Iceland was one of my favorite international travel destinations - the time apart from travel made me realize how much it meant to me. Traveling is so much more than just having fun; it’s a way to experience the world through your own lens. This unique perspective will match nobody else’s and the beauty in being able to step from one destination into a completely different landscape, culture, and experience really is magical. This past year I experience a connection to nature that I never had before, it allowed me to appreciate the raw beauty of what this planet had to offer and I’m determined to make it a priority to see as much of that throughout my future travels. Iceland was the PERFECT mix of the elements of nature, culture, and experience. Be sure to check out 7 Days in Iceland (Part 1) for the first four days of this trip!

Day 5: Southern Coast

The first half of our trip was seamless which was clearly too good to be true. On July 1, Iceland did not require vaccinated individuals to get COVID-19 tested prior to boarding the flight or upon their departure. What we didn’t know was that the United States DID require a negative COVID-19 test before boarding a flight internationally. This fiasco ended up taking up all of our morning and part of the afternoon but we were all able to get it figured out and happened to see that the Fagradalsfjall volcano was ERUPTING (you can see through its live stream here). It hadn’t been the past few days since we had arrived and we were ecstatic. We quickly grabbed some food and headed to the Geldingadalir valley to see this magnificent sight. The hike was ~4 miles.

After this, we headed down the southern coast to Seljalandsfoss. I thought that the waterfalls we had seen up until this point were beautiful but I was mistaken. This set the bar high for what we were about the see the remainder of the trip. You can actually walk behind this pretty waterfall which made it truly magical. Be sure to wear waterproof clothes because you will get completely wet if you do so (so worth it).

A little further up the road from this waterfall was another one - Gljúfrabúi. This one had a path that was a bit hard to find which made it more “secret” and so surreal.

Our final waterfall stop of the day was the breathtaking Skógafoss. There was a hidden waterfall that was near this one but since it was getting late and we still had a bit of drive before our Airbnb, we decided to do it on our way back.

Our final stop of the night was The Soup Company for dinner - it was delicious! I got the famous lamb soup and it lived up to the hype.

Day 6: Southern Iceland

The south of Iceland stole our hearts. It was so green and truly serene as we drove around. We started our sixth day at Vatnajökull National Park with the Svartifoss waterfall hike which was 2.5 miles from where we parked our car.

Then we went to the see the famous glacier ice lagoon in Jökulsárlón with floating icebergs. This was the coolest thing in our trip so far! We did a Ice Lagoon: Adventure Tour with Arctic Adventures and definitely recommend to learn a bit more about the area and the formation of the lagoon in itself. The best part of this was checking one more thing off our bucket list by doing a POLAR PLUNGE in the ice lagoon. We had to take the opportunity to Seek Discomfort and make Yes Theory + Wim Hof proud.

Day 8: Return to Reyk

Our final day began at the Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon. This was an incredible canyon believed to have been formed at the end of the last Ice Age. We hiked along the edge of the canyon to take in the views from above and then went down to the river to see the view from below too.

Our breakfast stop was one of the cutest! Skool Beans was this adorable cafe in an old school bus with the BEST coffee. It was soul filling. The cafe was also super environmental and vegan friendly - definitely a must visit!

We continued our journey back to Reykjavik by stopping at Stop at Reynishverfi’s scenic black beach. The waves at this beach are known to be treacherous and have taken the lives of many tourists as they turned their back to take a picture and were swept out. Next, we went to Dyrhólaey. The southernmost point in Iceland where we sighted some puffins, a huge stone archway + lighthouse.

Our final stop in the southern region was to see the hidden waterfall, Kvernufoss. It was a gorgeous day out and definitely made for the perfect final waterfall picture.

The final stop of our trip was Sky Lagoon. A new spa that was the best way to end our trip - the way we started it. This spa is new which is probably why it’s not as popular yet but I definitely liked the vibe more than Blue Lagoon.