6 Day Winter adventure in Iceland

Day 1- Arrived early at 6 am, Rented a Jeep from a place by the airport. 

Went to Blue Lagoon at open in the dark of morning. Was surreal and a perfect way to relax and rejuvinate after a long flight. Spent about 2 hours there. 

Stopped in Reykjavik suburbs at a grocery store to stock up on Oatmeal, lunch meats, bread, and other assorted snacks. Huge money saver to spend $40 at the grocery store and only eat out a meal or two a day. 

We then went north to Grundarfjordur where we stayed at Grundarfjörður Bed and Breakfast which was great. Cute cafe downstairs and easy to walk around town. We headed out while still daytime to Kirkjufellsfoss to take in the iconic spot. We then returned at midnight to catch a bit of Northernlights over the mountain. It was a subtle but still magical display and the only Aurora we saw during our stay. 

Day 2- While we were planing on heading to Snæfellsjökull national park to at least drive around the peninsula and do some minimal winter hiking there was a storm so instead we spent the day in town watch TV and taking little adventure hikes out to the local spots. We generally wanted to avoid scary driving as we were warned but found all the roads and routes we took perfectly safe the entire trip. We had dinner at a local restaurant 59 Bistro Bar and it was satisfactory. 

Day 3 The storm has passed and we drove back down to Reykjavik where we stayed at Guesthouse Galtafell which was a lovely almost hostel with large unique rooms and a great view. We spent the day wandering through museums as it was a free admission event throughout the city, the highlight probably the National Gallery of Iceland and Museum of Photography. We had dinner at Messinn seafood restaurant which is a MUST! The best local cuisine we had all week. Just be sure to make a reservation earlier in the day as it gets quite busy. 

Day 4 After coffee and pastries we drove south east on HIghway 1 to Jokulsarlon stopping along the way at anything that peaked our interest. We stopped and hiked at Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon which is one of the coolest places we went, Skogafoss Waterfall which is one of the biggest more icon spots, and we reached the glacier lagoon just before sunset and had an hour in that magical spot. 

We stayed that night at the Hali Country Hotel which was a hostel like hotel close to the lagoon. We had a nice meal at the guest house up the road. 

Day 5 Even though there was some rain we went back to the lagoon and did a Ice cave tour with Glacier Adventure. Everyone else cancelled because of the rain so we ended up in a smaller 4x4 with one guide who was awesome and took us out on the glacier and into a cave. We tried going up farther but couldn't make it in the slushy conditions but had what essentially was a private hike on the glacier. We left there with smiles on our faces and then proceeded to drive back to Reykjavik in the rain which was pretty miserable but not too scary. This time we stayed at the fancier Apartment K hotel. The place was nice and had a very Iceland art scene decor even though the pictures you see online are of more unique rooms that we didn't get. We spent the late night watch the NFL Superbowl at a bar as we are Americans after all. 

Day 6 Had a relaxing morning strolling around Reykjavik doing some last minute shopping and sightseeing like the church. Mid day we headed to the airport and flew home. 

Overall the time was just enough but could have used another day or two for more wiggle room for travel or sightseeing being cut short by storms but we knew that was the risk traveling in winter. Next trip will definately be in summer so we can explore the north and east more as well as just having more time to hike due to longer days. But there was something very magical about Iceland in the winter and was exactly the short vacation we needed.