Notes on Iceland
The floor is lava
Last January, I spent eight days in Iceland. It was my first three-generation international trip. Accompanying me was my wife, 15-month-old son, father-in-law, and mother-in-law. We spend three nights on the South Coast, three nights in the Golden Circle, and one night in Reykjavik. Here are my thoughts.
Iceland is stunning. Easily, mile-for-mile, the most beautiful country I have ever been to. In an almost literal sense, you could stand anywhere in Iceland and be looking at something worthwhile. Try it out. Go on Google Maps, and look at street view from any road. There might be a few suburban streets around Reykjavik that are unexceptional, but from 99 percent of the country, you can see mountains, ocean, lava plains, or some combination of the three.
The landscape is singular. Along with the lava plains, even parts of the country filled with vegetation look like a different planet. Largely absent of trees, the rolling hills and towering mountains combine to form scenery vaguely reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands, if the Scottish Highlands were a black-and-white polaroid and Iceland was an IMAX screen. It’s that spectacular.
Along with the general beauty, the highlights you constantly see on social media are gorgeous. The waterfalls are awe-inspiring. The churning ocean off the black sand beaches is intimidating. The hot springs and geysers a delight. To have a half-dozen sites, all within a five-hour drive, that individually would be a highlight of even the most beautiful country is special.
The Jökulsárlón Lagoon, pictured above, is one of the most extraordinary places I have ever been. It’s trite but true: pictures don’t do it justice. At all. To stand on the shores of a lagoon, watching icebergs the size of houses float by, some white, some blue, and some crystal clear, with seals swimming in the foreground and one of Europe’s largest glaciers in the background, will forever be a lifetime highlight.
The black sand beach at Reynisfjara was also impressive. I never truly understood the power of the ocean until that day. The sea was roiling. Gigantic waves crashed against the shore. A “sneaker wave” hit the beach with such force and speed it sent people running away from the water. The water was in such a tempest that the entire ocean appeared higher and bigger against the horizon.
This all gives Iceland a feeling of exoticism that I’ve never experienced in Europe. The otherworldliness of the landscape gives a sense of adventure. You feel like you’re on the end of the Earth, discovering new places for mankind.
None of that beauty comes cheap. Iceland is the most expensive place I’ve ever visited. More so than Switzerland and Sweden. One can make a trip to Iceland less expensive, but never cheap. Lodging is a fortune. Seeing the sites means either joining a bus tour or renting a car, both of which are pricey. Gas is $9 a gallon. Most of the attractions now charge for parking. Other than the ubiquitous hot dogs (which are far inferior to the Chicago version), food is priced like you're at a bougie restaurant, even if it’s just a gas station grill. We kept our trip manageable by going in the off-season and mostly eating in, but there’s no such thing as a “budget” trip to Iceland. Don’t even try. It’s best to pretend you’re spending Monopoly money, which since 1 US dollar is equivalent to 140 Icelandic Krona, isn’t hard to do. The whole, “Is this my bill or my zip code?” is a real question in Iceland.
Despite being such an expensive country, everywhere provides free water. What a European novelty! And the water is delicious.
The other downside of Iceland is the weather. Iceland is a wet and windswept land. Surprisingly, the winters are not particularly harsh. The January climate in Iceland is similar to January in Boston but with more rainy days and fewer deep freezes. It’s generally above freezing. Unfortunately, the ocean responsible for the relatively mild Icelandic winters is also responsible for the moderate summers. Iceland in January is similar to Boston in January, while Iceland in July is akin to Boston in April. Still cool and rainy and cloudy, with typical highs in the upper-50s. Despite Iceland’s 20-hour-long July days, you’ll get fewer hours of actual sunshine on an Icelandic summer day than you will in the Northeast United States. So if you’re looking to wear shorts and a tshirt, best to avoid Iceland entirely.
Usually a vacation has two constraints: time and money. Visiting Iceland in the winter adds a third: daylight. Fortunately, and surreally, the northern location gives you some additional latitude (get it?). The sun does not rise until 11 AM and sets at 4 PM, but it is light enough to start driving and see clearly from 9:45 AM until 5:15 PM. That still meant no leisurely mornings or slow afternoons, but we found it wasn’t much different than dealing with daylight in the Northern US.
The benefit of visiting in January was obvious: the lack of crowds. It was hilarious to pull into parking lots that could easily accommodate hundreds of cars, but only a dozen or two were there. We didn’t have many sites to ourselves, but there wasn’t anywhere I’d considered crowded. I could easily take pictures from the best viewpoints and get scenery shots without hundreds of people in them. Our server at a restaurant said Reykjavik seems empty in January. This helped with the feeling of adventure.
Along with the natural beauty, some of the manmade locations are worthwhile. Spending an afternoon at the Secret Lagoon left me the most relaxed I’ve been since coming out of surgery. There is a farm that mainly consists of greenhouses filled with tomatoes that makes easily the best tomato soup on the planet in the Golden Circle. Reykjavik is quirky in the best way.
Sometimes it was hard to tell I was in a foreign country. Every single local I met spoke English. I never handled any Icelandic currency. Even small businesses would have signs up that said, “Credit card preferred”. The towns are few and far between. There are SUVs everywhere. Almost every building was less than a century old.
After reading that, you might wonder why Iceland is so popular. An expensive, wet, and windy place without traditional European cities and villages doesn’t sound like a draw. Yet millions, millions, of people flock to this island that fewer than 400,000 individuals call home every year. Why? Because the natural beauty is that impressive. Iceland is a place that excels at only one thing, but that one thing is so good it’s worth visiting. The scenery put Iceland in a class of its own. To be able to drive for hours and see beauty at every turn is incredible. The landscapes are magnificent beyond belief. That makes it well worth visiting.