Iceland

[Boardon Hamsay]

Any Hogvillians by chance taken a trip up to Iceland? Heading to Reykjavik the last week of September and really looking forward to exploring/hiking/circling the island. Just curious if anyone has been?

[ua_hogs]

Went this summer and loved it!  We rented a car and took the ring road (main highway) around the island over a span of 9 days. Awesome landscapes everywhere we went.  In the morning I'll look for the website we used to guide us around.

[ua_hogs]

We used this extreme iceland to guide us around the island.  If you are driving yourself, they have multiple self guided driving options depending on how long you plan to stay.  It doesn't cost anything to use their itinerary, however you can book several adventures through them. 

Extreme Iceland  -  https://www.extremeiceland.is/en/self-drive-tours

Several things we booked that we would do again:
Blue Lagoon - 20-30 minutes from the airport  -  http://www.bluelagoon.com/
Glacier Hike Skaftefell - we did the 4 hour hike with Glacier Guides  -  http://www.glacierguides.is/
Whale Watching Husavik - 4 hour tour on a wooden sailboat through North Sailing  -  http://www.northsailing.is/home/
Horeseback Riding near Husavik - Saltvík Horse Rental  -  http://www.saltvik.is/tours
 
If you use instagram, we followed "wheniniceland" and anything we thought looked cool, we starred it on our map and went. 

Highlights of things that we did and would do again:
Reykjavík - several cool spots to see
Geysir and Gullfoss Waterfall
Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
Skogafoss Waterfall
Reynisfjara Beach
Jökulsárlón - Glacier lagoon
Fjaðrárgljúfur - canyon hike
Town of Hofn
Stokksnes
Town of Seydisfjordur - Secret Life of Walter Mitty longboard scene
Hverfjall crater - lots of other things around lake Myvatn (lots of flying insects that the wife didn't appreciate here)
Town of Husavik
Town of Akureyri
The western peninsula - lots of cool landscapes here including Kirkjufell

We did stopped a lot as we drove around and took pictures, the nice thing was it never really got dark so we had plenty of daylight to see everything we wanted to see.  The only thing we didn't see that we didn't have time for was the western Fjords.  I would also like to go back and see the northern lights and ice caves. 

[Horsesrus]

Some info here...

http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=591469.0

[popcornhog]

Any Hogvillians by chance taken a trip up to Iceland? Heading to Reykjavik the last week of September and really looking forward to exploring/hiking/circling the island. Just curious if anyone has been?

A little late, but how was it?

Did you do the whole ring road? What were your favorite stops?

[Boardon Hamsay]

A little late, but how was it?

Did you do the whole ring road? What were your favorite stops?

Speaking of beyond a little late, I did enjoy my trips to Iceland. One in Sept of 2016 and another in April of this year.  Both were fantastic but I did not fully make it around the ring road. Basically, I'm missing the far east portion from Hofn up the east coast. Would highly recommend it to anyone that likes the outdoors.  If I go again, I may take the camper van route instead of the hotel route to have a bit more flexibility.

Here are a few notes that come to mind...

Reykjavík- Lots to do around town; Blue Lagoon is popular but I didn't think it was worth the money so I didn't go; plenty of shops, bars, and restaurants on Laugavegur St and towards the original port area (tourist overload though); Hallgrímskirkja is pretty cool architecturally and in part inspired by some of the basalt formations elsewhere in the country.

Stykkishólmur- Fishing town 120 minutes north, northwest of Reykjavik on the Snaefellsnes peninsula; Bjarnarhöfn Shark Museum is nearby where you can try fermented Greenland shark meat

Akureyri- Fjord town in north central Iceland 4.5 to 5 hours drive from Reykjavik;  Einstok brewery is here and there are skiing areas nearby. Stayed in the Kea Hotels a couple nights. Good hotel and town to stay in for a few days while working around the island

Beers: Einstock White Ale, Viking Classic Lager and Gull are fantastic in part because the water is great there. No need to buy bottled water, just fill up from the tap.

Gullfoss waterfall and canyon area; 90 minutes east northeast of Reykjavik
Barnafoss and Hraunfossar waterfalls; pound for pound the best waterfalls in the country in my opinion but all on the list are legit; 90 minutes northeast of Reykjavik

Hjalparfoss waterfall; 90 minutes east of Reykjavik
Glymur waterfall and hike; 60 minutes north northeast of Reykjavik
Oxararfoss and Þingvellir- 40 minutes east northeast of Reykjavik; First Viking parliament and trail along the mid Atlantic ridge (where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates diverge) is here.

Seljalandsfoss waterfall; 90 minutes southeast of Reykjavik
Gluggafoss waterfall with multiple tiers; 90 minutes southeast of Reykjavik
Skogafoss waterfall and hiking area; 2 hours southeast of Reykjavik
Reynisfjara Beach, Dyrhólaey scenic viewing area and town of Vik; 140 minutes southeast of Reykjavik; beautiful basalt columns right on the beach here along with several rock stacks.

Hjörleifshöfði Cave- 2.5 hours southeast of Reykjavik and once you turn off the ring road, you may need to park and walk to the front of the rock formation to see the very unique looking cave entrance.

Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon and waterfall hike; 3 hours southeast of Reykjavik. Was closed due to "thawing erosion" when I was there in April but I took the hike anyway and had the whole place to myself
Skaftafell National Park (Svartifoss, Magnusafoss, and Hundafoss waterfall hikes) 4 hours southeast of Reykjavik; much closer to the town of Hofn

Jökulsárlón - Glacier lagoon; 4.5 hours southeast of Reykjavik; much closer to the town of Hofn
Dettifoss and Selfoss-northeast Iceland; 7 hours from Reykjavik; 2 hours east of Akureyri
Godafoss- northeast Iceland; 5 hours from Reykjavik; 45 minutes east of Akureyri
Lake Myvatn- cool geothermal area with a few small hamlets mixed in.

[Großer Kriegschwein]

Did you eat the buried shark fermented stuff?

That stuff would make a billy goat puke

[Boardon Hamsay]

Did you eat the buried shark fermented stuff?

That stuff would make a billy goat puke

Yes, I tried it plain, with bread, and with Brennivin.  It's definitely best with bread. It's also at least not buried, just hung outside for a period of 6 weeks or so.