Today’s post comes from our first ever Dad contributor, Tim Shaw, who noticed we hadn’t written about Iceland and valiantly volunteered to do so. For the record, we’ve got nothing against Dads here at Travel Savvy Mom (except obviously that “Dad” doesn’t rhyme with “dot com”). We love Dads. Welcome Tim!

The land of ice. Iceland. I’m convinced it’s just a ruse to keep the tourists away. I went with my family last August, toward the end of the summer season, and it was perhaps the most beautiful country I’ve ever visited.

Iceland pretty much only has one road, the Ring Road, that runs the perimeter of the country. On the map, it looks doable in 8 days. In reality, not so. Do not drive Iceland’s roads at night! They are unlit, oftentimes unpaved, steep, and sometimes heart-stoppingly narrow. But on to the good stuff.

Reykjavik
Reykjavik is just okay for kids. The town itself features Lego-like houses, a fantastic church that dominates the City, Hallgrimskirkja, but—aside from getting our picture taken next to a troll—a bit of a bust. Except for the swimming pools. The public swimming pools in Iceland are the epicenter of activity, they’re often open until midnight, which is a treat for kids. The water is steamy warm, and the experience is one to remember. Dive in.

The Golden Circle
We drove to Vik and did the the Golden Circle from here. It’s home to enormous thundering waterfalls (Gulfoss), mudpots, and geysers that shoot hundreds of feet in the air every couple of minutes. The safety standards in Iceland are a little different, so you can get really close.

Hofn
Here’s the thing about Iceland: the land by the coast can be crystal clear and sunny, but a vertical 30 minute drive up to the glacier clouds, and you’re in snow and ice. We ended up going swimming, puffin watching and taking a sauna.

We took a drive to the top of Vatnajokull, Europe’s deepest glacier. If you have a fear of heights, this might not be for you (my wife buried her head in her lap to avoid looking at the precipitous drop on either side of the knife edge road). We went snowmobiling. My 7-year-old rode in front with the guide and got to help steer.

Afterwards, we headed to Jökulsárlón, a lagoon that empties into the ocean, for a DUCK boat tour. The tour guide chipped a piece of ice from the iceberg, and gave it to my son saying, “2000 year old ice cube!”

Egilsstadir
Our next stop was in Egilsstadir, where we stayed at a farmhouse in a triangular cabin so small we called it “the doghouse”. We went horseback riding on Icelandic ponies (the perfect size for kids) with an 80-year-old guide I could barely keep up with.

The landscape is so incredibly beautiful and diverse. Volcanic ash gives way to moss. We stopped the car, and took off our shoes to bounce in moss 12 inches deep. There were waterfalls all over the place. I think I might have seen a unicorn.

Myvatn
(Or as my 7-year-old likes to call it, My Fartin’). More sulfurous mudpots and geysers. There were steam chimneys that we collected the gas from in an empty water bottle. My son was still sniffing the bottle 2 weeks after we got home. It smelled like farts. We climbed a volcano. We bathed in the spa. We stayed up til it got dark, which was never.

Husavik
We came here to go whale watching. Before our boat left port, we had time to visit the local museum which happens to be the world’s only Penis Museum. Fun for boys, maybe not girls. Then we went to the local swimming pool where my son made friends with a boy who spoke perfect English. They played a game of throwing cars into the pool and retrieving them. He gave my son his toy cars.

It can be cold in Iceland, even in August, and the language and words are terribly difficult to pronounce. Still I feel like we stumbled upon a secret treasure, a place that most people don’t think of as a summer destination. We’re very much looking forward to going back, and with Iceland’s economy relatively weak, there may not be a better time to go.

January 7th, 2009 | by Tim Shaw 13 comments