‘The best of Iceland in one day’ is definitely one of the most popular slogans you’ll hear about this well-known circle accessible just outside of Reykjavik. My guess is that the popularity of this overly touristic route is indeed based on its convenient location more than what it actually has to offer, and our brilliant idea to save the best for last didn’t quite convince us. But what do I mean exactly? To start with, there are three major stops on this loop that include Thingvellir national park, Gullfoss waterfall and Haukadalur geothermal area that’s home for the famous geysers Geysir and Strokkur. Individually speaking each of these is pretty significant and even mind-blowing, it’s more the bigger picture that’s less appealing.

The first stop of the day we made at the Dettifoss- the most powerful waterfall in all Europe. In order to get there, we had to take off of the ring road and follow a gravel road for about half an hour and quite honestly it looked like entering a desert rather than getting closer to any waterfall. But as we got to the parking, we could just see the huge spray of the water shooting into the air and only a few steps down we started to perceive the magnitude of this place; there wasn’t only the voluminous waterfall but also a long, beautiful canyon that continued as far as we could see. Talking about unexpected. 

From the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon we still had a long road ahead of us, and for the first time we couldn’t see too long ahead on the road as we were either in the mist or in the middle of downpour. Obviously it’s not really an ideal driving condition especially in Iceland due to the amount of sheep wandering aside of the road as well as crossing it (or simply just standing in the middle of it)- we had one really close call and if it wasn’t for our chauffeur’s quick reflex, we would’ve end up hitting the sheep (and for the record, the honking doesn’t always guarantee that they’ll move away)! After surviving the different sheep scares, we began to get really nice views as the road started following the coastline and we were approaching the first fjord. Imagine the ocean on your right, the mountains on your left and the road twisting and turning through the mist- pure magic! 

The more the merrier definitely goes with people but not so much with the four people’s luggage squeezed into a small rental car- welcome to the road with us and our little Chevy that literally was bursting half of the time! This was probably the part we all had been waiting for the most, and finally the time had come to start our tour around this magical island.

Because there were simply way too many stunning places along this road, I’ve put together the highlights from the south coast on this post. So buckle up and enjoy the ride on one of the world’s finest roads!

After lounging for hours in the Blue Lagoon we finally made it to our lovely (airbnb) apartment that was conveniently located on the Laugavegur- the main street of Reykjavik. Our plan was to wait for our travel buddies Rachael &Christian to arrive and then hit the famous nightlife of this town! And not just any nightlife, but repeatedly praised as one-of-a-kind and it so happened that it was also the weekend of summer solstice!

It’s a known fact that the party here starts late and by late I mean 1am. Some could even call it early. For us, we were sleeping like babies at 1am…until we heard the door open up- the fellow travelers had arrived and they were in full party spirits! They drag us out of the bed and started pouring us shots (yep, that’s the type of friends we travel with)! We hit the runtur scene just like the locals around 2am and the bar district was full of people who seemed to wander from one pub to another or continue drinking somewhere in between. We had a blast partying the Viking style and we ended our night where everyone else also seemed to end it- at the fast food stall! ;)