After 14 days that included 150 km of walking/hiking, stops at countless waterfalls, almost 3000 km of riding in a super jeep and taking almost ten thousand photographs between the four of us, this is the last post in our series about Iceland in which we share a bunch of "stuff" on food & drink, geocaching in Iceland, getting around, and our top picks for day hikes.
There aren't many places on earth where an admission fee plus a short walk gets you access to an open cable lift that carries you 120 meters down into the heart of a dormant volcano. In fact, we're aware of only one such place: Thrihnukagigur volcano, located in the Bláfjöll mountains, a 30 minute drive from Reykjavík. As half-day outings go, this one's pretty costly at about C$400 per person. But what an adventure!
Our personalized, half-day Golden Circle tour included stops at Langjökull, Gullfoss, Strokkur, Þingvallavatn and Þingvellir. Although we'd visited more impressive geothermal areas and waterfalls during our two week holiday in Iceland, we really appreciated the stop at Þingvellir, site of the world's oldest parliament and where the mid-Atlantic Ridge is visible above sea level!
We spent almost half our time in Iceland in the Highlands - south, central and north. As our vacation drew to a close, we made one final crossing, from north to south. Highlights included the turf farmhouse at Glaumbær, the Hveravellir hot springs, Gígjarfoss and the Hveradalir geothermal area.
We noticed a lot of similarities between Akureyri (Iceland's second largest urban area) and Reykjavík. And we discovered a few things that made our time in Akureyri truly memorable - including a visit to the public laundry!