For our last day in Iceland we got up early (as we did every day) and strolled through the streets of Reykjavik. Of course the iconic Hallgrimskirkja was a must see, the charming pedestrian roads in the city centre as well as the “Sun Voyager” by Jón Gunnar Arnason. Reykjavik is tiny, so we pretty much covered it all in an hour…
Before going past the 66north outlet, on the way to the airport, we made a stop by the hotel spa – which was amazing – and then off to shop for a few souvenirs.
It was not necessary to have a small jeep on this trip, however, it would for sure be needed during the winter season. And we had such a good time all those hours spend it in. We rented through Europcar purely due to convenience and it was both super easy and the car was just as expected.
In the National Park (UNESCO protected) Tingvellir a crack in between the North American and the European continents is visible. I never saw or heard about this natural phenomenon anywhere else and here in the park it is even available for a snorkel (or diving) trip.
Silfra is actually a fissure created by the separation of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates cutting through Iceland. The Silfra fissure fills with glacial water that has been filtered underground for decades through hardened, porous lava rock. The filtering process of the glacial water makes Silfra one of the clearest bodies of water on earth with up to 120 meters of visibility. How crazy is that?
We were a little in doubt as to whether this trip was something for us to try, but it was such a mind-blowing experience and we would recommend it to everyone thinking about it. Yes, it is cold, 2 degrees all year around, yes it is a somewhat transgressive decision to make, but I promise it is so worth it; 35-40 minutes of what feels like entering another dimension. Nature is just amazing.
The underwater images was taken by our guide and is available after a tour for 20 euros. We booked our tour with Dive.is and we highly recommend them as we had such a good trip and was well taken care of all the way through.
Some of the Silfra fissure
On the way to Silfra we did a small stop at the Oxaràrfoss and also saw the place where the first Scandinavian democratic meeting took place (it is marked).
Oxaràrfoss
There are probably a lot of other places to be seen in this UNESCO protected area, but on this day it was just so cold and windy, so after the snorkel trip we got in our car and drove to Laugarvatn Fontana geothermal baths. The drysuits did prevent the cold water from “cooling us down”, however we did get a little cold from the water and the high chill factor of the ice cold winds after walking back from the water to the changing rooms, so the 38-40 degree geo-pools was just perfect 🙏🏼.
Post geothermal baths and sauna, we drove back to Reykjavik and had dinner (very convenient) at the hotel, trying to digest another amazing day.
As we had planned and booked this trip to the Katla Icecave a long time ago, we had no idea about the weather, so we felt beyond blessed to have a completely sunny day to enjoy this experience. The Icecave is the only Icecave that can be visited during the summer period but sadly (due to global warming) it might not be so in just a few years from now.
Katla is the third largest volcano in Iceland and on top of it is a Glacier. It hasn’t erupted since 1918 and as it statistically erupts every 50-60 years the locals are waiting for it to “wake up” soon. Katla is a Icelandic female name, but it is also the name of the dragon in Astrid Lindgrens “The Brothers Lionheart”. We had booked a tour with Katla Track with Pick up in the town of Vik.
On the way we did a stop at the amazing waterfall Seljalandsfoss. It is an impressive waterfall where you can walk all the way behind it, which is a very special experience. Bring waterproof clothes as you get wet coming up behind the fall and definitely going down as well.
Very convenient (after a 2 hour drive) the location offers restrooms, a small coffee shop/ bakery and even a tiny souvenir shop.
SeljalandsfossSeljalandsfoss
Then we went straight for the Katla Track meeting point in Vik. Here we had a little lunch and got ready for our pick-up. We had a small group of 10 people and went off road to enter the Icecave.
On the way to Katla we drove through the Starwars landscape (where some of Starwars had been filmed), and it was so special. Kind of felt like being on the moon (not that any of us ever tried that ;-)).
We parked close by the glacier and got helmets and spikes for our boots. Then we started the climb up to the cave on a tiny track walking on black ice (old volcano dust had turned the ice black). You don’t have to be super fit to do this trip, but I would say you need to be somewhat agile. We crossed narrow wooden “bridges” and jumped small glacier water flows. All worth it, I mean wauw, such a unique and beautiful tour. The glacier is melting and so the iconic round cave will probably be gone within the month (it has been there for more than 3 1/2 years. But as our guide told us, the landscape in Iceland is ever changing and the locals are very use to this.
Recommendation to go for such a trip is 10/10.
Inside the Katla Icecave
On the way back we stopped by the famous Reynisfjara Beach to see an impressive wall of lava columns. Lots of scenes of from Game of Thrones (season 7) was shot here and it really was film worthy in many ways.
Reynisfjara
Then we took a 2 1/2 drive back to Reykjavik to have dinner at The Marshall House. Such a hidden location at the end of a pier with an art gallery on top and view of Reykjavik Harbour and the mountains. The restaurant, La Primavera, has a sister restaurant very close by (be careful not to confuse them). The restaurant was fully booked and we seemed to be the only tourists. It was casual with a tasty Italian menu and a very nice bar.
On the first day we arrived, we went straight to pick up our rental mini-jeep and drove towards the Golden Circle.
We did a quick stop at the street food market in Selfoss and from there the Kerid Crater was just 15 minutes away.
Kerid Crater
Next stop was the mighty Gullfoss, probably the most iconic waterfall on Iceland. The water in Hvítá is from the glacier Langjökull and drops 32 meters down in two dramatic waterfalls.
There is a huge parking lot just next to the water fall and very “family friendly” walking paths all the way alongside as well.
Our third stop on this tour was the Geysirs. It is located in valley Haukadalur and is just south of the Gullfoss fall. The entire area is very active and it is free of charge to enter.
A geysir in action
After visiting the Geysir area we drove towards Reykjavik to end the day in the Sky Lagoon. Originally, we had booked for Sunday (but this was Friday), but when we checked the weather forecast the day before, Friday just looked very nice for the weather and Sunday looked rainy and windy. we re-booked and that turned out to be a very good idea. As we entered the geo-pool at the Sky Lagoon the sun came out and we had such a good visit to this beautiful hot spring.
Sky Lagoon
After the Sky Lagoon we checked in at The Edition hotel and had lobster dogs, truffle fries and a glass of wine before heading to bed early after an amazing first day.
As the sun doesn’t set before 11.20PM, we arrived and went to bed by full sunlight…
Arriving at the hotel in the evening by full sunlight
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