Springing back to Iceland to see it in the green! COMPLETED 6/29 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Springing back to Iceland to see it in the green! COMPLETED 6/29
Springing back to Iceland to see it in the green!
Pre-trip report – part one: “just imagine everything you see that’s white is green”
Dates: Friday 29 April – Wednesday 3 May Adventurers: Me, Cheryl (44) and DH Mark (51) Destinations: Reykjavik, Iceland and some of the surrounding areas Resorts: Hyatt Place, Heathrow, Country House Anna in Storidalur , Nordurey Hotel and Centerhotel Arnarhvoll in Reykjavik and the Geo Hotel, Grindavik Meets: None Celebration: Mark’s birthday and Christmas present for 2016!
In February 2016, we visited the beautiful country of Iceland for the first time to celebrate my wonderful husband Mark’s 50th birthday. We were there for almost a week, staying in Reykjavik, and venturing out on various day (and night!) trips, including:
Whale watching
The Northern lights
The Golden Circle (made up of Pingvellir National Park, Gullfoss waterfall, and Geysir hot spring)
Games of Thrones tour, taking you to various locations used in the TV series
Like so many of our other trips, I felt this was a once-in-a-lifetime one, and wanted to pack as much as I could into our week there. Although Iceland is only a three hour flight away from us, and is on the same time zone as the UK, so there are no jetlag issues for us, I just didn’t expect to fall in love with the country as much as we both did.
It helped that on our first attempt, we were fortunate enough to see the Northern Lights, which is no mean feat. I had already scheduled a second attempt, as I knew it was a force of nature, and you may or may not see the lights. However, I genuinely did not realise what a complete lottery it was, until a friend of mine posted on Facebook, saying he’d been to Iceland on numerous occasions, had spent many nights trying to see them, all with no luck, only for us to see them on our first try! Oh boy, we were not popular with him! Here are just a couple of shots of them…
So that ticked off our bucket list, there was surely no reason to return again? Well… yes… and no!
During that week, we kept saying we’d really love to know what Iceland was like without the snow. When we took the Game of Thrones tour, the guide kept saying “they filmed this in the summer, so just imagine everything you see that’s white is green”. It was tough, as it was literally a white winter wonderland. However, it got us thinking…
A couple of days later when we took the Golden Circle tour, we stood at the Gullfoss waterfall, and marvelled at how it looked…
As we made our way back to our minivan through the biting wind there, we noticed this sign, showing the waterfall during the summer months:
Ok, that looks very different. We both said immediately we’d really like to see the waterfall outside of the winter months. A plan was starting to form in our minds….
I think that was further cemented when we spent our final day at the amazing Blue Lagoon. Oh my goodness, that place really is something. We absolutely adored our time there, and said we’d happily return if we came back to Iceland.
Perhaps the point at which we decided we were going to come back, and within the next two years, was this (taken from my trip report). We were returning from our whale watching cruise:
Soon we were into the harbour, and our guide admitted defeat, having been so cheery the whole way through the cruise, and told us we could get a voucher for another cruise free of charge at any point during the next two years from the bar, so I duly despatched Mark to deal with that, while keeping one eye out, just in case we saw any activity.
We didn’t, although we got our voucher. We can’t do the whale watching again this trip, as they only have one sailing in the winter months, at 1:00pm, but heck, it’s not a bad reason to return at some point in the next two years, and we were talking about coming back to see what it looks like without snow…
Very closely connected to whale watching, I’ve also wanted to see puffins. I just think they’re such beautiful creatures, and a friend of mine at work went puffin watching a couple of years ago, and the photos she got of them were just stunning. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to see puffins myself. When I first started researching our original trip to Iceland, I thought I’d be able to do it then. However, if we wanted to see the Northern Lights, we’d have to go in the winter months. The puffin watching tours only run in the summer months, from May until August, so that was out. However, if we went back during those months, then we could go out to see the puffins, couldn’t we?
Looking forward to another glimpse of Iceland before our visit there in September.
Love those Northern Light pictures! We'll be there about as early as it's possible to see them, so I'm thinking we won't be as lucky.
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Glad to hear you're returning to Iceland as I know you and Mark enjoyed it so much last year. Looking forward to the details and another great TR!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I can't wait to see Iceland in all it's greenery. I hope you have another wonderful trip. Wish I was only 3 hours away from it like you are.
Yes, but if I remember right, you're no more than three hours away from the wonders of Yellowstone and heck, you still have the coolest airport I think we've ever visited.
Yes, but if I remember right, you're no more than three hours away from the wonders of Yellowstone and heck, you still have the coolest airport I think we've ever visited.
We are about 90 minutes away from Yellowstone and it is a wonderful place to visit. The airport on the other hand not so much since the "millionaire" upgrade. Now I just get there as late a I can to make my flight and get out of here. I don't appreciate being reminded of the arrogant millionaires that are taking over my home town.
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Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. Jenn
Signing on to read this. I lived in Iceland for 2 years in the late 80's when my dad was stationed at the base in Keflavik. I would love to go back one day
Oh, I'm excited to read this one! I hope you have success on the whale watch this time! And I adore puffins! I took a puffin tour in Nova Scotia and saw so many of them. I also saw them from further away at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.
We are about 90 minutes away from Yellowstone and it is a wonderful place to visit. The airport on the other hand not so much since the "millionaire" upgrade. Now I just get there as late a I can to make my flight and get out of here. I don't appreciate being reminded of the arrogant millionaires that are taking over my home town.
Signing on to read this. I lived in Iceland for 2 years in the late 80's when my dad was stationed at the base in Keflavik. I would love to go back one day
Oh wow, how amazing to have lived there. I'd be fascinated if you do get back to see how much it's changed since then.
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and Christmas 
present for 2016!
Here are just a couple of shots of them… 
We absolutely adored our time there, and said we’d happily return if we came back to Iceland. 
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Thank
Pixie Dust
that you do!
Looking forward to the details and another great TR!
Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. 
Jenn
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