We had always wanted to visit Iceland so decided to spend our summer holiday there and drive the Ring Road. We had just over 2 weeks so knew we could take our time and explore. We booked our flights as soon as they were released and made sure all our accommodation was booked about 8 months in advance – as in some areas there were not many places to stay.

Our itinerary was;
6 nights Reykjavik and the South Coast (including trips to Westman Islands and Landmannalauger)
2 nights Vik
1 night East Iceland
3 nights Akureyri
1 night North West Iceland
2 nights Snaefellsjokull Peninsular
1 night Reykjanes Peninsular

Day 1 – Arriving and Geysir

We were on a 7.30am flight out of Heathrow so it was a very early start! However, it meant we arrived in Iceland at lunchtime. As we queued at the airport to board the shuttle bus to the car rental center it was freezing – and we did wonder whether booking a ‘cold’ summer holiday was a good idea!

Our AirBnb for the next 6 nights was in Hella ( a 2 hour hour drive away). We were not able to check in until 4pm so we did a quick supermarket stop by the airport – and were stunned how expensive food in Iceland was. We then decided to head to Geysir on route.

Geysir Hot Springs

We saw Little Geysir first – which is a bubbling hole in the ground before making our way to Strokkur – the main geysir.

We spent ages watching Strokkur erupt which happened every few minutes. However, although it was sunny it was freezing cold and really windy!

^{Watching the geysir.}

We then followed the path a bit further where there were some more pools of water – I think one was hot and the other cold – before heading to our AirBnb

Our holiday home was lovely and came with a hot tub and backed onto a field full of horses.

^{Our holiday home near Hella}

It was also in the middle of no-where so there was no street lighting, which meant dark skies. We did not expect to see the Northern Lights as it was summer and there were not many hours of darkness but there was an aurora alert and they appeared at 2am! Stuart had packed our big camera, together with the tripod, so we were able to take some good pictures.

Day 2 – Gullfoss, Pingvellir and Kerid Crater

Our first stop of the Day was Gullfoss Waterfall. When we arrived we realised how close it was to Geyser and thought we probably should have visited the day before! We walked to the viewing platforms and took loads of photos.

^{Gullfoss Waterfall}

We then headed to Pingvellir National Park where you can see the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates.

^{The 2 tectonic plates}

We did a short walk to a waterfall – Oxararfoss – where we walked between the plates to reach it.

Our final stop of the day was the Kerid Crator – a volcanic crater with a lake inside.

We walked around the top of the crater and then took the path down to the lake. Tom spent ages hiding behind the rocks whilst Izzy took loads of selfies!

We returned home and there was another aurora alert so Stu and I set an alarm for the middle of the night and were lucky to see the Northern Lights for a second time!