Lauren Pardee

Here are some of the things I picked up along the way.

1. Rent a car and drive yourself places. Renting a car wasn’t cheap by any means (we booked through enterprise) but the ability to be on our own time and avoid crowds made it worth it.
   • Make sure you have a GPS. It’s a big country and there aren’t many places to ask directions.
   • Download the 112 emergency app. It never hurts to be over-prepared when you find yourself stranded in the middle of a National Park. Or something.
   • Fill up your tank when you find a fuel station, you don’t know where the next one will be.
2. Try to hit stuff at off-peak hours. Gullfoss in the middle of the night, Reykjavik before sun up, and Blue Lagoon before closing were amazing experiences. We didn’t have to contend with buses of tourists wielding their selfie sticks and got the most out of where we were, even if it was for a little less time.
3. Buy booze at the airport. When you’re leaving Keflavik you can hit up duty-free and take it with you. Do this.
   • Icelandic vodka is awesome.
   • Drinks are EXPENSIVE and I’m talking by Seattle standards. Our wallets were quite glad for the pre-drinks before going out.
4. Try to pick up the basics of the language. Icelandic people are really nice about speaking English *looking at you Parisians* but they appreciated, and laughed at, our bungled attempts at speaking the native tongue. If I can attempt Eyjafjallajökull and Þingvellir in my weird Northwest accent so can you!
5. If the Aurora Borealis show up stop what you’re doing and watch. You can’t control when or if you see them but they are the most magical natural phenomenon I’ve experienced. Standing in 0* F temps to watch them dance across the sky was SO worth the frozen feet and noses.
6. Don’t try the Puffin. I did the leg work for you on this. It’s gross. Think of a gamey oyster, that’s the flavor and texture profile you’re dealing with. Just don’t do it. Even Icelandic people don’t like it.
7. Do your research. Reading blogs and books helped shape the trip to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
8. Dress warm!

A crashed plane left on a black sand beach. Apparently the crash looked worse than it was (everone survived) but they left the wreckage. It was pretty easy to find and there are a lot of blogs that do a good job covering how to get there. One thing to note- we had a bus full of people show up and descend on the place like a plague of locusts while we were there. They took pictures (all up in each other’s way) for about 15 minutes and then tore off again. It was weird, and something that does happen at the ‘bucket list’ stops along the way. Not a reason to not visit, but something to keep in mind.

Also known as the Seljavallalaug swimming pool. Don’t ask me to pronounce that.  While leaving Iceland after our first trip I saw a picture of a pool that looked like it fell out of a postcard from a bygone era. I HAD to visit. Not too long after that it made an appearance in an American Express advert, furthering my need to see this place. I did a little digging and realized it was, in fact, an old neighborhood pool that sits at the base of an active volcano. I filed it away under ‘place I hope still exists by the time I can go’. Luckily for me James pays attention to everything and while planning our amazing engagement trip he made sure to include the pool on the list.  It’s not super easy to get to, a 30 minute hike in from the nearest road,  which is all the better because it seems to have kept it from getting too crowded. Although not warm (I got knee deep and couldn’t go any further) it is easily one of my favorite places I’ve been.

In stark contrast to the snowy lava fields of the snæfellsnes peninsula is the south coast of Iceland with it’s picturesque waterfalls. It still wasn’t what I would consider warm, but it also wasn’t covered in snow. We didn’t have as much time to explore as I would have liked but driving around and exploring the different stops was incredible.

Driving around the snæfellsnes peninsula was truly out of this world. We passed snow-covered lava fields, mountains, and harbors. This part of Iceland isn’t heavily populated (granted, almost no part of Iceland is heavily populated) which was a bit unsettling for this city girl, but the views were worth the minor stress. We did have a bit of a ‘oh shit’ moment when we beached the car on a snow bank, but that’s a story for another day.

A lot of the places you’ve seen documented in Iceland are in the Golden Circle. Gullfoss Waterfall where the European and North American tectonic plates meet, the Geysers, and Þingvellir National Park – I pronounced that one ping-fuller, no idea if that’s correct.  I’m glad we went, it’s amazingly beautiful, and ½ a day starting off early to skip the tourist buses was just the right amount of time. There are so many amazing things to see around Iceland, the golden circle includes a group of those things, but by no means would I recommend it taking up the bulk of your time. Side note for the American’s: you don’t have to pay/get checked in to visit the amazing sites in the Golden Circle. You just show up. I worry that lack of oversite will change but it was neat to experience while we did.