On March 19th 2021, the Fagradalsfjall volcano began erupting in the Geldingadalur valley in the southern part of Iceland.…
Times visited: 5 (2 days in 2013, 2 weeks in 2015, 2 days in 2016, 4 days in 2019 & 3 days in 2021)
Cities visited: Reykjavík, Egilsstaðir, Ísafjörður and Selfoss
Villages visited: Seyðisfjörður, Mosfellsbær, Hafnarfjörður, Keflavík, Grindavík, Bifrost, Hólmavík, Patreksfjörður, Bíldudalur, Súðavík, Bolungarvik, Suðureyri, Þingeyri, Stykkishólmur, Grundarfjörður, Ólafsvík, Hellnar, Reykjahlíð, Skútustaðir, Reyðarfjörður, Eskifjörður, Neskaupstaður, Seltjarnarnes, Hvolsvöllur and Vík
UNESCO sites visited: Þingvellir National Park
Iceland is truly unique. It’s the one place on Earth that feels like an entirely different planet! I’ve had the pleasure of visiting no less than five times, and although I love (the often compared) Faroes and Greenland more, Iceland is definitely near the top of my list.
My first meeting with Iceland was in October 2013, on a North Atlantic cruise with my mum. We sailed into my forever favourite village of Seyđisfjörđur in the East and spent two days exploring the village and visiting Lake Logurinn in Egilsstađir. It was love at first sight.
I returned two years later for a two-week spring visit, joined by my friend Steve. We witnessed a snowstorm in the East, before I flew to Reykjavík to meet my parents for my 20th birthday. We toured the Golden Circle and explored the capital and Reykjanes. Once I’d said goodbye to them, I met up with Steve again for a roadtrip to the incredible Westfjords. We had quite an adventure, getting lost and driving 700 km in the wrong direction 😂 before finally arriving at the home of our late friend Thorhallur. There, we saw our first ever northern lights and spent hours listening to Thor’s music and storytelling.
In October 2016, I took the same cruise as in 2013, but this time with my entire family. My mum and I enjoyed showing the others where we’d been in 2013, and we also went for roadtrips around the eastern fjords, and to the many volcanic wonders around Lake Mývatn.
In February 2019, on my way home from a semester in Greenland, I decided to spend four days in Reykjavík before flying home to Denmark. I spent my time rediscovering the city, exploring the National Museum, getting to know the Bahá’í community and going on a sunrise walk to Seltjarnarnes.
With the Fagradalsfjall volcano erupting in March 2021, I desperately wanted to return to Iceland to see it, but due to Covid-19 restrictions, I wasn’t able to get there until July. Since I was already on the Faroe Islands (so halfway there), I added three days in Iceland to my itinerary, mainly to see the volcano erupting. I got lucky, and experienced the eruption twice, on my first and last day! And it was worth every penny spent. On the day in between, I toured South Iceland from Seljalandsfoss to Vík to see some of the highlights of the area, and I also climbed a mountain above the Sólheimajökull glacier.
