Things I Wish I Did in Iceland

Iceland was an amazing vacation that I wouldn’t trade for anything.  That being said, we were in Iceland for one short week and while I’m happy with everything we did, I could have easily spent another week or two (or 3, or a month) there exploring all it has to offer.  Here’s my wish-list of what else I would have done in Iceland had we had more time.

1) Arctic Adventure Highland Explorer Tour:

This three day adventure combines two full days of snowmobiling with glacier walking and ice climbing (something I wish we did).  The first two days include snowmobiling across one of Iceland’s many glaciers.  The tour bookers pick which one the day before, depending on conditions. You stay over night in a hut and then snowmobile back out the second day.  On  your third day, you head to the Skogafoss area where you get to strap on crampons, hike a glacier, and even try your hand at ice climbing.

2) Hike a Glacier:

See above.

3) Camping:

Iceland is gorgeous, and what better way to see it than to pitch a tent and stay outdoors (it might be trick with the whole 24 hours of light thing, but still).  I don’t have a specific spot I’d like to camp.  There’s tons of camping grounds and because hiking is so popular, most trails have some huts near them to stay over night.  I think the most fun way to really explore Iceland’s wilderness would be to either drive or hike till you’re too tired and then just pitch your tent.

4) Hiking over Skogafoss:

I talked about this on my Day 6 post.  There’s a trail that starts at the Skogafoss waterfall that continues up the Skoga river valley in between two glaciers.  We hiked a very small portion of the trail and it was absolutely gorgeous.  I’d love to go back and put in a full day’s effort.

5) Akureyi:

Akureyi is Iceland’s second largest city and the capital of the north.  We stayed south for our entire trip but it looks like a fun time and Reyjavik Backpackers, which I can’t say enough good things about has a branch, Akureyi Backpackers , located there.  There’s supposedly fun nightlife, you could take trips above the Arctic Circle, and I would definitely want to include a visit to Myvatn Natural Baths, a geothermal spring that sits on the edge of a volcanic lake.

6) Visit in the Winter:

Iceland was gorgeous in the summer, but I’d like to go back during the winter months.  You aren’t gifted with 24 hours of sunlight, but you are gifted with a lot of snow.  If you read the blog at all you know that I’m a big supporter of cross country skiing and have recently gotten into snow shoeing.  I’d literally go back to Iceland just to travel around and do these two things.  There’s plenty of rental companies, as well as day or even overnight tours (and an overnight xc tour is high on my bucketlist).  Plus, hot springs in the snow sound amazing and you could get a chance to catch the northern lights.

7) Glacial hiking and ice climbing:

See number 1

8) Traveling the entire ring road:

The ring road circumnavigates the entire country and is the best way to see all of Iceland.  We missed out on northern Iceland, the western Fjords, and the entire eastern part of the country.

9) Midnight something:

24 hours of daylight was one of the best/weirdest parts of Iceland and really the only time we got to experience this was on Friday and Saturday (and Wednesday) out at the bars.  Since our days were so packed we usually were in bed around midnight but if I went back I’d like to take a 3am hike or do midnight rafting (which we saw offered) or even sneak in a round of midnight golf.

10) Hot spring party:

See my post from day 4.  The hot spring river was a highlight for me.  However, we weren’t prepared. Next time, I’m bringing, lunch, dinner, beer and some music and making a day out of it.  Maybe this could even satisfy some camping requirements.

Anyone else ever been to Iceland?  What would you definitely do on your return?