Day two in Iceland saw us rising before the sun - not difficult to do considering sunrise isn't until gone 10.30am in January! We had a quick breakfast at our hotel, with Paul enjoying the Icelandic yoghurt known as Skyr, then it was time to get layered up as much as possible ready for our Golden Circle tour that we were booked on for the day.
Gray Line Tours picked us up from our hotel room to transport us to Reykjavik bus station where the coach tour departs. As we were getting ready for collection, the rain was coming down hard. It looked like it would be a soggy experience, but as we climbed onto the coach the rain quickly turned to snow. As people who were born and raised in England where snow is generally disappointing, and then the few times it is good, the country grinds to a halt; the snow we experienced in Iceland was something else entirely. Within minutes the ground was covered, but still life carried on as normal for everyone.
The coach tour set off, and although it was white out at time, the driver didn't seem phased (Icelandic drivers are clearly something else! Plus, they're infinitely better set up to deal with the snow) and we continued on until we reached our first stop of the tour.
Þingvellir National Park (more commonly spelt Thingvellir National Park) is the only place in the entire world where you can walk in open air between two continental plates. All other continental plates in the world are under the sea, so generally inaccessible to most people. As we arrived at the national park, the snow continued to pour down along with a bitterly cold wind. Layers are definitely a must if visiting Iceland in January!
As you can see, the weather was certainly coming down on us, but it didn't dampen our spirits. The landscape was so beautiful in the snow, I can only begin to image what it would like in the summer!
From Þingvellir National Park we headed to Gullfoss, an incredibly stunning waterfall. The weather certainly turned against us at this point and walking down to the waterfall was incredibly hard, as was walking back up. It was so rewarding though to admire the view. Photos do not do this place justice at all, especially when we were working with such intense weather!
Whilst we were at the Gullfoss, we stopped for lunch as well in the cafe that is set up there. Whilst we were there, we got to taste one of the famous Icelandic dishes of lamb soup. It's an incredibly rich, warming and filling stew that if you like lamb is definitely one to try. I'm not a fan of lamb, so had a lovely chicken soup/stew.
The next stop after we were fed, watered and warmed up was to the Geysir, This is the geyser that gave "geysers" their name. As with every stop on the tour, it is incredibly beautiful and we got to watch to explode several times, which lead to us being able to capture this incredible image:
The warmth of the water, the noise, the sense of power, it really is something else. I could have happily stood there all day and just admired this powerful example of mother nature. We couldn't stay there all day though as we were off onto the next leg of the guided tour.
The main stops along the tour were done, but now we got to do some lesser known places, including another waterfall that has a ladder for the salmon swimming up the river; then a beautiful church in the middle of nowhere, and finally ending at a ski lodge that was stunning. We didn't get any pictures of ski lodge unfortunately as we arrived after it was dark, but the inside was truly stunning.
I genuinely do not feel that words or pictures do the beauty of this day justice at all. If you end up in Reykjavik, it's definitely a necessity to do this tour! It is up there as one of my highlights of visiting this exceptional and unique country. I'd love to see the comparison of seeing these stunning places without the snowfall as well!
Gray Line Tours picked us up from our hotel room to transport us to Reykjavik bus station where the coach tour departs. As we were getting ready for collection, the rain was coming down hard. It looked like it would be a soggy experience, but as we climbed onto the coach the rain quickly turned to snow. As people who were born and raised in England where snow is generally disappointing, and then the few times it is good, the country grinds to a halt; the snow we experienced in Iceland was something else entirely. Within minutes the ground was covered, but still life carried on as normal for everyone.
The coach tour set off, and although it was white out at time, the driver didn't seem phased (Icelandic drivers are clearly something else! Plus, they're infinitely better set up to deal with the snow) and we continued on until we reached our first stop of the tour.
Þingvellir National Park (more commonly spelt Thingvellir National Park) is the only place in the entire world where you can walk in open air between two continental plates. All other continental plates in the world are under the sea, so generally inaccessible to most people. As we arrived at the national park, the snow continued to pour down along with a bitterly cold wind. Layers are definitely a must if visiting Iceland in January!
As you can see, the weather was certainly coming down on us, but it didn't dampen our spirits. The landscape was so beautiful in the snow, I can only begin to image what it would like in the summer!
From Þingvellir National Park we headed to Gullfoss, an incredibly stunning waterfall. The weather certainly turned against us at this point and walking down to the waterfall was incredibly hard, as was walking back up. It was so rewarding though to admire the view. Photos do not do this place justice at all, especially when we were working with such intense weather!
Whilst we were at the Gullfoss, we stopped for lunch as well in the cafe that is set up there. Whilst we were there, we got to taste one of the famous Icelandic dishes of lamb soup. It's an incredibly rich, warming and filling stew that if you like lamb is definitely one to try. I'm not a fan of lamb, so had a lovely chicken soup/stew.
The next stop after we were fed, watered and warmed up was to the Geysir, This is the geyser that gave "geysers" their name. As with every stop on the tour, it is incredibly beautiful and we got to watch to explode several times, which lead to us being able to capture this incredible image:
The warmth of the water, the noise, the sense of power, it really is something else. I could have happily stood there all day and just admired this powerful example of mother nature. We couldn't stay there all day though as we were off onto the next leg of the guided tour.
The main stops along the tour were done, but now we got to do some lesser known places, including another waterfall that has a ladder for the salmon swimming up the river; then a beautiful church in the middle of nowhere, and finally ending at a ski lodge that was stunning. We didn't get any pictures of ski lodge unfortunately as we arrived after it was dark, but the inside was truly stunning.
I genuinely do not feel that words or pictures do the beauty of this day justice at all. If you end up in Reykjavik, it's definitely a necessity to do this tour! It is up there as one of my highlights of visiting this exceptional and unique country. I'd love to see the comparison of seeing these stunning places without the snowfall as well!
Comments
Post a Comment