Iceland, the country up there

 

If you travel at summer, I recommend you to book the accommodation first. Hostelling Iceland has a great web of hostels all around the island. If you have a Hostelling International card, take it with you as you will be able to save a lot of money. Locals turned their houses into hostels and added tourist appartments. Hostel Fljotsdalur, which is located on the foot of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull offers you a beautiful view on the volcano, which was active in 2010. It spew ashes 11 km high and spread the ashes all around Europe and caused a lot of problems in air traffic. The employees in hostels are really hospitable and nice. They speak very good English so you won’t have trouble communicating. Iceland is a country with rich untouched nature, glaciers, lakes, geyses, waterfalls and national parks. In Lonely Planet I read that only 14% of Iceland’s visitors visit Westfjords. With my friend Ursi we decided to explore this part of the island as well.

 

 

The easiest way to come to Westfjords is by boat, which drives two times a day from Stykkishólmur. After two and a half-hour drive we decided to make a stop on a small island Flatey and arrived in Bryansleakur. The road in Westfjords runs by the coast so you admire the Atlantic on one side and lakes, waterfalls and snowy mountains on the other. Westfjords offer a lot of natural attractions and the views definitely impressed us. The most visitors decide to take a classical way named Golden Ring. There are many natural attractions on the way – glaciers, geysers, lakes, volcanos and waterfalls. It’s hard to decide which waterfall is the most beautiful. 

 

 

Gullfoss and Skogafoss stand out the most. Gullfoss means “Golden Waterfall” and is one of the most visited attractions on the island. Skogafoss waterfall is one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland. It is in the top ten most beautiful waterfalls in the world. The waterfall is surrounded by hills on one side and will definitely amaze you with its beauty. Iceland isn’t interesting only because of its nature but also because its animals. You will meet a sheep or a horse anywhere on the island. After visiting sheep museum I got an insight to sheep’s lives, and processing wool. Iceland has 35 different species of sheep, which surprised me. For the first time in my life I saw black sheep. If you’re interested in animals in the sea, you can go see the dolphins or whales with one of the tourist agencies. They will take you to areas with these animals. Price for that is around 90 euros, but they return your money if you don’t see the animals. One of the greatest attraction on the island are puffins, cute birds with an orange beak that survive the summer on Iceland and move west at winter. They can be seen on different places by the shore. I saw them on two different parts of the island. Many of them are on south coast, especially around Vik. I didn’t have the wish to see whales, but I did see seals unexpectedly. Watching seals in their natural environment is really interesting. They can be seen on exact places on the shore so ask where you’ll be able to see them.

The capital of Iceland lies on the southwestern part of the island on the foot of the Reykjanes peninsula, not far from the polar circle. Reykjavik gets only four hours of daylight in winter and in summer, night doesn’t exist, it’s as light as in the day. The capital offers a lot of different attractions. What is worth seeing in Reykjavik? The biggest attraction is the church Hallgrimskirkja. It’s the biggest church in Iceland and is one of the highest buildings in Iceland with its 73 metre high bell tower. It is interesting that the church is dedicated to Icelandic poet Hallgrimur Pettursson. The modern exterior (the church was built in 1986) reminds us on basalt pillars and to the lava waves. The interior is really bright but also empty as it’s typical for Lutheran churches. Harpa hall is also worth seeing. It was built in 2011, stands right next to the Atlantic and reminds us to Hamburg Philharmonic. It recently got a prestigious architectural award for modern architecture. Walk around the small streets of the capital, visit a museum or feel the nightlife vibe in night clubs. Iceland is extremely interesting and worth a visit because of its untouched nature. If you visit it, you won’t regret it.