To see where we visited on days 0-2, check it out here and for days 3-5, here.
Day 6: Grjótagjá; Goðafoss; Akureyri; Glaumbær
Leaving Mývatn, we decided to make a stop at Grjótagjá. Game of Thrones fans may recognize this from season 3, episode 4. Spoiler: the waterfall in the movie scene doesn’t actually exist). Grjótagjá is a small lava cave with a thermal spring inside. It was once used as a bathing site but thanks to Krafla volcanic eruptions from 1975 to1984, the temperature of the water is now too hot to get in. You can still explore the cave itself. (We could feel the heat from the water).
After Grjótagjá, we headed to Goðafoss (meaning, “waterfall of the gods”). It is 12 meters (39 feet) high and 30 meters (98 feet) wide.
*Brief history about how the name came about: In 1000 A.D., Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði, who was the lawspeaker/priest at the time, was tasked with making a decision on whether the country would continue to follow their pagan beliefs or convert to Christianity. He prayed to the old gods for a decision and decided that, for the good of the people, Christianity would be the official religion…but that pagans could still practice in private. To symbolize his decision, he threw his own idols to the old gods into the waterfall, hence, “waterfall of the gods”. For more in depth history and other interesting facts, visit Guide to Iceland.
We only stopped in Akureyri to get gas and snacks. It was a beautiful town and we hope to get to spend more time there if we ever get the chance to visit Iceland again. As with most of the more populated towns in Iceland, there was at least one roundabout…and a Bonus.
Akureyri is also the only town with hearts for their traffic lights😊.
After Akureyri, we stopped at Glaumbær, which is a farm with a turf house. People lived in the turf house until 1947. The present farmhouse consists of 13 buildings. For more reading about Glaumbær, check out this post. Of course, the stop would not be complete without petting and photographing Icelandic horses.
Apparently he didn’t want a selfie while he was eating HA!
Our campsite for the night was at Borðeyri campsite. This campsite is on the outskirts of Borðeyri, which is one of the smallest villages in Iceland. According to tjalda.is, the campsite is open from June 1 to August 31, but we were there at the end of September and it was still open. The campsite does not have an area to take a shower but it does have two water closets with a toilet and sink in each one. It has hot and cold water in both the water closets and a kitchen sink for washing dishes. The campsite is located seaside and is beautiful! There were some sheep that hung out on the hillside most of the time too.
Day 7: Grábrókargígar; Akranes
Leaving Borðeyri, we headed toward Akranes, which is where our last campsite would be before heading back to Reykjavík for the last 3 days. We had not planned to stop at Grábrókargígar but happened upon it on the way to Akranes. We actually saw that quite a few people had stopped at this place and it looked pretty significant so we stopped to check it out. Boy, were we glad we did!! My mom had just read about it but we hadn’t even considered stopping. Grábrók actually means “grey pants”. Grábrókargígar is made up of Stóra (‘big’) Grábrók, Litla (‘small’) Grábrók, and Grábrókarfell. (This site has some really cool information).
Akranes is about 26 miles from Reykjavík and was the last campsite we stayed in while in Iceland. There is actually quite a bit to do in Akranes. Once we got to the campsite, which was by the water, and claimed our spot for the night, we walked to the city center and to the Akranes lighthouse.
We climbed to the top of the lighthouse, before heading into town to eat. It was cool to see how people lived, and to see their houses and schools. One thing we really noticed here was that children could walk or ride their bikes home from school. Iceland is known for being a very safe country.
This campsite was not only on the water but had hot and cold water, nice showers (which were just recently renovated), an nice covered area with a sink and tables. I believe there was also a washer and dryer but we did not use either.
Day 8: Reykjavík (Hallgrímskirkja, Sun Voyager)
After returning the camper van to Happy Campers (which is actually in Keflavík), we got on a bus and headed into Reykjavík. The bus could only go so far into the city so we got as close as we could and then walked, with our luggage, to the hotel. We stayed in 41-A Townhouse Hotel. We got upgraded (for free!) to a Penthouse studio. The room wasn’t quite ready when we first arrived so we were able to leave our luggage locked up in a storage room at the hotel. It was time to eat so we ate at Meze. I had fish and chips. My mom had the fish of the day, although I don’t remember what it was. I love how the water was served (side note: you can drink the water anywhere in Iceland. If someone tries to sell you bottled water, they are just trying to rip you off.)
First place to explore was Hallgrímskirkja. Hallgrímskirkja is a Lutheran church that stands 244 feet high and can be seen from all over the city. The church is a tourist attraction but they do have actual church services in it.
5275 pipes
Leif Errickson (remember history class?)
Back to our room to rest, it was then time to really check it out a little more. It had a cool bathroom, a LEGIT espresso machine, a stove, sink, dishwasher, and refrigerator. It was in the heart of the dining and shopping part of Reykjavík so it was very convenient.
After a rest, we headed out to see the Sun Voyager sculpture and the Harpa (more on this in another post).
