“What’s in Iceland?”

That’s what people would always ask whenever I told them I was going to Iceland. Most people have never left their home country. Even the travelers amongst us may have been to the airport in Iceland on their way to other places, but most have never stayed to explore.

But why Iceland?

I live with my family on the east coast of the United States. My kids are ages 9, 7, and 4. My wife and I have always wanted to travel the world. Iceland just happens to be fairly close, and it also happens to be one of the safest countries you can visit.

Now, back to the original question. What’s in Iceland?

If you like natural wonders, you will love Iceland. It’s hundreds of waterfalls, volcanoes, hot springs, geysers, glaciers, mountains, and canyons packed into a land area about the size of the state of Virginia where I live. Another interesting fact: the population of the entire country is less than the population of the county I live in (Loudoun County). About 90% of Iceland’s population lives in or near the capital city, Reykjavík. I think that’s pretty amazing. It means that you can live in a bustling, modern city, yet be just an hour away from pristine countrysides full of the most amazing natural wonders.

Day 0 (Saturday, June 8)

We took the midnight Icelandair flight to Reykjavík. It was really our only option since the ultra-low-cost airline WOW air went out of business in March.

In hindsight, taking the red-eye flight was both a blessing and a curse. The Good: We could sleep on the plane and have a full day when we land. The Bad: We all had a maximum of four hours of sleep before we landed in the morning, and we couldn’t check in to our Airbnb to rest until 2 PM.

Budget tip #1: Airplane tickets were our most significant expense. If you want to save money, try to get the best airline deal possible.

If you’re planning your own Iceland trip and want tips on what to pack and what to do before your trip, it’s all at the end of this article.

Day 1: Reykjavík (Sunday, June 9)

We arrived at Keflavík International Airport at 9:35 am. After getting our luggage and officially entering the country, we found the long line waiting for buses to take us to the rental car lots. The first bus out filled up and we had to wait for the next one. We waited for about half an hour for a bus we could get on.

Once we got to the Enterprise rental car office with a large group of other Americans, we waited another hour to get our car. We finally got on the road around 11:30 am and everyone was hungry.

A quick note about driving in Iceland: 1) They drive on the right side of the road like in the US. 2) Most cars are manual (stick shift), so if you’re not comfortable with that (like me), be sure to reserve an automatic car in advance. 3) Most road signs are obvious, but some are not. Familiarize yourself with some of the common road signs. 4) Familiarize yourself with correct roundabout protocol.

Reykjanesbær is the town closest to the airport on the way to Reykjavík. We decided to check out the Bónus discount grocery store that we heard about from budget travelers. It was closed! Apparently, we had arrived during Pentecost, which is a national holiday in Iceland. So we continued on to Reykjavík.

We drove right through the center of Reykjavík and through Laugavegur, the main shopping street. It was packed with people with little parking, so we just slowly followed the car in front of us until we could get out to more open roads. Eventually, we found some easy parking on a side road (Ásholt road) so we could get out and walk around and kill some time.

Eventually, we found the Hlemmur Mathöll, where we had the most expensive meal of our whole trip. The food was good, but I’d say the place is a tourist trap. It was here that we got our first taste of how super-expensive food in Iceland is. We at soup and sandwiches from Rabbar Barinn, banh mi sandwiches at Banh Mi, and Icelandic ale and duck salad at Kröst. All in all, we spent about $100 on lunch.

How money works in Iceland: Icelanders use Icelandic Króna (ISK) for cash. However, you probably won’t see any while you’re there. Everyone uses credit cards and you likely won’t need any cash if you have a Visa or Mastercard. When I see a price in ISK, I mentally move the decimal place to the left two places, then take off 20% (10.000ISK equals about 100 minus 20 dollars, or $80. Note that numbers in Europe are divided with periods instead of commas). If you have a calculator, I multiply by 0.008. Of course, this is all assuming that the exchange rate is around 125 ISK per US Dollar.

How money works at Icelandic restaurants: All prices you see in Iceland have the EU VAT taxes included. I think it’s 25% for most goods and 11% for food and lodging. It is NOT customary to tip at Icelandic restaurants. Because of the built-in taxes and lack of tipping, the prices at restaurants are actually about 20-25% lower than they initially seem.

Budget tip #2: Control yourself at the touristy food halls (Grandi Mathöll and Hlemmur Mathöll. Steer clear of the 10-11 convenience stores and their inflated prices. Instead, shop at Bónus discount grocery stores that you’ll find all over the capital region.

After lunch, we strolled down Laugavegur. We passed the Penis Museum and hoped our kids didn’t see it and ask questions (they didn’t). We popped into a 10-11 store to buy some skyr (Icelandic yogurt) and coffee. As I mentioned above, 10-11 is convenient but expensive. We spent 1316 ISK, or about $10, on three skyrs and one cup of machine-made instant coffee.

Around 4 pm, we checked into our Airbnb. Now here’s a big tip: Never buy bottled water in Iceland. Bring your own water bottles and drink all your water out of the tap. The tap water throughout Iceland is either underground spring water or mountain glacier water. Another note about the tap water: It gets scalding hot! Danger! Watch yo self!

Thanks to the June “midnight sun,” nightfall never came while we were in Iceland. It’s bright outside 24/7! So at 7:30 pm we drove south to Grindavik. It’s a small fishing village where we had an amazing fish meal at Veitingahúsið Brúin restaurant. The owner is a former fishing boat captain who now owns a fish processing factory in town. We ate some of the best fish we’ve ever had at that restaurant (we spent about $77 to feed five). Before we left, I asked him if there was a nice place for us to walk around after dinner. He pulled out a map and showed me a nearby gravel road where there were a lighthouse and an old harbor that the kids will enjoy. I didn’t quite understand everything he was talking about, as English was his second language, but I understood enough that we should check it out.

Shortly after we left the fish restaurant, we were crunching along a gravel road near the coastline to the southeast of Grindavik. There was a cute little lighthouse, a wrecked fishing boat, and some ruined buildings that you can explore. We had made 10 pm reservations for the Blue Lagoon on our phones while at the restaurant, so after exploring the ruins, it was time to drive back up north.

A random note on the restrooms: Icelandic urinals are taller than American urinals. Maybe the average height in Iceland is taller than that of the United States. I don’t know. I’m not a tall guy. I’m only 5’8″. I can imagine that if I were about two inches shorter, I would want to avoid the urinals because they would be too high for comfort.

It was neat that we were at the Blue Lagoon with our three kids at 10 pm at night, yet it was still daylight outside. We knew going in that the Blue Lagoon was probably an expensive and overrated tourist trap, but we had to go at least once since it’s so famous. We went at night because it was cheaper and there were fewer people, as we hate crowds.

The Blue Lagoon was an interesting experience. After check-in, we received electronic wristbands to lock the lockers and also allow us to buy drinks. In Iceland, it’s customary to wash yourself in the shower very well before entering a hot spring (yes, it means getting naked in front of strangers). Hot springs, saunas, and massages aren’t my thing, so the whole experience was kinda “meh” for me. But hey, it’s the Blue Lagoon, and it’s famous! (I did find it amusing that some of the drinks they served were branded as “Krap”)

When we got back to our Airbnb, it was past midnight and still light outside. The sun did dip below the horizon, but only for about three hours. Even with the sun below the horizon, it was still bright like early morning. The sun must not have gone far below the horizon before coming back up. the kids slept around 1:30 am.

Day 2: The Golden Circle (Monday, June 10)

Besides the Blue Lagoon, the other most famous attraction in Iceland is a route they call “The Golden Circle.” The Golden Circle is the route that takes you from Reykjavík to Þingvellir to Geysir to Gullfoss and back again in about four hours. It’s the ultimate Icelandic day trip that you must take if you only have a day to spend in Iceland.

We woke up really late, almost at noon, on Monday. It must have been the jet lag and lack of sleep. By 1:30 pm, we were out the door looking for food. Icelandic Street Food, to be exact. The restaurant called Icelandic Street Food in Reykjavík just might be the most popular tourist restaurant in Iceland. It has almost 2,000 reviews on Google at the time of this writing. They serve up delicious fish or lamb stews inside bread bowls. The neat thing is that they give free stew refills and the desserts they have piled around the restaurant (macaroons and brownies) are also free with your meal. We spent about $60 there, but it’s a good deal considering it’s one of the few places in Iceland where you can eat as much as you want for a relatively low price (by Icelandic standards).

After lunch, we headed to What’s On in Reykjavík to buy and send some postcards. Then we stopped by Bónus near our AirBnB in the Skeifan neighborhood.

Budget Tip #3: I mentioned this before, but it deserves emphasis. Food was the second largest expense of our trip, so if you want to save money while in Iceland, find ways to reduce your food costs. Bónus is a chain of discount grocery stores in Iceland. We generally had one good restaurant meal each day. For the other meals, we’d stock up with snacks and easy foods at Bónus.

I had forgotten to bring my car charger for my phone with me, so I asked an employee at Rabbar Barinn in Hlemmur Mathöll the day before about where I can buy one. He suggested ELKO, which is similar to Best Buy in the US. Since there happened to be an ELKO next to the Bónus, I stopped by to see if I could find a car charger. My wife and kids stayed in the car while I went in. A few minutes later, I triumphantly returned with a brand new car charger. Except it was the wrong type.

Luckily, the returns process at ELKO works the same way as in Best Buy. I brought the charger back in and waited in line at customer service. I had opened it, but they still allowed me to return it because it still looked in a saleable condition. The guy asked, “Do you want it back on your credit card?” I replied, “Yes, please” and pulled out my Costco Visa card. When he saw the card, he said, “That’s not a credit card.” I said, “Yes it is.” He looked confused, shrugged, and said: “Okay, try it.” I tried it and it worked. He still looked confused and said, “Hm. It worked.” I’m still curious why he didn’t think my Costco Visa looked like a credit card.

Around 5 pm we headed out to the Golden Circle. Our first stop was Þingvellir (“Þ” is pronounced like “th” and you might see the common alternate spelling of Þingvellir as Thingvellir. I’ll stick with Þingvellir because it’s so much cooler). At Þingvellir, you can see where the North American and European tectonic plates are drifting apart. Parking at the visitor center costs 750 ISK.

What I learned about pronouncing Icelandic words: Icelandic words look notoriously difficult to pronounce, but if you take your time and learn the most basic rules, it’s not that hard. 1) “Þ” is like “th” 2) “Д is like “dh” 3) “ll” is like “tl” 4) “j” is like “y” 5) Emphasis on the first syllable of the word 6) Search Google for “how to pronounce Icelandic words” if you want to go more in-depth.

Around 7 pm, we stopped by Efstidalur II for ice cream. It’s a hotel and dairy farm. They have homemade ice cream and you can see the cows from the ice cream shop. We had some ice cream and continued on to Geysir.

Geysir is a collection of hot spring pools and geysers. Strokkur geyser erupts more than 100 times a day, so you can see it spout every few minutes. It’s not very regular, so sometimes it doesn’t erupt for 20 minutes, and other times it goes twice in less than a minute. If you’re lucky, you might see The Great Geysir erupt, but that one is much less frequent (we didn’t see it erupt).

After Geysir, the next stop was Gullfoss. It’s a large waterfall that I can’t really describe with words, so I’ll let a picture show it.

We took a different route back to Reykjavík. We drove through Flúðir (home of the Secret Lagoon, which I hear is a good alternative to the Blue Lagoon) and Selfoss in the south, then back to Skeifan Reykjavík. If you drive this route earlier in the day, be sure to check out the Fridheimar tomato farm where you can dine inside the greenhouse.

It was 11 pm and we were hungry (and of course, it was still bright outside), so we did some shopping at Hagkaup, then ordered a pizza at Dominoes. There was a special deal at Domino’s where we could choose any large specialty pizza for 1590 ISK. For Iceland, that’s a great deal! That’s about $12.

Day 3: Vestmannaeyjar (Tuesday, June 11)

Iceland is an island. But when Icelanders refer to the “islanders,” they’re not talking about themselves. They’re talking about the 4,500 people living on the islands of Vestmannaeyjar off the coast of Iceland.

I originally planned to check out of our Airbnb by 9 am. But with three kids in tow, things got quite delayed. We ended up checking out at 11:00 am, but we had a 1:15 pm ferry to catch at Landeyjahöfn, an hour and forty-five minutes away! We filled up with gas at the nearby Olís gas station, then drove as quickly as we safely could to the ferry terminal.

Planning note: We couldn’t bring our car on the ferry because I had booked non-refundable lodging on the island, but when I went to book the ferry, they could only accommodate us, but not the car. If you’re planning a visit to Vestmannaeyjar, make sure you have ferry tickets to and from the island first. Get ferry tickets and information from the official Vestnammaeyjar website (note that the anglicized name is Westman Islands)

Note about gasoline in Iceland: Getting gas during normal business hours around Reykjavik is easy. Just fill up with gas, note your pump number, and go inside to pay by credit card. Despite getting a PIN number for my Visa card before the trip, I couldn’t get my credit card to work outside on any of the gas machines. If you’re leaving the Reykjavik area, you should buy prepaid N1 gas cards because it may be hard to find a gas station staffed with people. There are unmanned N1 gas stations throughout Iceland. Prices are in ISK and gas (petrol) is measured in liters. The price comes out to about $6 per gallon.

We arrived at the Landeyjahöfn ferry terminal at 1:15, just as they were closing the gates to the boat. We would have missed the boat if we arrived seconds later! Luck was on our side because missing the boat would have been disastrous since we had 2:30 pm tour tickets with Eyja Tours and lodging at Eldey Apartments. We really dodged an expensive bullet!

Once we were on the boat (named Herjólfur), we were back on track. We bought a couple of sandwiches at the snack bar on the ferry since we missed lunch. After we reached the island of Heimaey (the largest island of Vestmannaeyjar where everyone lives), we checked in with Eyja Tours for the Puffin and Volcano tour that we booked for 2:30 pm.

The Puffin and Volcano Tour was my 9-year-old daughter’s favorite part of the trip. They took us to see the largest puffin colony in the world, stand atop the Eldfell volcano, and meet a puffin at the puffin sanctuary.

After the tour, we were hungry. The tour guide had pointed out his favorite pizza place, so we decided to go there. It was Pítsugerdin pizza, and they didn’t disappoint. The staff was super friendly and we ate pizza and drank glacial water for dinner.

The restaurant was next to a Bónus, so we bought some snacks and began the long walk to Eldey Apartments with our luggage in tow since we couldn’t bring our car onto the island. The walk was a little over a mile, but at least the scenery was great and the sun wasn’t going to go down.

Note: Eldey Apartments had a laundry room for guests. We used it but didn’t realize how precious it was until later in our trip. There are no public laundromats in Iceland!

Day 4: Jökulsárlón (Wednesday, June 12)

I woke everyone up at 5:00 am. It was already light outside because the sun never set. We were going to catch the first ferry off the island because we had a lot of driving ahead of us. By 6:00 am, we were out the door so we could walk to the docks on the north side of the island. Herjólfur was waiting for us.

The walk to the docks and ferry ride back went smoothly and was uneventful. We got back to our car in the gravel Landeyjahöfn parking lot and drove north to the first attraction of the day: Seljalandsfoss.

If you’re a Justin Bieber fan, you may recognize Seljalandsfoss from one of his music videos. You can actually walk behind this waterfall, but we didn’t because we didn’t have rain gear (you will get soaked). It’s my favorite waterfall out of the handful we saw while in Iceland. Parking costs 700 ISK (about $5.50).

The next stop was Skógafoss, another waterfall about half an hour east. I don’t think you can go behind this one, but you can hike to the top of it. Two of my kids were sleeping in the car, so I went with my daughter. We didn’t go to the top. I’ve read that there are twenty more waterfalls in the highlands behind Skógafoss if you want to hike.

After Skógafoss, we drove the remaining three hours to the Jökulsárlón glacial lake. It was a long drive, but the ever-changing Icelandic scenery of lava fields, mountains, and glaciers more than made up for it. Along the way, we stopped at Víkurskáli N1 station in Vík for gas and Skaftárskáli in Kirkjubæjarklaustur for hot dogs, coffee, and skyr. If we had more time along this stretch of road, I would have liked to visit the black sand beach at Vík or see Svartifoss.

Around 1 pm we checked into our Amphibian Boat Tour at Jökulsárlón. We still had an hour before we had to get on the boat for the tour, so we had lunch. The Nailed It Fish & Chips served up the best fish and chips I’d ever had for 1700 ISK each (about $13). We bought three. The light beer was surprisingly inexpensive and tasty. I think it was 250 ISK ($2). We also bought a bowl of soup at the restaurant, which cost 1200 ISK ($9) and 600 ISK ($4.50) for refills. By the way, the shop at Jökulsárlón is another good place to buy and mail out postcards.

A note on Icelandic Prohibition: Alcohol was banned in Iceland in 1915. In 1935, all alcoholic beverages were made legal again, with the exception of beer. Until 1989, it was illegal to make beer with higher than 2.25% alcohol content in Iceland. That’s why to this day, you will see a lot of 2.25% or “light” beer for sale. I guess it’s still a popular choice today since it was the only beer choice for over 50 years.

The Amphibian Boat Tour was pretty neat. They take you out on the lake to get a closer look at the icebergs. They’ll also bring a chunk of glacier ice onto the boat and let you touch and taste it (it tastes like water).

After the tour, we hung out for a while and even saw seals swimming among the icebergs near the shore. Then we had a long drive back to Hella where we had reserved an Airbnb on a farm. On the way back, we stopped by Vík again and had dinner at Halldórskaffi (we spent 10660 ISK, or $85). We also picked up a few snacks at the Krónan grocery store before getting back on the road.

It was about 10 PM when we checked into our Airbnb, which was on the Kaldbakur farm in Hella. It’s a neat place to stay. The rooms are spacious with concrete floors. There are four rooms (with private bathrooms) in what looks like a renovated barn and they all share a large common area with tables and a kitchen. Just outside are Icelandic horses that will come meet you.

Day 5: The Chocolate Factory (Thursday, June 13)

For the first four days of the trip, we drove a lot and rushed a lot. I like to get the big things out of the way at the beginning of the trip, so we can relax more toward the end of the trip. Day 5 was the beginning of the relaxing (but hopefully not boring) part.

Around 11:00 AM, we checked out of the farm and drove an hour and a half back to Reykjavík. We had 2 PM tickets for a chocolate factory tour at Omnom Chocolate. After checking in, we went over to the nearby Grandi Mathöll to have lunch (we spent about 8000 ISK, or $64 for lunch).

I found the chocolate tour fascinating, but my wife and kids thought the first half where the guide explains how they procure and make chocolate boring. Everyone got to “sample” as much chocolate as they wanted, which my kids were quite happy to do. I was surprised at how small the chocolate factory operation was. The packaging isn’t done by machines; it’s done by two people sitting at a table packing the chocolate by hand!

After the tour, we bought several bars of chocolate to bring home and give as gifts. Then we drove north to Borgarnes. Borgarnes is a large town (by Icelandic standards) about an hour north of Reykjavík. We went on Google Maps and found a playground (Bjössaróló Playground) where the kids could play before we continued our journey.

When we got there, my four-year-old son really had to go pee. We walked as quickly as we could to find the nearest restroom we could use. We stumbled into a nice cafe called Englendingavík where we asked if we could use their restroom. It was too late, my son didn’t quite make it to the toilet before he peed partially in his pants and partially on the floor of the restroom. I quickly cleaned up the floor and went out to order a cup of coffee as thanks for them letting us use their restroom.

Budget tip #4: The cup of coffee I bought Englendingavík was the first time during my trip I had coffee actually “made” using a real cappuccino machine. Unless you go to a cafe, most of the coffee you find will be from instant coffee machines (at least from my experience). A cup of coffee in Iceland typically costs 350-400 ISK (about $2.50-$3). If you want to save money on coffee, buy a bottle of instant coffee mix at a Bónus and make your own. The instant coffee can be quite harsh-tasting, so don’t forget to buy some creamer or milk as well!

We were able to change my son’s pants to dry pants at the car, then the kids had a blast at the playground. After letting the kids play for about an hour, we stopped by the local Bónus then continued our journey north to the Snæfellsnes Peninsula where we had a room waiting for us in Ólafsvík.

The road to Ólafsvík cuts over a mountain. It looked like it could get pretty treacherous in bad weather. Luckily, the weather was good and we made it to Welcome Apartments in Ólafsvík around 7 PM. We were hungry and most of the restaurants in town were closed or closing. We had a dinner of pizza, a burger, and mussels at Hraun restaurant. The staff was super friendly and the mussels on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula are well-known. We spent 7500 ISK for dinner (about $60).

Day 6: Whale Watching (Friday, June 14)

I woke everyone up at 8:30 because we were going whale watching with Láki Tours at 10:00. At 9:30 we checked in and they suited us up in warm waterproof jumpsuits. It was the first time we brought the kids whale watching and they were excited. We saw dolphins, orcas, and another type of whale which I forgot the name. The marine biologists on board were really excited to see orcas jumping out of the water, which they said that they witness only once every year or two. I missed that part because my youngest kid didn’t want to go outside the cabin. But we all had fun.

We bought some bread and pastries from the Braudg bakery and got gas at N1 in Ólafsvík. Honestly, I’m not that impressed with Icelandic bread as far as European bakeries go. All the breads seem very tough.

Anyways, remember I mentioned that my son peed his pants the day before? Well, my wife had been asking around and I’d been Googling trying to find a place where we could do laundry with little luck. We did get a tip from the front desk at the hostel in Ólafsvík that there may be a public laundry a half-hour down the road in Grundarfjörður, so that’s where we headed.

A note about laundry in Iceland: Laundromats are pretty much non-existent in Iceland (at least Google couldn’t find any for us). Everyone uses private laundry rooms or industrial laundry services (that are prohibitively expensive). If you plan on doing your laundry while in Iceland, make sure your hotel has laundry machines you can use. Or you can master the art of hand-washing.

Kirkjufell was a really cool site that we happened upon on our way to Grundarfjörður. If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, you might recognize Kirkjufell mountain as a place north of The Wall. It’s distinctive for its arrow point shape. Nearby is also the Kirkufellsfoss waterfall. The whole area is very picturesque and we took a lot of photos.

Okay, so after our pit stop at Kirkjufell, we arrived at Grundarfjörður where we found a “24 Hour Laundry.” It’s basically a shed next door to an industrial laundry service that has a coin-operated washer and dryer inside. You can exchange coins with your credit card at the general store next door. We spent 1500 ISK to do one small load of laundry. That’s about $12, so it ain’t cheap! (Note: If you’re an entrepreneur and want to move to Iceland, maybe open a chain of public laundromats? You can have that idea for free.)

While our clothes were washing, we walked up the street and bought a few things at the Samkaup grocery store. Then we went across the street to the Maestro Fish & Chips food truck and bought some fish and chips and hot dogs. The hot dogs had interesting topics, like nachos.

After we ate, it was getting late in the day, so we drove back to Ólafsvík. We picked up a few more things at the Kassinn grocery store, then went back to our apartment.

Day 7: The Lava Tunnel (Saturday, June 15)

When I was planning the trip, I built in one “wild card” day where I planned nothing. The purpose of the wild card day was to make up for any unforeseen events like bad weather or finding something really cool that we wanted to do before we left. The day before, we saw a flyer for The Lava Tunnel and decided to book a tour for 4 PM.

Around 11 AM, we began the three-hour trip toward The Lava Tunnel. We had some time to spare, so we decided to visit the IKEA along the way for lunch. The lunch was more expensive than I expected for IKEA, but I suppose it was relatively inexpensive compared to other restaurants in Iceland. We ate, then saw that it was getting late so we had to get on the road.

If you’ve ever been to an IKEA, you know that it’s like a maze of furniture. They don’t want you to be able to leave the store easily without first browsing their furniture. Well, we were in a hurry and we pleaded with the staff to let us out through the kids play area entrance (where our two youngest kids were playing). They wouldn’t let us. We had to wind through the entire store, half-running and wild-eyed looking for “shortcuts” with three kids in tow, so we can exit the store and make it to The Lava Tunnel in time.

Note #2 about driving in Iceland: The top speed limit in Iceland is 90km/h. It is strictly enforced using hidden speed cameras throughout the country. We probably drove a little too fast to get to the Lava Tunnel on time, because three weeks after our trip I received an email from the rental car company saying that we got a speeding ticket. Mind your speed in Iceland. Don’t go over 90km/h.

We got to The Lava Tunnel at exactly 4:00 PM. They gave us each a helmet equipped with a flashlight and sent us on our way to the tunnel with a tour guide. The lava tunnel itself is pretty amazing. They’re formed differently from conventional caves, so the walls are smooth and the tunnel is more predictable in direction. It’s pretty neat and worthwhile to visit.

We finished our evening by taking another trip to IKEA as well as the Costco nearby for dinner. The Costco near Reykjavik is the only one in Iceland. It opened a couple of years ago to great fanfare, but I didn’t see a whole lot of traffic in the store (compared to the Costco stores here in Northern Virginia, which are crazy busy all the time). We were surprised that most of the employees were American.

Day 8: The Viking Festival (Sunday, June 16)

Every year, the town of Hafnarfjörður (near Reykjavik) hosts a Viking Festival. It’s sort of like a Rennaissance fair, but with a Viking theme. We happened to be in town during the Viking Festival on this trip. My wife wasn’t so enthusiastic about it, so I looked at the schedule and planned to be there at least for the Viking battle at 6 PM.

For lunch, we decided to try KFC. We had seen the KFC restaurants around town, with their big signs saying “svooo gott,” which I think translates to “sooo good.” It was a mistake. For 4148 ISK ($33), we got a salad, 5 pieces of chicken, a tiny container of coleslaw, some gravy, and a small fries. I think a KFC in the United States would sell a similar meal for $9.99. We left still hungry and supplemented our lunch with skyr and crackers from the Krónan next door.

What about McDonald’s? As far as I can tell, there are no McDonald’s in Iceland. They do have similar fast-food burger places, though. Aktu-Taktu is similar. They sell something similar to a Big Mac value meal, but for $16!

After lunch, we went to the Perlan Museum. It’s worth the visit for its replica glacier cave and the Aurora Borealis show. Those were two things we wanted to see in Iceland but didn’t have the chance on this trip.

At about 5:40 PM, we left to go see the Viking Festival battle at Víðistaðatún park in Hafnarfjörður, about ten minutes away. I enjoyed watching the mock battle with my kids while my wife was drawn to the food trucks behind the Viking marketplace they had set up. Afterward, we spent some time in the park where we watched ducklings waddle around and the kids played at the playground. My 4-year-old was knocked off of some playground equipment and had a hard fall. For a while, we thought he might have broken his elbow, but it turns out he just got bruised badly. We were so grateful that we didn’t have to try out Iceland’s medical system, which I’ve read is great.

We finished our day with some groceries at Hagkaup and pizza from Domino’s (we fed a family of 5 for $25 in Iceland!).

More random notes on food: Lamb meat is relatively inexpensive. $9 per pound, similar to the price you get in the U.S. It’s probably cheaper because it’s local. Most food in Iceland is imported. I didn’t see any pigs or chickens around, so I think those are imported too, and thus more expensive. Berries are a treat and are very expensive. Try some Icelandic Skyr while you’re in Iceland. It’s a lot like Greek yogurt and comes as a yogurt or as a drink. Many restaurants serve imaginative Skyr desserts.

Day 9: Icelandic National Day (Monday, June 17)

Our last full day in Iceland just happened to fall on Icelandic National Day. We decided to spend the afternoon in Reykjavík. We went to see the famous Sun Voyager sculpture, then casually strolled down the street toward Hallgrimskirkja church. Hallgrimskirkja is really cool for its architecture and statue of Leif Erikson outside. We didn’t take the elevator up to the top, but that’s an option if you want to see the city from above.

There must be a large Thai population in the city because Thai restaurants are plentiful in Reykjavík. We ate at Krua Thai and though we spent 10470 ISK there ($83), it was worth it because the portions were large so we didn’t leave hungry.

After lunch, we strolled down the main shopping street, Laugavegur, and sent another postcard out. The kids needed to use a restroom, so we stopped by a Sandholt bakery and bought an expensive cup of coffee (620 ISK, or $5).

My wife and I don’t care much for spending time in cities. We like seeing the natural wonders, so we decided to skip town and spend the rest of the afternoon outside of the city. We looked on the map and saw that there’s a big national park just outside of Reykjavik called Reykjanesfólkvangur, so we went there.

Reykjanesfólkvangur has three main sights: Kleifarvatn lake, Krýsuvík geothermal area, and the Krisuvikurberg Cliffs. We drove south and saw the lake, but didn’t stop. We did stop at the Krýsuvík geothermal area, which was really neat. It was a lot like what you might see at Yellowstone National Park. Then we continued south toward the Krisuvikurberg Cliffs, where we saw that we had to take a long dirt road to get to the cliffs, so we passed. By then, it was 8 PM and we were near the town of Grindavik, so we decided to revisit Brúin restaurant since we enjoyed the fish so much the previous week.

We had another awesome fish dinner and then drove back north to our AirBnB in the Kópavogur neighborhood outside of Reykjavik. Most shops were closed because of Icelandic National Day, but we found an Iceland convenience store open so we could pick up a few things before ending the day.

Day 10: Going Home (Tuesday, June 18)

Our flight out of Iceland was at 4:50 PM. That meant that we had to drop off our rental car at around 2 PM. We checked out of our Airbnb, got some gas at Costco, then drove to Reykjanesbaer (the town near the airport) for lunch. We had one final good meal at Fernando’s Restaurant, topped off the gas at the Olis gas station, then picked up a few things for the flight home from Bónus before bringing our car back to Enterprise.

The guy at Enterprise remarked, “Very good, no chips in the windshield. Those are very common in Iceland.” He had even mentioned that fact when we first picked up the car. I felt relieved that we didn’t get any windshield chips, but it’s funny how things work. We got on our flight and returned home to Virginia without incident. As we were driving home, a passing car kicked up a stone in the road and chipped my windshield.

Visiting Iceland? Here’s My Packing List

1. Swimwear (for the hot springs)
2. Pajamas (it’s chilly, even in the summer)
3. Clothing (dress for 40-60 degree Fahrenheit temperatures in June)
4. Personal hygiene items
5. Bandages and pain reliever (always helpful when you have kids)
6. Passports, drivers licenses, insurance cards, credit cards (Visa and/or Mastercard)
7. Empty water bottles (you can refill them from the tap in Iceland)
8. Car seats (your airline allows you to check them in for no charge)
9. Type C electrical adapters
10. Headphones (for the flight)
11. Supplements (to stay healthy)
12. Cash (always good to have some while traveling)
13. Laptops, Kindles, or other devices to entertain yourself and the kids
14. International hair dryer (very useful, but make sure it’s dual-voltage)
15. Sunglasses (It’s daylight 24/7 in June)
16. Car charger (to keep your phones charged as you use the GPS)

Some Things You May Want to Do Before You Go

(Note: the links to Amazon.com are affiliate links. The price for you stays the same, but Amazon gives me a tiny percentage for the referral)

1. Get a VISA credit card and/or Mastercard (make sure there are no foreign transaction fees). Tell your credit card companies that you will travel overseas (you can probably do this online).
2. Write down the phone numbers to call in case you lose your wallet or purse. Email it to yourself so you can access the info from anywhere.
3. Buy type C electrical adapters (we bought this set)
4. buy dual-voltage international hairdryer (this is the one we bought)
5. Either get an international plan for your phones or plan on buying a SIM card when you get to Iceland.

Some Useful Info

1. Our total trip cost for our family of 5 was about $7,000:
   1. $2,600 round trip plane tickets
   2. $1500 food and groceries
   3. $1280 lodging
   4. $900 Tours and sights
   5. $350 car rental
   6. $200 gasoline
   7. $170 parking the car at the airport
2. Useful websites
   1. www.visiticeland.com
   2. www.visitreykjavik.is: The City Card is probably worth it only if you visit at least three attractions in one day
   3. http://en.vedur.is (weather forecasts)
   4. www.road.is (road conditions)
   5. www.grapevine.is (English newspaper)
   6. www.lonelyplanet.com/iceland (info, hotel bookings, forum)
3. Learn the Icelandic road signs: https://www.whatson.is/what-does-it-mean-how-to-read-icelandic-roadsigns/
4. For restaurant reviews, I used Google Maps and the TripAdvisor app.
5. In the United States, we dial 911 for emergencies. In Iceland, they dial 112