2024: Iceland

We drove around the Ring Road, with many side trips to fjords, waterfalls, glaciers, lava fields, and last but not least, thermal baths (our route is highlighted in black on the map above): altogether, about 2500 miles. We stayed at guest houses and hotels, reserving a day or two in advance through Booking.com.  Breakfasts were typically provided by the guest houses, and they were very good indeed: eggs, meats, fish, cheese, toast, cereal, fruit, yoghurt, etc. etc.  Almost everyone had an automatic coffee machine, so I regularly got my latte hit.  Lunches were on the road, with ingredients purchased at supermarkets.  If dinners were not provided where we stayed, we would try a local spot for burgers, pizza, and the fries.  

We were very lucky on the weather: only two days of intermittent rain.  The wind, on the other hand, was another story.  We had to be careful exiting the car - there were even warnings on the inside of the car doors.  We tried to get in a hike every day.  I took over a thousand photos.

We missed seeing two phenomena Iceland is famous for: volcanoes and northern lights.  There was an active volcano near Grindavik when we arrived, but we waited until the end of our stay before attempting a visit - and by then the activity had ceased.  And northern lights?  We saw none, although, ironically enough, they were visible in the U.S. for several nights while we were away.  How's that for timing?

1. Reykjavík   2. Thingvellir National Park    3. Stykkishólmur    4. Snæfellsjökull National Park   5  Vestfjarðavegur   6. Hæstahjallafoss   7. Útsýnispallur   8. Goðafoss Waterfall   9. Leirhnjúkur   10.  Stuðlagil   11. Seydisfjordur  12. Barkináfoss   13. Fjallsárlón   14. Reynisfjara   15. Seljalandsfoss    16. Hveragerði   17. Gjáin   18. Hveradalir    19. Blue Lagoon