We had quite the adventure…despite us never seeing the northern lights, which is WHY I booked the trip! Figures. Turns out, January is not a good time to go and see them. One might have better luck in March or April…noted! Despite the disappointment, there was plenty more to do there and more tours to pick from than we had time for. Excellent!!
This trip was a gift to my amazing husband back in early 2020…Iceland was always a mysterious place to me that I very much wanted to see for myself. I booked a few tours and crossed my fingers! I don’t think you can go wrong with whatever you choose to do there, but here is my list of 5 things to do while vacationing in the land of the vikings!
1. Eat Adventurously!
Nate and I did a food tour that took us to a handful of diverse restaurants famous for Icelandic eats… we ate Whale, Puffin, and Fermented Shark. Some people might not be comfortable eating whale, I was a little leary myself. They explained that whale is a primary source of food for people on Iceland, but that the hunting of whale is controlled to make sure populations aren’t wiped out. I imagine whale was crucial in the survival of Icelanders for a time. It is interesting still to this day how they feed everyone there. (side note: apparently, there are green houses that can grow vegetables which is astonishing because it is FREEZING there).
Whale tasted like filet. It was a red steak with an interesting flavor. I tried it, I can’t say that I would eat it again. Would you try it??
We also ate Puffin (looks like a penguin) and fermented shark. I was not a fan. But, when in Rome…! What I did love was the meat stew and the Skyr. Delicious!!! Oh, and there was a pretty tasty hot dog, too!
2. See the Tectonic Plates
Oh.my.goodness. This was mind blowing…. if you’ve never heard about Tectonic Plates before (Nate had to explain it to me…), the ones in Iceland are the Eurasion Tectonic Plate and the North American Tectonic Plate. Why is this so amazing? Iceland is a place where you can see an actual mid-ocean ridge (two continents) on land. And, you can see them drifting apart. These tectonic plates actually formed Iceland. We traveled to Thingvellir to see them in person. AMAZING. The other cool reason we had to see them?? They were featured in Game of Thrones 🙂 We are planning a summer vacation to Iceland within the next few years to see them again… beautiful greenery and waterfalls, and probably an entirely different experience all together!
Reykjavic Thermal Baths (Bath Houses)
Iceland is pretty unique. It’s the only place I’ve ever heard of that is actually heated by volcanoes. All the hot water for homes is geothermal and endless. They even keep their streets free from ice and snow because of the volcanic-heated water under the ground! Something that was quite the experience was going to a bath house in Reykjavic. I had never been to a public bath house before. And, it was a little odd for me at first…. women and men are separated with two locker/shower rooms. You are required to undress and take a shower before going into the baths located outside. Getting into a large shower room with a lot of other women was…different. Not impossible, but weird. You then put on your bathing suit and go. Once you’re outside (it’s soooooo cold), you melt away in one of the many pools of geothermal hot water. It was quite busy…. lots of families just hanging out…it’s a thing there so we had to try it. If you’re not comfortable with the naked part, skip this adventure. If you’re a ‘caution to the wind’ kinda person, go for it 🙂
The Blue Lagoon
The Blue Lagoon is Verrrry touristy…be prepared for tons of people coming by the bus loads….but verrrry beautiful 🙂 Its milky blue water is the result of high amounts of silica in the water as it is located in a lava field and geothermally heated. What I found interesting is that the water contains very few organisms and contains no yucky bacteria. We went at night, wishing we had gone during the day. A similar process as the bath houses, you are required to shower before you get into the massive pool. However, they are private showers 🙂 Once you get into the lagoon, you are surrounded by beautiful mountains… it was really something! They have a spa and restaurant that we wish we could have done, but ran out of time.
See a Volcanic Crater
The volcanos are everywhere. Some are active, some are sleeping… when you leave the airport and head into Reykjavic, you actually drive through a lava field that is CRAZY! Black ripples of cooled lava are everywhere…makes you wonder how people sleep at night with so many volcanos around! One of our tours included the Kerid Volcanic Crater (it also included the Blue Lagoon and the Golden Circle). The crater was interesting, if only to walk around what used to be an active volcano. I highly recommend this tour, worth every penny and a diverse package of Icelandic things!
Bonus: #6 – Do a Museum!
We happened upon two museums and did them both… we are certainly museum people, fascinated with all things that explain culture and history. We did The Settlement Exhibition, which was SUPER cool.. and the National Museum of Iceland. Wonderful experiences. These were just 2 museums out of many… and I’ll bet they are all good. The Settlement Exhibition was built around found Viking ruins. You can see the foundation of a Viking home. For the National Museum, give yourself an uninterrupted couple of hours to see everything and read the history.
Iceland is a wonderful and fascinating place to visit… we hope you plan an adventure here to see everything this beautiful place has to offer!
Safe Travels!! Or, as the Icelanders say…
örugg ferðalög!!
#GoAdventure!
Heather and Nate
Welcome to our Book of Adventures 