I love Iceland! Geothermal baths, stunning landscapes, and a place where it’s okay to put ketchup on your hotdog.

Before diving into all the details, we wanted to to thank all of our friends that helped us put together an unforgettable and amazing trip. Almost every plan that we put together was based on recommendations from our friends. Thank you to Brian, Allison, Aaltsje, Victoria, and Krista for your insights and ideas!

Sea Days

The voyage to Iceland started with two sea days and we sailed through a storm to get there.

There were strong winds and high waves: creaking furniture, strange rattlings, the pitching, the rocking…

I laid in bed and could feel my body moving and swaying with the ship as it slogged through the 15-foot swells.

I ended up getting seasick and losing my breakfast, and then banished myself back to bed. Corey was a good sailor and handled the day with ease. He brought me water, lunch, and anything else I needed. At least that only lasted around 30 hours. I haven’t been sea sick like that since my first day working on cruise ships, around 13 years ago!

Reykjavik, Iceland

We were greeted by Minke whales beside the ship while we sipped hot coffee on the back deck. They were surfacing but did not grace us with their photogenic tails. The water was finally calm and we slowly sailed past the city and alongside the pier.

We had a loose plan for the day with a lot of flexibility based on weather and transportation options. The storm we had sailed through delayed our arrival and the organization on the ship made for a long, messy disembarkation process which delayed our anticipated departure by about 3 hours.

The walk from the pier to town was along the waterfront. We walked for a time and enjoyed the solid ground and fresh air. Then we picked up some scooters and covered the remaining distance.

Our first stop was a visit to the Phallological Museum. I grabbed a beer and we meandered through the large and small exhibits covering everything from rabbits, whales, humans, and mythological creatures.

The price per ticket was about $18 and a reasonable price for the amount of exhibits and biological information displayed. I’d recommend this place to you if visiting Reykjavik and if you’re interested in…science.

Our next stop was the Punk Museum which was just around the corner.

I stayed just outside and let Corey enjoy this one solo. He says:

The Icelandic Punk Museum (Ponksafn Islands) is a small and fun experience, focusing on the punk scene in Iceland from the 1970’s through the breakup of the Sugarcubes in the early 1990’s. It is a repurposed underground public restroom. The exhibits are on and around the stalls and hallways of the restrooms. There are opportunities to experience the music throughout. The history is presented in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, but shows how the scene was influenced by worldwide punk, as well as the United States naval base, and the domestic ban on beer (lifted only in 1989).

I expected to find more music in line with classic Nordic punk bands like Terveet Kadet (Finland) or Anti-Cimex (Sweden), but kangpunk did not appear to have had much of an influence on the scene. From the museum, it would appear that by the mid-1980’s Iceland had moved to post-punk / art music (a la Sugarcubes), and then nothing punk has happened for the last 30 years.

The museum has a solid collection of memorabilia, including a collection of patch-covered jackets. At the end there is the opportunity to play fashion punk and take pictures to memorialize the experience.

The admission price is around $7 and I did find it worth the visit!

By this point it was time to jump into a hot bath. We acquired some scooters again and zoomed out of the tourist corridor and into a mellow suburb. There is a beach with a geothermal hot tub IN the ocean and a man made one fed by this hot water point.

The weather was cool with some sun breaks and it was so pleasant to soak in the warm water.

After a few hours we took our scooters back into the downtown area for food and drinks.

We sat outside Einstock with a beer and neat view of a running track painted in the street. I liked to pick a random runner and cheer them on to victory, especially the kids.

Grundafjorur, Iceland

We woke up and when I looked outside I thought I was looking at a Bob Ross painting. We anchored near this small town of 800 residents, and without many activities to choose from.

With no taxi options we decided to walk around to the nearby scenic sites. We put in about 10 miles of walking, basically to the waterfall west of town and the waterfalls east of town.

Grundarfoss waterfall

I spotted this waterfall while waiting to board the tender boats to go ashore.

We walked down the main road out of town and followed the footpath to the bottom of the falls.

Since we made a beeline down the road, we were one of the first visitors of the day and it was nice to have so much nature to ourselves.

Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall

We walked back “into town” and took the same road in a different direction.

We walked toward Kirkjufell (Church Mountain) and admired the lovely views. Sheep and horses dotted the fields from time to time. I could hear the distant neighs of horses throughout the valley.

We approached the waterfall from the road and walked up the side to take it all in.

We then finished climbing the hill above the waterfall and walked back to town, still amazed by the jaw-dropping beauty of the area.

We had a little time left in our day to explore but limited options with no transportation. We opted for a snack at a food cart: Maestro Street Food. Google reviews say they have some of the best hot dogs on the island.

They have fully-dressed hot dogs and sub sandwiches, and we got one of each. The Alfred Dog was decked out with bacon, fried mushrooms, red onion, melted cheese, red onion, and “pita sauce.” The Drummer sandwich was roasted lamb, melted cheese, crumbled nacho cheese Doritos, lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, and “Maistarasauce.” Icelandic sauces are a world of their own and often very different than what the name would imply to an American! Both the dog and sandwich were tasty and uniquely Icelandic. We have no photos of these items because we devoured them before we could pull my phone out of my pocket!

We then boarded the ship on time and sat on the aft deck watching for puffins as we sailed out of the fjord. I saw a lot of puffin butts in the air but could not get any good photos. They all dove into the water or paddled quickly away as we cruised past.

Akureyri, Iceland

Today was Corey’s birthday!

Akureyri is the second largest city in Iceland. It would have been good to explore the city more, however, we had other plans for the day. We rented a car and drove around 90 minutes, over a mountain pass and through the countryside, to the village of Husavik.

Chris, one of our friends from the ship, joined us for the day.

Just after passing through town, we finally made it to our location, GeoSea. GeoSea is a unique site where seawater passes through the earth and emerges geothermally heated. That water goes straight into the pools and then over the side of the cliffs back into the sea. The design is modern and the facility is top-notch.

A video of our highlights can be found on Instagram!

On the way back we stopped at the Godafoss waterfall. It is one of the biggest in Iceland.

We also made a quick stop at the Laufas turf houses. Apparently, it used to be common to build structures out of a combination of timber and turf, almost a predecessor of today’s “green roofs.” There are still a few Icelandic churches made from turf, for example.

We stopped for a bite to eat back in Akureyri (hot dog with fried and raw onions, ketchup, “remoulade,” cocktail sauce, mustard and fried jalapenos), and then dropped off our rental car. I got a picture this time.

Side note: We rented through a local agency, Akureyri Rent A Car. Our car rental process was seamless and the best car rental experience I ever had. They reached out in advance to see which cruise ship we were coming in on, and then they had staff at the marina with keys to a brand-new Hyundai. Because the car was there for us, there was no time wasted walking to and from the rental office. They were also the least expensive option we found, so great prices and great service!

Once back onboard I surprised Corey with some small decorations in the room and a freshly baked cake. Our cabin steward helped me make this day feel special for Corey.

We then stayed up late to enjoy the midnight sunset. No exaggerations, the sun finally set at 11:58 PM local time. It was the slowest sun setting I’ve ever seen, as it hovered just above the horizon for ages.

This gave me a chance to take a lot of photos. So here they are!

Seydisfjordur, Iceland

This tiny town of about 800 people is actually quite popular in the summer because of an annual festival called LungA.

Finally we were in a port when an event was occurring but there wasn’t much happening. We glimpsed an improv comedy show (in Icelandic) and some eclectic vans selling goods and food.

Because of the town’s size we were able to walk through the city twice, popping into shops and admiring the unbound natural beauty that surrounds the town. At the far end of town we hiked up a half mile gravel trail that led us past a beautiful waterfall and to a unique “sound sculpture” called Tvísöngur.

There were lots of hiking options in and around this town and if we had approached this town with more exuberance we might have gotten off the ship earlier and hiked a little more. But the weather was a bit damp and gloomy which also made for a good day to sleep in, and we were also expecting to see more at the LungA festival (which seems to activate more at night).

This Iceland itinerary was incredible! I was able to visit Reykjavik again, and also see new cities. Though it is an expensive country, I highly recommend a trip to this lovely place to see the waterfalls, baths, rolling green hills, and lava fields with your own eyes.

Stornoway, Scotland, United Kingdom

This city is located on the Isle of Lewis and is on the north western bit of Scotland. About 7500 people live in Stornoway which is about a 1/3 of the population of the island. So although still small, much more “bustling” than the two small ports in Iceland!

We originally had planned to meet up with an old friend from ships, but she wasn’t feeling well so our visit was cancelled. Such a bummer to miss catching up with Aaltsje and Iain and their adorable twins but better that than try and push through it and spread germs!

So we left the ship without any real plans. We walked through the small town and made our way over to Lews Castle. The grounds were beautiful and we walked about three miles, enjoying the fresh air and scenery.

We then popped back into the town and grabbed a great lunch of fish and chips and beer.

After that we had enough time to explore the town a bit more and included a brief stop at Tesco.

Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Our day started at Belfast City Hall, where we met up with Victoria, an old friend from ships. The last time I saw her was a port visit about 10 years ago. At the time, she was pregnant with her son, Callum, and today we had the opportunity to meet him as well as his younger sister Amelia.

We walked about town and explored a wee bit before joining our afternoon tea reservation at A Peculiar Tea. This teahouse rotates themes and goes all out on the experience, both decor and menu. The current theme is Harry Potter.

Afternoon tea is my new favorite thing! We had sandwiches, sweets, and an adult cocktail.

Side note: The Irish do not eat as much corned beef as Americans do. We had corned beef sandwiches and it was Callum’s first time eating corned beef! The corned beef sandwiches were delicious!

Ron Weasly’s wonderful bubblegum cotton candy rum daiquiri topped with fairy floss (cotton candy) and pop rocks on the side:

To walk off all the calories we shuffled down to the Ulster Museum and the surrounding Botanic Garden.

The gardens were so pretty. We frolicked about the rose garden when some dark purple clouds rolled in. So we decided to pop into the Ulster Museum. There is no admission entrance fees and it has five fantastic floors filled with art, clothing, history, and animal exhibits. And also exhibits on the Spanish Armada and a Game of Thrones tapestry.

We could have spent several more hours touring the museum but after a wonderful afternoon it was time to head back toward the ship.

We had bought a bus pass for the day for about $4 each (using their app) so it was easy for us to jump on and off the bus routes to make it back to the ship right on time.

Holyhead, Wales, United Kingdom

The seas were choppy and the tendering process was a little slower than usual, which is already a slow process.

Corey got up at 6 AM to get tender tickets, and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while waiting for our turn to go ashore.

We pre-booked train tickets to Bangor, which is about 30 minutes away by rail. It is a college town, the oldest city in Wales, and supposed to be very pretty. We visited Bangor, Maine on our honeymoon, so why not visit Bangor, Wales?

Once we were able to go ashore we nearly ran to the train station to discover that we had looked at the timetable wrong and it would be another 40 minute wait for the train. Oops! Regardless, the tender process was so delayed that with that train, we would only end up with 90 minutes to spend in Bangor. So we requested a refund on the tickets and decided to stay in Holyhead for the day.

Not all unplanned adventures are great. We’ve been really fortunate over the past few months to “luck out” on seeing great scenery and finding fun activities on the fly.

Holyhead was not that. While nursing my lateral shin splints from our morning sprint, we strolled back into town and looked at the colored dwellings and closed shops. We took the route down by the water and looped through town which took about 20 minutes.

We found a pub with a beer garden and had a pint and split a burger. Great pub food with homemade cherry cola ketchup!

With more advance planning for Holyhead, we likely would have done some hiking around Holy Island (where Holyhead is located). Instead, I wrote this blog while enjoying the outdoors here on the beer garden.

This was our last port, then we are back to Dover to disembark, stop in London for a couple days, and then board a plane (for the first time since April) to make our way to Croatia and the Balkans!