Iceland
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@Mizmazzle About 37% of Iceland's population lives outside of the capital city of Reykjavik so yep it is pretty empty as far as people go. That is why I liked it so much, it felt like we had the place to ourselves at times.
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@Tago-Mago Gosport was different enough from home yet familiar from all of the films and TV shows I had watched that it felt pretty cool actually. It was a nice transition from Iceland to home. Had I went straight home, it would have been extreme reverse culture shock.
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Just returned from a few days in Iceland - what an absolutely incredible country! Wanted to share a few pics though I have 100s!
We were very much on the tourist trail and our itinerary (summarised) was as follows:
Arrive at the airport, pick up car and head straight to the Blue Lagoon. It was pretty quiet and the weather was insane, I actually got sunburnt
Drive 2 hours south to Hella - stopping at the Kerio crater en route - where we were staying for 2 nights in the fantastic Hotel Ranga, thank you @Alex 's wife Kira for sorting us out through her work photographing the hotel group it is part of. Natural geothermal hot tubs, Northern lights wake up call from reception. A really peaceful, Icelandic experience.
Day 2 we woke early to drive to Vik for our snowmobiling tour atop a glacier. We were lucky enough to have the weather to get to the summit (1500m) and a very small group so lots of ground covered and some serious speed! I got up to 70kmph but the guide says he has gone 120!! We then drove to the Black Beach and had a fantastic lunch and beer in a local brewery. While heading back to Hella we stopped at Skogafoss waterfall (pic with the rainbow) and another waterfall which you can walk behind. Both ridiculously powerful and impressive!
Day 3 again we woke early to start our tour of the golden circle. First stopping at Hveragerði which is known as the "hot spring town" for its geothermic activity. We hiked 300m up a mountain until we reached Reykjadalur hot springs for a dip in the warm geothermic river, a ridiculous experience. We then headed up to see the great geysers and Gulfoss waterfalls which were both well worth the drive and I could have watched the Geyser all day. Then a quick stop at thingvellir national park to walk between the Eurasion and North American tectonic plates. Then a quick drive to Reykjavik where we went to Sky Lagoon - a man made lagoon built into the rocks overlooking the ocean. We had a 7 step cleansing ritual which included cold plunges and a sauna overlooking the water. The sun was setting over the ocean, a perfect way to end the trip. For our last meal, we had dinner at Skal which was absolutely 10/10!
Will definitely go back, even if it is to do all of this over again, it was by far the best short vacation I have ever had
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Thanks for sharing this fantastic trip @AdamC !
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@AdamC that sounds and looks amazing, and Iceland is definitely on my bucket list. Did you put the itinerary together yourselves?
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@IrishHeart I did indeed, I used to manage a travel agency when I lived in Oz so I have a bit of a passion for it! It was probably a bit too granular but it worked out perfectly!
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@AdamC impressive. I’ll be back in touch with you when I’m arranging my next trip away
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What an experience ~ good on ya
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@AdamC dude that's awesome! What an amazing place Iceland is. Amanda and I went straight to Sky Lagoon after we got out rental car. Definitely a good idea to go straight to a relaxing place after a long flight. We did the ritual too- that was cool. Thanks for sharing- hoping to see more photos
Edit: oh and we too were able to see that waterfall that was in the Golden Circle in one of your photos. That one was so amazing!
