Snow, Mountain Passes and Fjords : Driving North in Iceland

June 12, 2015

After leaving the Kirkjufell and the Snæfellsnes peninsula, we headed back East to connect to Highway 1, which would ultimately take us up to Akureyri, our next stop on our Icelandic road trip. Our top thing on this second trip to Iceland was to see the North of the country which we didn’t get to see last trip, since it was the dead of Winter. So as we headed back to the main highway and then up North into Iceland’s countryside, we loved seeing a different side of the island.

The drive was long (we drove a total of 12 hours this day and about 1000 miles including our time on the Snæfellsnes peninsula) but getting to see so much of the country was so great. Iceland’s landscape literally changes every 10 miles or so, going from lava fields covered in moss one minute to prairie like plains the next, followed by snowy mountains looking very ominous with low lying clouds to bright blue sky and rolling hills. We loved seeing the changes and the way the country looks as you head North. I would highly recommend this drive to anyone wanting to see more of Iceland, though be sure to check the weather before making the trek up North as it can change quickly.

We stopped along the side of the road to snap photos of fjords spilling into the country with bright blue water, ominous snow clouds gathering over mountain passes and views for miles as we peaked over certain spots in the road. The drive is long but so incredibly beautiful!

Tips for Driving North in Iceland:

-Don’t forget to follow my tips on driving in Iceland, many of them were necessary on this drive!

-Bring food… there really isn’t much along many parts of this drive, so bring snacks!

-Check the weather ahead of time as you do go through a few mountain passes.

Headed to Iceland?

See all our Iceland content here.

Where to Stay in Iceland

Exploring Kirkjufell : Scenic Viewpoints, Mountains + Waterfalls

June 11, 2015

As we continued our road trip around Iceland’s Snæfellsnes peninsula, another major stop we had our itinerary was Kirkufell. This mountain is a famous spot that many people visit in this area of the island, but every photo I had seen of it showed it as a sort of rounded top mountain, a very large hill almost. So as we drove the 45 minutes or so from the orange lighthouse at Iceland’s western tip of the Snæfellsnes peninsula, we were surprised to find in essence a giant mountain.

You see, from the side (the side you arrive at from the West), the mountain is actually very long. It’s only when you arrive at the view point for this site, that you see the narrow, rounded top view. This drive is also very scenic to get to Kirkufell and it’s neighboring waterfall, Kirkjufellfoss. The mountains were tipped with snow, but their sides were dark brown like mountains made from the darkest chocolate. The land in front a deep olive-y green covered in rolling grasses and moss, beaches covered in black stones and water so blue it was almost blinding.

We stopped at the viewpoint for a quick stop and some photos, but I thought the view from a small pull out farther East on the 54 near the town of Grundarfjörður offered a more scenic view of the whole area, mountain and landscape all in one shot with the ocean in front. So don’t forget about other spots to see the whole mountain of Kirkjufell instead of just the one shot everyone gets!

Tips for the area around Kirkjufell:

-Everyone stops at the viewpoint and goes up towards the small waterfall (Kirkjufellfoss) to get the standard cliche image of this mountain, but the viewpoint offers great views other than just that one.

-Head into the little town just East of the mountain for more viewpoints with different perspectives of the mountain.

Headed to Iceland?

See all of our Iceland content here.

Exploring Svörtuloft : Iceland’s Orange Lighthouses

June 10, 2015

Before heading back to Iceland, I spent a few months collecting images of places I saw other people visiting to add to our list of spots to stop on our road trip. One thing I kept seeing were orange lighthouses. In fact, they are all over the island and every lighthouse we saw on this trip (which were a few) were a bright orange/yellow color. I’m not sure if that’s a country-wide thing, but I know that there are definitely a few that people visit all over the island in different spots. Since we were driving the Snæfellsnes peninsula, we adding Svörtuloft to our list of stops.

At the second most Western tip of Iceland, lies Svörtuloft, a bright orange light house at the end of a very windy one lane gravel/muddy road. About 20 minutes to a half hour drive from the tiny town of Hellissandur, you’ll find this lovely little spot complete with ocean views, cliffside with intense waves crashing high against them and a lovely little lighthouse with picnic benches and spots to sit and take it all in.

The view here is pretty picturesque: mountains behind, surrounded by lava fields covered in inches of spongy olive green moss and a bright orange lighthouse against the gray sky and deep blue ocean. Well worth the trek to get here, this Western tip of the Snæfellsnes peninsula truly brought into perspective where you are, in the incredibly beautiful and raw beauty of the country of Iceland.

Tips for Getting to Svörtuloft:

-We had a hard time finding this lighthouse without searching for it’s actual name on Google Maps. So be sure to enter the name and confirm it’s on the Snæfellsnes peninsula at the very end on the map to get your directions.

-Beware that the windy one lane road to get here takes a while and in small cars, it’s often hard to pull over to let another pass, so drive safely and slowly.

-Don’t miss the chance to stop on the way here as it’s gorgeous countryside on the way into the lighthouse.

Headed to Iceland?

See all our Iceland content here.

Where to Stay in Iceland

Travel Tips : Driving in Iceland

June 9, 2015

When we booked this Iceland trip, we knew we wanted to rent a car and drive around the island. Our first trip a few years ago we had a private tour guide for a day that drove us around and after seeing the country on that trip, we knew the next time we returned we wanted to be able to have more free reign on where and when we headed somewhere instead of relying on someone else. And also, after driving in a number of other countries throughout Europe in the past few years, we felt ready to take on the challenge of driving in Iceland.

When I searched for a post similar to this before we left, I had a hard time finding out small detailed information and tips for driving in Iceland, so after figuring these out on our own while driving around Iceland, here’s your one stop post for all you need to know about driving in Iceland!

1. Get an N-1 gas gift card before you leave Reykjavik.

We spent a great deal of time driving to places that aren’t heavily populated like the Snæfellsnes peninsula and the North of Iceland, and we found along the way that hardly any of the gas station markets or attendants were open along the way. Couple this with the fact that American credit cards don’t do pin numbers yet (which are mandatory on the Icelandic gas machines) and you could really have an issue out in the middle of no where if you can’t go inside a market to buy your gas. The best option: buy an N1 (a huge gas station chain, they are everywhere) before you leave a major town like Reykjavik. You’ll have no issues filling up with it.

2. Beware of gravel roads not shown on maps.

When we mapped out our routes for this trip (which I would highly recommend doing before you leave), we did a lot of research into which were the best roads to travel on since even in May, many roads were still closed due to heavy snow. But the one thing that we didn’t know, a lot of “highways” on the maps of Iceland can actually turn into gravel roads for a section or the remainder of the road. We had about a 10km stretch of true hard gravel in a mountain pass on the Snæfellsnes peninsula that was pretty hard to drive on in our little car and we had to go really slow. Beware that “highways” don’t mean the same thing in Iceland as they do in the States.

3. Be safe on one lane bridges and passing.

When out in the Icelandic countryside, many bridges become one lane and you need to wait for others to go from the other direction before passing. Make sure to be safe and always drive slower than normal when on one lane bridges and roads. When passing as well, be safe and follow the rules.

4. Know the speed limits throughout the country.

Iceland does a great job of posting speed limits on their roads, but it doesn’t hurt to know the general speeds throughout the country: 90km/hour on highways, 70 when coming into towns, 50km while in towns and between 60km/hour and 80 while driving around Reykjavik. Also side note: there are quite a few speed cameras around Iceland on highways, but you’ll see signs for them before you’re coming up to them, so just keep an eye out.

5. Check the roads online before you travel.

There is a great website that Iceland keeps updated frequently on road conditions throughout the country. Be sure to check this before you travel as a lot of roads were still closed throughout the country. Be sure to check this before you travel as a lot of roads were still closed or impassible in areas that we traveled to even in late May. We also didn’t check this the day we left, since we hadn’t had any storms in Akureyri where we were staying and didn’t even think about it but driving back to Reykjavik, we had some pretty nasty conditions with snow in the mountain passes we went through.

6. Load your GPS maps before you leave a city in case you don’t have signal later.

There are obviously a lot of places throughout Iceland where you don’t have a phone/date signal since the country is so vast and isolated in parts. So if you’re using your phones GPS for directions, be sure to load the directions and maps before you leave a city so it stores the information. I also printed off Google directions from each place we were headed before we left, so in case our phones died or we lost signal, we still had paper copies. We also had a real paper map as well, just to be safe.

7. Bring snacks.

Since a lot might not be open at all hours throughout the country or you might be driving for hours without going through a town, bring snacks to tide you over in between the long stretches between towns.

Traveling to Iceland?

See all of my posts on the country!

Coastline, Mountains and Horses : Driving Iceland’s Snæfellsnes Peninsula

June 8, 2015

As I’ve mentioned in many posts like this before, Iceland is a place so unique and different than any you’ve ever seen. It’s an island that spans numerous landscapes, from almost plains type spaces to mountains covered in snow, from breathtaking fjord views to lava fields covered in inches of spongy moss. On our first trip there a few years ago, I was blown away by the Southern Coast, but this time, seeing more of Iceland as we drove around the Western and Northern sides of the Island, I was even more blow away.

We began our drive heading out from Reykjavik early in the morning (around 5am) since we were up due to jet lag and it was bright outside (due to the Midnight Sun this time of year) and ventured out on to open roads with hardly anyone else on the roads. (Note: I have a whole post on driving in Iceland coming tomorrow, with a lot of tips for your own road trip journey around the country, so stay tuned for that).

We headed West towards the Snæfellsnes peninsula, a spot that I had seen a ton of photos from and had a few different landmarks we wanted to see, which I’ll be touching more on individual spots later this week that we stopped at. We drove through valleys, through a 6km tunnel under the ocean (seriously), over bridges and through tiny towns where nothing was open. We stopped at horse farms and played with the famous Icelandic horses, watched baby goats hopping along and playing with their mothers. We watched clouds gather and disperse over mountains and drove along coastlines so beautiful we had to stop and take photos about every 10 minutes. We drove over mountain passes that were called out as highways on the map, yet turned to tiny gravel roads with snow on either side.

The Snæfellsnes peninsula was absolutely breathtaking. The views, the scenery, truly one of the most gorgeous places I’ve ever seen and I’m so glad we chose to drive it as part of our Icelandic road trip. And while yes, sometimes the roads were a little treacherous, it was well worth the visit and I can’t recommend it highly enough! As I mentioned, I’ll be getting more into the details of actual stops we made at specific points and attractions on the peninsula this week, but for now, let your jaws drop to the floor with the photos that are to follow…

Traveling to Iceland?

See all of my posts on the country!

Where to Stay in Iceland

Flying Over Iceland : Nordurflug Helicopter Tour

June 3, 2015

About a month before we were schedule to head to Iceland, I had an idea. Nick has been wanting to do a helicopter tour forever and I’ve always been a little scared of the idea to be honest, but with his birthday coming up in June, I figured I’d bite the bullet and look into a helicopter tour while in Iceland. I asked the lovely Kaeleen of Unlocking Kiki (who I got to meet up with in Iceland by the way and had so much fun!) if she had heard anything about good companies to book with. She recommended Nordurflug Helicopter Tours, which was also the company that I read a ton of great reviews about online. I promptly emailed them and see about setting up a tour.

We only had one real day in Reykjavik so we couldn’t be super flexible but we booked our tour and in the weeks leading up to it, we were getting more and more excited. It ended up being such an incredible experience it’s hard to even put it into words; flying high above the gorgeous Icelandic landscape, stopping over at a geothermal area in the middle of nowhere and listening to our pilots talk about the mountains around us come alive, it was truly one of those experiences I’ll never forget. Our experience was so great, I know we’ll do it again next time we’re in Iceland. So if you’re headed to Iceland in the near future, this is one experience I can’t recommend highly enough!

What I Loved

The Pilots– Our pilots were hilarious from start to finish, but also extremely professional. Both had lots of experience and did so many checks and marking things off lists when taking off and landing that we felt really safe. They also had such a great commentary as we flew over things and explained local landmarks and stories to us as we went.

The Communication Before and After – From start to finish, working with Nordurflug Helicopter Tours was amazing. They were prompt on email and answered any questions I had along the way. The morning of our tour when we weren’t sure the weather was going to cooperate, they emailed me back and forth numerous times to keep us up to date and emailed after to make sure everything was great – seriously amazing customer service!

The roomy helicopter – Our helicopter sat 8 plus the pilots, and with only another couple on our tour we had so much room to spread out and see everything.

The Views/Route – We chose to do the Geothermal tour, which flies out of Reykjavik, stops at a geothermal area near by and then flies back. However due to the weather that day, we merged our tour with another couple doing a different one so we ended up getting to see so much more, including a fly over of Reykjavik on the way back.

The Stopovers – Stopping at a geothermal area mid way through our tour was so cool! We walked around hot springs that were literally boiling and took in the landscape… a tiny group of people out in the middle of nowhere was a pretty cool experience!

What I Didn’t Love

Nothing! – It was seriously such an amazing experience that there was nothing that wasn’t amazing!

Notes to Keep in Mind

Realize that your scheduled time might change due to weather, so be flexible – The staff will keep you informed, but realize that you might have to reschedule or potentially cancel due to Iceland’s fickle weather. They are great about letting you know though, but just don’t schedule anything right before or after as your time might change.

Arrive at the Reykjavik Domestic airport at least 20 minutes before your flight – Make sure to arrive early enough to sign in and get situated before your flight. It’s only 5 minutes drive from downtown Reykjavik, so it’s close, but just be sure to give yourself enough time.

Dress Warm and wear boots – It was fairly cold in the helicopter and then colder when you land wherever you’re headed, so dress warm. I would also recommend wearing boots. I was in my converse, which got pretty muddy in the geothermal area when we landed, so boots would be a good choice!

Land of Marvels was offered a discounted rate for the tour, though all opinions are my own for this review.

Traveling to Iceland?

See all of my posts on the country!

Iceland : Land of Enchantment

June 1, 2015

It’s been almost three years since we last visited Iceland on a whim over Thanksgiving break in November of 2012. And after that first visit, we knew we wanted to return sooner rather than later, falling deep in love with the country and the people and walking away from that first trip overwhelmed by the emotions the country brought out of us in the best possible way. And now, after just returning from our second trip to the enchanting land that is Iceland, I can honestly say this trip was even better than our last.

Iceland is one of those countries that just sticks with you, a place that makes you feel incredibly insignificant in the scope of the world and yet completely connected to the world all at once. It’s a place where you can stand on top of a waterfall in the middle of a countryside, without another human for miles and be completely connected to the land in an almost spiritual way, where you can pull off the side of one of the most picturesque roads you’ve ever seen and play with Icelandic horses. It’s a land of seemingly millions of waterfalls coming down the sides of cliffs from the snow melting, a land of snow and rain and sun all at once, a land of landscapes that seem to change before your very eyes. Iceland is unique in so many ways and has so many standout qualities that everyone needs to experience it, but for me, the most incredible thing about the country is how it makes me stop in the moment, taking in a beautiful scene in front of me and connect to the Earth in a way I’ve never felt anywhere else in the world.

On this second return trip to Iceland, we rented a car and drove 1500 km around the island. We drove through mountain pass gravel roads marked as highways, out 30 minutes on a muddy road to see an orange lighthouse at the second farthest Western tip of the island. We stopped on the side of the road and played with Icelandic horses, we drove along fjords and took in mountains covered in snow. We drove North and encountered snowy mountain passes and rainstorms that seemingly flooded the roads, we took in waterfalls at sunrise and drove farther North on the globe than we ever have been before. It was a trip through Iceland that we had been dreaming of since our first visit, and it did not disappoint.

I felt all those emotions I remember from our first trip and experienced even more this time around. It’s a funny thing how much I love the country, since I tend to be drawn more toward cities in my normal life, but there is something about Iceland and its incredible countrysides that draw me in. Never have I felt so attached to the Earth as I do in Iceland, or so in awe of the world’s beauty. It’s an overwhelming feeling of beauty, an overwhelming sense of awe in everything within this country. Iceland makes you stop and think and dream and wonder all at once, it makes you live in the moment and take in all that our planet has to offer. It is an enchanted place, and not just because you’ll hear stories of elves and trolls wherever you go, but because the country holds something not many other places in the world still have: a natural, raw and incredibly unique beauty, an inner peace, and landscapes that allow you to really connect with this planet we call home.

I know this won’t be our last time in Iceland. In fact, we already know which areas we want to visit next. It’s a country that will always be special to us, a place that will always stick with me, a place that will enchant you if you let it. I can’t wait to start sharing all our about trip and the amazing places we saw in the days and weeks to come… so stay tuned to be enchanted by Iceland!

Traveling to Iceland?

See all of my posts on the country!

Secrets of Booking Travel : Itinerary & Activities

May 29, 2015

I get a lot of questions about how we book travel, the tips and tricks we employ to get good deals and make all the necessary arrangements. All this week I’ll be revealing my process for booking travel from start to finish, focusing on a different part of the process each day. So stay tuned every day this week for my secrets to booking travel!

One of the best things about traveling is seeing things what you’ve always wanted to see or experience: seeing the Eiffel Tower, visiting the Taj Mahal at sunrise or wandering through Ta Prohm a la Tomb Raider. But all of these amazing sites in the world also require some planning ahead of time; making an itinerary and planning activities is a really important part of a great trip, so here’s how we do it!

1. As soon as you know dates, lay out a rough itinerary.

As soon as we have booked our major flights and know our dates of a trip, I type up an itinerary. Lay it out day by day, showing where you’ll be each day. This will help you figure out how long you want to be in each place during your trip and what days will be best to visit monuments or enjoy certain activities. Down the road, this will also help you narrow activities down that may not be open on certain days and you’ll have a rough calendar all laid out.

2. Keep items not yet booked highlighted in red.

Once the itinerary gets more filled out with activities or travel to the next destination, I keep anything not booked yet highlighted in red so when I open up the file, I know immediately what I still have to do before the trip.

3. Fill out your itinerary over time.

Since we book flights many months before a trip, that gives us plenty of time to fill out our itinerary. I spend months filling in items to do or see, places to visit or restaurants to try. It’s usually only a month or two before we leave that everything gets finalized. (I’ve included below a screenshot of part of our itinerary for our recent Spain trip so you can see how I lay it out). Obviously, filling out your itinerary takes time and I do mine over the course of several months, when I have time to do the research. I also include items like how much our taxi rides should cost so we’ll know and include items that we’ve researched and want to see on whatever days they work best. Of course, this is just a general overview and often we don’t do everything on there, it just helps us remember when traveling what it was that we wanted to try to do in a certain place.

4. Research activities and buy any necessary tickets.

Many activities while traveling require you buy tickets and often times, at the really crazy spots, it’s a lot easier and you’ll wait a shorter amount of time while there if you buy them ahead of time. It’s also important to know if certain activities are only open certain days. Unfortunately there have been a number of times that we’ve not checked ahead and found activities or places closed or not had the right tickets. Like the time on our honeymoon to Paris, we wanted to visit Versailles. We had planned to go on a Monday, but the morning of, after a quick random search, we realized it happened to be closed that day. Had we not checked, we would have ridden the 30 minute train ride out there and gotten there to find the Palace closed. Or the time in Northern Ireland that we didn’t check to see if there was a time that access to the Giants’ Causeway closed and we drove all the way up there to find we had arrived 15 minutes too late. We had to end up paying more to keep our rental car another day and go the next day, leaving us less time in Belfast than we had planned. Therefore, do your research ahead of time for each major activity you want to do.

5. Don’t overbook yourself.

I’ve learned over the years how important it is to not overbook yourself. It’s all too easy to let yourself be overwhelmed by all there is to see and do while traveling. A good lesson: keep at least every other day while traveling to just wander or relax. Know that you don’t need to see everything to really see a place, sometimes seeing the local spots and just wandering will teach you more than waiting in line to do a tourist attraction.

Secrets of Booking Travel : Getting Around

May 28, 2015

A big part of travel planning includes figuring out how you’re going to get from point A to point B while at your destination. Not only figuring out how to get between destinations, but also how to get around cities or towns that you’ll be staying in. It’s important to have an idea of the options before you go, so that it’s not so overwhelming when you arrive!

1. Research all the options for transportation.

Whether you’ll be traveling between France and Spain or within Paris itself, you’ll need to know all the options available. Research what’s available: trains, planes, metros, taxis. The more you know before you leave, the easier it will be once you arrive and the less stress it will be with everything else that comes along while traveling. Each place is different, so knowing what the options are in your location are really important.

2. Find out what the best deal is for you both financially and with your time.

Often times when there are multiple options for transportation in a place, you’ll find that one of them will work best for you whether that be financially or just because of your schedule. For example, while in Spain traveling between Barcelona and Madrid, we had the option to take the train or fly. We could fly for a lot cheaper and arrive at our destination a little earlier, however trains are often easier and require less effort, so it’s all about figuring out what’s more important to you at that point in your trip. Finding an option that works better with your schedule but costs a little more sometimes may be better too, rather than finding the cheapest option.

3. Buy tickets ahead if possible.

Many times when traveling, you’ll need to buy tickets ahead of time. Particularly if traveling by plane or even a lot of trains between busy cities, buying tickets in advance is a necessity. I like using websites like Orbitz for plane tickets and RailEurope for train tickets for Europe. Websites that show you all the options available are best so you can see what will work best for your schedule.

Secrets of Booking Travel : Accommodation

May 27, 2015

Booking accommodation is truly one of my favorite parts of planning a trip. I love finding cool, unique hotels or apartments in the places we visit and finding spots that will have character or amazing views that I know will make our trip even better, is such a fun part of the planning process!

1. Start by making a shortlist of options.

Once we know where we’re headed, I head to websites like Tablet Hotels and Splendia to search for cool boutique hotels in each spot. I like these websites because they narrow the search and don’t even include big chains, only the smaller boutiques with great design, which is what I personally look for in hotels when I travel. If I don’t find anything I like on those sites or if I’m looking for something different, like an apartment, I head to AirBnB. After all my research, I make a shortlist of all the best options and each of their prices.

2. Research each property and look at reviews for each.

Before booking, I always research each property that’s on my shortlist and look at reviews on sites like TripAdvisor and Hotels.com for each one. In the past, I’ve been dead set on one particular hotel until I look at the reviews and it’s totally changed my mind. Reviews are a really powerful thing because they can make or break your stay, but so important to get an honest look at what the property is really like or how it is run.

3. Book using a site that offers a loyalty program.

When I get to booking the property I’ve chosen, make sure to book it using some sort of loyalty program so you get an extra reward out of your booking. I prefer hotels.com to make most of my hotel bookings because their program is great (when you stay 10 nights, you get one free, which adds up really quickly.) Whatever site you prefer, pick one that will reward you for booking with them.

4. Email the general manager or concierge before your stay.

One of best ways to make your stay even better at your destination is making sure you get a great room. Whenever I book accommodation, particularly at a hotel, I always immediately email the general manager or concierge with my reservation number, mention that I’m a travel blogger and will be reviewing the hotel and ask for any help in regards to a great room. More often than not, they will help you out, so it doesn’t ever hurt to ask. That way you can make sure you have an extra special stay. (This also works even if you’re not a travel blogger, mention you’re celebrating something and that will help move you up the list!)

5. Confirm your booking/upgrade a week prior to travel.

If you book through a website like hotels.com, there is no need to confirm your arrangements, but I always go through and print off all confirmations a week or so before I travel and take all that information with me, just in case you get there and they can’t find your reservation. I also will check back in with the general manager or concierge that I emailed at booking and confirm arrangements with them as well a week or so prior. This is also a good time to confirm airport pickups if you need them.

Tips for Driving North in Iceland:

Headed to Iceland?

Tips for the area around Kirkjufell:

Headed to Iceland?

Tips for Getting to Svörtuloft:

Headed to Iceland?

1. Get an N-1 gas gift card before you leave Reykjavik.

2. Beware of gravel roads not shown on maps.

3. Be safe on one lane bridges and passing.

4. Know the speed limits throughout the country.

5. Check the roads online before you travel.

6. Load your GPS maps before you leave a city in case you don’t have signal later.

7. Bring snacks.

What I Loved

What I Didn’t Love

Notes to Keep in Mind

1. As soon as you know dates, lay out a rough itinerary.

2. Keep items not yet booked highlighted in red.

3. Fill out your itinerary over time.

4. Research activities and buy any necessary tickets.

5. Don’t overbook yourself.

1. Research all the options for transportation.

2. Find out what the best deal is for you both financially and with your time.

3. Buy tickets ahead if possible.

1. Start by making a shortlist of options.

2. Research each property and look at reviews for each.

3. Book using a site that offers a loyalty program.

4. Email the general manager or concierge before your stay.

5. Confirm your booking/upgrade a week prior to travel.

Disclaimer