Travel Bugs

Iceland has been on my radar for a long time. I never wanted to go to cold destinations but a few youtubers that I follow have made it seem very attractive over the years. I finally put it on my to-go list and informed Callum, the primary travel planner, that it was a non-negotiable place to visit in 2025.

It did not disappoint. Though our arrival was a bit rough (arrived at 5am, tired, hungry, needing to pick up a camper van, go grocery shopping AND get to a tour on time), the rest of our time was glorious. I will attempt not to bombard this blog with too many photos, but dear reader be aware it is the country where I have taken the most photos ever, also it holds the statistic of being the place I have taken the most photos per day. I had to do two full days of research of my own photographs to ensure my accuracy in stating these facts.

So, to talk about our time: our first three days were absolutely jam-packed. When planning our time in Iceland there was much debate about whether to do the ring-road clockwise or anticlockwise. The thing is that a lot of people only do the ‘golden circle’ which is in the lower half of the country. We knew we wanted to do the whole thing so allocated about a dozen days to do so. We did find out precisely why the top half is less appealing, but it might have been the wintery blizzard we got caught in for a few days.

We eventually decided on an anticlockwise route, diving right into all of the most popular sites Iceland is known and loved for. I’m glad we did it this way. When you arrive somewhere new for the first time, you’re excited and keen. If it’s a bit boring at first, it sort of takes the wonder and awe out of travelling and leaves you wondering why you went at all. The first stop we made was to Thingvellir National Park where we were booked in to do something very cool: snorkel between the tectonic plates at Silfra Fissure. This is something I had seen on TV and online and knew that I wanted to do. I have a love of swimming and snorkelling, so it was a given. Plus, swimming between two continents where you can see the two rock shelves is not something one does every day. It was wildly expensive for our poor Aussie dollar, but there are no regrets.

Putting on all the gear was challenging and very uncomfortable. I felt like I was sucked in like a vacuum sealed hamburger patty. I could barely breathe. I started to panic a bit—have we done the wrong thing? Is this going to be the worst thing ever? Will I hate every moment and regret spending the money on this experience? Thankfully, the answer is ‘no’ to all of the above questions. Once we got in the water and preformed the two safety manoeuvres our guide needed to see us do (roll onto our back and frog kick) I was enjoying myself. We were advised to keep our hands out of the water and have them resting on our back as we frog kicked our way through the water. I was doing okay and adjusted to the blinding cold on my face quite quickly. It was, as is always the case on group tours, the other people who weren’t great at swimming that were my problem. I was constantly getting frog-kicked in the head by someone in front of me. When I tried to get ahead, I was suddenly on my own and unsure of where to go. I wanted to dive down a bit and see more but the dry suits we had on were so buoyant that it was not possible.

I also quite often ‘lost’ Callum in the water. It was hard to tell who was who with all the headgear and masks. I realised quickly that this experience was quite solo, and I needed to enjoy myself because I knew it would go fast. The clarity of the water was so good, I felt more like an astronaut in space than a swimmer in water. It didn’t seem we were in water, just pure cold. Some of the water got into my snorkel and I swallowed it…it was the cleanest, crispest water I’ve ever had.

After we were done, a quick 45 minutes later and hiking back to the parking lot holding our masks and flippers, I was ecstatic and wishing we could go again. The water had stayed nicely out of my suit, and I felt warm. Now that I knew what to expect, I was eager to repeat the experience. What a wonder!

We found out where we could camp for the night and we parked, found the bathrooms and showers, and boiled our water in our camper van to make our freeze-dried meals that we had elected to eat after such a big day.

Our second day we drove towards Vik, stopping at several points of interest along the way. First was a wonderful dip in the hot springs at Secret Lagoon. We adjusted to being naked in front of other people in the changerooms, adjusted to the large group of UK students on tour, adjusted to the cold air as we walked into the warm water. It was lovely after all these adjustments and a soothing way to start a busy day. Next, we went to Strokkur Geyser and walked all around it and hiked up to the viewpoint. It was a nice activity but we have been to the geysers in Yellowstone (USA) which were more impressive, as well as the ones in New Zealand so it wasn’t too remarkable for us.

We drove a short distance to see Gullfoss waterfall which is massive and one that many people were at. It’s a good first waterfall to see, since it is so big and quite impressive. I went to the visitor’s centre giftshop while Callum kept looking at the falls and bought him a birthday present: a sticker for his water bottle. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is one of only four small things I bought in all of Iceland. It was very pricey there!

Our next stop was my favourite waterfall: Seljalandsfoss, where the spray saturates you in seconds and you can walk up and behind it for the full experience. We continued on our way to stop briefly at another impressive waterfall: Skogafoss. All in all a very impressive day for waterfalls. We drove on to Vik to our camping spot for the night and were stunned by the beautiful city and its eye-catching church amongst the purple lupins. It really looked like a postcard.

Something that I had forgotten we would encounter would be the 24 hours of daylight. I have never experienced this before, and it took some getting used to. I used an eye mask to help me sleep through the night, and sometimes even a wool hat over my eyes to really block out any light. It made sight-seeing and figuring out campsites after a day of driving quite convenient though, not having to muck around in the dark. It also meant my body clock was super confused all the time and wide awake when I’d normally be yawning. We were in the habit of staying up quite late and sleeping in a bit. This arrangement worked well because most people seemed to want to get up and go, meaning the showers and toilets were more accessible by the time I was rolling out of bed.

Our third day we booked a 9am tour to ride horses on the beach in Vik. This was an unforgettable hour of my life, and I loved every moment. I had a slower horse but was okay with that since it’s been about twenty years since I last sat atop such a beast. We slowly made our way through the lupins and onto the beach where we saw puffins from a distance, fishing in the ocean. We walked on the beach and had some photos taken and then learned how to ‘tölt’ in the special Icelandic way. This gait has at least one foot on the ground at all times, making it more comfortable for the rider.

We returned to the beach after saying goodbye to the horses to try and see the puffins that were fishing just offshore, and were rewarded with a few young ones peaking over their grassy ledge as they awaited their parents return.

Later in the early evening we drove down to the Reynisfjara beach and saw the famous basalt rock columns along with every other tourist in the vicinity. It was nearly impossible to get a clean shot of anything, but we still enjoyed the bizarre rocks and did some people watching.

Throughout the rest of our time in the southern part of Iceland, we saw a couple of canyons, nine more wateralls, several glaciers, an iceberg lagoon where we saw a seal swimming all alone, a plethora of different bird species that I didn’t expect, as well as reindeers, so many horses and a trillion photogenic sheep. One of my favourite places was the Studlagil Canyon which I had seen pictures of. When we got there, we had to battle some weather and ended up waiting in our van for a storm to pass. We had about one clear hour which was enough time to walk to the canyon’s edge and carefully make our way down the slippery and muddy rocks to get the iconic shot.

When we were in Myvatn there was a weather warning. We were enjoying the hot springs there (not as nice as Secret Lagoon, but they had steam rooms), when the chilly wind really started to pick up and it began to snow! In June! We debated what to do, ultimately deciding to leave the area and get to Akureyri, the next biggest town where we could find groceries. The next few days were quite miserable because of how cold and windy it was, and the fear of having to drive in the snow, something my Australian husband is really not used to.

We saw some cold horses, snowy mountains, and one of the most photographed mountain/waterfall combo in Iceland. Thankfully by the time we made it to Snaefellsnes, the weather was very much improved and we got to see the westernmost points of Iceland (and Europe), enjoying the unique lighthouses and volcanic landscapes. For our second last night we had our final booking for a hot springs experience, saving the absolute best for last: Hvammsvik Hot Springs. This place was unreal! It had multiple pools, a cozy steam room, and was right on a lake so boasted gorgeous views while we soaked in different pools. We wished we were rich enough to stay at the resort but didn’t have a spare $1500 AUD. Yikes!

We ended up driving to the same campsite we were at our very first night, having neatly completed the ring road. The next day we drove to Reykjavik and had our last day in the city, walking around looking at shops and paying for one last experience: Fly Over Iceland. We’ve done Fly Over Canada twice before so knew what to expect but for those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s a 4D experience where you strap into a chair similar to movie theatre seats. There is a big screen in front of you like an IMAX film, and the scenery shows all the most iconic places in Iceland. The seats move and you feel like you’re flying over all these places. Mist and scent are pumped through the air, letting you feel the ocean mist and smell the crisp air as you fly over Iceland. It’s a wonderful experience that only lasts about nine minutes but is thrilling and was a great way to end our time in Iceland.

Iceland is a very photogenic place. As previously stated, the top half is a bit boring and could be avoided if you are short on time. I think if we had one or two more days added to our itinerary, and we didn’t have to contend with wintery weather for four days, we would have enjoyed it more. I think to fully enjoy the bottom half of Iceland you’d want about seven days. We also liked going at the very tail end of May. Our first half of our trip we noticed a lot of tourists, but we noticed double the number our last couple of days, in the first week of June.

We experienced all weathers and were grateful for the warm sunshine we had our first few days. We had a campervan with Go Campers and had the bigger size (meant for three people) which was big enough for our two big suitcases, two big backpacks, and ourselves at night. We never put the bed away the whole time we were in Iceland, and this was fine, since we could still cook by sitting on the edge of the bed. I liked the sink that we had, meaning I could do dishes after eating our meals without having to wait in line in camp kitchens, or, stand in the open-air kitchens to wash our dishes. The grey water just left the van as we used it, so there was no tank to have to contend with, just the one that needed refilling which Callum did about five or six times throughout our trip. The nicest camp kitchen area was definitely Fossardalur Campsite in the eastern part of Iceland. We could make more complicated meals there, and there was hot water to properly wash up.

We rated the waterfalls we saw while in Iceland, which can be found in the table below.