Iceland has been on our list for some time, and research led us to believe the best choice for us was two weeks in an RV, traveling the Ring Road around the entire island. June is the just the very beginning of tourist season, so it wasn’t super crowded. Temps ranged from high 50s to 30s and the sun was out 24 hours a day.
Iceland is a Nordic Island about the size of Virginia between the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans, on the mid-Atlantic ridge between Europe and North America, gaining its independence in 1944. It is on a rift between tectonic plates leading to volcanic activity, glaciers, massive waterfalls, and geothermic warm lands. The population of the entire country is about 350,000 people, with about 35% living in the city of Reykjavik. The people of Iceland can still speak and read Old Norse from its Nordic/Viking roots back in 9th century, but everyone also speaks English, and the official language is Icelandic. People are super friendly and helpful, willing to give directions or make recommendations for the best place to buy a handmade sweater. They love to socialize in geothermal baths, hot springs, and swimming pools and you can find an ice cream shop on every corner.
In my experience so far, Iceland is the largest concentration of natural beauty I have ever seen. Everywhere you look it is lush, green, flowing with waterfalls, glaciers in the distance, volcanic rock fully of mossy growth, flowing grasses and prairies. Such a massive difference in landscapes in such a tiny place.
If you drove the Ring Road without stopping, you could do it in about 18 hours. We did about 2-3 hours of driving a day, depending on our destination, and fit in a quite a few side trips to peninsulas, three National Parks, and driving circles with massive concentrations of beauty. The RV culture is very strong here. The place (one of many) we rented our RV from has a stock of over 500 vehicles, and hundreds of campgrounds exists all over the island. RVing is culture, and the campgrounds have communal kitchens, dining areas, bathrooms, showers, and laundry. You will see hundreds of vans side by side, all sharing this tiny common area in the middle of the park, almost like a hostel.
The water is completely glacial, the purest water on Earth, and you can drink directly from the tap or even from streams. No one drinks bottled water, because there is no need. Sheep outnumber humans, beautiful horses roam wild, and majestic puffins and other birds are found everywhere. The waters are vibrant with whale watching and seals, and there are no predators on the island.
Every drive, no matter where you turn, is eye candy. Truly. The bluest waters, over 10,000 waterfalls, the greenest greens, and more rainbows than you can see as the sun moves across the landscape. Lupines for miles and miles along the road and up the mountainsides like carpets of lavender. I literally found myself in tears just by the beauty of the world as it presented itself – hidden, no people, quiet but bold – unapologetically perfect.
Iceland is good for the soul, good for the mind, and puts it all in perspective. It was just the therapy we needed. John and I fit everything we could into the days we had, and we will miss and dream of this magical place until we return.
