TR: Iceland, Land of Fire and Ice

[smmokan]

My wife and I just returned from a 12-day trip to Iceland, and I'll summarize it with two words: absolutely incredible. Iceland is easily the most beautiful and diverse country I've ever visited. We split our time between three locations so we could cover some ground, but also spend a decent amount of time exploring as opposed to driving the "Ring Road" like a lot of people do.

I'll let the pictures do the talking, but I'm also happy to answer questions or give recommendations as well.

We arrived in Reykjavik at 6:30am (direct from Denver) and after grabbing a quick bite to eat at a killer bakery downtown, we headed north towards the Snaefellsness Peninsula. The tallest waterfall in Iceland- Glymur- was first on our to-do list; it's a 3-4 mile hike to get to the top of the falls.



We found this unnamed waterfall near the town of Stykkisholmur, where we spent three days at a B&B:



The south coast of the Snaefellsness Peninsula near Anarstarpi:



High above the coast in Snafellsjokull NP:



The magical Mt. Kirkjufell:





A lighthouse on top of lava on the far west coast of the peninsula:



A good perspective of the never-ending lava and barren landscape:



One of my favorite locations, budirkirkja (the black church):





One of the few sunsets we got, over the bay outside of Stykkisholmur:





Driving east on Rt 54:



Volcano and the moonscape off F-550:



Unknown church near our second rental on the south side of Iceland:



Svartifoss waterfall in Vatnajokull NP:





Stranded iceberg on the black sand beach near Jokulsarlon:



Unnamed waterfall near Eldgja in the central highlands:



Up close shot of the F-track in the highlands.



View from the deck of our rental:



Reynisdrangar sea stacks near Vik:



The beautiful town of Vik:



One of the Iceland "must-sees", a puffin off the Dyrholaey cliffs:



Reynisfara black sand beach:



Seljalandsfoss waterfall in south Iceland:

[smmokan]

Continued:


My new favorite place on earth, Landmannalaugar:









Skogafoss waterfall in south Iceland:



Two unnamed waterfalls on the Fimmvorduhals trail:



Looking back towards Skogar from a couple miles up:



Oxarafoss waterfall in Thingvellir Nat'l Park:



The amazing Bruarfoss waterfall:







And finally, a panoramic shot of the Landmannalaugar area taken on our last full day:

[systemoverblow'd]

Awesomeness!

Looks like you had much better weather than I. thanks for sharing these!

[smmokan]

Yep, overall the weather was "good". It rained a couple of days, but only for a few hours each time. It was generally overcast and cloudy most of the time (as you can see in the pictures), but we did have a few sunny days on the south coast and in Reykjavik.

I can't wait to go back already.

[Danno]

that looks awesome, thanks for sharing.

[bigAK]

Nice fotos, been wondering how the trip went...

[Moeghoul]

Great pix, iceland is on top of my list for a trip. And now I know where my IKEA furniture got its names. Half the fun is pronouncing the location names out loud!

[smmokan]

Yeah, no kidding... my wife and I knew we were in trouble when the B&B manager (from Germany) said she's been in the country for ten years and even she can't pronounce or understand the language. Luckily just about everything is also in English so it's not an issue at all.

[systemoverblow'd]

Half the fun is pronouncing the location names out loud!

Not when you are trying to navigate the streets

[WaistDeepGroomers]

Awesome photos Steve, thanks for sharing! Those rocks around the Svartifoss falls are wild!

[Tips^Up]

Really nice photos. Looks beautiful. You should sell those to Icelandic Air, put on giant billboard in Denver, sell tons of flights, pay me commission for brilliant idea.

[spindrift]

Nice. Thanks for posting. Great country with easy air access from much of the US (7.5 hours non-stop from Seattle).

You got some great shots.

I really like the angle and effect you got on Kirkufell - light, tide road, etc... I really want to be right there when the aurora is going off some time.

I like the Bruarfoss shots too. Not sure how I missed it before. It is now on my list.

Given this venue, I have to put in a pitch for my friends at Arctic Heli Skiing and Glacier Guides. Great folks. Arctic Heli is awesome in so many ways. Easy to combine a spring ski trip with general tourism/photo stuff.

[smmokan]

Bruarfoss is tough to find, but it's absolutely beautiful.

[406]

nice photos, thanks for posting

[Skistack]

Beautiful pics. You got da skillz.

[Shadam]

great pic's ...

looks like great sledding n shit !!!

[Fuzz]

Fantastic pictures, Steve. These are worthy of a travel brochure. Your photography has really improved and these show it -- just outstanding!

[smmokan]

Thanks Fuzz.. I have to give some of the credit to Iceland for being so beautiful, too.

[Deebased]

Fantastic photos. Thanks for sharing!!

[HansJob]

Once again, stunning. What a beautiful place. Thanks.

[huckbucket]

Wish I were here ... exploring;

[smmokan]

^^^ Yep, that's a great spot. Unfortunately it was pouring when we were there, so we didn't spend a whole bunch of time exploring.

[skiingnow]

omg, awesome pics. Looks soo unreal.

What time of year is the best time to go there? ie - less chance of rain... never?

[Trashcan]

Wow!! Nice pics...looks like a great trip.

[wolfelot]

Well those pics were spectacular!