In Iceland, you can see the contours of the mountains wherever you go, and the swell of the hills, and always beyond that the horizon. And there’s this strange thing: you’re never sort of hidden; you always feel exposed in that landscape. But it makes it very beautiful as well.
Hannah Kent
I have traveled to most of Scandinavia by now. So when my family and I jetted off to Iceland, I had a sense of what to expect: a strong people and dark winters, cozy hideaways and twinkling streets, intentional architecture, both old and new. Like most of Scandinavia, Iceland is a cold place that breaks you and renews you again in the most beautiful ways.
In this blog post, I will share some of the adventures we went on as well as some of the local and not so local cuisines we tried. I’ll break it down day by day.
Day One – Fighting the Jet Lag
We traveled east from New York so we jumped ahead five hours into the early morning. My mother strategically booked a walking tour first thing upon our arrival to keep us on our feet. Half-awake, we plodded about in the darkness (at this time of year, the sun doesn’t rise until 10:30am – yikes!), taking in our first impressions of Reykjavik.
Our tour guide showed us monuments, neighborhoods, the architectural necessities of corrugated metal and motifs of wood-carved falcons. We ended at city hall where we gathered around a 3D-model of the country, learning about Iceland’s glaciers, volcanoes, and fault lines.
After enduring the first leg of the day, my mother rewarded my father and I with a trip to Sky Lagoon.
While Blue Lagoon is the instagrammable, popular spot, we went with this location that is closer to the town and offers a more natural atmosphere.
Spoiler alert: we loved it so much we went back twice. But, the first time we went, we paid for the added package, “Seven Rituals”, which led us through hot spring water, ice cold water, hot air, cold rain, and even steam. You can read more about them here. I highly recommend adding this to your experience at Sky Lagoon, but if you can’t, you can always take the plunge into the cold bath for free.
After our much needed trip to the lagoon, we made our way to dinner. Since my parents visited five years back, they already had some restaurants in mind. The first was called Tapas.
Here, you can share small dishes with your table and sample all the exotic meats that Iceland has to offer from minke whale to puffin. I personally wasn’t a fan of either, but when in Iceland, right?
Day Two – Icelandic Horses
On day two, we woke up and grabbed some buttered pretzel bread and Oreo donuts at the local bakery, Deig. This spot was right near our hotel on the marina.
By the way, those pretzel bagels will forever live in my heart. Please go there and understand.
Afterwards, we spent the morning shopping on Reykjavik’s two main strips, Frakkastugur and Skólavörðustígur. At the end of these two strips, up a steep-enough-to-be-annoying hill, is Iceland’s largest church, Hallgrimskirkja.
While it’s beautiful on the outside with its imposing size and brutalist design, be sure to go to the top for a beautiful view of the city and beyond!
While we still had some daylight left (it’s hardly afternoon, but the days are so, so short), we headed off into the countryside to a small family-owned farm called Laxnes Horse Farm to go horseback riding. But, this wasn’t just any horseback riding, it was Icelandic horseback riding, where the paths are covered in ice and the horses have different gaits. Also, never call an Icelandic horse a pony…or do, and see how the locals react.
The ride was both a challenge and a reward. Under a clear blue sky, we trotted through beautifully frigid valleys and freezing waters. After our hour long circuit, we ended up back at the farm and shared some drinks with the family before they drove us back to our hotel. I highly recommend this farm for horseback riding in Iceland. The people were so, so delightful and their service was unlike any other.
We concluded our day with a visit to the Fish Market, a very classy, chic restaurant in town. If you wanna catch some incredible flavor profiles and some top notch seafood, you should definitely eat here!
Day Three – A Bust
Day three was meant for a fourteen hour excursion deep into Iceland. It didn’t work out, but don’t worry, we rescheduled for the next day. We decided to sleep in a little late after waking up early to wait for a bus that would never come for us.
We headed into town, got the famous lamb hot dogs that are sold at this one particular stand. Stopped by the local flea market and then spent some more time on the strip.
After all of this, we made our way to the Perlan, a museum that covers the natural history of Iceland. As a designer, I always keep in mind the experience and design of a good exhibition, and I can tell you this museum had a ton. Their interactive design, while some still not fully fine-tuned, was incredible! If you love nature as much as I do, I highly recommend this for your itinerary.
After having a meal at the top of the Perlan, my parents and I split off. My parents went to the Big Lebowski bar, a bar they live and die by (apparently it has a wheel to spin to win free drinks), and I headed off to the Grotta Lighthouse at the edge of town.
My goal that evening was to catch a glimpse of the northern lights. Not that it was mentionable in day two, but my parents and I did attempt to see them the day before on a boat tour. No luck. This evening had clear skies and while I could’ve bussed or taxi’d either way, I decided to walk the whole way and back to enjoy the quietness of the trip along with the big dipper on my right shoulder. By the time I arrived at the lighthouse, it was dark and there was nothing but stars in the sky. No luck again, but still beautiful.
After this, I met up with my parents again to hop on the boat tour one more time to maybe see the lights from the bay. And after two hours…no luck. There was too much cloud coverage! What a flop!
Day Four – White-Outs, Glaciers, and Fissures, oh my!
For our fourth and final full day in Iceland, we finally made it to our tour to the ice caves. It was a cloudy and rainy day in the early hours of Reykjavik. As we drove inland toward the center of Iceland, we quickly learned that cloud and rain translated to full blown white-out in the alpine tundra.
The roads become more icy. The horizon disappeared. The bus began to sway as we put all of our hope in the burly Icelandic woman we just met. After two and a half hours, we arrived to the middle of nowhere with only a small compound in site and snow mobiles littered all about. It was time to see the ice caves.
After we geared up and headed over to the garage, we were given instructions on how to use the snow mobiles. Then, the guide gave us some pieces of advice: lean into the slopes, stay within the lines, and, of course, there are dangerous fissures beyond the path so…stay within the lines. I’m still not sure if he was serious or if it was that dry Icelandic humor my family had gotten an earful of on this trip.
Riding twenty minutes out into nothingness was quite an adrenaline rush. Driving the snow mobile was like wrestling a beast and even two riders flipped over ahead of us. The Icelandic people give us too much credit, I swear.
Eventually, some mountain ridges appear and we finally see the ice caves. After a short hike to the caves, we spent some time taking in the spectacle. You can see the millions of years captured in these crystal clear walls; the volcanic ash indexed in lines, the bluest ices untouched by light. It was quite a scene to behold.
After some pictures (our tour guide understood the assignment when he assembly-lined our instagram pictures) we headed back into the white-out and wrestled our way back to the compound. Needless to say, after all of this, we deserved a break.
Back to the spoiler-alert: we went back to the Sky Lagoon a second time and rested up before heading out to dinner. Our final food spot was Tommi’s Burger Joint, where they make burgers with no funny business. With the coziest atmosphere, I recommend this American-approved burger spot!
Day Five – Flying through the Northern Lights
The final day was nothing more than a travel day besides a quick visit to the opera house, Harpa. While we didn’t see any shows, we did check out the exhibit Circuleight that was showing on the bottom floor.
However, because we were flying out at night and my window was facing north, I finally got to see the northern lights dance in the sky – just under the big dipper. We spent so much time trying to see the lights from under the clouds, we just had to go all the way up to fly beside them.
It was a beautiful sendoff for this amazingly wild, beautiful, and treacherous trip to the land of ice and fire. If you have a long weekend, I recommend Iceland for some serious adventure and some serious quality time with Mother Nature!
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