Seven Things We Did In Iceland

It feels like a long ago that we had our holiday in Iceland, even though it’s been less than two months since we returned. I wanted to talk about some of the things we did in Iceland, even though we only touched the surface of what you can do.

We spent five days in Reykjavik, although we did so much further afield than that. Then we joined our cruise and spent a further two days at other points of the island. We’ve already said that we’d love to come back to Iceland do our own road trip to see and do more. There’s a road called route one which circles the entire island and is such a good base for a road trip. So we’ll see when that happens.

We’d likely hire a 4×4 camper, or something similar like the ones Cozy Campers offer. That way we could make up our own schedule and move around a bit more independently.

But here are some of the things we did in Iceland, all of which I’d recommend.

Things We Did In Reykjavik

The lava show

One of the things that was top of my list was to visit the lava show because it seemed so unique. The show recreates a volcanic eruption by heating up real lava which originates from the 1918 Katla eruption. It’s heated up to the same temperature as a real eruption and you can see how hot it is from the above photo (and that was quite a while after it first flowed).

It was a really interesting show and so unique. The guide we had showing the lava off was really knowledgeable and it’s something I recommend everyone does.

FlyOver

Another thing I discovered to do in Reykjavik was the FlyOver.

It’s a bit like those rollacoaster rides where the track is above you and your feet dangle down. But you’re dangling above and around a 20m spherical screen so it feels like you’re flying. The screen shows various videos of Iceland’s nature and the amazing spots like glaciers and waterfalls. And it’s like a 4D movie where you get wind, mist, scent etc.

Again another of the super unique things to do in Iceland and one I thoroughly recommend.

Things we did in Iceland- foodie related

We tried whale and puffin

When I looked online for the most popular/ unique dishes in Iceland both whale and puffin popped up. I didn’t know how I felt about either, but on our first night we headed to a steakhouse that had whale on the menu. We felt like we had to give it a go and ordered one to share. It didn’t taste anything like I’d expected it to. And it’s hard to describe the taste but it felt like a richer meatier version of beef.

Then on our final night in Reykjavik we went to a local restaurant that served various tapas style dishes. And one of them was a smoked puffin, so again we felt like it was a sign that we had to try it. I didn’t love it as it had quite a fishy taste to it. But I’m glad to say that I tried it.

OmNom ice cream

When we were on our hop on hop off bus on the first day we spotted this place so we looked into it later the night and found out it was an ice cream and chocolate shop. Those words were enough to sell a visit.

It’s located super close to both the lava show and FlyOver so we headed there for a snack afterwards. Omnom are well known for their chocolate (which we bought a load of to try). But we grabbed some ice cream sundaes which were so tasty.

I had the panda which was vanilla ice cream with white chocolate sauce and chocolate cookie crumble. And the thing I loved about it was that the toppings were mixed throughout and not just on the top. So you got the treats throughout the sundae. And it didn’t matter that it wasn’t warm, you can enjoy it anytime.

Travelling further afield

Things we did in Iceland- The golden circle tour

If you’re going to do one tour from Reykvaik it’s got to be the golden circle tour. The tour is around six hours in total, so you can do it in half a day and it covers three major sites around the country.

You visit Geysir which is where all other geysers get their name, and it’s what features in my photo above. The famous Geysir doesn’t erupt very often anymore, but Strokkur erupts every 4-8 minutes where a column of water goes up to 40 metres in the air. It’s such an impressive sight to see.

Then you see the Gullfoss waterfall which is part of the glacial river Hvítá which gets its water from Langjökull glacier, the second largest glacier in Iceland. There are so many different viewpoints for the waterfall and it’s such a sight.

Then you visit the Þingvellir national park which is where you can see the North-American and Eurasian tectonic plates above the ground. The park is an UNESCO world heritage site and it’s fascinating to see how far they’ve moved away from each other over the years.

See the Northern lights

Now this is no guarantee on a trip to Iceland, but we were very lucky and saw ours. We didn’t see the lights on our dedicated Northern lights tour. But the following night on our way back from another tour we saw them.

The photo above doesn’t do it justice but we could see so many greens and purples across the sky. And we could actually see a good amount of it with the naked eye which is quite unusual.

Things we did in Iceland slightly further afield- The glacier lagoon tour

We did one more tour during our stay in Reykjavik which was the Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon.

The lake is a result of a glacier slowly retreating and icebergs dropping down into the lagoon. 1000-1500 year old ice drifts into the lake and slowly melts away. And when the icebergs melt enough they’re carried along the lake onto the shore of Diamond Beach. On the beach you can find blocks of ice which had landed on the sandy beach or gotten stuck on the shore. And both are incredible sites.

While the glacier lagoon is the highlight of the trip you get to see some impressive waterfalls on the way there and back, the tallest mountain in Iceland and a black sand beach.

Have you been to Iceland? What other delights did you get up to?