As my long-time followers probably know, I went to Iceland 3 years ago. I started to love Iceland this much that I knew I will be going back there. This year, I decided, it's time again and bought tickets for me and my girlfriend to go back there.
We both have managed to get 2 vaccinations by now so we don't have to worry about being in quarantine for 5 days.
Before I write what I have planned for Iceland travel this time, I will give you a couple of reasons why I like this place so much.
1 - Nature is unparalleled and unique, everyone who says it's just Volcanic rock is so wrong.
2 - Locals, they are so different from everyone else and I like it.
3 - No mosquitoes and gadflies. I am getting sick and tired of them in Estonia, it's so much of them here this year.
4 - Glaciers and mountains.
5 - Not much traffic and peace and quiet if you are not in a famous tourist location.
6 - Countless natural hot springs you can swim in.
7 - northern lights.
8 - Not a single animal that is dangerous to humans so need to worry during hiking.
9 - Crime rate is non existant. Most of the small crimes are done by tourists, bar fights and so on. Let me give you some interesting information.
Iceland is titled the most peaceful country in the world for 12 years in a row now. There has been only one murder in recent times that happened in 2013. No records of any child abductions.
Police don't carry firearms and the president doesn't even use bodyguards or armored vehicles and simply walks among the other people.
As far as I know, there are no prisons in Iceland, I don't know what they do with a murderer when they happen to have one.
No one steals a car there because it would be useless, where would you go with that ?? Also, you would probably steal it from your distant relative or your friend's friend lol.
I need to mention some cons of course too.
1- Extremely expensive, prepare your wallet but I don't really regret spending on Iceland.
2 Often very bad weather, strong winds, rain and so on. You can really predict the weather there, it changes at a minute's notice.
The plan
The planning is pretty much done already. I want to visit so many other places I missed during my first visit there. This also includes some of the long hiking trails and the active Fragfjadalls volcano that started erupting in March this year.
The last time I stayed there 10 days, this time we are going for 18 days so we have much more time to explore places. The dates are September 10-28, this is also the longest time I have travel enywhere.
Going in September means the nights are dark, it's not a polar day anymore like the last time I visited. This also means a possibility of seeing northern lights. I just need mostly clear night and some solar activity. I live in Estonia and have seen ( weaker ) northern lights before but in Iceland, you can pretty much see them every night when it's clear. If not by the naked eye then the camera will see. And if you are lucky you can see an insane play with a naked eye. Since I'm there for 18 days, I think my odds are pretty good.
The overall plan is to circle the country like last time but explore every part of the country more and take my time. Even going on a small island named Vestmannaeyjar.
Here is a screenshot of the google trip planner, I have every location pinned here I want to visit.
I am renting a camper van again for this visit, I don't want to deal with driving back to hotels every time. The first 2 nights however I am staying in Reykjavik, in a hotel because I failed to book a van before they were gone on 10 and 11th September so my rental starts from 12th.
I am taking a couple of guided tours as well. One is on a glacier lake with a boat and the other one is a snowmobile tour on a Vatnajökull glacier, this is the largest glacier in Europe. I haven't booked them yet tho.
Anyway, I can't wait till I am back in Iceland. Every time I watch my photos from 2018, I start to miss this place so much.
When I'm back from there, expect to see an insane amount of content 😂.
