TR: Iceland, Land of Fire and Ice

[KneeDeep]

My wife and I just returned from a 12-day trip to Iceland, and I'll summarize it with two words: absolutely incredible. Iceland is easily the most beautiful and diverse country I've ever visited. We split our time between three locations so we could cover some ground, but also spend a decent amount of time exploring as opposed to driving the "Ring Road" like a lot of people do.



I'll let the pictures do the talking, but I'm also happy to answer questions or give recommendations as well.



We arrived in Reykjavik at 6:30am (direct from Denver) and after grabbing a quick bite to eat at a killer bakery downtown, we headed north towards the Snaefellsness Peninsula. The tallest waterfall in Iceland- Glymur- was first on our to-do list; it's a 3-4 mile hike to get to the top of the falls.







We found this unnamed waterfall near the town of Stykkisholmur, where we spent three days at a B&B:







The south coast of the Snaefellsness Peninsula near Anarstarpi:







High above the coast in Snafellsjokull NP:







The magical Mt. Kirkjufell:











A lighthouse on top of lava on the far west coast of the peninsula:







A good perspective of the never-ending lava and barren landscape:







One of my favorite locations, budirkirkja (the black church):











One of the few sunsets we got, over the bay outside of Stykkisholmur:











Driving east on Rt 54:







Volcano and the moonscape off F-550:







Unknown church near our second rental on the south side of Iceland:







Svartifoss waterfall in Vatnajokull NP:











Stranded iceberg on the black sand beach near Jokulsarlon:







Unnamed waterfall near Eldgja in the central highlands:







Up close shot of the F-track in the highlands.







View from the deck of our rental:







Reynisdrangar sea stacks near Vik:







The beautiful town of Vik:







One of the Iceland "must-sees", a puffin off the Dyrholaey cliffs:







Reynisfara black sand beach:







Seljalandsfoss waterfall in south Iceland:

[KneeDeep]

Continued:





My new favorite place on earth, Landmannalaugar:



















Skogafoss waterfall in south Iceland:







Two unnamed waterfalls on the Fimmvorduhals trail:







Looking back towards Skogar from a couple miles up:







Oxarafoss waterfall in Thingvellir Nat'l Park:







The amazing Bruarfoss waterfall:















And finally, a panoramic shot of the Landmannalaugar area taken on our last full day:

[davidski]

these are stunning -- do you have any short video footage of some of the water falls, I'd love to get a sense of their sound and movement



I also bet the interiors of the churches must be starkly beautiful

[KneeDeep]

@killglobalwarmingnow 299274 wrote:Of all places how did you did you prioritize Iceland vs other places to go?



I'm not really sure, to tell you the truth. I've wanted to visit Iceland for a few years now, and my wife always had Icelandic horses growing up so it's been on her list too. When Iceland Air started non-stops from Denver to Reykjavik a couple of years ago, it made it that much easier. It was a 6 hr flight to Reykjavik and a 6.5 hr flight home. We like exploring on vacations, and we don't like to go to touristy spots- so Iceland ticked all the right boxes. I'll definitely be going back in the next few years.



Davidski- I don't think I have footage of the waterfalls, but my wife might. We took some iPhone footage of the sweeping 360* views just to have, but I'll have to do some searching. And yes, the insides of those churches were pretty pristine. Some of them are closed and under care, but many are still in use. There certainly are a lot of churches in Iceland for it having one of the largest athiest populations in the world.

[ROYMERCER]

That just might be the some of the best pics I have ever seen ! I know that had to be such a thrill to see .

[KneeDeep]

Yep, it was the best vacation I've ever taken... and now I can't wait to go back.

[Ski Bunny]

These pictures are amazing! Iceland is now on my bucket list of places to visit. Thanks for sharing.

[swamphox]

That's incredible....

[2slikstix]

Very Nice

[skipanther]

Exellent TR,the land Bjork and vikings,would be nice to visit!