We had a great and memorable trip and want to thank Adam for his many good suggestionstions

Iceland | Aug 31 - Sep 10, 2024

We had a great and memorable trip and want to thank Adam for arranging it. In particular, he and Michele were very quick to respond when an airline flight cancellation delayed our arrival by one day. All of our reservations in Iceland worked out perfectly, and the recommended stops were well chosen.

The car rental was also trouble free and comfortable (Kia Sportage). We actually never used the WiFi device because we had continuous cell coverage everywhere (ATT). We did struggle a bit with the driving plans as rendered through Google and Apple Carplay. This combination got easily confused in its sequencing if we deviated slightly from the plan, requiring frequent reloading of the map. Having a map point for each of the suggested stops would help a lot to simplify things.

We also have a few specific highlights and suggestions for future consideration:

Landmannalaugar: We followed the Google drive plan to road F26, which is well travelled, and then were told to make a sharp right onto F208, which at that point appears rarely travelled and likely impassable without a high-clearance vehicle. The Google course line also followed F225 for part of the drive ,which our plans says to avoid. It was getting late in the day and rather than risk getting stuck we chose to backtrack to Highway 1. A much better solution in this area would be to include a series of GPS turn points, rather than depend on Google.

Hella to Vik: we really enjoyed Gluggafoss, which had hardly any other tourists. In contrast, Seljalandffoss was mobbed with people, and was in shadow when we arrived. However there is an equally nice waterfall facing Highway 1 just a few km to the east, with hardly any people (on a small pull-out). We also stopped at Eyjafjallajokul Bakery on the highway for lunch; they have good sandwiches and plenty of parking and a WC.

Vik to Hofn: closer to Vik we found the “moss heath” very interesting (thick moss growing on basalt). We also liked the glacial lagoon and Diamond Beach. Hofn may once have been the lobster capital of Iceland it’s not anymore. Harvesting was recently prohibited due to over-fishing. We had a nice dinner at Otto’s but lobster was not on the menu.The hotel in Hofn was fine but oddly configured–no elevator, and you have to carry your bags up one flight of stairs and then down another, even if your room is on the ground floor. The staff does offer to do it for you however.

Hofn to Egilsstadir: As a geologist I found the Blabjorg green ignimbrite very interesting. I would suggest a slight modification of the descriptive text, to emphasize its origin from glowing hot clouds of ash, broken rock fragments, and gases that rushed down the slope of a volcano. This is similar to what covered Pompei in 79 AD. Petra’s stone museum was also interesting for its very large and diverse collection.

Some of the recommended restaurants in Egilsstadir were closed, but the hotel restaurant was quite good. We also visited the Hallormsstadur forest south of town. This was a nice contrast to the other areas, and we enjoyed taking a short hike on the trails through the trees.

Egilsstadir to Lake Myvatn: This was our favorite area due to the varied volcanic landscape. You might add to the description of the Grjotagj spring that it is inside a lava tube! We also liked the Krafla geothermal area and crater and the Dimmuborgir lava towers. Hotel Laxa was our favorite hotel of the trip; we had beautiful picture-window views of the surrounding landscape from our room. We were also lucky to see a nice display of Northern Lights.

The private volcanic tour near Husavik was excellent; our guide Gunnar was extremely knowledgeable and pleasant. He is a local native and we liked getting to know a real Icelander! We also visited Dettifoss but the water was very muddy, making for a less appealing brown waterfall.

Lake Myvatn to Laugarbakki: Godafoss waterfall was one of our favorites. This drive also crossed a lot of very dramatic glacial landforms such as U-shaped valleys in the mountains. Hotel Laugarbakki looks a bit run-down from the outside but the interior looked like it has been freshly renovated. We had a very nice 2-room suite. Our second-favorite hotel.

Laugarbakki to Reykjavik: The hotel was fine aside from some traffic noise (room facing the street). Its location was perfect however, and we had a nice dinner a block away at Garazie Trattoria. The helicopter tour was fantastic! We also visited Sky Lagoon and enjoyed it despite the cold 65 kph wind gusting over the water. A nice end-point to the trip and a chance to relax before the flight home.