By I will officially be going to Iceland from June 19th though the 27th. My sister has agreed to be my partner in crime. Because grading and last weekend overtook all other facets of my life, I’m a week late in posting this. We purchased our plane tickets last Monday, so it’s official.
A lot of the details are still in the works. I’ll be periodically updating on here or twitter when things start to come to fruition.
Iceland is a large and very wild country. The bulk of the population is in the southeast sector, near the capital. Traveling the entire island requires roughing it lodging-wise, trips in small puddle jumpers, and renting four wheel drive vehicles. While I’d love to see the entire country due to time constraints and budgets, we’re basing our trip primarily around Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital (for those of you who didn’t know).
We don’t have lodging taking care of yet. My sister has never stayed in a hostel before, which is the most fiscally responsible option, but I’m waiting to see what she’s comfortable with. Update: We booked 5 nights at the Reykjavik Backpackers Hostel . We’re planning on staying in the city of Keflavik on our 6th night. We have a rough itinerary outlined, which is primarily based on two outdoor adventure tours we’re doing.
Iceland is known for it’s beautiful, almost lunar like landscape, it’s volcanoes and lava fields, and geothermal springs. These make it a mecca for adventure sports. Prepare to feel pangs of jealousy.
Both tours are all day affairs that include transportation from our hostel. The first tour we’re taking is called the Blue Lava Tour. It’s a combination of horseback riding and snorkeling. Let me elaborate. In the morning we will go horseback riding through old lava fields and see the damage/beauty the Icelandic volcanoes have wrought upon the landscape. In the afternoon we go to Pingvellir National Park, where the North American and European continental plates are pulling apart. These plate tectonics have produced a fissure in the Earth which we will be snorkeling in.
Our second adventure includes white water rafting on Iceland’s Hvita River in the afternoon after a morning of snowmobiling on a glacier. I’m doubly excited for this, not only because it’s snowmobiling on a glacier in Iceland in June, but because I miss snowmobiling. My parents used to have two and I spent many a winter day in NEPA on them.
During our down time we plan on making the most of reasonably priced/free Reykjavik attractions. We’ll take at least a day to explore the city, and have discussed renting scooters, kayaks, whale watching, or taking a brewery tour. There’s also plenty of hiking to choose from, and Iceland’s bar scene is legendary.
Anyone out there been to Iceland? Any suggestions?
PA Weekend Fun 