Iceland Ring Road and More: Days 6-10

Here we go for the continuation of our Iceland Itinerary on Days 6-10 of our trip. 

Day 6: Up early because it was Whale Watching day!!! We really were torn between whale watching or taking the ferry to Grimsey to cross the arctic circle, but I think we decided we were glad we did the whale watching trip. Next time, we are for sure taking the ferry though. We met at the meeting point in Dalvik at 8:45 am and put on our warm onesies for the boat. We booked through Arctic Sea Tours and they were absolutely lovely people and did a great job on the tour.

We took the boat out on the Eyjafjordur, which was absolutely gorgeous! From the minute we set off we were seeing whales in the distance. On the tour we had a few whales come right up to the boat and scare us as the popped us and blew the water into the air. After 15 minutes of watching we were blessed to see one whale jump out of the water and dance for us! I seriously cried it was so beautiful.

Magnificent! 

When the watching was done we had hot cocoa and snacks before we did some fishing. Ryan caught a cod and we watched the tour guide gut all of our fish to prep them for the BBQ back at the office. The fish was pretty darn good, but we were still hungry so we walked a block up the road to Kaffihus Bakkabraedra for some fish soup, cake, and coffee. This was was divine on many levels. It had free wifi, it was cute, amazing food, coffee, and the fish soup was incredible! I ate so much and I don't really like fish. Not to mention it was not expensive! I really wanted to ask if I could work there.

When the watching was done we had hot cocoa and snacks before we did some fishing. Ryan caught a cod and we watched the tour guide gut all of our fish to prep them for the BBQ back at the office. The fish was pretty darn good, but we were still hungry so we walked a block up the road to Kaffihus Bakkabraedra for some fish soup, cake, and coffee. This was was divine on many levels. It had free wifi, it was cute, amazing food, coffee, and the fish soup was incredible! I ate so much and I don't really like fish. Not to mention it was not expensive! I really wanted to ask if I could work there.

While we were there, we called a horse back riding company to see if we could ride the next morning, since we planned to be in the area. We continued our diversion off the Ring Road to drive the Trollaskagi Peninsula for the rest of the day. The views were gorgeous and finally stopped to walk around the cute town of Siglufjordur.

Siglufjordur 

Siglufjordur

Such an adorable town!

We continued along HWY 76 taking the sights. There are some pull of places where you can hike if you wish. After driving through Hofos we detoured over to Saudarkrokur another fjord town. We drove around the town, got gas, and had another N1 hot dog. We drove HWY 75 toward Varmahlid.

Sheeps!

 Glaumbaer Turf Museum:

Chapel on the Turf farm 

Turf Farm 

Varmahlid to gas up, get some snack and we took a peak at some beautiful horses!

Camped outside of Varmahlid on Route 1 with beautiful views and made our dinner for the night.

Ryan loved the sky this night!

Day 7: We went horseback riding with Hestaport Riding Company.  Our guide was a young German gal from Frankfurt! It was such a blast riding for the first time and seeing the scenery along the ride.  It was slightly rainy the day, but we had our rain gear and felt just fine!

We hopped back on Route 1 and stopped in Hvammstangi where Seals sometimes are seen.  There were no seals in sight, so we just walked around the town and continued on. 

This part of Route 1 was pretty but didn't have many stopping points.  We detoured again taking HWY 60 up to Erpsstadir Dairy Farm before hitting the Snaefellsness Peninsula.  We tried their ice cream, pet their dog, and ventured on.

This linked up with HWY 54 driving along the gorgeous fjord.  This day was the rainiest of all and we fought lots of clouds and fog all day, but still managed to have some pretty scenery.  We drove until we hit Stykkisholmur, a quaint village with a basalt island and lighthouse, and charming little buildings.  This peninsula is really like being in a fairyland.  Every minute you expect a fairy, troll, dwarf, or some other mythical creature to come out behind the lava fields and moss covered rock.  It was pretty gorgeous!

Stykkisholmur 

From here we drove to Helgafell mountain and climbed to the top to make our 3 wishes you are allotted if you climb the mountain without looking behind you or speaking.  This was a pretty hard task since I realized I talk to myself a lot and tend to look behind me all the time too.  Regardless, we made our 3 wishes. 

Church at Helgafell

Making our wishes on Helgafell

We drove through a lava field until we reached Grundarfjordur.  This town was equally as beautiful surrounded by ocean, mountains, and waterfalls.  We explored the village before we pulled off to camp just outside of town.  We were sitting in front of a gorgeous sunset sinking behind Kirkjufell mountain. Simply majestic!

Kirkjfell Mountain Sunset- view from our campsite 

Campsite view

Driving into Grundarfjordur 

That night we watched a movie and made dinner and despite the rainy and cloudy weather we decided to look outside and see if we could find the Northern Lights. Every night had been a bust, and with the crumby weather, I did expect to see them. Ryan popped his head outside the van to see a circle of clear sky with clouds encompassing us. It was like God parted the clouds in this little section of Iceland just for us to have a show! We were seriously mesmerized! Thankfully, a guy saw them and pulled over next to us and showed us how to use our camera to capture some shots that still don't do it justice!

Day 8: I really wanted to see this mountain! I don't know why, but I did, and it was gorgeous! We drove to Kirkjfell and the waterfall. 

Skardsvik Beach:

Falki and Ondverdarnes:

Bird Cliffs:

Saxholl Crater:

Djupalon Beach: Gatklettur, black sand beach, old ship wreckage memorial, lifting stones, sea stacks. 

Malariff and Londrangar lava formations:

Hellnar: Fjoruhusid Cafe for Fish Soup, Skyr Cake, beer, and thermal baked bread




Badstofa cave


Trail head to Arnastapi: Hiked 2 hours roundtrip to Arnastapi and back to Hellnar:

Raudfeldsgja Cave/Canyon:

Okelda for Natural Carbonated Spring Water:

We left Snaefellsness and headed down to Borgarnes.  There is a great Saga museum here where you can learn more about the history of Iceland and their sagas/legends, but we did not go in.  This is great little town, and we stopped for some gas and at a liquor store to get some more Einstok Beer. 

Then we drove down to Akranes, another cute town on the edge of a peninsula.  We stopped for views from the lighthouse and met back up with the Ring Road.  

Next was a creepy underwater tunnel that was pretty long and reconnected us closer to Reykjavik.

I was worried we were going to find a pull off point, but we came upon our own private black sand beach with a view of Reykjavik in the distance.

Day 9: We set off on another rainier day toward the Reykjanes Peninsula.  We stopped at the Bridge Between Two Continents where a footbridge goes across a sandy gulf between the North American and European Plates.

 Gunnuhver geothermal area:

Stopped in Hveragerdi town and got gas. 


Hiked 2 miles up into the mountains to Reykjadalur or Hot River Valley to soak in the warm waters for a few hours.

 Hot River 

Drove to Reykjavik to secure a camping place at Reykjavik campsite in Laugardalur.  Then we set into the city to park and see the famous Hallgrimskirkja church. 


We had some coffee at Babalou and walked around town for an hour checking out the local scene. 

That night we made dinner at our campsite and officially started feeling sad that this was our last night in Iceland. 


Day 10: We woke early, made breakfast, showered, and cleaned and packed up to take the van back to Camp Easy.  After the drop off, the company drove us to the BSI bus station in Reykjavik where we stored our luggage for a small fee in the lockers.  We had about 4 hours to see the rest of Reykjavik!

At 1:30 the shuttle company Back to Iceland, picked us up at the bus station and drove us to the Blue Lagoon.  We spent from 3:00 pm until 9:00 pm at the Lagoon soaking in the waters, sweating in the sauna, and sipping on skyr smoothies.  This was the perfect way to end our trip.  

At 9:00 pm the shuttle took us to the airport where we checked in to go back to Germany. 

That sums up the sights we saw along the way in Iceland.  This was an epic camping road trip for us and we cannot wait until we can go back to Iceland! It is a rare untouched gem and worth every penny to see.  If you get the chance to go, take it because it will not disappoint!