Francesca and her collegues did a great job! ...
Iceland
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Jul 5 - Jul 14, 2023
Francesca and her collegues did a great job! Francesca had so many great sites for us to visit. It was a lot packed in to a 10 day trip, but so worth it. We had great weather the entire time we were there. Sunny but windy at times. I've never seen so many waterfalls in one place! The towering cliffs and mountain views are just unbelievable! My kids loved Selijalandsfoss. They walked behind the waterfall and got soaked, but both said it was worth it! Bruarfoss was absolutely stunning and an easy, short walk from the parking lot. A must stop! My favorite place was the quaint, charming town of Heimaey on the Westman Islands. Especially visiting the puffin colony. We spent just one night there and wish we had more time. The Katla ice cave was spectacular but not for the faint of heart. I felt safe but if you have a fear of heights, it might be tough. Another favorite of ours was Diamond Beach and the Fjallsarlon area. I've never seen so many icebergs! Reykjavik City is a great place to walk around and try local cuisine. We all felt very safe there.
As far as the touristy, Blue Lagoon...we did that right off the plane when we arrived in Iceland. It was a great relaxing experience but later in our trip we did Sky Lagoon on our own and liked it much better. Smaller yet less touristy of a feel and overlooked the ocean, where we could see the erupting Fagradalsfjall volcano in the distance. How lucky were we to be there when the volcano erupted?! Something my kids will always remember. While we weren't prepared for the very long hike to the volcano site and we couldn't secure a helicopter trip, it was still awesome to be there at the time. I had some concerns the days leading up to the eruption, but Francesca assured me we would be safe and provided a website to follow for updates and warnings that may be issued. Overall I can't say enough about the trip. It was a great experience and well planned. Iceland is truly a beautiful place. I hope to return some day to visit the North.
Hotel Reviews
Very clean and great views of Kirkjufell Mountain.
American travelers must remember if traveling in the summer, while Icelands summers are cool compared to US, there's no A/C and the rooms get warm. Luckily the windows open!
American travelers must remember if traveling in the summer, while Icelands summers are cool compared to US, there's no A/C and the rooms get warm. Luckily the windows open!
American travelers must remember if traveling in the summer, while Icelands summers are cool compared to US, there's no A/C and the rooms get warm. Luckily the windows open!
American travelers must remember if traveling in the summer, while Icelands summers are cool compared to US, there's no A/C and the rooms get warm. Luckily the windows open!
Activity Reviews
We opted to skip this lagoon due to it being very small and crowded.
Very relaxing after the flight from the US.
Quick lava cave experience and educational. Two sets of spiral staircases to go up and down.
A great experience! We were new tonfly fishing but got the hang of it pretty quickly. Three out of six people in our group caught fish.
Very cool experience. If you are afraid of heights, this might not be for you. While it's not crazy high, two people in our tour had problems and turned back.
It was very choppy seas. Apparently, the day before was also choppy. We saw no whales and many suffered from sea sickness. I wish the tour company Elding, would have canceled. They most likely knew we wouldn't see whales in those conditions. It was a little disappointing that we went out in such rough conditions for 3 hrs. I understand that there's no guarantee, in any conditions, but this tour should have been canceled and refunded.
Thank you so much Traci for your wonderful review!