly aligned in Gerduberg. We continue passing by Budir, where we stop on the coast and we get to Raudfeldar, where according to legend, a troll lived in a cave (and perhaps still lives there). The entrance, also here, it’s not very easy, there is a narrow passage over a river and to enter you have to pass on some stones that come out from the water. Since I still have a sprained ankle I decide not to enter. We stop for other basalt formations in Arnarstapi along the coast.
We stop then in Hellnar, a small village with a fishing harbour. While we take pictures, we see a seal swimming in the harbour. The cliffs are beautiful in the area, and we stop in Djupalon. In Dritvik it’s possible to go down on the beach, where there are still remnants of a fishing vessel sinked in 1948. Short stop in Olafsvik with its church standing out among the houses. We continue the tour of the peninsula, and in the evening we arrive in Stykkisholmur where we admire the sunset and have dinner.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Today is sunny and since the day before we traveled almost the whole peninsula, we decided to retrace part of the itinerary of the second day, to see them with the sun: Thingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss.
Then we go to Hveragerdi, where there is a valley with a stream river and Seltun, where there are fumaroles and mud pools. The place is not so big, but very nice. To reach Reykjavik where we arrive in the evening, we go to the lake Kleifarvatn. In Reykjavik we visit the Hallgrimskirkja and stroll through the streets of downtown before stopping for dinner.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Last day of our trip. Today is cloudy and we could go to see the whales, but we choose to stay in the city and to see more of the capital. While we walk, we discover that there is a marathon this morning. There are so many people, but we can still see the city: Domkirkjan, Althingi, the harbour, Landakotskirkja and Perlan, with its dome from which you can see the city from above. Before returning to the airport we stop at the Blue Lagoon, the most famous spa resort in Iceland.
We deliver the car and wait for our flight, which in the evening land in Italy. And so we conclude this beautiful trip in Iceland.
