Our rescheduled 15th Wedding Anniversary Trip to Iceland is re-booked and re-budgeted and we've fleshed out the new tentative itinerary. While it was a bummer to have to cancel in 2020 because of the pandemic, the delay actually had a couple benefits for this trip.
First, we had an extra year to save and were able to increase our budget, which allowed us to add in a whale watching tour, among other extras.
And, second, when we booked in 2020, Fagradalsfjall was not erupting. We would have missed it. Now, we may have a chance to see the volcano in action come August (*fingers crossed*).
With this trip, we need a lot of flexibility. Our actual tentative itinerary that we will bring with us is pages long with notes about all the different possible stops based on how we are feeling, how our timing is working out, how the weather is. Some of our must-sees we have marked in multiple spots in the itinerary so that if the weather is bad, we can try again. And we will have all the information we need, each step of the way, to decide if we want to just chill at one spot longer or skip a spot altogether. This sort of plan, with so many possibilities, is really hard to type up succinctly for a blog post. So, I'm just going to note the must-sees in the most likely timing here. But, if you are planning a similar trip, I highly recommend you have a loose, flexible plan but, also, do enough research to make sure you can hit your must-sees within your time in Iceland.
So, here's the bare-bones of our super-flexible itinerary.
Day 1: Overnight flight direct to KEF (+6 hour time change).
Day 2: Customs. Pick-up campervan. Drive to Fagradalsfjall; 4 mile hike. Drive to grocery store; stock-up. Drive to Ytri Tunga; explore. Eight other possible stops along the way (most have other chances). Drive to Ólafsvík and camp overnight.
Day 3: Drive around the Snæfellsnes Peninsula and explore with possible stops at Kirkjufell, Bjarnarfoss, Gatklettur, and Valasnos. Loop back to Ólafsvík for whale watching tour reservation. Drive to Dynjandi (this is my #1 must-see in Iceland and this is a spot we will not have any other chance to see). Drive to Flókalundi and camp overnight.
Day 4: Drive to Kolugljúfur; explore. Drive Goðafoss; explore. A couple other possible other stops along the way. Drive to Laugar and camp overnight.
Day 5: Drive to Dimmuborgir; explore. Drive Hverir; explore. Drive to Dettifoss; 1 mile hike. Four other possible other stops along the way. Drive to Möðrudalur and camp overnight.
Day 6: Drive to Stuðlagil; possible 5 mile hike. Drive to Hengifoss; 3 mile hike. A couple other possible other stops along the way. Drive to Stöðvarfjörður and camp overnight.
Day 7: Drive to Jökulsárlón & Breiðamerkursandur; explore. Drive to Fjallsjökull; explore. Drive to Svínafellsjökull; explore. A few other possible other stops along the way. Drive to Skaftafell and camp overnight.
Day 8: Drive to Hundafoss, Magnúsarfoss, Svartifoss; 2 mile hike. Drive to Fjaðrárgljúfur; explore. Five other possible other stops along the way. Drive to Þakgil and camp overnight.
Day 9: Drive to Hjörleifshöfði Hellir; explore. Drive to Reynisfjara & Hálsanefshellir; explore. Drive to Kvernufoss; 1.25 mile hike. Drive to Gljúfrabúi; explore. A couple other possible other stops along the way. Drive to Hvolsvöllur and camp overnight.
Day 10: Drive to Strokkur, Geyser, and Belsi; explore. Drive to Fagradalsfjall; 4 mile hike. A couple other possible other stops along the way. Drive to Grindavík and camp overnight.
Day 11: Rapid COVID test. Clean & return campervan. Head to airport for direct flight to ORD (-6 hours time change).
We are getting really excited about this trip finally happening. And we are crossing our fingers so hard in hopes that Fagradalsfjall will be active and we'll have clear weather for at least one of our chances to see it (Day 2 and Day 10). The only other time we experienced an active volcano was in Costa Rica – and it was incredible.