Icelandic Road Trip: Southern Iceland

Much of our drive through southeast Iceland was one giant optical illusion that made it seem like we were driving straight into the tongues of Iceland's largest icecap, Vatnajökull. It seemed like every curve of the road introduced us to a new tongue, and they seemed close enough that I could just roll down my window, reach out my hand and touch them. 

Our favorite of southeastern Iceland's frozen features was the Jökulsárlón lagoon. Right off the Ring Road, we pulled over and watched icebergs the size of cars float out to the North Atlantic Ocean. We didn't stay long because the area was so overrun with traffic and people, but we did stop long enough to admire the azure icebergs and snap a hysterical family selfie. 

We drove west from the lagoon to Skaftafell National Park where we spent the night in its campground. To be honest, we did not do super detailed trip planning before we embarked on our Icelandic road trip. We had a general idea of the kinds of things we wanted to see and do in Iceland, but we didn't even decide which direction we would tackle the Ring Road in until we got to Iceland. Skaftafell National Park was a pleasant surprise for us because we had no idea what was in store for us when we parked our motor home at the campground.

Numerous trails forked out from the campground, and we choose the popular, stroller friendly one which lead us right to a tongue of the Skaftafellsjokull glacier. I had never been so close to a glacier before, and one thing that surprised me was how dirty it was. The ice was muddy brown, and we could literally walk right up to it. As we looked up from the tongue, the glacier seemed to disappear into the gray sky, and it was hard to tell where the glacier ended and the sky began. Obviously, it is really dangerous to walk on a glacier without an expert's knowledge, so we stayed down below the glacier.

There was a waterfall we wanted to hike to near the campgrounds, but later during the day, our infant daughter fell off our bed in the motorhome (a good three foot drop) and we had to call Iceland's version of 911. Luckily, she was okay and the paramedics just checked her out at the campsite, but we didn't end up doing much for the rest of the day. I will say it again and again: people, get good travel insurance, especially if you are travelling with children. The cost of the ambulance just driving to the national park (a 45 minute drive because Iceland is so remote) and the paramedics checking her out cost $700 USD. Yikes. We are so glad we had excellent insurance for this trip considering we had to use if for Ruby and our first rental car when the door was blown off its hinges. 

The next day, we drove to Vik-- one of the most popular towns in Iceland. To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed. I mean, I really did enjoy Vik a lot. We had a warm, sunny day, and we spent it lounging and picnicking in its soft grass, boldering its tall cliffs, and playing on its black sand beach. A lot of people visit Vik and rave about it, but after everything we saw in Iceland, I though it was just alright. The same thing happened to me in New Zealand, though. We explored the South Island first, which kind of made the North Island seem, well, blah. A lot of tourists who come to Iceland only see southern Iceland, so I understand why they love it, but they don't know what they're missing out on. I mean, Grundarfjörður? Seyðisfjörður? Lake Mývatn? Vik doesn't hold a candle to these places. 

As we were leaving Vik, we stopped at Skógafoss-- a ginormous waterfall. Hint: in Icelandic, the word foss means waterfall. As you drive the Ring Road, you will see so many signs that read: ---foss. Those signs are for waterfalls, and in our experience, they are almost always worth the detour. Skógafoss has a huge mouth and drop, so standing at the bottom of the waterfall was a truly awesome and loud experience. When we were there, the falls made a brilliant rainbow.

After eating lunch at the waterfall, we headed back to Reykjavik. I felt a little sad that we were done with our Ring Road adventure, but that was only because I didn't know at the time we would end up continuing our Ring Road adventure because Reykjavik's campsite was so gross.

Up next? Hveragerdi & Grindavik