WARNING: Long post!
At the beginning of the year I wrote about my impending trip to Iceland. I have now been back for over 2 months and am yet to write about it. Slap on wrist for me. It is definitely the most incredible place I have visited so far so I want to share some of the things we did and what I would recommend if you are visiting the beautiful country.
In the last two years I have been lucky enough to visit a fair few cities around Europe with my travelling chum, Ness and we were trying to think of somewhere different to tick off our list. Iceland initially came up as we both wanted to see the Northern Lights and heard that mid February would be an ideal opportunity to see them. We booked the flights, Northern Lights excursion, a diving trip (i'll explain later!) and we were on our way.
When we arrived at Keflavik airport the weather was dull, grey and colder than we had anticipated. Luckily for us the weather picked up and we had glorious sunshine for the rest of the trip, making for perfect scenic shots and ideal Northern Lights conditions. We had picked our hotel on a whim, not really sure what to go for but
Fosshotel Baron exceeded our expectations. It was incredibly warm and the smell of waffles hit us as we walked in - what more could you want?
A view from Reykjavik highstreet looking into the harbour
On our first night we indulged in a Northern Lights excursion. A coach picked us up from our hotel and we drove to a remote golf course just outside of Reykjavik. I was so prepared with my DSLR ready on my tripod but we fully expected not to see anything - We had been told countless times not to get our hopes up as there is only a 1 in 10 chance of witnessing the lights. It was freezing cold and everyone's mood had dampened slightly having not seen anything but an hour in someone could see soft greens and pinks on the horizon. It was incredible to see and actually hard to take in. Our numb hands and the long wait were definitely worth it as the Aurora Borealis moved beautifully across the sky.
I did take a couple of shots that we were so happy and excited with (at the time) but now they look a little, for want of a better word, rubbish. The tripod I took wasn't sturdy enough for the strong gale but we still managed to capture some of the light nonetheless!
The (slightly blurred) Northern Lights
The following morning was the start of an adventure packed day. A company called
Dive.is picked us up from our hotel at 9am to take us snorkeling in the Silfra Fissure and to explore the Golden Circle. I'm going to be honest I wasn't completely sold on this idea to start with, in fact I was scared. Having never snorkeled anywhere before combined with the thought of snorkeling in 2 degree water I thought we were crazy. Oh how wrong I was.
Firstly the drive to the Fissure was incredible. The scenery was breathtaking and luckily for us the sun was shining all day making the dive even more spectacular.
The view on the journey to the National Park
We arrived at Thingvellir National Park and were given our snorkeling equipment which included a very warm all in one body suit underneath a very watertight (and a little claustrophobic) dry suit. The location of the snorkeling, the Silfra Fissure is actually a gap between the North American and Eurasian continents so you are swimming between two Continental plates. Pretty cool.
After thorough instructions we put on our flippers, donned our snorkels and climbed down into the absolutely freezing water. The dry suit did keep most of the warmth in and we were told not to move our hands too much to conserve warmth and to use our feet to kick us along instead. Of course, I used my hands and they were numb within minutes! The water was crystal clear and we could see the divers below us exploring the Silfra Cathedral and Silfra Lagoon.
We took a waterproof camera with us to capture the views for ourselves and our fetching ensembles.
Me looking a little nervous before the snorkeling experience
We were given the best mug of hot chocolate I've ever experienced and proceeded on with our tour of the Golden Circle. Our lovely tour guide took us to see Gullfoss, a powerful waterfall which is part of the Golden Circle. The noise it created and general size of it was staggering and we were so lucky with the weather conditions, walking down to take photos a rainbow had formed over the mist.
Me and Ness at Gullfoss in the sunshine
Finally we visited the Geysir which contains two active geysirs. One of the geysirs erupts every 4-6 minutes which I didn't know, so to see boiling water shooting hundreds of feet into the air was pretty spectacular. The sulfuric smell took a little getting used to though!
Panoramic of the Geysirs
I can't even begin to explain how brilliant the experience was from start to finish. The tour guides were lovely and so professional - I'm surprised they didn't get annoyed at us constantly asking so many questions! I'm not one to push my limits but I would definitely recommend this whole trip. It's a little pricey but with so much included it's worth every penny.
Our final day consisted of a relaxing visit to the Blue Lagoon - a geothermal spa. Again we were picked up from our hotel which was so convenient and included the entry to the spa. We spent a little more than the standard day spa price and treated ourselves to some toweling robes - Highly recommended as getting out of the lovely warm water into the Icelandic air isn't a pleasant experience!
One thing I learnt is DON'T put your hair in the water. I had to wash my hair three times before a brush could actually glide through my hair again. Tie your hair up and you can avoid my silly mistake.
Again, the Blue Lagoon is something I would recommend doing, if only to say you've been there. The warm milky water, combined with the delicious sparkling wine which we may have indulged in, made it such a lovely relaxing day. This was definitely a luxurious treat for the end of a jam-packed weekend.
I would love to go back one day at a different time of the year and explore some more. One thing we didn't do was see any of the wildlife so I'd like to go whale watching and puffin watching next time.
Time to start saving.
