Iceland’s Ring Road
Our 14 Day Itinerary Around Iceland’s Ring Road
After we decided to sell our home, we came up with the idea to take some time off work and do some traveling before settling down again. Our biggest dilemma was trying to decide where we wanted to go. Iceland has always been a dream of ours with its vibrant green landscapes, icy blue glaciers, and abundant waterfalls. While researching, we found that we could feasibly travel around the entire island in 7+ days, while staying in a camper van, making it much more budget friendly. We also love camping, and Iceland has a plethora of campgrounds along its famous Ring Road. We also found that September is considered the shoulder season in Iceland, and it is significantly more affordable to rent vehicles this time of year, but not too cold to warrant a 4WD. After purchasing our plane tickets, we definitely had our work cut out for us to make the perfect itinerary for our 14 day adventure. Some of our trip we had planned in advance, but the majority of our trip was planning day to day, depending on where we were and how long we decided to spend at each destination. This entire itinerary could also be done in 10 or 12 days as well, or you could even add on a few more days if you wanted to spend some time in the West Fjords of Iceland.
Read Next: Camping in Iceland and Our Favorite Campgrounds in Iceland
Day 1 - The Golden Circle
We arrived at Iceland’s Keflavík airport very early in the morning and extremely jet-lagged, while awaiting our transport to Kuku Campers, our camper van rental agency. There are many camper van rental agencies to choose from in Reykjavík, but we chose Kuku due to their amazing reviews and fair pricing. We chose a basic manual transmission camper van without a heater for sleeping (which I am not sure was such a great idea in September). The camper vans come with cooking supplies and everything you need to prepare and eat a meal. Kuku also has many items that they can rent out to you for the duration of your trip (sleeping bag, french press, guitar, etc.), so no need to pack anything extra if you don’t have the room. Because we camp often, and chose a van without heat, we brought our own camping gear. Many of the campgrounds have food, gas for your stove, and toiletries, leftover from other campers, so I recommend checking out the campgrounds for fuel and food before you decide to buy anything. Kuku also has a shelf of leftovers to look at while you are awaiting your camper van. I also suggest getting a SIM card for your phone as soon as possible. The airport has a kiosk, as well as do several cell phone companies in Reykjavík and some N1 gas stations. We wished we would have got one immediately at the airport, as it was a bit of a pain tracking them down once we left the city.
Kuku Campers Camper Van
Once we had left with our camper van, we made our way downtown for breakfast and coffee. This was the first time we experienced the high restaurant and cafe prices we had read about. We paid around $60 USD for our two open-faced sandwiches and coffees. We decided to visit the grocery store after that and cooked most of our meals at the campgrounds for the duration of our trip. The grocery stores are much more affordable than eating out, and we also brought several backpacking meals for the evenings when we did not feel like preparing a meal.
After breakfast and coffee we traveled to the first destination on our must-see list, Þingvellir (pronounced Thingvellir) National Park. Þingvellir is not too far way from Reykjavik and is one of the three attractions on the Golden Circle. The other two are Geysir geothermal area and Gullfoss waterfall. Þingvellir is where we had our first glimpse of the spectacular lava formations, Iceland’s waterfalls, and the rainy weather. Þingvellir has a lot of historical significance as the location of Iceland’s first parliament. The National Park does have a campground and might be the best choice for camping the first night, if you decide to visit the Golden Circle. We kind of skipped the rest of the Golden Circle, and I am not upset about it. Although we did not see other geysers in Iceland, you have the chance to see a large geothermal area and about a billion other majestic waterfalls. We continued to drive a bit to get a head start for the next day. In retrospect, we had plenty of time to see everything in 14 days, and we could have easily camped at Þingvellir. Due to the jet lag, I could barely keep my eyes open any longer and we drove to the next nearest campground, Selfoss Camping. It was 4:30 PM and I passed out as soon as we found a parking spot and paid.
Þingvellir National Park
Day 2 - Seljanlandfoss, Skogafoss, and Reynisfjara
We slept almost 12 hours and woke up around 4AM, which was pretty great, as we had first dibs on the showers. We made our way to Seljanlandfoss waterfall (foss means waterfall in Icelandic), and arrived just at sunrise and before anyone else was there. When I got out of the camper van and made my way to the path behind the waterfall, I found several sheep grazing close by and had to stop to capture some photos. You cannot help but see sheep everywhere as you drive around Iceland as there are more than two sheep per person in the country. It is not uncommon to find sheep on the road as you drive and pretty much everywhere you look, so it is important to keep a lookout while driving. In September the sheep are rounded up all over the country and sorted back to their owner’s.
After sheep stalking, we continued on to Seljanlandfoss. With a drop of 60 meters, it was pretty impressive. The best part of this waterfall is the path that leads behind it, which was an unique experience. It is a good idea to get there early if possible, as it soon became very crowded. You will also get most likely get pretty wet (especially if it is windy), so it is best to at least wear a raincoat, if not rain pants as well.
Once you go back out to the beginning of the path, you can continue to another waterfall, Gjufbrui, which is hidden at first. You will have to walk through the shallow waters in a small gorge in order to view this secret waterfall, but it is truly spectacular. You will most likely have wet feet if you do not have rain boots or Gortex shoes.
Gjufbrui
After leaving these two very popular waterfalls, we drove a short distance on ring road to Skogafoss (yes, another majestic waterfall). Skogafoss is one of the largest in Iceland and you can view it from below, or trek up the many stairs to view it from the top. It is well worth the hike. You can continue hiking past the waterfall on the Fimmvorduhals hiking trail, which goes all of the way to Thórsmörk. The entire trail is 15.5 miles long and follows the Skoga River, passing 26 waterfalls. Because we did not have a hut reserved in Thórsmörk for the evening, and it is a point to point hike (which would total 31 miles there and back), we decided to hike the first 5 miles to the bridge, before the trail crosses over the Skoga River. This was our favorite hike while we were in Iceland and even in the first 5 miles of the hike, we were blown away by the amount of waterfalls that we saw. If you decide to do a long hike (you can really spend all day here taking in all of this beauty), there is a campground at Seljanlandfoss. We did not camp here as it is very crowded with tourists and did not seem like the most peaceful place to rest, as it offered very little privacy. There are restrooms here, although you do have to pay 200 ISK to use them.
It was still fairly early when we finished this hike, and made our way to the town of Vik nearby to get coffee from a school bus (Skool Beans). It had many vegan friendly options as well as hot chocolates, teas, fancy mochas, and baked goods. I had a dark chocolate mocha, and it was absolutely delicious.
Vik has its own black sand beach you can check out, or you can drive about 10 minutes to get to the famous (and much more populated) black sand beach, Reynisfjara. If you so desire, you can hike further down the beach (and away from the crowds) toward the lighthouse. There is also a restaurant at the beach, which is a good place to stop for lunch, if you choose to stay for awhile. We split a monster basket of french fries (which gets you a free pass to the WC - hooray!). Most of the WCs are not free in Iceland - you either have to purchase something (such as food, camping, or parking, or you pay around 200 ISK). However, we never had to pay for a WC, as we always were purchasing gas or food wherever we went.
Reynisfjara
Once we had our fill of the beach, night was approaching and we knew we had a ways to drive to our campground, Þakgil (pronounced Thakgil). This was our favorite campground in Iceland, and it is the perfect campsite if you like remote locations, breathtaking scenery, and hiking trails within walking distance. However, the trail to reach Þakgil is dirt and rugged. You do not need a 4WD to reach it, but it will take you about 30 minutes if you want to ensure your rental vehicle is still in one piece once you reach your destination. The campground host was very informative and told us about the three hiking trails nearby. Many people come here solely for the purpose of hiking, and do not camp. We found a beautiful campsite nestled right in the mountains, and spent the rest of the evening eating dinner in Þakgil’s candlelit cave with the rest of the campers.
Day 3 - Þakgil
We slept in the next morning and had coffee in the cave before hiking Þakgil. I recommend starting early, as there are a lot of hiking trails, and we did not get the chance to do as much hiking as we desired before sunset. It was also some of the best hiking we did on the trip (besides the prior day at Skogafoss), and I wished we would have stayed here another day. There is a nearby waterfall that we stopped to see before hiking (it is not near the trailheads, but in the opposite direction). To get to the trailheads, you have to walk back in from where you drove in from. They are actually very well marked by colored posts (a different color for each of the three trails) and from there you can choose which trail you want to start. It seems that they all intersect at various points, so it is easy to get on another trail if you like. We started on the purple trail and eventually hiked down the mountain into a gorge, and found a small waterfall. Once we climbed back up the mountain (the trails go in giant loops), we got on the yellow trail to get views of the glacier. This was the trail that was recommended by the campground host, but it is very long and we did not make it all the way around. We left right before sunset to make it back to the campground in time, and stayed a second night at Þakgil (not wanting to traverse the dirt road in the dark).
Day 4 - Fjaðrárgljúfur, Skaftafell, and Jökulsárlón
Our fourth day in Iceland started off with us getting out of Thakgil via the super fun dirt road and back to the magic school bus (Skool Beans) for another round of coffee and some breakfast (a vegan bagel with jam for me and lemon pound cake for Cory). The delightful lady that served us reported that the owner is vegetarian and “her sister eats air”. So it a great to place to visit for vegetarians, vegans, or people that eat air.
We also stopped at the nearby grocery store in Vik to get some groceries for the road (we had been eating backpacking food that we brought with us). We were both very impressed with the grocery stores in Iceland and found lots of gluten free and plant-based products. Iceland has budget grocery stores as well (Bonus and Kronan), but we did find that these two stores had less plant-based and gluten free products (although were very affordable). We even found some amazing sparkling waters that we wished we could have brought home with us (Kristal brand). After stocking up on supplies, we made our way to Fjaðrárgljúfur, a canyon about 100 meters deep. Although it was worth taking the quick detour to see it, we did not find it necessary if you are short on time, especially if you hike the trail near Skógafoss. Beforehand you can also stop off to see the an abandoned DC 3 plane, that crashed there in 1973, just off of Ring Road. We did not stop to see it, but there is a walking path you can take right up to the plane, if abandoned planes are your thing.
Instead, we decided to continue on Skaftafell, a nature reserve in Vatnajökull National Park. This national park is large and we found ourselves entering it again days later, in Northern Iceland. You have to pay to park here, which is basically your entrance fee to the park. We hiked to Skaftafell’s most popular attraction, Svartifoss (Black Fall), which is unique due its basalt columns. It is a short hike away, and did not take us long to arrive. The national park has a visitor center, café, a food stand, and glacier hiking tours. You can camp here and from what we saw, the campground is pretty massive and has plenty of room to accommodate everyone. However, it does not offer much privacy and is not very scenic.
We had been researching campgrounds as we drove, and found the very serene and idyllic Svinafell Campground, which is located next to a horse and sheep farm. It is a very popular place to camp and it soon got very crowded, so I recommend getting here early to get a good spot on the hill, with plenty of room and good views. We spent an hour eating our dinner and relaxing in the sunshine, while Cory serenaded me with music (we rented an acoustic guitar from Kuku Campers).
After eating we still had plenty of daylight left, so we decided to drive down the road to the nearby glacier lagoon, Jökulsárlón. I suggest coming here for sunset, as it is absolutely stunning to see the orange glow against the icy blue waters. The lagoon has boat tours to get a close-up view of the glacier, as well as food trucks. Right across the road is yet another very popular and must see attraction, Diamond Beach. We went here briefly, but decided that we would come back the next morning, as there was not a lot of ice on the beach. After sunset, we went back to our campground and called it a night.
Day 5 - Diamond Beach and Eastern Iceland
On our fifth day in Iceland, we actually spent some time in the campground’s dining hall to make our breakfast with the rest of the campers. This campground has a huge dining area with all of the necessities you need to prepare your meal. After breakfast we took off again down the road toward the lagoon and beach. We decided to first stop off to see another glacier lagoon, Fjallsárlón. This lagoon is not nearly as popular, and is a good place to visit if you want to avoid the crowds, but we actually preferred visiting Jökulsárlón, which is much larger. You can book a tour here as well to get a close up view of the glacier. We visited Diamond Beach to see if we could find more ice “diamonds” in the morning, as the beach was pretty sparse the prior evening. We were in luck! Although not as large as some of the photos I have seen, there were a lot more ice chunks on the beach, and I probably spent an entire hour looking at them all - they were mesmerizing.
After a plethora of photos, we continued traveling east on Ring Road. We did not have anything in particular that we wanted to see in East Iceland. We stopped to eat lunch in a small town with ocean views and then stopped in another small town where we found a bouncy mat in a playground and had to partake for a few jumps (we spotted a few others throughout our trip). It made for a wonderful break to stretch our legs. We also passed by a natural hot spring bath, Djúpavogskörin, which is maintained by locals and is free. Unfortunately, it only accommodates around four people at a time, and was full when we arrived. Instead we stopped for dinner in the town Egilsstaðir, where we found a delightful little brewery and pizza place. They had two vegan pizzas and a variety of interesting beers to try.
Askur Pizza
Nearby are also the Vök Baths, a geothermal spa with hexagonal shaped pools overlooking a lake. There are many beautiful geothermal spas in Iceland, and it was hard for us to choose which ones to visit, but we decided to visit a spa in Northern Iceland instead. Also nearby is the picturesque town of Seyðisfjörðu, which we did not visit, but wished we would have. It was hard for us to know how much time we would need for the rest of the trip, but if you have at least two weeks in Iceland, you have plenty of time to visit. There was a campground in Egilsstaðir, but we traveled to Fjalladýrð intead (an active Icelandic farm) and stayed at Möðrudalur campground. This was one of our favorite campgrounds as there is a nice cafe where you can have late night tea upon arrival or breakfast in the morning. There are also turf houses available to stay in for the night if you are sick of camping, although I am sure that these are booked far in advance.
Day 6 - Dettifoss, Mývatn, Grjótagjá, and GeoSea
The next morning Cory tried ástarpungur or “love ball”, made of fried dough and raisins (a uniquely Icelandic dessert). We also had our first (and only) glimpse of the Icelandic Arctic Fox. Nearby we once again entered Vatnajökull National Park, where we saw Dettifoss waterfall. They have dubbed this area the “Diamond Circle”, combined with the Mývatn geothermal area. This is also where we started to encounter midges; these are tiny, flying, non-biting bugs that were everywhere in this region of Iceland. We encountered many people wearing nets over their faces in this area and wished we would have got the memo.
We decided to visit Hverir next, which is located in the Mývatn geothermal area, where we found even more midges. However, they were definitely worth enduring for us to enjoy the geothermal wonders, which reminded us both of Yellowstone National Park in the US.
Nearby is also Krafla (the active volcanic caldera), which we took a quick look at, and Grjótagjá, an ancient lava cave, featuring a geothermal spring (swimming is no longer allowed). You may recognize this as a shooting location used in Game of Thrones for one scene.
If you missed out on any of the other geothermal baths or hot springs so far in your trip, Mývatn Nature Baths is nearby and an idyllic blue, similar to the very popular Blue Lagoon. Instead of stopping here, we went north to GeoSea, located north of here in the town of Húsavík. We chose this spa due to the spectacular views of Skjálfandi Bay, which is known for its whale watching. It also has a swim up bar (which was extremely refreshing) and a steam room. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip - going to a geothermal pool is a must if visiting Iceland. There are natural geothermal areas where that you can visit for free, affordable swimming pools in almost every town, and luxurious spas.
We stayed so long soaking in the baths, that it was dark when we left. We made our way to Camping 66.12 North, just 20 minutes away from GeoSea. We were able to camp overlooking the ocean and awoke to some of the best views you could ask for while camping. I did have an irrational fear of our camper van careening over the edge and into the ocean while we slept, so I insisted that we did not park too close.
Day 7 - Goðafoss and Akureyri
After leaving Camping 66.12 North, we headed to Goðafoss waterfall, one of the largest waterfalls in Iceland, around 30 meters wide. There is very little hiking required, unless you want to walk around the path to the other side.
After Goðafoss, we traveled west to Akureyri, the largest town in Northern Iceland. I was hoping to find a charger for my camera battery, as mine had stopped working a few days into our trip. Akureyri is a charming little port town with a population of around 18,000. To reach this town, you either have to go through a tunnel that has been built into the mountain and shaves off a little bit of time (and pay a toll), or you can go around this tunnel for free. We were warned by our camper van rental company that if we forget to pay the toll in time, the fee increases. We decided to take the more scenic route and arrived in the very charming port town of Akureyri, just in time for lunch. Parking in Akureyri is quite different than anywhere else in Iceland, as it is free for a certain amount of time, but you have to post the time you arrived on your dash, to avoid a ticket. If you do not have paper and pen available in your vehicle, you can pick up a parking clock at any of the banks or petrol stations. We decided to stop first for coffee at the cutest little coffee shop, Kaffi Ilmur, which has a patio that overlooks the town. After coffee we headed to the nearby hot dog stand, Pylsuvagninn á Akureyri, and I tried the vegan volcano dog. Finally - I was able to try an Icelandic hotdog! After traveling the entire Ring Road and doing some online searches, I soon realized that this is the ONLY hot dog stand in Iceland that has vegan hot dogs. Iceland hot dogs are a staple here and can be found everywhere you look from petrol stations to stands in the center of the larger towns. They are mostly made from the Icelandic sheep and typically come with a sweet brown mustard and fresh and fried onions. The volcano dog was a specialty hot dog that we only found in Akureyri and came with a black bun, sriracha, fried onions, and a tiny Icelandic flag. It was delicious and I was left dreaming about it the rest of our trip. You can spend an entire day in Akureyri if you wanted to, visiting the delightful bakeries and adorable shops. If you do plan to spend the entire day in the area, there is a nice campground nearby called Camping Hamrar, that is very popular and has excellent reviews. It was still fairly early in the day for us however, so we continued west toward Snæfellsnes peninsula. A lot of people also visit the west fjords before heading to Snæfellsnes, but you can also take a ferry there from Snæfellsnes, if you do not wish to drive. This is where we got off Ring Road to drive to the north of the peninsula and make our way to the west in a loop. There were a few camping options to chose from on our drive, but we drove until pretty late and ended up at Camping Dalakot, which had more of the vibes of Selfoss campground (where you park in a lot, rather than somewhere scenic and remote). It had all of the necessities we were looking for (besides a dining area where we could cook and eat indoors). It was raining this evening, so this would have been nice for preparing our dinner. It is not very enjoyable to cook in the rain, but we were just glad to have a place to stay for the evening.
Day 8 - Snæfellsnes Peninsula
The next morning we woke up to more rain, and set off for Snæfellsnes, nicknamed “Iceland in miniature”. If you only have a week in Iceland, I recommend coming here before or after visiting the south. It really has a lot packed into a small area (beaches, lava fields, mountains, waterfalls, etc.). We first stopped to visit Mt. Helgafell (holy mountain), which is a mountain with a lot of historical significance and is sacred to many Icelanders. You have to pay ISK 400 to visit, which goes toward maintenance of the parking lot, trail, and WC. It is a short hike up to the top and you will find ruins dating back to the 10th century, as well as an amazing view of mountains and the bay.
Next we made our way to the nearby town of Stykkishólmur and had coffee at the bakery Nesbrauð ehf, to get out of the rain for a while. On our way to coffee we stopped at a nearby horse pasture to capture a few photos of the Icelandic horse, which is unique to Iceland.
The rain never let up, so we continued to Súgandisey Island Lighthouse, just north of the bakery. Here you can park your vehicle and take a short hike to the lighthouse with views of Stykkishólmur. This is where you can take a 2.5 hour ferry ride to the West Fjords if you like, but instead we continued west to Kirkjufell Mountain.
We were really hoping to climb the mountain (at least until it got too dangerous or uncomfortable to climb), but by this time the wind had picked up and it was still raining. The iconic photo of Kirkjufell is actually across from it near the waterfall Kirkjufellsfoss. We found the paid parking lot (you pay via your phone) and parked for a while in the hopes that the wind would let up a bit. It did not and eventually we braved the weather. I did not have my rain pants on (too lazy to put them on over my pants), and was immediately soaked by the wind sweeping the waterfall over the bridge.
Soaking wet, we made our way back into the warmth of the camper van, passing a couple of campgrounds, but we still had a lot of daylight and decided to check out the coast, despite the extreme winds. We ended up at Skarðsvík Beach, one of the rare golden sand beaches in Iceland. Due to the lovely weather, we had the place to ourselves and found a fun little cave to escape the rain for a bit.
Continuing west, the road is no longer paved and gets a bit rugged. Here we found two lighthouses, Öndverðarnesviti (to the north) and Svörtuloft (to the south). We got out to explore Öndverðarnesviti and came across ruins of an old fishing village, along with the ancient well, Fálki. Despite the weather, we had a lot of fun traversing the area. Once it started to get dark, we backtracked to the last campground we had passed, Hellissandur Camping. Hellissandur is located in a lava field with ample room for campers and new facilities. Although there is not a lot or room in the dining area, it was late and we were able to cook our food indoors and out of the rain. The campground guard came late in the evening to collect money from all the campers who had not yet paid. We spent the rest of the evening sipping hot tea and talking to fellow campers, avoiding the cold of our unheated camper van.
Day 9 - Snæfellsnes Peninsula
The next day it was still raining (although the wind had died down), and we continued around the peninsula to Saxhóll Crater. It is a ways up to the top of the crater, but stairs have been built to make it a very gradual climb. Once up, you can look into the crater, but unlike some craters that are filled with water, this one is an empty grassy cavern. The crater is located in Snæfellsjökull National Park, but there is not an entrance fee, rather you will just past in and out of a gate, making you aware of the park’s parameters. Throughout the park we had views of Snæfellsjökull volcano. You can get to the volcano by taking an F road, if you have a 4WD vehicle. Next, we decided to stop at Djúpalónssandur, another black sand beach with some walking trails, lagoons, and interesting rock formations. You can also test your strength by trying to pick up several heavy boulders, a test that fisherman were required to take to see if they were qualified for the job. We also saw remnants of a 1948 British shipwreck on the beach.
Back in the camper van, we decided to stop in the nearby village of Arnarstapi for some lunch and for some spectacular scenery. If you are in the mood for some hiking, there is a path that leads to the other small village to the south, Hellnar. Further down the road we stopped at Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge, which was definitely worth our time. It is only a short hike from the parking area to the mouth of the gorge, where you will enter a small cavern and find a stream that is running through the gorge.
Another popular tourist destination is the nearby town of Búðir, where we found the the black church Búðakirkja, dating back to the 19th century.
What we found even more spectacular, are the trails through the lava field behind the church leading to the beach. It is a short walk from the church to the coast and we were lucky enough that it had stopped raining by then (finally) and the sun graced us with its presence for a few minutes on the hike.
Just a few minutes down the road is another quick stop to see the waterfall Bjarnarfoss. This turned out to be one of our favorite waterfalls, as there is a hiking trail leading up to the basalt columns at its base.
Our last stop in the peninsula was Ölkelduvatn Mineral Spring, located on a farmer’s private property. The family allows visitors to take a bottle of water for a small fee, and the water is full of iron and other minerals. It does taste strongly of iron, but I just had to try it. We were not able to find a lot of campgrounds in the area, so we camped at Mosskogar Camping, just north of Reykjavík. We absolutely loved this campground - it had private sites, a large cooking and dining area in a greenhouse, and nice facilities. This is a pretty popular campground, due to being so close to the city, and they only take cash. We ended our day with a lovely backpacking dinner of Pad Thai in the warm greenhouse (which also doubles as a sleeping area for tent campers).
Day 10 - Blue Lagoon and Fagradalsfjall Volcano
On day 10 in Iceland, we decided to spend the last five days of our vacation exploring Reykjavík and the surrounding area, starting off with the mundane task of dropping off our laundry downtown at Úðafoss Fatahreinsun. We had previously looked for a laundromat to do our own laundry, but these are extremely difficult to find in Iceland. If you do want to do your own laundry, your best bet is probably The Laundromat Cafe, where you can eat lunch while your laundry washes and drys in the basement. Our next destination was the very touristy Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, (located in the Reykjanes peninsula) because we just had to see what all the hype was about. We found out - totally worth the hype. It does cost more than some of the spas, but included in the price is a drink and mud mask. It was luxuriously warm and we spent several hours sipping our cold beverages and relaxing in the mist and blue waters. However, it did completely ruin my hair for the duration of the trip, due to the minerals. I was pre-warned, but no amount of conditioner could fix that rat nest.
Before heading back to the city, we made a stop at Fagradalsfjall volcano, which had been erupting off and on since March 2021. It was inactive at the time we were visiting, but the lava was still smoking and cooling. We stayed until sunset and camped at Reykjavík Campsite, which is located in the middle of the Reykjavík. Although it does not offer the privacy or scenery of the more remote campgrounds, we were able to book online late at night without having to worry about checking into reception and were emailed a code to get into the gate. This is a large facility with ample spots, showers, and areas for dining, but the camping situation is just a giant parking lot. Great for late night camping where you need a spot last minute and want to spend some time in the city. We spent the last several days at either this campsite or Mosskogar.
Day 11 - Glymur Waterfall
The next morning we were in desperate need for some good coffee (we were so sick of the instant coffee we brought with us), so we ventured to the nearby Emilie and the Cool Kids cafe for some of the best scones and lattes we have ever had (they were vegan!).
After picking up our laundry, we decided to spend some time going on some hikes in the area, and started off with Glymur Waterfall, the second highest in Iceland and just an hour north of Reykjavík. This was our second favorite hike of the trip, and probably our favorite waterfall. It is a pretty popular loop hike, at only 4.3 miles long. However, it is not exactly an easy hike, as there is quite a bit of elevation gain and you have to cross over a log as well as trek through some ice-cold water and very sharp rocks, if you want to do the entire loop. Water shoes are highly recommended for this part of the hike, but considering we did not have water shoes, and did not want to soak our hiking boots, we did it barefoot (very cold and very painful).
Day 12 - Mt. Esja
On day 12 in Iceland we decided to hike the nearby Mt. Esja, where you can see amazing views of Reykjavík on a clear day. Most people decide to hike about halfway up to Steinn for great views, rather than going to the summit. We decided to continue up to Þverfellshorn (the top of the mountain), because it had not yet snowed at the top. There are chains that help lead the way up and as long as you continue to follow the chains, you will not get lost. We happened to hike into the clouds and it got very cold and we both wished we would have brought gloves and hats. Here we found a cache of mementos that fellow hikers had left behind, to commemorate their summit. This cache included student IDs, photographs, business cards, and a ripped dollar bill. We searched for something to leave from our packs and found a green guitar pick, which we placed into the cache.
We ended the day with ice cream from SKÚBB in Reykjavík, which was delightful. They have several vegan options, as well as vegan friendly cookie dough, which you MUST try.
Day 13 - Reykjadalur Valley
On our 13th day in Iceland we went on another nearby hike to Reykjadalur Valley, a geothermal area where you can soak in the warm waters of the river after hiking less than an hour. This was our first time bathing in a natural geothermal area in Iceland, and this spot is very popular. We went early in the day before it got too crowded. Once you arrive near the bathing area, you will notice a boardwalk and several changing stations along the way. We heard that the farther along the river that you walk, the warmer the water. We chose a spot in the middle, and it was pretty warm. We spent the rest of the evening wandering around the mall in Reykjavík, where we found an upscale supermarket (a great place to visit if you want to bring some snacks or candy back from Iceland) and a movie theater. Because it was still rather early and we did not have anything else to do for the evening, we decided to see Candyman. Because most Icelanders are fluent in English, the movies here are not overdubbed and just have Icelandic subtitles instead. It was about the same cost as you would pay in a large city in the US, and a fun experience for the evening. The only thing that was different was the lack of ice in our fountain beverage (Americans are obsessed with ice).
Day 14 - Reykjavík
For our final day in Iceland, we basically took a food and drink tour of the city. We started off with more coffee, scones, and fresh pressed orange juice from Emilie and the Cool Kids and wandered in and out of the various shops downtown. By midday we decided it was time for a drink and came across Hús máls og menningar, which is a cafe and bar lined with old Icelandic books inside. They even have a bookstore on the lower level. We purchased a beer while deciding where to sit in the many levels of the cafe.
For dinner that evening Cory decided to try Reykjavík Chips, which is essentially just a french fry restaurant where you can pick from a large variety of sauces. I settled for Hi Noodle instead, and had some delicious vegan ramen.
We ended our evening revisiting SKÚBB, because it was too delectable to not have one last time before leaving Iceland. We stayed our final night at Mosskogar Campground, where we had the delightful task of cleaning out the camper van in the rain. We were told by the campground owner that he had seen the northern lights a few days ago in the area, but because of the clouds, we were not fortunate that evening. The next morning we dropped our camper van back off at Kuku Campers, and were shuttled (for a small fee), back to the airport for our flight home.