As you recall from my previous post, yesterday was a very long day. This is most likely why I didn’t even make it to my designated room before I decided to take a quick snooze in the hostel lobby. So, while day two technically blurred into day one, it truly began with me waking up on a couch in the hostel lobby after a brief 2 hour nap. For what it’s worth, I give that couch five stars.
My new found friend and hostel roommate was on the couch across from me and we both felt like it was time for lunch… or rather… brunch, so we woke up and headed downtown.
We walked around town for an hour or so scouting out the best place to grab a bite and while we were on our journey we passed by lots of troll decorations and shops full of little troll toys. Lucky for me, my new travel buddy had been in Iceland for weeks and knew fun troll facts and stories to fill our walk.
After lunch I said goodbye to my new found friend and hit the road for Golden Circle day part two. My main focus on today’s route… waterfalls and the southern shore!
Driving in Iceland is extremely easy and stunning, especially this time of year. The drive is filled with sweeping views of lavender fields with glaciers in the distance and grassy fields filled with horses.
My first waterfall stop was Seljalandsfoss/Seljalands waterfall, which you can actually hike up to and walk behind. Similar to yesterday, the parking lot for this natural wonder was right off the main road and connected to a quick path up to the top. I loved this waterfall and if I was forced to rate them, it might be my favorite from this trip. I loved the feeling of climbing behind a waterfall and being surrounded by mist and the loud sounds of water hitting the river below.
After getting drenched under Seljalandsfoss, I hit the road again heading to Skógafoss. The name for this waterfall is a combination of two Icelandic words ‘skogur’ and ‘foss’ which translates to ‘forest’ and ‘ falls.’ You can hike to the top or walk underneath the falls on the slippery rocks. Standing underneath one of Iceland’s biggest waterfalls was a spectacular sight to see on day two of my last minute solo trip. While I was wandering around the bottom of the waterfall I met a nice photographer who took this picture of me below.
After gazing at the green forest falls I drove for awhile longer until I reached the most southern point of iceland. The drive down the coast was filled with breathtaking sights at every turn. I blasted music with the windows down and stopped multiple times just to pause and take in all the sights.
I drove to the southern shore because I wanted to visit one of Iceland’s famous black sand beaches. Iceland has lots of beaches with black sand, but I chose to visit Reynisfjara Beach. This beach is famous for it’s basalt rock formations, black sand and brief appearance as the back drop in Game of Thrones.
And after wandering around the beach for awhile I finished my day as any good tourist in Scandinavia would… overlooking the ocean with a warm bowl of supa, suppe, soppa, soup.
