Iceland is a country full of beautiful, endless miles of frame worthy photos. While these photos do absolutely no justice when compared to seeing these sights in real life, I still love looking at them and reminiscing about our special moments in Iceland.
Kerio Crater Lake
This was such a fun stop. It was actually our first stop during our week long journey throughout the south of Iceland and we loved it. They charge a small entrance fee (roughly $4 USD pp) which helps with general upkeep of the area and the only site that required a fee. It was well worth it (in my opinion) to walk around this sunken volcano lake. It was a great place to stretch and do a little hiking around the top edge of the crater and you can also take the trail down to the lake We spent about 45 minutes enjoying the fresh air, taking a ton of photos, and stretching our legs.
Seljalandfoss Waterfall
There are endless waterfalls in Iceland, but this one has a special place in my heart. It was our first waterfall and we loved walking around and behind it. If you don't mind getting a little wet, I think it was well worth the trek.
As a bonus, this stop had three outdoor restroom stalls equipped with running water, toilet paper and hand dryers. The stalls ran out of hand soap, but I never trail without hand sanitizer so no problems there. There was also a food truck that sold soups, sandwiches, cookies, and beverages which helped us recharge before our long drive to Jokularoon Lagoon.
Jokulsarlon - Glacier Lagoon Lake
Our one special excursion was a two hour hiking trail on top of the glacier. We learned how to put on crampons and enjoyed a leisurely hike along the 3rd largest iceberg in the world (largest in Iceland). It was a good work out and the best lesson was to layer and probably leave your coat in the car. I ended up carrying my coat and vest because I was overheating after the first 30 minutes. Lesson learned!
Boat ride at the Iceberg Lagoon
Dyrholaey
It was particularly overcast and windy, but still beautiful in its own right.
Reynisfjara Beach
This was our Game of Thrones moment #winteriscoming
Gullfoss
Spent about two hours here walking around the three different trail options and also, enjoying their famous lamb soup. This place had a great gift shop and eating options....which later paled in comparison when we went to Geysir.
Geysir
This was so much fun. Area smells like eggs, but you quickly get over that. We had so much fun trying to time our footage of the geysir erupting. There is also a great trail that you can hike up to get fantastic views of the geysir and views beyond. We hiked partially way up, but it was a particularly rainy day which made the trail extra muddy so we decided to spend the rest of our time there in their gift shop. Their gift shop is mall like. Amazing. We joked that next time we are in the area, we would make a special stop to just get at one of the three restaurants offered.
Pnigvellir National Park
Our last stop on ring road. It was beautiful, but probably the most underwhelming compared to all the other sites we went to. Still glad we we stopped by and completed our self guided tour of the golden circle.
Kerio Crater Lake
This was such a fun stop. It was actually our first stop during our week long journey throughout the south of Iceland and we loved it. They charge a small entrance fee (roughly $4 USD pp) which helps with general upkeep of the area and the only site that required a fee. It was well worth it (in my opinion) to walk around this sunken volcano lake. It was a great place to stretch and do a little hiking around the top edge of the crater and you can also take the trail down to the lake We spent about 45 minutes enjoying the fresh air, taking a ton of photos, and stretching our legs.
Seljalandfoss Waterfall
There are endless waterfalls in Iceland, but this one has a special place in my heart. It was our first waterfall and we loved walking around and behind it. If you don't mind getting a little wet, I think it was well worth the trek.
As a bonus, this stop had three outdoor restroom stalls equipped with running water, toilet paper and hand dryers. The stalls ran out of hand soap, but I never trail without hand sanitizer so no problems there. There was also a food truck that sold soups, sandwiches, cookies, and beverages which helped us recharge before our long drive to Jokularoon Lagoon.
Skagafoss Waterfall
Very close to Seljalandfoss, this waterfall lands onto ground level black sand. Therefore, you can get right into the falling water (not that I would recommend it) which presents a lot of great photo ops. The special thing about this spot is that you can also climb to the very top (stairs built to the right) and hike along the top half of the steam before it spills over.
Jokulsarlon - Glacier Lagoon Lake
Our one special excursion was a two hour hiking trail on top of the glacier. We learned how to put on crampons and enjoyed a leisurely hike along the 3rd largest iceberg in the world (largest in Iceland). It was a good work out and the best lesson was to layer and probably leave your coat in the car. I ended up carrying my coat and vest because I was overheating after the first 30 minutes. Lesson learned!
Boat ride at the Iceberg Lagoon
It was particularly overcast and windy, but still beautiful in its own right.
Reynisfjara Beach
This was our Game of Thrones moment #winteriscoming
Gullfoss
Spent about two hours here walking around the three different trail options and also, enjoying their famous lamb soup. This place had a great gift shop and eating options....which later paled in comparison when we went to Geysir.
Geysir
This was so much fun. Area smells like eggs, but you quickly get over that. We had so much fun trying to time our footage of the geysir erupting. There is also a great trail that you can hike up to get fantastic views of the geysir and views beyond. We hiked partially way up, but it was a particularly rainy day which made the trail extra muddy so we decided to spend the rest of our time there in their gift shop. Their gift shop is mall like. Amazing. We joked that next time we are in the area, we would make a special stop to just get at one of the three restaurants offered.
Pnigvellir National Park
Our last stop on ring road. It was beautiful, but probably the most underwhelming compared to all the other sites we went to. Still glad we we stopped by and completed our self guided tour of the golden circle.
