Second part of our journey (read the first part here) didn’t start as we expected. Due to the flooded road, we were left with two options: either staying in southern Iceland for the next 8 days or driving back through Reykjavik and then continue to the North. We decided for the second option.
Northern Iceland – Sulphur Fields And Mývatn Nature Baths
I am really happy that we did not leave the northern part. It wasn’t packed with tourists comparing to the South (probably due to the road being cut off by flood:)) and it has a different landscape. There are less waterfalls but the nature is stunning and full of contrast. There are parts which look like a moon land, places like from another planet, fields with green grass and then suddenly sulphur soil with steam coming from the ground.
We stayed for two nights near the lake Mývatn which is very close to natural hot spring, sulphur fields and Grjótagjá cave. The latest is a small cave with crystal clear warm water known from “Game of Thrones” series. As a photographer, I loved the rays of light shining through the cave. And although it was very tiny, I enjoyed taking pictures of this place very much. And the icing on the cake was beautiful aurora borealis. We were so lucky to have seen the dancing northern lights again.
My top picks from the northern Iceland are: Grjótagjá cave, Hverir geothermal area and Mývatn Nature Baths. I personally loved the baths there, because you can swim there also with a baby and it is not so crowded.
Western Iceland – Snaefellsnes Peninsula (“Iceland in Miniature”)
From the North we continued to the West where we spent almost three days on Snaefellsnes peninsula. It’s often called “Iceland in Miniature” because you can find samples of almost every type of Icelandic nature (from black beaches, green fields, mountains, caves, cliffs, cozy towns to glaciers). I also found some very friendly horses that like to be photographed :).
Before you go to the Western Iceland, I recommend watching the Secret Life of Walter Mitty as you will definitely want to include the town Stykkishólmur to your trip. We saw this movie after we had visited the town and we really liked it. Beside that we had some great seafruit soup there.
In the West, there is also one of the most photographed places of the whole Iceland, Kirkjufell. If you want to compete with other photographers for the best shot, you can drive pass Grundarfjörður, struggle to find a parking spot and try it there. However, it is quite hard to get rid of all the people in the picture :). I am sure there are many other beautiful places, too. On our way we stopped many times for short walks and breathtaking views. On one such stop we saw a soccer field next to the glacier. With such hard training conditions I can understand that Icelandic team almost won the EURO 2016 championship :).
My top picks from the western Iceland are: Búðakirkja church, Arnarstapi, Lóndrangar cliffs and romantic town Stykkishólmur.
Reykjavík – Nice But The Nature Is Better 🙂
The biggest town in Iceland is nice and friendly but nothing special. There is some nightlife and museums but you don’t enjoy it so much with a baby. We visited the famous Hallgrímskirkja church and we walked some streets but we were not that impressed. Nature in Iceland is so fantastic that the towns can hardly compete. Therefore we decided to spend the last day in Iceland swimming in a Secret Lagoon and we visited Seljalandsfoss and Geysir once again. This was a great ending to our trip.
And Why Iceland And Why With A 11-Months Old Baby?
I have always been fascinated by Iceland. I have followed many photographers on Instagram who travelled there and their pictures are stunning. I wanted to explore the black beaches, sulphur fields that look like a surface of Mars, magnificent waterfalls and swim in natural hot spring myself.
However, many people had asked us why we were travelling there with such a small baby. Our answer was: “Our son doesn’t care where we are, as long as we are together as a family. So we used the advantage that he is fine with travelling and we took him with us. As a married couple we want to live our dreams also together with our son.”
Here are some pics and the second part of our itinerary below. 🙂
Our Itinerary:
- Day:
- We started the day with a Holy Mass in Reykjavík and then we travelled to the North of Iceland
- Jarðböðin – Mývatn Nature Baths
- Accommodation: Fosshotel Mývatn in Mývatn (great breakfast and dinner)
- Day:
- Grjótagjá cave (known from the “Game of Thrones” series)
- Námafjall Hverir geothermal area (looks like the surface of Mars :))
- Dettifoss waterfall (the most powerful waterfall in Europe)
- Jarðböðin- Mývatn Nature Baths again 🙂
- Accommodation: Fosshotel Mývatn in Mývatn (great breakfast and dinner)
- Day:
- Godafoss waterfall (one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Iceland)
- Hvítserkur (a 15 m-high basalt stack along the eastern shore of the Vatnsnes peninsula)
- Accommodation: Hotel Laugarbakki in Laugarbakki
- Day:
- Traveling to Snaefellsnes peninsula (often called “Iceland in Miniature”)
- Stykkishólmur (known from “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” movie)
- Kirkjufell mountain (the most photographed place in Iceland)
- Accommodation: Welcome Appartmants in Olafsvík
- Day:
- Slow traveling around Snaefellsnes peninsula
- Búðakirkja church
- Arnarstapi and Hellnar
- South coast of the Snæfellsnes peninsula
- Lóndrangar cliffs
- Malarrif lighthouse
- Djúpalónssandur beach
- Accommodation: Welcome Appartmants in Olafsvík
- Day:
- Slow traveling around Snaefellsnes peninsula
- Saxholl crater
- Staðastaður church
- Travelling to Reykjavík
- Hallgrímskirkja church in Reykjavík
- Accommodation: Blaklukka Guesthouse in Reykjavík (the worst accommodation ever!)
- Day:
- Golden Circle
- Secret Lagoon
- Accommodation: Blaklukka Guesthouse in Reykjavík (the worst accommodation ever!)
- Day:
- Travelling home
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