I had an 18 hour layover in Iceland, so I took a 10 hour road trip along the southern coast.
Back in 2017 there was an ultra cheap Iceland-based airline called WOW Air. So cheap, in fact, that I scored a round-trip flight to Europe for around $250. And apparently so cheap that they are now out of business. But they got me to mainland Europe for the first time ever. RIP WOW Air.
Hekla Volcano, June 2017.
Volcanic Plains to the Southeast of the Keflavik Airport. June 2017.
After a lengthy 10+ hour flight, I arrived in Keflavik with an eighteen hour layover ahead of me. I rented a car for $18 and set off to the southeast, heading for a black sand beach near Vík. I didn’t have much of a plan past that. Pro tip: Google Maps allows you to download maps to your phone just in case you don’t have signal where you are going. Somewhere like the middle of nowhere on a tiny island in the North Atlantic Sea.
Keflavik is bordered by large volcanic flatlands to the southeast. It is a volcanic island, after all. Note: Some volcanic rocks can be very very sharp. So try not to stumble and catch yourself on pointy boulders and bleed in your nice $18-a-day rental car.
Seljalandsfoss, a Waterfall in Southern Iceland. June 2017.
Seljalandsfoss is a beautiful waterfall that you can walk behind and is right off the southern Ring Road (Iceland has a single road - Route 1 - that goes all the way around the outside of the island in a giant ring. I’m not sure where the nickname comes from.) I dodged a bus full of tourists and donned my water-proof coat for what would be the only time in my whole two-and-a-half week trip. Man it was fun lugging that heavy coat around in Granada when it was 101 degrees outside. But that’s another story.
There are thousands of waterfalls across Iceland. I saw at least a few of them.
Clouds Over Southern Iceland. June 2017.
Reynisdrangar, the Black Beach Near Vik. June 2017.
Made it to the black sand beach in Vík! Black pebble beach would be a better description. There was a cave! And geometric basalt columns! It was beautiful and cold. What may seem to be three large sea stacks out in the water are actually three trolls that were trying to drag a ship ashore and turned to stone at daybreak. So keep a wary eye on them.
Black Sand Beach and Columnes Reynisfjara. June 2017.
Green Peaks in Southern Iceland, June 2017.
When the Vikings discovered Iceland, they supposedly named it Iceland so nobody else would want to visit. Then they named Greenland. Vikings were the clear predecessors to internet trolls.
Alaskan Lupine and a Snow-Capped Volcano. June 2017.
A Small Village in Southern Iceland. June 2017.
12.30 am in Iceland, June 2017.
After all this driving I suddenly realized it was going on 1 am. This shocked me because the sun had barely even gone down. One of the reasons I was excited about visiting Iceland was the chance of seeing the auroras. Turns out you can’t really do that in the summer time and I am a big dummy.
Moon in June. 2017.
I had a very, very late night (still light outside) beer and “dinner” in Reykjavik and wandered around the city. I saw groups of legitimate children running around and playing in the parks. They must want to enjoy the long days and short nights as much as possible during the summer. Either way it was strange and surreal.
In the end, I hope everyone gets a chance for an Icelandic layover on their way to/from the European mainland. WOW Air is no longer a thing, but I know you can easily add a 1/2/3 day layover in Iceland if you book with Icelandic Air. If you have any questions, comments, or likes feel free to leave them below. And give Iceland a shot! It is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen, and I barely scratched the surface. I did scratch my hand though.