As soon as you start reading about Iceland you discover that MOST months of the year are NOT good for Iceland 🙂 It’s better to go there only in summer when day and night are the same because of white nights and it’s super warm (+25 C max ;)).
We decided to go at the and of November. No matter what! Wow air offered a very appealing discount, so there were no excuses not to go there. Flight from Berlin to Reykjavik lasts about 4 hours, so it’s better to make sure that you have everything needed to be bored.
There are tonnes of routes for exploring Iceland and most of them are around so-called “Golden Circle” (yes, like in Russia :)), so we decided to follow this direction.
Only one quick note: the only one possible way to explore Iceland is to rent a car. You can find a lot of rent offices at the airport, but you have to arrange a rent before going to Iceland. Queues are huge!
Reykjavik
The first stop is Reykjavik – the world’s northernmost capital. There are not a lot of attractions in the city in November: restaurants, bars, historical centre and a couple of interesting buildings around the city. I would prefer not to copy-paste all city guides about Reykjavik – you can easily find them online.
But I would definitely recommend one great spot for dinner Svarta kaffið (Laugavegur 54, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland) – these guys serve delicious soups in a bread. Always in two options: one veggie friendly and one with a meat.
Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park
Þingvellir is protected as a national park due to its unique geology and natural features. Just look at this:
Prepare to admire nature every single second 🙂
The weather changes 10 times per day, so you should have clothes for any option: from a heavy snow storm to hot sunny day. Bring several pairs of shoes and jackets if possible. After waterfalls, we were wet to the skin.
Geysir
It is the first geyser described in a printed source and the first known to modern Europeans. I really enjoyed the show of waiting for the eruption of a geyser. People are staying in a circle with a timer and waiting when a fountain of water appears. It happens every 3-7 minutes.
Gullfoss waterfall
The water plummets down 32 meters in two stages into a rugged canyon which walls reach up to 70 meters in height.
We were quite limited with daylight hours (~5-6 hours in November) and visited Gullfoss in the evening when it was almost dark.
Akranes
There is a cool post about Akranes – I couldn’t describe it better. The city is famous for the lighthouse and long fishing history.
Kerið
Kerið is a volcanic crater lake. Actually, it looks more like a funny puddle with perfects shapes.
The main and only one attraction is to make a circle around the lake. You can also go down and touch the water.
Seljalandsfoss
The weather could be better while we were visiting this waterfall: it was a rainy and windy day. So we were “lucky” to get wet both thanks to waterfall and rain 🙂 But, anyway, a beauty of icelandiс nature worth all these sufferings.
Raincoats and umbrellas are must haves for Iceland! By the way, 80% of tourists were well-prepared Chinese people with all possible coats, umbrellas, shoes and so on. So, we should take an example from our Chinese friends 🙂
One of the most interesting things about this waterfall is that visitors can walk behind it into a small cave (and get wet). I can only imagine how wonderful is the view on a sunny day.
Skógarfoss
The next stop was another waterfall – Skógarfoss. It’s only 30 km from Seljalandsfoss. One interesting fact about this place – the waterfall was a location for the movie “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”. If you are not lazy – use stairs to go on top of the mountain and see the waterfall from a different perspective.
Dyrhólaey
On the way to Dyrhólaey, you can also visit an abandoned DC plane Solheimasandur Plane Wreck. A story tells that in 24th of November 1973 a US Navy DC plane ran out of fuel and crashed on the South coast of Iceland. Thanks God, everyone survived! There are a lot of articles about how to find this place, but as soon as you see a lot of cars parked near an empty field – this is it! We didn’t have a lot of daylight time, so decided to skip this attraction – you have to dedicate at least 1.5 hour to go there by foot, spend a bit time and come back.
So, here is Dyrhólaey:
This place is AWESOME. Period. A place where white waves of the ocean meat with a black sand of Iceland. Breathtaking. There is also a nice lighthouse on top of the hill:
Black Sand Beach
The last stop of our trip is a beach. November. Good timing! I’m sure, this place is wonderful at ANY time of the year. There are a lot of professional photographers who are trying to capture every single second at this place. Interesting view 🙂 Sometimes they can be mad at you, that you are trying to destroy an ideal picture. But, anyway, Nature created this place for everyone, so just relax and enjoy.
There are still a lot of places on a wish list in Iceland and I hope we will come back here some day in summer.
Another mad story 