We caught a late flight out of JFK on Friday evening in order to maximize our time in Iceland. We had a few delays once on the plane, but the flight was just over 4 hours and the time difference is 4 hours, so we ended up getting into Keflavik Airport around 10am. As soon as we got in we made sure to stock up on some local craft beers from our excursion.
By the time we went through duty free and gathered our belongings, a representative from Happy Camper rentals was there to meet us with a shuttle van (it was actually a regular version of the modified van we will later call home for the next week plus). Happy Camper is conveniently located near Keflavik Airport, and they provide free airport pickup, so it was really convenient. We spent about an hour at the Happy Camper storefront filling out the usual rental agreements and getting accustomed to the camper van with the help of some really comedic Icelanders. Did I mention it’s a manual transmission, which I’ve never driven and Joey hasn’t since high school…
After we felt comfortable and confident with the van itself, we started our adventure along the Ring Road! Like we said in our itinerary, we decided to travel the Ring Road in a clockwise direction, so we headed north! Our first stops were Hraunfossar and Barnafoss and wow did they both set the stage high. Hraunfossar is a series of slowly cascading falls that stretch seemingly as far as the eye can see. Barnafoss is much more rapid falls that is a short hike just beyond Hraunfossar.
We decided early on in the planning phase that we wanted to spend a day doing the Snæfellsnes peninsula. This part of Iceland is often left out of trips, and we don’t know why. It’s not necessarily out of the way like Husavik, or inaccessible to most vehicles like the Western Fjords are. Anyway, if you’re planning an Iceland trip, make sure you give the Snæfellsnes peninsula at least a day…you won’t be disappointed. We found seemingly endless fosses (Icelandic for “falls”) coming down mountainsides.
Along the peninsula we stopped at Ytri Tunga Beach, which is famous for seal migrations, but we must have missed them.
We continued on and drove to Bjarnarfoss, where we flew the drone for the first time in Iceland! Forewarning: There are some places in Iceland that very clearly say “No Drones” so any time we didn’t see an explicit sign, we figured it was allowed…or at least not disallowed.
Budakirkja was next on our list. It is a picturesque black church on sea cliff, but there seemed to be a legitimate wedding going on and we both pondered out loud if this is the most sought after wedding venue in all of Iceland.
The Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge, was next and we couldn’t locate it immediately. That was until we caught sight of a gigantic split between two massive mountains. The amount of birds flying in and out was amazing.
Bárdur Snæfellsás (Saga), a local guardian of the area who helps those that are lost, gave us some help and got us back on track. We also took a moment to appreciate the magnificent cliff-side arch nearby at Gatklettur.
This area was populated with a small cottage and a restaurant, so we decided to get fish and chips at Arnarbaer where they specialize in just that! Fish and chips is a very popular dish in Iceland, so I’m sure this won’t be our last time. To be honest, we were just attracted to this restaurant because of the grass roof. All food in Iceland is pricey, but this meal had quality to match the price.
After a much needed stop, we got back in our campervan and drove towards the Snaefellsjoekull National Park, where we saw Londrangar (rock/cliff formation) Dritvik, and Saxholar Crater, where I put on my big girl pants to climb the stairs towards the top of the inactive volcano to see the crater from above!
After we left the National Park (another park added to our list!) we drove to ingjaldsholl church, which sits on top of a hill surrounded by wildflowers, specifically fields and fields of Lupines! This area is just outside the national park, and we highly recommend stopping to take pics!
Our last stop today was Kirkjufel Mountain and Kirkjufellsfoss, and when we got there at about 10pm, it was still daylight! I think the amount of daylight this part of the world gets this time of the year is the most unique thing about Iceland, besides the natural landscape that makes this country feel like a completely different world!
Since it was late in the night, we knew we needed to start heading towards a campsite. We had originally planned to go further north for a campsite in the town of Hyammstangi, but instead we found a campsite a little bit closer in Borgarnes. Tomorrow, we’ll start making our way north…so make sure to stay posted!