Iceland.
Oh dear Iceland.
Never have we ever had such a wonderful experience. This place is bringing everything to the table.
On this beautiful island you’ll find mountains, glacisers, volcanoes, black beaches, the biggest amount of sheeps and horses. If you wanna experience all this in one country, this is 100% the place to go !
Just have in mind while reading, that all this is written out from our experience in september. If you wanna go during the summer, all the attractions will be a lot more busy and there will be a lot more people.
Our advice to you is to go to Iceland outside the summer season. If you choose to go during the summer, make sure to pre-book as much as possible. We are not lying when we say that a lot of people looooove this place!
In this article we want to tell you about all the great things we saw and did. We will also make some other articles about our Top 5 waterfalls in Iceland and Top 5 bucket list in Iceland, go check them out, there will be some cool pictures as well.
So what do we need to see and do in Iceland?
Our journey in Iceland started out great! For this trip, we had rented a campervan, a rebuild fiat Ducato from 2019, from Indie campers. This would be our home for the next 8 days, where we should drive the ring road, with some small detours of course.
So fasten your seat belts, because now we are going for a ride along the Ring route!
If this article is making you more curious about Iceland or you just wanna know more about the capital of Iceland, go check out our article about Reykjavik – what to see and do? This place is also super great if you are more a city / going out kind of person.
Geysers
On our first “real” day, we got up early Around 6:30 in the morning, got some breakfast and drove off to see the Geysers. We arrived and there was barely any cars on the parking lot. At this point the clock had just hit 9 pm. So that was really great! And its also free!
After we parked our car, we entered this geothermal area. There was stream everywhere from the small hot springs with warning signs saying that the water was between 80 and 100 degrees celsius. Which also means that there was no hot springs were you were allowed to jump in and have a bath.
But this experience was so beautiful and unusual. This was something we never had seen before and somehow is was so fascinating!
The water just started moving slowly and kept going and all of sudden it would erupt. Which means that is was so hard to get a good picture of it, because it happens so fast! It will take you by surprise. It took Stefan 3 attempts to get a good video of it.
In this area you will find 3 geysers where two of them is active and a hiking route. Next to this, there is a restaurant, a giftshop and a hotel.
We can highly recommend visiting this place.
Gullfoss (and other waterfalls)
We said goodbye to the Geysers and drove towards Gullfoss. One of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland which is also a part of the famous Golden circle.
We were stunned by this and totally understand why people visit this place.
It is so majestic and huge!
The day we went to Gullfoss, the sun was shining and the sky was blue, which made it look even better!
Also here, parking your car and entrance to the waterfall is free. We would recommend to wear a waterproof jacket here or maybe pants if you visit on a windy day. The water is so powerful and creates a lots of drizzle.
Go explore the waterfall and its surroundings, but have in mind, there is a lot of people on this location. So please show some respect for other visitors and make room for everyone.
We visited a lot of waterfalls, and for this we made a top 5 waterfalls in Iceland just MUST visit. Gullfoss is of course on that list.
Hot springs
When you visit Iceland, hot springs is something you have to try ! If you do your research, it is possible to find some beautiful locations with natural hot springs in the middel of nowhere. If you are just a few days in Reykjavik or dont have the possibility of renting a car, you can also find places that is more landscaped pool areas, like the Blue Lagoon or Mývatn nature baths. Is is more luxurious and of course, expensive.
We also made a short list over Hotsprings we visited. You can read the list right here, if you wanna make it easy for yourself 😉
Northern Light
If you are visiting the Iceland in the summertime it might not be possible for you to see the northern light, also called Aurora Borealis. But if you are traveling in september to april, your chances should be really good.
This is one of the most incredible experiences we have had.
Imagine how small you feel, under these big curtains of lights, dancing above you in so many colors. Is is just one of natures many wonders.
The only thing is, you have to be patient with it. There is so many factors you have to be aware of, like how is the whether? Is it cloudy ? Is is clear? What about the solar winds?
The northern lights is created when charged particles (electrons and protons) collide with gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere. This hits the earths magnetic field and goes straight to the north and south poles that creates the light.
Reynisfjara
On our second day, we reached Vik i Mýrdal. There we found the famous Black Beach.
This was so unexpected. When people say its a black beach, we were first like “yeah sure, lets check it out”.
But when we got there. They where not lying ! The sand on this beach was really black! We have never seen anything like it.
It was beautiful, even though it was windy, rainy and cold. Besides the beach itself, there was a lot of cliffs and caves as well, who was so much fun to explore.
Its Worth a visit ! But if you do (!!) Please be careful. When its windy the waves is really unreliable. Because of the weather conditions, the possibilities of experience “killer waves” is big. The waves can be really big and powerful (every surfers dream, we know) so it can easily trap people and drag them to the sea. So never turn your back to the water and be aware of your surroundings and other people.
Svinafellsjokull and Glacier lagoon
We continued your trip and reached Svinafellsjokull glacier.
From the parking lot to the glacier you had about 15 minuts of walking. But the view that met us, was truly amazing. the landscape was so cool, with a lot of small hills and loose ice you could walk on. There was not a lot of people when we were there, so if you were really quiet, you could hear how the ice cracked.
Even better was the view that met us when we reached the Glacier lagoon. A huge lake with big pieces of ice from the glacier, just swimming around. It was so cool to walk around and enjoy the view from the shore.
These big pieces of ice had a lot of different shapes and nuances of blue.
Diamond Beach
Not far from the glacier lagoon, we found Diamond Beach with sand just as black as from Reynisfjara, but this time with a lot of clear pieces of ice on it.
We really get how this beach got its name. This ice have been flooding around in the sea and suddenly washed up on the beach like big clear diamond pieces. This setting was wild. The sky was the sea was grey, the beach black and all these pieces of clear and white ice, made this scene look like a living black and white picture.
Only the other visitors in colorful jackets gave it away. The only thing you should be aware of there, is that if you arrive in your own car, you have to pay a small parking fee.
Mývatn
This must be one of our favorite places in Iceland.
After a long drive through four different landscapes and a lot of wondering if this is really planet earth, we reached Mývatn. A geothermal area in the north eastern part of Iceland. When we arrived there was a lot of steam in the air and it smelled a lot like rotten eggs. it was so strange to walk around and see and hear the inde side of the earth almost “boiling”. The area has this light color, but near the steam holes, the sand changed colors.
We fond sand in red, yellow, blue and purple nuances. Its was like visiting another planet for sure. We hiked the mountain in front of the area and were met by the must stunning view when we reached the top. it was hard and a long way, but with the right shoes you should be fine. Go for it. This is an opportunity you can´t miss!
Volcanoes
When we arrived in Iceland, the lastest eruption of a volcano had just stopped. So we decided to visit a volcano crater, also located in Mývatn. You can find a lot of craters to visit and inactive volcanoes in Iceland, and it sure is a great experience. Bring your best hiking shoes along a gå straight for the top. The views from the top and the thought of you standing on top of a volcano is truly an experience. Go explore!
What we noticed from the top, was the amazing colors the nature has this time of year. But there was a specific are, we had to visit so see these colors close. We walked down from the crater and got in the van.
Dimmuborgir
We parked the car and visit this park called Dimmuborgir. This felt like we were walking into an autumn wonderland. All trees and bushes were peaking in yellow and red nuances. This was one of the highlights of our trip. We had an amazing hike. I dont have much to say about this place, i am speechless and stunned from all this beauty. Take a look at the pictures and tell me you dont find nature f**king impressive !
Akureyri & Reykjavik
Two of the biggest citys in Iceland and two citys you need to explore on your own.
Akureyri is smaller than Reykjavik, but still a very cosy place. It got some interesting churches, beautiful parks and nice people. From here you can go whale watching or going on a zipline trip or go river rafting.
Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. If you only have a few days in Iceland, this is the place to be. We made another article only about Reykjavik, because there is so many things to do and see. You can find that right here.
So now what?
After having the time of our life in Iceland we are back home in Denmark.
But this trip was a bit of a gamechanger for us. We knew that life on the road is fun, exciting and sometimes challenging. But travelling in a campervan made a lot of things so much easier for us.
When we got home, Stefan told me that he missed his life as a snail. I looked a little confused when we said that. But of course! Having your house on your back ! Because that was what it felt like. But in a good way.
We need to go back to explore this insane place again. next time, we are gonna visit the Westfjords and maybe get a 4×4 vehicle to go explore the F-roads on the island.
Stay tuned my friends. We are not done with Iceland !
