Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Tag: Europe

Iceland Hotels Round-Up

In case anyone else out there is planning a Ring Road trip around Iceland, I thought it might be helpful to talk about where we caught some zzz’s along the route. We stayed in two different hotels in Reykjavik, and one night each in Hella, Höfn, Husavik, and Borgarnes. The areas worked out well, although the distance between Höfn and Husavik resulted in a long day of driving so if I had a do-over, I might put a stop in the Eastern Fjords in between. We definitely enjoyed a few of our hotels more than others, but all of them were quite lovely. I’ll point out my top three choices.

The warm, rustic vibe of Hotel Ranga had us at hello when we checked in after a very chilly, rainy day outdoors. Just on the outskirts of Hella, the hotel has a middle-of-nowhere feel that we were sort of expecting in an Iceland accommodation, and it would be a perfect spot for viewing and photographing the Northern Lights if you’re there at the right time. (The night we stayed the sky was thick with cloud cover.) The location also made for a quiet night and I slept so great. Our room felt like a cozy cabin but with plenty of amenities including a large flat-screen TV, a towel-warmer rack, big fuzzy robes, and a huge Jacuzzi tub. I used my point-and-shoot for the photos and they just don’t do the room justice, nor do they illustrate the size of the giant bathroom.

Next up, Icelandair Hotel Hamar was a nice choice in Borgarnes and wins my vote for hospitality. From the looks of the outside, it reminded me of a motel – a long, one story building (though modern designed) with entrances outside. Once we checked in though, we were charmed by the warmth of the sweet concierge at the front desk, and I was extra appreciative of their offer to put me on the Northern Lights wake-up call list. The comfy room was large by European standards and the door to our own patio meant that I had quick and easy access to run out and photograph the Aurora!

And lastly, my favorite hotel for design was the Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Marina, hands-down. Our room was the tiniest I’ve ever seen or stayed in (if I had to guess I’d say the square footage was less than 200 ft.), but the quirky details, fun maritime decor, and humorous signage instantly won me over. A sign in our teeny bathroom even admitted to the miniscule size of the space! It made us laugh for sure. It’s also worth noting that this hotel had the most outlets out of any of the hotels including multiple outlets on each side of the bed and in-wall USB ports by the desk, and since we are some gadget-loving folk we certainly appreciated this detail!

Oh, and something that all the hotels had in common was a really nice breakfast buffet spread in the morning. We really enjoyed it and got used to expecting that at each place, so I wonder if it’s just a common thing in Iceland. Let me know if you have any questions about any of these hotels – we’d definitely be happy to stay at any of them again if we’re lucky enough to return someday!

October 13, 2014
Packing for Iceland in the Summer
A shorter post would be titled, “What I Didn’t Bring to Iceland.”

My dad always told me that when I travel, I should only ever bring what I can carry on my own back. (Note: my dad is awesome and would have carried my extra stuff for me if needed, but I think he was trying to teach me a useful habit.) To this day I still follow that rule, with the caveat that I am pretty darn strong and can carry quite a bit. But oh, how I do wish I were one of the cool kids who carry only the essentials on their backs in a backpack. Our trip to Iceland wasn’t going to be the trip where I tried to pare down though.

Before we left, I found plenty of information on what to pack for Iceland in the winter, but not as much help on what to bring in the summer. I learned that temperatures in August vary anywhere from 55-65 for the high to 45 as the low and that we could expect unpredictable precipitation. Plus, we planned a range of various activities in several regions, so I knew I’d need a little bit of everything.

That said, I think I did a decent job of packing and organizing the massive amount of stuff we brought, especially thanks to Eagle Creek packing cubes. I always use these to keep things neat in my suitcase, but usually I unpack everything upon arrival. This time the cubes made it super easy to stay organized on the road since we were in a different hotel each night and it wouldn’t make sense to completely unpack each time.

The temperature for our trip in the last week of August ranged from 50-55 degrees as the high. Half of the days were cloudy, windy, and/or rainy, and the other days were sunny and lovely. Here’s what I packed for a week-long trip in August to the land of fire and ice:
- 2 short-sleeve shirts (one I wore on the plane)
- 3 long-sleeve shirts
- 3 hoodies (two pullover, one zip-up that I wore on the plane)
- 1 tank top (for sleeping)
- yoga pants (worn on the plane – it was a red-eye flight so comfort won over fashion)
- 2 pairs of hiking pants (one waterproof)
- 1 sweater
- 1 pair of jeans
- warm vest
- waterproof jacket
- waterproof hiking shoes
- casual sneakers
- wool hiking socks
- undies and wool long underwear for layering
- beanie hat (for warmth) and baseball hat (for sun)
- gloves
- swimsuit & flip-flops
- sunglasses
After lugging it all to Iceland (this list doesn’t even include our camera gear and gadgets), at least I ended up wearing all of the clothes I brought except for the sweater and the waterproof pants. I brought the sweater for a nicer option at dinner, but just didn’t end up needing it because most of the places we ate were casual and we were surrounded by other hiking-boot-waterproof-jacket-wearing travelers. I would have worn the waterproof pants on the glacier hike since it was raining so much, but we didn’t end up going on the hike because it was raining so much. There wasn’t a day where we could wear just short-sleeve shirts, but I layered them under hoodies. On the chilliest day we truly did need wool base layers so I was happy to have them. Oh, and I didn’t wear the casual sneakers. I just wore my waterproof hiking shoes the whole time, and they were great.

Missing from my list? An outfit for enjoying the nightlife in Reykjavik. I was certainly curious about the party scene I heard so much about and wished we could have experienced it, but sensibility told me that we wouldn’t join the revelers on our first night (jet lag), and we wouldn’t give it a go our last night either after an exhausting week of exploring. So lame, I know, but I was right. We passed out each night by 11pm, and my understanding is that the partying doesn’t even start until well after Midnight. Next time!

The items I ended up using the most were: 1. my waterproof North Face Resolve jacket that kept me super dry and warm every single day; 2. comfortable and water-repellant Mountain Hardware Chockstone hiking pants; 3. super comfortable North Face Ultra Fast Pack GTX waterproof hiking shoes; and 4. a cute warm vest for layering from Athleta.

I debated whether or not to bring a heavier jacket like my snowboarding coat since it’s waterproof, but in the end I figured that would be a little too warm for summer and I was right – it’s better just to do layers. One additional note about my hiking shoes – they were great for comfort and for waterproof-ness, but for our hike to the volcano I could have used just a tiny bit more ankle support. I also noticed that the sides got a little chewed up on that trail of loose rocks and in the lava fields. So whether or not you want to bring legit hiking boots is obviously up to the level of activity you’re doing and on what terrain. I knew we’d only be doing short hikes and didn’t want to carry a heavy pair of boots, so I figured I could get away with a shoe. No matter what though, go with waterproof.

Chris brought a similar mix: long sleeve shirts, a waterproof outer layer, waterproof hiking shoes, and water-resistant hiking pants. If you plan to do any lengthy outdoor activities or if you want to stand behind waterfalls, I highly recommend (broken record warning!) waterproof everything, not just water resistant.

So in summary, August weather in Iceland really does require some warm layer options and definitely calls for, say it with me now, waterproof clothing! Think like an onion and go with layers that you can peel off as needed, making sure that your outer layers will keep you dry and protected from the wind. We didn’t always need the waterproof layers, but we sure appreciated them when the weather called for it.

Have you traveled to Iceland in the summer? If so, did I miss anything important on the list?
September 22, 2014
How to Drive the Ring Road in Iceland

Now that Chris and I have had some time to reflect on our trip, we have a few things we can share with anyone who is planning a similar trip to drive the Ring Road around Iceland. I hope these tips help!

map and flag photos courtesy of tour.is

Trip Length

First of all, let’s talk about the length of time it takes to drive the Ring Road, a stretch of highway that goes 828 miles around the island. Is it possible to do the Ring Road in a week (or even less) to see Iceland? Yes. It’s possible and I know that because we did it in five days! But I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. If you’re dying to do this trip and you only have a week, it’s definitely feasible, but it also depends on what you want to see and do. There is so much to see in Iceland and there are several big attractions right along the Ring Road, but our most favorite experiences were off of the main road. Over five days (technically 4.5 days), we ended up driving the entire route in addition to several side trips, and we were constantly on the go. We got started by at least 9am every day, and most days we didn’t check into our hotel until 9pm so it did make for a long day. I sort of can’t believe how much we squeezed into our trip and we had a blast, but it wasn’t without a few aches and pains! We didn’t have much time to rest and relax on the road. We even had a full day in Reykjavik on both ends of the Ring Road trip, but that time was spent exploring the city and doing the Inside the Volcano tour. So if you don’t mind a bit of a hustle, yes it’s possible to do the Ring Road in a week. I would at least recommend spending a day in Reykjavik before you set out so you have some time to recover from any jet lag before trying to drive.

Also on the subject of scheduling, I would really recommend not over-scheduling activities/excursions unless they are must-do items for you OR if you have a longer trip with more flexibility. There were a few times where we felt like we couldn’t stop as much as we wanted to because we had to meet a tour group at a certain time (snowmobiling, horseback riding, and the volcano tour). Then again, we wanted to stop about every five minutes – there is so much to see! So the first day on the road we were actually a little relieved that our snowmobile trip was canceled due to bad weather because that allowed us to keep a more leisurely pace that afternoon.

Self-Drive Tours

Because this was our first long road trip in another country with remote areas, I decided to book a self-drive tour with a company called Touris. Basically they booked all of our hotels, rental car, and a few excursions, and provided us with information about what to see along the route. Although I had already studied the Ring Road up and down and knew pretty much everything we wanted to see, I liked the idea of having 24-hour emergency support if something went wrong. I also thought it was reassuring that someone would know we were out there and expected us to arrive at our scheduled hotels each night. We didn’t run into any issues at all, but when we went through spots where my cell phone didn’t work (an AT&T international plan with good Iceland coverage) we had that extra comfort level that we weren’t going to break down and be stranded and no one would know where we were. In hindsight, we were often the only ones on the road as far as the eye could see, but we would eventually pass a car every now and then. It’s not like we went hours without seeing another human, so if we did have car trouble on the main road we would have had several chances to flag someone down. (On the more remote roads though, not so much.)

However, a huge extra major bonus of booking with Touris was that when our original departing flight was canceled late at night, Touris was hard at work re-booking all of our reservations for us while we got some sleep. When we woke up the next morning, everything had been rearranged and shifted by one day. If I was left to do all of that shuffling myself, it would have been a very very late night so that morning I was singing my praises for the team at Touris.

Driving Tips

One of the things I failed to study before our road trip in Iceland was (duh) how to drive in Iceland. I just figured you drive on the right-hand side like we do at home in the States, so it should be easy peasy! It is, but here are a few handy things to know before you head out.

The route is fairly remote in many stretches. When you have a chance to fill up on gas, grab drinks & snacks, and use the restroom facilities, you should go ahead and do that. (I at least knew this before we left.) Oh, and a note on filling up at the gas stations – you can use a debit card or credit card at the pump, but for either card you need to know your PIN.

What I didn’t know was how many loose animals would be in the road. Our first near-miss with a sheep in the road was on the second night when it was getting a little dark. Keep an eye out – they are everywhere! There are signs for sheep and reindeer crossings, but they can be anywhere. That’s something we aren’t quite used to at home.

Be prepared for single-lane bridges where the car closest to the bridge has the right of way. Some of the longer bridges have spaces on the side to pull over, but the shorter ones do not. Slow down, and pay attention to who is approaching on the other side.

Keep your eyes peeled for signs indicating unpaved roads. In a few spots along the highway the road surface suddenly changes from asphalt to gravel, and if you don’t slow down you’ll risk popping a tire or dinging up your rental car’s paint job. (We took out the additional gravel insurance on the car just in case.) Our rental also had some reminders and tips for us as seen in these giant can’t-miss-them stickers on the dashboard! We didn’t have the opportunity to ford any rivers in the car and we didn’t encounter any sandstorms, but we did drive on gravel roads pretty frequently.

Navigation

Chris and I received a Garmin GPS from the car rental company as part of our package, and it was loaded with Iceland maps and an Icelandic keyboard. We used it to navigate off the main road a few times, but it wasn’t always 100% reliable. Sometimes coordinates worked best, other times we needed to use the attraction/town name instead. I also had to Google step-by-step directions on my iPhone for a few places. And many times we just relied on a good old-fashioned paper road map for reference. I would recommend having a couple of options for navigation because often times there won’t be anyone to ask if you needed to stop for directions. I went old-school and used the paper map quite a bit!

Things are also more spread out than they appear on a map, and sometimes it takes longer to get to a spot than you think. I had everything plotted out on Google Maps with estimated times to get there, but where Google said it would take 25 minutes to drive from Rt. 1 to Dettifoss, for example, it actually took twice that long because the road was unpaved and incredibly potholed. We were in an SUV, but smaller cars had to take it even slower, so you have to take that into account.

Overnight Stops

We stayed in Reykjavik the first night, and then our subsequent overnight stays were in Hella, Höfn, Húsavík, Borgarnes, and another night in Reykjavik. All of the stops were fairly convenient, but the distance between Höfn and Húsavík meant that we had about five hours of driving to get to the north, and there was a lot to see in the Mývatn area so we felt a bit rushed that evening. In contrast, the distance from Borgarnes to Reykjavik was very short, so it almost felt like we didn’t need to stop there although I’m glad we did since that’s where we saw the Northern Lights. If I could do it all over, I’d add an additional day in the south and an additional day in the north. Of course if time was no object, I’d also take a couple of days on the Snæfellsnes peninsula in the west before returning to Reykjavik. I’ll write a little about our hotels in a separate post, but just wanted to mention the logistics of where we stopped each night.

So those are my tips! Let me know if you’ve been to Iceland and if you have any additional tips to add. Or if you’re planning a trip and have any questions, feel free to ask away. I’d be happy to try to assist, and I’ll also be really excited for you!

September 17, 2014
Only in Iceland: Inside the Volcano Tour and the Blue Lagoon

Our fifth and final day on the road! And on that last road trip day we experienced perhaps the biggest highlight of our Iceland trip – the Inside the Volcano tour where we hiked out to Thrihnukagigur volcano and descended 120 meters down inside. Fun facts: Þríhnúkagígur, meaning “three peaks crater,” has been dormant for 4000 years, and it is the only volcano in the world where you can go inside the magma chamber. The opportunity to see the inside of a volcano is fairly new; this is only their third summer running the tours. More people have climbed Mt. Everest than have been inside a volcano, so it’s a very special experience! And for anyone who wants to try saying it, the pronunciation is sort of close to, “three-nuke-a-GHEE-gur” (ghee like the butter, not gee like ohemgee).

The moderate-level hike out to the volcano is about 2 miles/3 km (so 4 miles/6 km round-trip) over lava fields, but there is a path of loose rocks most of the time to mark the way. Sometimes the terrain was uneven and tricky for those of us who are more clumsy, but it’s not particularly strenuous. It might be slightly tiring though if, for example, you’re already sore from horseback riding the day before, and lacking energy from staying up waaay too late photographing the Northern Lights. There is a helicopter ride option as well if you’re not up for the hike and/or if you want what I imagine are spectacular views. I liked being on the ground for this though – Chris and I had fun exploring the cavernous lava tubes along the way that really showed us the extent of the volcano system. Not to mention we easily burned off the calories of the previous night’s meal and the chocolate bar that followed it.

That’s Thrihnukagigur in the background. (I’m squinty because of the bright white sky.)

Built by German engineers, an intricate lift system lowers visitors down into the chamber and more importantly, brings them back up. The tour operators hooked us into the walkway and lift system via carabiner and harness for extra safety which I appreciated since we essentially walked a plank across a hole that plummets over 400 feet below. When Árni B. Stefánsson originally discovered the volcano, he simply rappelled into the crater hole without knowing that it was a volcano or what was below!

Once inside, our guide gave us some additional history and info about the volcano and we were set free to explore. Note that while lights have been added for easier touring and an orange rope marks off the no-access areas, no other amenities have been added to the interior. The paths remain completely natural with loose rocks and there are no stairs. Walking around was tricky, but it felt like a true adventure that way. To add to the adventurous spirit, when I signed up for the tour I didn’t realize that the dormant Thrihnukagigur still has the potential (though very unlikely) to erupt. What an interesting scenario to imagine while we were in the magma chamber! Upon hearing of our upcoming tour, a local in Akureryi told us the day before that if we “start to get hot, go up.” That was good advice and it made us chuckle, but it was a cool 6°C (43°F) inside and also a bit wet and drippy. The colors of the chamber walls, quite simply put, were stunning. And the walls were expansive! It was hard to capture the enormity of the space on camera, but to give you a comparison, the Statue of Liberty would fit comfortably inside the magma chamber with plenty of room to spare.

After the 4-mile hike on top of already-sore muscles from horseback riding, we were ready for some chillin’ out, maxin’ and relaxing in the Blue Lagoon so we headed out to the Grindavík area to get our geothermal spa on. Side note: the Blue Lagoon is about a 40-minute drive from Reykjavik. Grindavík is actually closer to Keflavik airport than it is to Reykjavik, so most people seem to work the spa trip into their itinerary on arrival or departure day. Bus transfers to and from the airport make it easy to do just that. If you’re navigating on your own, the Icelandic spelling and the listing in Garmin GPS is Bláa Lónið and they provide GPS coordinates on their website. The signage on the way there is good though.

Through the cold mist and gray clouds, we were happy to see the milky blue lagoon and steam rising in the distance indicating the warmth of the water. Oh, how I wanted to truly feel warm after our chilly morning!

Upon arrival, the hectic vibe of the locker room left something to be desired, but I think that was due to our timing. We arrived at about 5pm on a Friday evening when there were so…many…people…and the locker room felt pretty packed. I did read that opening hour is the best time to avoid crowds and while that was our original plan, things got shifted when our first flight was canceled. Oh, and if you’re shy or modest, it’s probably best to visit during non-peak hours if possible – you are required to shower in your birthday suit in open shower stalls. After you have washed up with a focus on the parts they deem most important as indicated by signs (!), you can put your bathing suit on and head to the lagoon.

Once we figured out the locker/bracelet system (all purchases and your locker are connected to a bracelet that you wear in the water) and exited the building out to the lagoon, we were able to enjoy the setting. Despite the amount of people at the spa that day, the lagoon itself is so expansive that people aren’t sitting on top of each other. I was also worried that the water wouldn’t be warm enough, but it is, and there are different sections that are warmer than others. We had fun wading around finding good hot spots. Did you know the Blue Lagoon isn’t a natural hot spring? The surrounding land is natural, but the mineral rich water is a result of geothermal run-off from the nearby plant. People just started bathing in it, discovered that the water has healing properties, and a spa was born. I’m not so sure I would’ve been amongst the first people who said, “Hey look! Milky blue geothermal run-off water from the plant…I’m going to get in that,” but I did end up paying 40 Euro to get in now that plenty of other people have tested it out.

Chris took advantage of the in-lagoon bar and I thoroughly enjoyed access to containers of silica mud stationed around the pool. I followed the advice from other bloggers about keeping my hair healthy by combing lots of conditioner through my hair and leaving it in while we soaked in the lagoon (each shower stall provides dispensers of shampoo/body wash and conditioner). I put my hair up in a slick knot and didn’t have any of the issues that can be a result of minerals drying out your locks. I didn’t put my head underwater though, so that might also be part of the equation. As for the effect on my skin, I can report that the silica mask did seem to make my face feel very soft and smooth, though not ten years younger as I had hoped. Maybe we needed to stay longer.

One more thing of note based on our visit – I knew ahead of time that towels weren’t provided so we just planned on renting towels for convenience (though the fee was fairly steep at about $13 for two of us), but someone actually swiped our towels while we were in the water! Our towels were hanging in a designated spot outside as assigned by our locker number, but there really isn’t any method of preventing people from taking each other’s stuff. Thankfully the lagoon provided us a second set of towels at no charge and no one walked off with our flip-flops. For that reason I’m glad we didn’t bring towels from the hotel or our own travel towels – we would have never seen them again. Crowds and logistics aside, this is still a must-do in Iceland and I’m so glad we experienced it.

Whether it’s because I was exhausted from the past few days’ activities or because I was truly relaxed from the lagoon, I slept so great that night. The next day, Chris and I took a Flybus shuttle to the airport just after lunch, and we headed back home. I’m not quite done talking about Iceland though! I have a few more posts coming up including my new tradition of doing a “snapshot” post where I round up the superlative bits of the trip (best meal, funniest moment, favorite hotel, etc.), and I’ll also write some posts with tips to help anyone who is planning a similar trip. So if you haven’t gotten your fill of Iceland from me yet, stay tuned!

Oh! And I also put together this little video from the point-and-shoot clips we took throughout our whole trip. I’ve confessed to you before that I don’t consider videography to be in my wheelhouse at all, but Chris and I enjoy looking back on our trips in video form (even if they’re amateurish in production value) and I might as well share it here, right? Voilà:

Iceland 2014 from Susan Marks on Vimeo.

September 15, 2014
Photo Friday – Dettifoss in the Rearview

Not a lot of words today, just a photo taken at the Dettifoss site in Iceland. The huge waterfall is to my back in this image – I try to remember to look in other directions when I’m looking at “the thing we’re supposed to be looking at” because sometimes there is an equally beautiful photo opportunity waiting behind me.

September 12, 2014