Spanning 17 miles along the North Shore of Kauai, the Napali Coast of Kauai was high on my list of things to experience. There are many ways to experience the Napali Coast, but simply driving up to it is not one of them. There are air and sea options, of course, as well as the Kalalau Trail hike, which runs along the Napali Coast and is a rough 11 mile hike. In April 2018, a massive flash flood incident resulted in the closure of many roads on the North Shore of Kauai. The roads were just beginning to open up during our visit in April 2019, but I was glad that hiking the Kalalau Trail was not an option due to road closures as the thought of even attempting an 11 mile hike with young children is not something I’m eager to do. Having done a bit of internet research, however, I quickly decided that our best bet for experiencing the Napali Coast was to book a sunset cruise. Given that one member of our party of four is not only four years old but also prone to sea sickness, I did quite a bit of internet sleuthing before deciding on Captain Andy’s. Here is my review of Captain Andy’s Na Pali Coast Sunset Cruise!
Booking:
Online booking is the easiest option and as an added bonus, the website show very clearly the number of spots left on any given day so even though I was a bit worried things would book up if I delayed too long in booking, I just simply logged in every day or so and checked to make sure there were ample tickets. I was mostly concerned about weather/rain, but about a week prior to our trip, the forecast looked clear for our first full day in Kauai so I decided to go ahead and book the trip. At $135/adult and $105/child, tickets are not cheap, but given that our hotel and flights were essentially free, I felt like we could splurge a bit on this boating excursion, despite having my concerns about how my four year old would respond to being contained on a boat for hours.
The Experience:
We arrived at the harbor at 2pm on the day of our excursion and were able to quickly check in. Each group was given a card upon check in with their boat information written on it. It turns out that Captain Andy’s has the ability to run multiple boats each evening (I believe there were four going out that evening), so we all sat around waiting for our boarding assignment to be called.
As our Captain introduced himself and walked us down to the dock, we were reminded that shoes are not permitted on board. We all took off our shoes and loaded them onto a wheeled shoe rack, before walking onto the boat. After the basic instructions were given (where to stand, where to sit, bathrooms, no picking children up, etc), the boat took off and, well, my four year old loved it.
The boat ride out to the Napali Coast took a while and we mostly just enjoyed the sea water. Once we got close to the Coast, however, the water was definitely choppy and people got wet. It’s no surprise then that alcohol and dinner is not served until the ride back to shore.
My nine year old absolutely loved the experience and stayed out front nearly the entire time. He got sprayed by water on numerous occasions, but thoroughly enjoyed being able to wander around himself. My four year old, husband, and I mostly hung out near the back of the boat as it was much calmer there, and although I did experience some motion sickness myself, my four year old was fine the entire time.
The Napali Coast itself is gorgeous and we ooohed and aaahed the entire time.
The Captain did a fantastic job of explaining various features along the coast, including where old fishing villages had been located and pointing out small waterfalls that we likely would not have noticed on our own. Once we reached the end of the coastline, we turned back for the smooth ride home.
Dinner was served buffet style and the drinks flowed readily. The crew was really top notch and my notoriously picky eater of a husband even said that the food was “not bad,” which is high praise coming from him. The crew was really great about bringing out more food when the supply got low, and they also came around and made sure to refill drinks. All in all, it was a pleasant experience and despite my concerns, we had a great time.
Final Thoughts?
I am definitely glad we experienced the Napali Coast and Captain Andy’s Na Pali Sunset Dinner Cruise was a great way to do it, given our kids. Had they been older, I likely would have explored a snorkeling or kayaking day long adventure, but there was simply no way of guaranteeing that we would be able to be on board for that long a time with our four year old (not to mention many activities have age limits that he would not have qualified for). The Sunset Dinner Cruise is advertised to last four hours and indeed, it lasted every minute of the four hours. I felt bad for one woman who had a horrible case of motion sickness and spent three of the four hours with her head in a bucket. My four year old definitely got tired and the waves helped lull him to sleep after dinner. In fact, I even found myself lying down to enjoy a little bit of shut eye on the ride back, having gotten up at 4am for conference call that morning!
Iceland’s Golden Circle is a popular tourist route in southwest Iceland that consists of a 180 mile loop with several of the country’s most striking natural wonders. Our family toured the Golden Circle on a day trip from Reykjavik at the end of our 10-day trip. We were fortunate to pick an unusually dry day with blue skies. While the loop takes about 3.5 hours of driving, there were plenty of amazing stops along the way, including Thingvellir National Park, Geysir and Stokkur, Gulfoss waterfall and Kerid Crater. Our Golden Circle self drive with kids was one of the highlights of our trip to Iceland.
Thingvellir National Park With Kids
Our first stop on the Golden Circle was Thingvellir National Park, a beautiful national park that is also an important historical landmark near Thingvallavatn, the largest lake in Iceland. The country’s first Parliament convened here in 930. Thingvellir is located in a rift valley caused by the separation of the North American and Eurasian Plates. However, there are no obvious demarcations of the divide similar to the Bridge Between Two Continents in Reykjanes.
Thingvellir
After arriving at Thingvellir, we paid the 500 kr parking fee (pay and display) and headed toward the Visitor’s Center. We picked up a free map but found it confusing at best. So, we took a trail toward Thingvallabaer and Thingvallakirkja and enjoyed the beautiful vistas, rocky cliffs and fissures along the way. Thingvallabaer, a farm house with five gables that serves as the Prime Minister’s summer house and the park warden’s office, is a short walk. Thingvallabaer was constructed in 1930 on the 1,000th anniversary of the parliamentary assembly. The residence is definitely not palatial by any means, but certainly charming, and the Prime Minister entertains foreign dignitaries here. We met a park ranger here who had coincidentally lived near us in Cleveland’s Little Italy during the late 1980s and early 1990s in a building where a high school friend of mine lived at the same time. It is a small world.
Next to Thingvallabaer is Thingvallakirkja, a tiny church that seats about 35 and coordinates with Thingvallabaer’s cream with black and green trim color scheme. We saw many very small churches throughout Iceland, and the kids were especially excited to peek inside of this one.
Thingvallakirkja
The kids explored the cemetery between Thingvallabaer and Thingvallakirkja before we head back to the car.
Thingvellir is also the site of the Silfra fissure where divers snorkel between the North American and Eurasian continents. This is one of the best fresh water dive spots. Appropriate gear, included wetsuits, is necessary, and many tour companies offer snorkeling tours even to inexperienced divers.
Kid Facts: Thingvellir was the site of Iceland’s parliament from the 10th to 18th centuries. In 1930, it became Iceland’s first national park.
Kid Moment: Our kids (particularly our daughter) enjoyed following a family of ducks on the trail.
Geysir Hot Spring Area With Kids
Our next stop visiting the Golden Circle with kids was the Geysir Hot Spring Area. Geysir, which is also known as the Great Geysir, is the geyser for which all geysers are named. Geysir derives from the Icelandic verb meaning “to gush.” While Geysir erupted over 500 feet in the air in the 19th century, its eruptions became infrequent. People found that if they threw rocks into Geysir, they could force an eruption. Unfortunately, this practice ultimately led to Geysir’s demise, and Geysir is currently dormant and just bubbles steam. 64°18′39″N 20°18′14″W
While Geysir no longer erupts, visitors looking for an active geyser will Strokkur just a short walk from Geysir. Strokkur is not as high as Geysir once was, but it a perfect tourist destination because it erupts every few minutes at varying heights up to 125 feet. We stayed for at least six or seven eruptions and really enjoyed it even though it was one of the buggiest locations on our trips. While none of us were actually bitten, but we felt constantly swarmed.
Kid Facts: Geyers are temporary geological features that are usually found in volcanic terrain. Geysers erupt because ground water comes into contact with hot bedrock and heats up. When the water reaches peak temperature and pressure, a tall column of superheated water and steam are sent up into the air.
Kid Moment: This is a good place to talk about the importance of leaving no trace when you visit nature and the destruction that human interference can cause.
Kid Caution: Because the erupting water is super hot, children need to be reminded to stay back behind the rope
Gullfoss With Kids
Gullfoss is my all-time was my favorite waterfall – even tops Niagara Falls. The water was crystal blue, and there were great views of both sets of falls and plenty of rainbows when we visited. While Gullfoss is not as wide, as steep or as powerful as Niagara Falls, I immediately made the comparison in terms of beauty. What made Gullfoss so special was that it was so much more untouched than Niagara. The tourist center, located right off the parking lot, was well developed with a restaurant and tourist shops, but it was the only building visible from the falls in any direction. The 360 degree view was simply breathtaking. 64°19′34″N 20°07′16″W
Kid Facts: Different investors in the 20th century wanted to use Gullfoss to generate electricity, but it was eventually sold to Iceland and protected.
Kid Moments: Look for rainbows from every viewpoint. Talk about protecting natural wonders.
Kid Caution: Paths at Gullfoss are more developed than many other sites, but because the view is from the top, it is necessary to hold hands with little ones and keep them well back from the roped off areas or edges.
Kerið With Kids
Kerið is a volcanic crater lake on the Golden Circle route and easy for families to explore. Landowners charge an entrance fee (400 kr or $3.75). 64°02′28″N 20°53′06″W / 64.041°N 20.885°W
On our way to Kerið, we turned too soon and ended up on an unpaved road we believed would take us to Kerið. We did realize our mistake but found the mystery crater adjacent to Kerið pretty fascinating in the meantime.
Why We Loved the Golden Circle With Kids
The Golden Circle is a fantastic day trip from Reykjavik, particularly in the summer when daylight is not a scarce commodity. We were fortunate to have several days in Reykjavik at the end of our Ring Road trip and chose to visit the Golden Circle on the day with the best weather forecast and actually had no rain whatsoever. The Golden Circle highlights some of Iceland’s most beautiful natural wonders and a bit of history, too.
Interested in finding out more about Iceland with kids? Check out our listing of all Iceland posts or join our Facebook group We Go To Iceland With Kids, which is a forum to ask questions and share ideas about family travel to Iceland.
Jökulsárlón is a glacier lagoon in southeast Iceland, filled with chunks of glacial ice and one of Iceland’s most popular attractions. When booking our trip last November, the first thing Catherine mentioned when suggesting must-see destinations was Jökulsárlón and taking a glacial boat ride quickly became the excursion that I built the rest of our trip around. Here are my tips for experiencing Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon with kids!
On Saturday morning, our first full day in Iceland, I woke up ready for our long scheduled glacial boat ride at Jökulsárlón. I had reserved our tickets in March (2+ months prior to our arrival) and the plan was to make the 2.5 hour drive from our cottage on Reynisfjara with plenty of time to take in a number of stops along the way. Our boat ride was scheduled for 1:10pm and I had long since planned on an early departure to allow us plenty of time to meander and check out the sites, which included Eldhraun Lavafield, Fjaðrárgljúfur, and Vatnajökull.
Unfortunately, overnight, the rains had poured in so it was extremely dreary outside. So dreary in fact that we could not even see the beach from our rental cottage located less than 5 minutes walking distance from the beach. My son looked at me with heavy anticipation, clearly inquiring as to what our game plan would be. Having grown up in Los Angeles, rain is my absolute least favorite weather, so I wasn’t too keen on making a bunch of stops along the way and ending up damp and wet for the long day in the car. I also wasn’t necessarily looking forward to a boat ride on a glacial lagoon, but since I had already pre-booked our tickets (which were no longer refundable), I decided to push back our departure time and skip the various pre-planned stops along the way, in the hopes that the weather would be tolerable for our boat ride.
Our 2.5 hour drive went pretty much according to plan. The intensity of the rain varied throughout our drive such that at times, it was so violent I could hardly see despite having our windshield wipers on high. On other occasions, the rain seemed to stop and/or barely sprinkle down, so I was hopeful that our boat ride might still take place.
Glacier Lagoon Cafe
At around 11:45, we arrived at Glacier Lagoon, an outfitter that provides amphibian boat tours. I quickly parked and walked to the ticket book located immediately to the left of the dining room/cafe. I confirmed our reservation for 1:10pm, but then inquired as to whether there were any earlier scheduled tours with availability. Fortunately, there just happened to be two spots left for the 12:40pm boat ride, which I happily exchanged our 1:10pm reservations for.
With less than an hour to kill, we decided to grab a quick bite to eat inside the Glacier Lagoon cafe.
The self-help counter at the Glacier Lagoon Cafe.
Not fancy by any stretch of the imagination, the Glacier Lagoon cafe contains pre-made sandwiches, two soup offerings, a few other pre-packaged/pre-prepared food items, and your choice of beverages. I picked up a ham sandwich for my son and chose to try one of the soup offerings for myself. Our two items cost just over $20 ($13 for the soup and bread, $10 for the sandwich). Not fancy by any stretch of the imagination and certainly costing well more than they were worth, the fact that we were actually able to get something to eat was not lost on me as I’m not sure where the nearest restaurant alternative would have been.
After finishing up our simple meal and using the restroom, we went back to wait in the car. By then, the rain had slowed to a mist. Considering the deluge we had woke up to, this was really the best of all possible circumstances.
Five minutes prior to our scheduled tour, I saw the amphibian boat pull up to the free-standing stairway and we walked over to line up. An attendant checked our tickets, handed us life vests and we were quickly off. It took less than 2 minutes to get from the boarding area into the water and a short 15 minute boat ride later, we were well surrounded by floating glaciers. My son really enjoyed taking pictures on the journey out and once stopped, a john boat that was following behind us approached and handed the tour guide a large chunk of glacial ice.
The ice hand off.The guide’s explanation of lagoon formation and ice transitions.
The guide explained that the lagoon was formed by glacial melting and that the lagoon gets bigger every year as the glaciers continue to melt. The different colors of the ice are typically a result of how long the ice has been floating in the water and how much of that ice has been exposed to direct sunlight. The guide cut off pieces of glacial ice for everyone to taste and also handed out a large chunk for people to hold and pose for photos with.
The guide, handing my son his own small chunk of ice.
My son really enjoyed getting to touch the large chunk of ice and getting to taste the small chunk of ice that the guide cut off. After about 10-15 minutes, the boat started up again and we returned to shore. The entire experience lasted approximately 40 minutes.
While the weather on the day of our visit was not ideal, Catherine and her family got a better view of the surrounding area, and particularly, Vatnajökull, Iceland’s largest icecap, on their trip to Jökulsárlón last year. They also saw icebergs washed up on the shore of the black sand beach located on the other side of the Ring Road.
Pro-Tips:
Our one adult/one child ticket cost $77. While there is no discount for advance purchase, you are subject to availability if you show up the day of. I didn’t want to run the risk of not being able to take a boat ride, thus, I purchased our tickets well in advance of our trip.
Individuals must be seated while the boat is driving, but once the boat is in the water, passengers are free to get up and walk around.
We each wore thermals with rain pants layered over our thermals. We also wore heavy duty fleece and rain jackets as our outer layer. Unfortunately, we did not pack gloves, which I sorely missed, although for the short time we were out on the water, it was fine. There were many individuals there who were very poorly dressed and clearly freezing and/or getting drenched. Although the rain was mild (nothing more than a slight drizzle), it was cold enough that being damp was unpleasant.
After our boat ride, we simply turned around and drove back to our cottage. It may seem slightly insane to drive 5+ hours for a 40 minute boat ride, but it was well worth it. I’m glad we didn’t let the rain deter us (it helped that we didn’t have anything else planned) and I was glad that the rain seemed to be more mild down near Jökulsárlón than near Reynisfjara. On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up spaghetti supplies just to have handy. I’m glad I did as the rain picked up and after having showered and put on dry and warm clothes, we had no desire to make even the short 5 minute walk or 1 minute drive down to Black Sand Restaurant for dinner. Our spaghetti supples (sauce, noodles, and ground beef) cost less than $12 total, so it was a cheap and satisfying way to end our day.
When I decided to take a trip to Iceland with kids, I never imagined that the opportunity would present itself for my older son and I to take a solo mommy-son trip. We were super excited for our trip to Iceland as it was really a stolen weekend of sorts. My 3.5 year old was spending the week with his grandparents and this really gave me and my eight year old an opportunity to bond and enjoy each other’s company.
Our Wow Airlines Flight from Baltimore to Keflavik:
The night before our departure, I eagerly logged on at exactly 23 hours and 59 minutes to check in for our flight. I was prompted to enter our passport information and within seconds, confirmed that we were checked in and seated next to one another. Wow did not give us the option of changing seats or even seeing the seat map to ascertain how full the flight was. But, I was pleased to have been seated next to my son (in a window and aisle seat – our preferred and default seating arrangement when traveling just the two of us).
The drive from our home in Alexandria, VA to Baltimore Airport took nearly 90 minutes, so I was very glad to have left with plenty of time to accommodate the heavy traffic. Upon entering the airport, we quickly dropped off our one checked bag and made our way over to The Club BWI, which I was able to enter for free using the Priority Pass membership that comes with my Chase Sapphire Reserve Card.
Although The Club was very full, we were able to secure two adjacent seats and I was more than willing to take advantage of the complimentary beverages, including not one, but two manhattans (it was a long drive up there after all)! After about 30 minutes at The Club, we made our way over to the boarding gate, noting, along the way, a few extremely family friendly features about the Baltimore airport: playground and nursing pods, like the ones they had at Kidspace in Pasadena.
The kids’ playspace at BWI
Once on board, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was ample leg room and available charging ports. A lot of people complain about the fact that Wow doesn’t provide free beverages but I just picked up a bottle of water at a shop on my way to the gate. I also planned to purchase a meal for my son as it was essentially our dinner time, and the $15.99 WOW Deal was perfect.
I appreciated that for $15.99 my son could get a pizza, drink, and a candy bar (which we shared) and to my surprise, the flight attendants did not heat up the pizza until after we ordered, so it was basically as fresh as it could be given that we were up in the air.
The only negative thing I can think of to say about Wow is that the boarding and deplaning process was extremely slow. I’m not sure what the issue was, but on both legs of our flights, there was a lot of waiting on the boarding bridge and then a lot of sitting after the plane doors opened before we could get off the flight. Nevertheless, given that I went into the Wow experience with bated breath, I was pleasantly surprised by just how enjoyable the experience was. In fact, the standard seat we were assigned seemed just as roomy if not roomier than some of the most recently revamped American and United flights I’ve been on.
Our arrival at Keflavik Airport and Viking World:
Everyone gushes about how amazingly beautiful Iceland is, but I certainly did not expect to be greeted with an arrival rainbow.
Our arrival rainbow at KEF
The customs experience and baggage retrieval was standard and within an hour of our arrival, we found ourselves in a shuttle on our way to the rental car. Picking up the rental car was a seamless process. They quickly found our reservation and went over the terms of the agreement with me. I was moderately perturbed by the excessive bolded warnings that damage from wind, hail, and gravel was not included in the provided insurance as… well, Iceland is the land of wind, hail, and gravel. I was also surprised when the rental agent recommended that I take photos documenting the car prior to leaving the agency and then again on my return back. I had read before that Iceland takes its rental cars very seriously and this was clearly the case.
I really enjoyed driving an X1 around, despite the heartburn over every possible flying rock that might hit the car and cause me to incur additional liability.My rental came with a broken rear view mirror, which I documented heavily prior to departure.
Once I had taken about 100 photos of the rental car, we made the 10-15 minute drive over to Viking World, which has an exact replica of a famous Viking ship as well a Viking millennium exhibition produced by the Smithsonian Institute called Vikings: the North Atlantic Saga. Importantly, Viking World also opens at 7am and has a cafe. Having not slept, at all, on the red eye flight, I desperately needed something other than a 2.5 hour drive down to Reynisfjara to wake up a bit.
Knowing that I needed something to eat, I signed my son and I up for the Breakfast Buffet, which includes museum admission. For a total of ~$32USD, we spent the next hour snacking and wandering around the museum.
The breakfast buffet that I was thrilled to nibble from.
My son’s favorite part of the museum was, as expected, the replica ship that we could actually walk on to and explore.
On board the Icelander.
Personally, I loved the Settlement of Iceland exhibit, which deals with archaeological findings from the Suðurnes/Reykjanes region, including remains from the oldest occupation on Reykjanes peninsula from the ninth century.
icelandic burial at sea?
After spending about an hour indoors, we went to check out the traditional Icelandic settlement located just outside the museum’s doors. Unfortunately, it was so bitter cold that we really could not stand to spend much time outside. I’ll also note that there did not seem to be much by way of explanatory information, so we were clueless as to what we were looking at.
The outdoor viking settlement.
Our drive from Keflavik to Reynisfjara:
After nearly freezing our tails off exploring the outdoor settlement, we piled back into the car and began the journey down to Reynisfjara. I knew that it would be a long drive with multiple stops along the way, but I was not really prepared to find that most of the attractions were on the second portion of the drive. In other words, although the scenery was beautiful, it was a long hour to 1.5 hours before we hit the first item on our list: Seljalandsfoss Waterfall.
My son quickly fell asleep in the backseat of the car and I had to pull over a full times and step outside just to wake myself up and get some air. Luckily the scenery was so gorgeous that I didn’t mind the detours and stops.
Taken on one of my many “fresh air” stops.
By the time we reached Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, I was tired enough that I knew we weren’t going to be able to get out and explore every item on our original list of things to do. I parked and took a quick peek at the waterfall and was happy enough that my son stirred enough to go “oooooo…waterfall!” In other words, despite Seljalandsfoss being one of the waterfalls that you can walk behind, we did not actually walk to the falls. We just enjoyed it from the parking area and were happy to continue on our journey.
Despite the novelty of walking behind a waterfall, I also really did not want to get wet, so opted to just enjoy the waterfall from the parking area.
The next stop on my list, Eyjafjnallajokull, the site of a major 2010 volcanic eruption that required the evacuation of 800 people living in the town immediately below the volcano. Although there used to be a Visitor’s Center, which featured artifacts and a 20 minute video of the eruption, the Visitor’s Center is now closed, with no signs of reopening. We were only able to enjoy the information signs located outside the Visitor’s Center, which is located across the road from Eyjafjnallajokull.
View of Eyjafjnallajokull from the now shuttered Visitor’s Center.
View of the area surrounding Eyjafjnallajokull.
From Eyjafjnallajokull, my next intended stop was Gljufrabui Waterfall, which is partially hidden by a large rock wall. With my son happily snoring in the backseat, I had no desire to wake him up and go searching for a waterfall (which I was previously told required wellies to discover). I simply continued on driving to Skogafoss waterfall where we again admired the waterfall from a distance. My original intention was to walk the path leading to each and every waterfall (after all, when in Iceland…), but I don’t regret that we did not. We were literally so tired that my goal was just simply to get to our cottage in Reynisfjara in one piece.
View of land around Skogafoss.
As you can see, the country is so beautiful that simply being there and taking in the entire surroundings was plenty. From Skogafoss, I stopped quickly at Solheimasandur Beach to take a look at the walk and signs, knowing that the walk to the US navy plane wreckage would have to take place on our return journey, if at all.
After Solheimasandur, I decided that it was really time to get to Reynisfjara. Although it was only 1pm, that was a good 8 hours after our arrival at Keflavik airport after not having slept at all on the plane. Although the drive from Reykjavik to Vik is billed as 2.5 hours, the numerous stops and detours we had taken quickly added to the driving time and thus the late hour. Our cottage check in was not until 4pm, however, so my son and I spent a few minutes on Reynisfjara after locating our cottage, which was located just above the beach. In fact, I was thrilled to see that our cottage was one of three cottages that are the closest accommodations you could secure to Reynisfjara beach and would highly recommend it to anyone looking.
Our two nights at Reynisfjara were spent at the middle cottage.basalt columns at Reynisfjara
At the beach, I noted the existence of Black Beach Restaurant and filed it away as a possibility for the next night, our second night at the cottage.
Black Beach Restaurant, located within walking distance from our rental cottage and literally on the beach.
Given that we had some time to kill before we could check in, we ventured into Vik for lunch and some groceries.
Our cottage was only a short 15-20 minutes drive to Vik and just prior to entering the village, I spotted a sign indicating the existence of a brewpub, Smiojan Brugghus. A burger, fries, and a beer was just what the doctor ordered.
The service was great, with the servers offering me samples of their various brews before having me commit to one. My son devoured his burger and I relished very bite of mine. I ordered the combo meal, which included burger, fries, and a non-alcoholic drink and my son had the kid’s burger which came with fries. In addition, I ordered a beer (giving my soft drink to my son) and the total for our meal was approximately $45 USD. A tad steep for two burgers, fries, and a beer, but the quality was good.
After lunch, we stopped at the grocery store, Kronan, where we picked up a few essentials: milk, salami, crackers, and yogurt, before returning to Reynisfjara where we were luckily able to check in about 90 minutes prior to the stated 4pm check in. The cabin was small, but included everything we needed: a small kitchen, microwave, private bath, and wifi! My son was pretty energetic, having slept most of the journey down to Reynisfjara, but I really needed a nap, so I set him up on his iPad and took a very glorious 2 hour nap.
Upon waking up, we briefly contemplated what we wanted to do for the rest of the afternoon/evening, before deciding that we really just wanted to enjoy the quiet. Having had a large, late lunch, we decided to just snack on salami and crackers (luckily, I had a bottle of wine I picked up from the duty free shop on our way out of the airport).
Photo taken at 11pm at night – it never got dark!
Our evening at the cottage was peaceful and just what we needed. From our front window, we could gaze out at Reynisfjara beach and eventually, we noticed that sheep were wandering over and all around. That night, we slept with one window open and could hear the crashing waves and the sheep baa-ing well into the night.
Although there was a lot that I had hoped to accomplish on our first day but did not actually accomplish, I was so thankful to get us down to our cottage in one piece. Everything had worked out smoothly, I simply decided to just make up what we missed on Day Three, during our drive back up to Reykjavik. Fortunately, my son is pretty easy going and was perfectly content to be along for the ride. The fast wifi was definitely a bonus and he had no trouble hanging out and relaxing in the cottage with me.
Guest Author: Our kid blogger, Messi Jr., is a nine year old fourth grader who loves travel and soccer.
My Iceland trip was awesome.
Iceland Day 1
On day one, as soon as my family and I got to the Icelandic airport, everyone was wide awake because we slept the whole flight. When we got out of the airport, it was very cold and rainy. My family and I got on the bus that would take us to a place that we would get a rental car.
On the bus, I saw two strange things. The first thing that was strange was that out of the window I saw rocks. Some were the size of pebbles and others were the size of cars. The rocks were all different shapes, but many were the size of backpacks. There seemed to be millions. And, there were planes and planes of them. But, they were covered in something. I didn’t know what it was so I asked my dad what it was, and he said it was moss. I thought it was very strange, but I could believe it when I saw it. The other thing I wondered about was the rocks. When I looked closely, there were many holes. I recognized it as a lava rock. I wasn’t surprised since I knew from a book I had read about Iceland that it said that Iceland was formed by volcanos.
Once we got off the bus, we went to a place where we rented a 4×4 car, which meant it can drive through harsh conditions. With the car, we drove to the convenience store and bought some food that we ate at the shop for breakfast. At the store, the Cool One and I both found coins. The Cool One found a 1 krona coin, and I found a 2 krona coin. Next, we went to Costco. At Costco, we bought squeezies for my sister, water bottles for the car, Nutella to put on our bread for breakfast, and rotisserie chicken for our sandwiches.
Before we ate lunch, we went to the lava tunnel, but the noon tour was full. For lunch, we went to a nearby town and picked up some very yummy pizza, which we ate in the car heading toward the lava tunnel. In the lava tunnel, we had to wear headlamps so we could see around the tunnel. We learned that before headlamps and flashlights, all people saw in the tunnel was pitch black. The only way you could see was from small holes on the roof. We also learned that lava once rushed through the tunnel. My sister was the youngest person to ever go in the tunnel.
The next thing that we did was we drove, well we tried to drive to Kerid crater, but we drove into another crater. In that crater, there were many lava rocks. We could also see all the layers of the crater.
The next stop was Kerid crater. The cool thing about Kerid is that the deep crater has a lake at the bottom of it. My dad also said that Kerid was formed 6,500 years ago. On our way to the apartment, my brother, sister and I took a nap in the car. I thought that I had slept for the whole night! We watched some TV, but it was only in Icelandic, so we didn’t understand a thing. We tried to take a shower, but the drain was plugged, so that made it pretty challenging. The day ended with everyone having a good night sleep.
Iceland Day 2
Once everyone had woken up and dressed up, we went to Seljalandfoss, which is a famous waterfall because you can walk behind it. Seljalandfoss is a very tall waterfall. When my family and I walked behind it, we got soaked, but it was worth it because it was amazing.
As we were driving to Skogafoss, we saw Eyjafalljokul, which is a volcano that erupted a few days after my brother was born, which delayed my grandma from flying back to England.
Once we were at Skogafoss, we saw a huge waterfall, and when the water hit the river it had been forming, mist shot up and formed a huge circle.
We also saw a huge glacier that turned out to be the biggest glacier outside of the North and South Poles.
In a bird sanctuary, we saw a few puffins.
At Renisjfara beach, the sand was black! It wasn’t just normal sand, it was volcanic sand! We also saw a lot of basalt rocks. There were also strong waves. My brother, my dad, and I were standing about 2 yards away from where the waves end, then suddenly, a huge wave came and everyone started running, but I tripped over a big rock. I fell down and before the wave went back in, my dad pulled me out. I was wet, so I had to change all of my clothes.
As we drove, we passed the beautiful city of Vik, but we didn’t stop. The next place we went was Vatnajokull, which is the biggest ice cap (other than the North and South poles). It was a very beautiful sight.
The next stop was Jokulsaron. One of the reasons Dad wanted to come to Iceland was to see this site. Jokulsaron is a lake with icebergs. The icebergs and lake come from a glacier that was constantly melting. The ice on the beach was my favorite sight of Iceland. On the beach, when Dad was taking a picture of my brother and me near the iceberg, as he walked backward to get a good shot of us, he tripped over ice and fell backward. When he put his hand down to save himself, he went down so hard he broke the thick ice and hurt his hand a lot.
We went as fast as we could to Hofn hoping to get to Hofn before the guesthouse closed. hoped that we would make it in time so we wouldn’t have to sleep in the car. Luckily, we just made it in time. For dinner, we had pasta with rotisserie chicken. Even though we tried our best to keep my sister quiet, she was still very loud. We eventually got her quiet watching Netflix. We had a good night of sleep.
Iceland Day 3
We woke up in the morning to nice blue skies, which ended up to be a nice, blue, dry, and sunny day. We woke up so late that by the time my family woke up, everyone else in the apartment had left for the day. My mom lost her ring that she was very sad about, but it was a good thing she found it later in the trip. As we drove to Netto, we had an amazing view of a glacier.
For lunch, we stopped on the side of the road where we saw a bench that overlooked the ocean. We ate some of the food we bought at Netto. My sister made a rock collection, which she loved and added to during the trip. We stopped in a tourist office, and we got even more maps! Next, we stopped on the side of the road where we saw a stream, and there was a wonderful view of everything around us. My brother and I skipped a few rocks into the stream.
As we kept driving, near a farm we passed, we saw amazing hovering birds. My dad took a few photos of them hovering and trying to find food.
As we kept driving along, we went into two tunnels. One tunnel was 5 km, and the second tunnel was 6 km! We stopped at Kronan where we got fish, fish stew, and French fries. We spent the night in the fishing village of Eskijfordur. We stayed in a very nice apartment. For dinner, we had the fish and fish stew with the French fries, and we also had peas, and for dessert, we had ice cream. But, that still wasn’t the end of the day!
At 9:30, there was great weather as we were driving to the mine that was famous because it had the most spar crystals in the world. We saw many animals running across the road. Some were so close, the car could have ran over them. Once we got to the walking path, we walked up a big hill seeing thousands and thousands of spar crystals. The mine shaft was blocked off by the rocks, but there were still many spar crystals. My sister, brother, and I made a huge spar crystal collection and left it on a rock.
As we headed to our apartment, we saw the most amazing midnight sun we had seen on the whole vacation. At end the day, we had a good night sleep.
Iceland Day 4
We woke up in the morning and had a quick breakfast. We had a very quick breakfast because we wanted the maximum time at our first hot pot in Iceland. It was a very cold day, which is the best pool weather in Iceland because every single pool is heated by natural magma and lava. My family and I were the only people in the pool. We all had fun on the slides, and when it was time to go, my sister didn’t want to get out. The rest of the day all my sister wanted to do was go back in the pool.
We had lunch in the apartment. It was raining very heavily, and the sky was very ugly white and gray. It was still raining, but we drove to Dettifoss, which is a popular waterfall. On the way, we got gas and looked for reindeer, but we didn’t see a single reindeer. Dettifoss was one of the best sites we saw in Iceland. It is amazing how much water comes down. My sister nearly walked the whole hike by herself to the waterfall.
Guest Author: Our kid blogger, “The Cool One”, is a seven year old second grader who loves travel, soccer and piano.
Three of my favorite things in Iceland were whale watching, Gulfoss waterfall and the Blue Lagoon.
Whale Watching in Dalvik
In Iceland, on day five, my family went whale watching in Dalvik. We went on a boat. It was a big wooden boat. It looked like this one:
There were a lot of people. We saw a lot of humpback whales. They were big and blue, and they had a hump on their back. The whales sprayed water.
I thought that the whale would hit the boat. I was scared. Then, we went fishing. I caught a cod fish. My brother caught two.
They cut up the fish on the boat.
We ate it after. It was good. I had fun.
Gulfoss
On the seventh day of the Iceland trip, we went to the Gulfoss waterfall. It was my favorite waterfall in Iceland. It looked like a cake with two layers.
We went on a long walk along a path to view Gulfoss. We saw a rainbow.
Blue Lagoon
On the eighth day on the Iceland trip, my family went to the Blue Lagoon.
On the way to the Blue Lagoon, I saw a part of the lagoon. It was very blue.
When we arrived, there was a long line to get in. When I got in the lagoon, the water was warm.
Everyone had a silica face mask. It felt really soft. We went into a cave. We made hand prints on the bottom of the bridge.
I really liked our Iceland trip. I would like to go back.
Last night, I was flipping through twitter and came across Nomadic Matt’s live tweets from South Africa. His safari photos were enough to prompt me to open up a bottle of South African wine and begin reminiscing about the amazing trip we took to Africa earlier this summer. In June of 2017, my husband and I celebrated our tenth anniversary with a nearly 2.5 week-long vacation in Africa. It began with three nights in Cape Town, one night in the Cape Winelands, three nights atUmlani Bushcampin the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve just outside Kruger National Park, two nights in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, and finally, three nights at Muchenje Safari Lodge in Chobe National Park. Although this was a rare kid-free vacation for us, I did spend most of the trip missing my eight-year-old, who I think would have enjoyed the trip tremendously, while at the same time keeping an eye towards just how quickly we could return with both kids (because the trip was not ideal for toddlers and I know the “baby” won’t want to be left behind when we go!).
View of Cape Town from Table Mountain
Why Africa?
Neither of us had ever been to Africa and knowing we had just over two weeks of time, it seemed like a great place to explore for the first time without kids. Our decision to travel to Africa was cinched by the fact that I was able to book two round-trip business class flights from Washington, DC to Cape Town and then from Johannesburg back to Washington, DC for 320,000 United miles (which we transferred from our Chase Ultimate Awards account) and $150.72. Knowing that we would could make the trip to and from Africa in relative comfort for almost nothing out of pocket was a major factor in deciding on Africa.
A second major factor in our decision to go to Africa was that it would be winter in Africa during our summer! Living and working in Washington, DC, I was adamant against going somewhere where it would be hot and humid. That meant most of Asia was out of the question, as was much of Central America. Although we briefly considered a walking tour of Switzerland, it did not come to fruition as my husband (who lived in Switzerland one summer in college) had no time to plan the trip and I quickly lost interest in the notion of taking a nomadic journey across Switzerland on foot. Traveling to South Africa in June ended up being perfect. Because it is the middle of winter, the climate was generally in the mid-60’s and thus, perfectly comfortable for the hiking and walking we wanted to do. Moreover, the biggest tourist season is during their summer – which spans December and Christmas. According to one of our guides, it would be a 90 minute wait to get down to the Cape of Good Hope during high tourist season. We were able to pop in and out without any trouble.
Travel Logistics / Itinerary:
The logistics of travelling to Africa were slightly overwhelming at first as neither of us had been and there was a lot to figure out – immunizations, transfers from one side of the country / continent to another, visas, etc. Luckily, I had a coworker who had just returned from a trip a few years prior who had a few recommendations. Initially, the thought was to spend a few days in Cape Town, a few days in the Winelands, and then travel to Kruger for a safari. However, as I researched, I realized that given the length of time we had reserved for the trip, we could easily squeeze in a second safari. This decision was reinforced by a travel agent, who based on our interest, was able to recommend a few different medium-priced safari lodges. Ultimately, we decided to stay at Umlani Bush Camp in the Timbavati, which billed itself as a “rustic” three-star safari lodge, followed by a stay at Muchenje Safari Lodge which was recommended by our travel agent as a medium-high end safari experience. The two stays at the safari lodges and the transfers to/from each lodge were booked by the travel agent, who was able to secure a cheaper rate than had we booked it directly ourselves, but I was able to book everything else myself, including our three intracontinent flights and hotels in Cape Town / the Winelands / Johannesburg / Victoria Falls.
three days, two nights all-inclusive food/drinks/game drives
Day 15 – Two-hour flight from Kasane, Botswana to Johannesburg Airport, overnight stay atTen Bompas Hotel in Johannesburg
Day 16 – Fly home
The Highlights:
Cape Town:
My husband and I were both blown away by Cape Town. It is easily one of the most beautiful cities we have ever been to, easily rivaling San Francisco in terms of its beauty, climate (at least while we were there in the middle of their “winter!”), and devotion to good food and wine.
Our first full day in Cape Town was spent hiking upTable Mountain via Skeleton’s Gorge. Our hike was led by Pietro of Table Mountain Walks and his style of guiding and pace was a perfect match for what we were looking for. Despite our late arrival at the hotel the prior night, he called to confirm our meeting time the next morning and also to suggest what shoes/clothing to wear given the weather. We met Pietro the next morning in the hotel lobby after a light breakfast and proceeded toKirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, the designated starting point for our five-hour adventure. Although my husband and I greatly enjoyed our hike Skeleton’s Gorge, it does involve climbing ladders and a very wet rock gorge. Since it had rained the few days preceding our planned hike, there was so much water actively streaming down the gorge that I simply thought it was a waterfall and asked Pietro when we got to the landing, “now what?”
one of the most interesting rock formations at the top of Table Mountain
Although we had a blast climbing up the gorge and then walking across Table Mountain before taking the cable car back down, this is not something I would recommend with young children. If I were to return with young children (not yet teenagers), I would recommend riding the cable car to the top of the mountain and then walking the flat part of Table Mountain, Smuts Track. You can spend as much time as you want walking the flat trail and there’s plenty of views and rocks to see – just be cautious, in adverse weather conditions, the cable car will stop running and if that happens, you will be left with the option of sitting and waiting for it to reopen or a near vertical climb down.
Our second full day in Cape Town was spent with Andrew at Vineyard Ventures. Vineyard Ventures offers only private tours and can custom tailor the tour based on your particular needs and interests. Our tour began with an early hotel pick up, and we immediately proceeded down to the Cape Peninsula, the Cape of Good Hope, and the penguins at Boulders, before dropping us off at our hotel. Along the way, Andrew drove us through Constantia, Cape Town’s “wine country” and provided us with tons of information regarding the local architecture, political climate, and other historical insights that we would not have been privy to without his company.
panoramic view of the shore and large number of cormorants near the Cape of Good Hope.
Unfortunately for us, my husband and I came down with a mild stomach bug the morning of our planned Cape Peninsula Tour. Although the stomach bug was short lived and well-managed with antibiotics and other medications we picked up from the pharmacy, it still affected our ability to really engage and fully appreciate the day. I will say, however, that having hired a private tour for the day (and a private wine tour the next day) really saved those two days we were down with the stomach virus in Cape Town / Winelands. If we did not have pre-arranged transport and someone else to do the driving, there is almost no chance we would have attempted to do it ourselves. Overall, I was thrilled with the quality of the guiding offered by every single company/vendor we engaged in Cape Town / Winelands and would not hesitate to recommend them going forward.
Winelands:
Andrew conveniently dropped us off after our Cape Peninsula tour at our accommodations for the evening – Babylonstoren, the highlight of my time in Cape Town. Babylonstoren is a Cape Dutch Farm that has an operating fruit and vegetable garden, bee hive, winery, restaurant, spa… Although our stay was too short to arrange for a spa treatment, our accommodations (a single room with bath in a free-standing dutch home) were exceptionally well appointed and dinner was also lovely. We took a quick tour of the gardens the next morning and loved seeing the different fruits and vegetables and, my personal favorite, the jumping chickens.
outside view of our cottage that we called home at babylonstoren
From Babylonstoren, Eileen fromTsiba Tsiba Wine Tourstook us on a private tour of six different wineries. Although Eileen chose the wineries, she did so with prior information regarding our tastes and preferences and chose a wide variety of wineries – some that we would be able to find in the United States and others that we could only enjoy in South Africa.
representative of the scenery in the Winelands
Would I recommend Cape Town / Winelands for those traveling with children?
It depends. If you’re planning on traveling with young pre-teen children, I suggest that your time would be better spent on safari than in Cape Town and the Winelands. Although there are definitely things to do with young children in both areas, the real attractions – to me – in Cape Town and the Winelands are the food, the hiking, and the wine. Of course, if you’re not someone who is called to four course meals* with wine pairings and/or full day wine tasting adventures, by all means, enjoy the small hikes in Cape Town and the surrounding mountains and even take your kids to Babylonstoren – they likely would love to spend a day in the gardens, learning about harvesting, growing, and jumping chickens. But, my husband and I both agreed that given the opportunity to travel to South Africa again alone, we would spend a long weekend or a week in Cape Town / Winelands, saving the kids for the big game safari adventures.
Regardless of the age of your traveling dependents, however, South Africa was an ideal place to visit in mid-late June. School age children will be on summer break, the temperature will be moderate (for us East Coasters used to extreme fluctuations), and the crowds were practically nonexistent – we encountered no other climbers on our hike up Skeleton’s Gorge, and there were very few people on the cable car and/or touring the Peninsula. I wouldn’t hesitate to plan a summer vacation next time, but I would not recommend going in our summer (their winter) if you are not keen on crowds.
* we had numerous, amazing fine dining experiences that blew our minds during our stay in South Africa. Not only was the food and wine inventive and delicious, but the portions were huge, and the checks were not! Our four-course dinner for two with wine pairings on our last night in South Africa came out to $140 total, tax and gratuity inclusive – cheaper than what we usually pay for a four-course meal with no wine pairings for one! If you’re interested in specific dining recommendations for South Africa, let me know. I’d be happy to share our experiences and send along recommendations.
Interested in safariing with your kids? Read about our experience at Umlani Bushcamp and Muchenje Safari Lodge. You can also read about our experience in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe here.
We traveled from East Iceland through the highlands to reach North Iceland, which is known for whale watching, Lake Myvatn and waterfalls. The largest metropolitan area in Iceland outside of Reykjavik is Akureyri, which is located on a fjord in North Iceland. Some of our favorite things to do in North Iceland include:
North Iceland Waterfalls
Waterfalls are among the many highlights of Northern Iceland. During our three days in Northern Iceland, we saw three stunning waterfalls – Dettifoss, Hafragilsfoss and Gulfoss.
Dettifoss Waterfall in North Iceland
Dettifoss Waterfall is the most powerful waterfall in Iceland on the Jökulsá á Fjöllum River, within the Vatnajökull National Park. The milky-gray water comes from the Vatnajökull Glacier. There is about a 10-15 minute walk on a gravel path with steps from the parking lot to the overlook. We really enjoyed the Dettifoss hike and viewing this powerful waterfall from the top. 65°48′52.8″N16°23′04.1″W
Dettifoss Waterfall Facts: The stunning Dettifoss falls are 330 feet wide and drop 144 feet down to the Jökulsárgljúfur Canyon
Dettifoss Waterfall Kid Moments: Count the steps leading down to the waterfall to make the journey more exciting
Dettifoss Waterfall Kid Caution: The walk to the falls was more strenuous than most, but our two year old did most of it by herself. The view of Dettifoss is from above, and it is an extremely powerful waterfall. I held my two younger children’s hands at all times and left the picture taking of Dettifoss entirely to my husband. Make sure children stay well back from the edge, especially on a windy day.
Hafragilsfoss Waterfall in North Iceland
Hafragilsfoss is a waterfall just downstream from Dettifoss. 65°49′57″N16°24′00″W
Hafragilsfoss Kid Caution: We visited Dettifoss and Hafragilsfosson a particularly windy day, and the hike up to the Hafragilsfoss viewing area was steep with cliff edges. So, I chose to stay in the car with the kids while my husband took hiked up to view the falls and take a few pictures.
Godafoss Waterfall in North Iceland
Godafoss Waterfall in Iceland is a beautiful waterfall with amazing rock formations surrounding it located right on the Ring Road between Myvatn and Akureyri. It is considered the “Beauty” to Dettifoss’ “Beast.” 65°40′48″N 17°32′24″W
Godafoss Falls Facts: Goðafoss means “waterfall of the gods” and was named by Thorgeir Ljosvetningagodi Thorkelsson, who made Christianity the official religion of Iceland in 999 or 1000. At that time, he threw his pagan statues into Godafoss. A window in Akureyrarkirkja illustrates this story.
Places to Visit in North Iceland
Husavík, Iceland
Husavík is an idyllic fishing village known for whale watching. Whale watching in Husavik is so popular because visitors are more likely to see different species of whales than any other whale watching destinations in Iceland. The humpback is the most commonly viewed whale in Iceland, but tourists in Husavik often see other types of whales.
We spent a night at an adorable apartment right near the harbor specifically to take a whale watching. The three whale watching tour providers in Husavik are: Gentle Giants, Salka Whale Watching and North Sailing. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with us, and whale watching tours were cancelled due to weather. We thought about trying to ride out the storm, but the radar did not look favorable, so we headed to the Myvatn area instead. It was wet and rainy the whole time we were there, but the view was still beautiful. We picked up take out fish and chips and ate in our apartment.
Lake Myvatn is a pretty significant tourist area with many attractions. There is a tourist office in Reykjahlid next to the supermarket that offers great maps of the area and advice. We spent an entire day in Lake Myvatn, and families with more time in Northern Iceland could easily spend longer exploring the beautiful natural wonders surrounding Lake Myvatn.
Dimmuborgir is a lava field with volcanic caves and unusually shaped rocked collections. There are paved and unpaved, kid-friendly trails that our family particularly enjoyed exploring. There is a tourist center with a gift shop and restaurant located off of the parking lot. The Dimmuborgir area was formed about 2300 years ago by a collapsed lava tube where lava pooled over a small lake. Lava pillars were formed by vapor that rose through the lava. “Dimmu” means “dark”, and “borgir” means “castles.” Our kids were amazed that Dimmuborgir’s geology is so unique that the only similar locations exist on the ocean floor. 65°35′25″N16°53′58″
Dimmuborgir
Holfdi Viewpoint is a peninsula that stretches into Lake Myvatn. There are a number of hiking trails in this forest. We took the one that went up to the overlook and saw more trees on this hike than anywhere else in Iceland. It was buggy, but none of us were actually bitten.
Grjótagjá consists of two portals into a small lava cave that each have a thermal spring filled with blue water that used to be a popular location for swimming, but the water temperature has risen after volcanic eruptions and is now too hot. Apparently, the temperature is falling, and there are times when it is safe for people to enter, but no one was in the water during our visit. Grjótagjá was closed in the summer of 2018 to protect it from damage and may not be open to visitors.
Grjótagjá Facts: Kids may be interested that Grjótagjá was the filming location of an iconic Game of Thrones scene, but the actual scene is not kid-friendly.
Kid Caution: The climb in is a bit steep, but our seven and nine year old boys had no difficulty. We chose not to bring in our toddler due to the risk of hot water.
Grjótagjá
Hveriris a large geothermal field of bubbling mud pools, steaming fumaroles and cracked mud that seems right out of Star Wars. It was the muddiest part of our trip, and many tourists had those blue shoe coverings, which I was a bit envious of for the first time in my life. The kids enjoyed exploring but wished there was some way to cover up the sulfuric smell (like rotten eggs). While Yellowstone’s geothermal area is more extensive, Hverir is unique in that you feel like you are truly visiting another planet. Hverir is a great place to talk about what it would be like to live on another planet.
Hverir Facts: A fumarole (meaning “smoke”) is an opening in the Earth’s crust often found near volcanoes that emits steam and gases.
Mud pools
Akureyri, Iceland
Akureyri in Iceland boasts a population of 18,000, which makes it the largest metropolitan area outside of Reykjavik and the fourth largest municipality (after Reykjavík and two of its surrounding municipalities). Akureyri is a quaint town located on the Eyjafjörður fjord. We stayed at an AirBNB in the center of town, around the corner from the Lutheran church, Akureyrarkirkja. There are a few shopping streets, similar to those around Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavik. There are also both Chinese and Thai restaurants and Indian takeaway. You can go whale watching in Akureyri, but most people choose to go in Dalvík or Husavík. We also visited the Akureyri Thermal Pool, just outside the center of town. We had a lovely time even though construction was underway on slides at the time of our visit.
Akureyri Facts: Guðjón Samuelsson, the State Architect who designed Hallgrímskirkja also designed Akureyrarkirkja, which was completed in 1940. Akureyrarkirkja contains a 3,200 pipe organ, and its central window above the altar came from Canterbury Cathedral in England.
Harbor view from our AirBNBAkureyrarkirkja
Whale Watching in North Iceland
Because our whale watching trip in Husavik was rained out, we opted to go whale watching in Dalvik, Iceland the next day Dalvik is a town located on the Eyjafjörður fjord north of Akureyri that offers whale watching. We chose to do a tour through Artic Sea Tours because of Dalvík’s proximity to Akureyri and because the tours include a fishing portion, which interested my sons. My daughter had just woken up from a nap when we arrived at the office and was not happy about the red jumpsuit she was offered to wear. Although she had never before had an issue with the color of clothing, she yelled, “But red is not my favorite color!” for about 10-minutes straight on the bus we took to the boat. Luckily, the others in our tour were highly amused, and she ultimately decided that putting on the red jumpsuit was a wise choice. The humpback whales were amazing, and the views of the Eyjafjörður fjord were breathtaking. We particularly enjoyed bird watching. Near the end of the tour, fishing rods are distributed, and all fish caught are cleaned and grilled upon your return to be shared by the members of the tour. My boys caught a total of three large cod, which they enjoyed possibly as much as seeing humpback whales. Our picnic afterwards included the freshest fish we had ever tasted.
Many Iceland visitors miss North Iceland, but we were glad it was part of our itinerary! On our trip back to Reykjavik, we ignored our GPS’ suggestion to divert from the Ring Road and immediately shaved an hour of time off our journey.
We loved Southwest Iceland even though it was wet and windy for most of our time there. The sites we visited were all on or near the Ring Road. Due to scarcity of hotel availability, we traveled from near Seljalandfoss to Höfn in one day. It was a long day with a lot of amazing stops, but it would have been preferable to stay near Vík or Kirkjubæjarklaustur and spend two days exploring this area. Here are six Southwest Iceland attractions we recommend.
#1: Seljalandfoss Iceland
Seljalandfoss is a 200 foot waterfall that visitors can walk behind by following the path into the cave behind the falls. The Seljalandfoss hike is a bit of a trek, but our seven and nine year old boys easily handled the trail. I walked carefully as I carried my daughter in our Beco carrier. Seljalandfoss falls is easily accessible from the Ring Road.
Seljalandfoss Facts: Plans to build an information center near Seljalandfoss caused controversy in May 2017 because opponents worried the building would spoil the view and natural look of the area.
Seljalandfoss Kid Moment: Make sure to take the path from the cave down to the edge of the water and get a closer look at the waterfall.
Seljalandfoss Kid Caution: Seljalandfoss is viewed from below rather than above and therefore less dangerous than many waterfalls in Iceland. However, the path that winds behind the falls can be slippery because of the constant mist. Also, rain gear is probably necessary even on a dry day.
The Eyjafjallajökull volcano is known throughout the world because of the Eyjafjallajökull 2010 eruption that caused the largest air-traffic shut-down since World War I. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were stuck for an extra few days in the US when transatlantic flights were cancelled due to the volcanic ash. We viewed Eyjafjallajökull from the Ring Road when we stopped at an unmarked overlook to take some pictures.
Eyjafjallajökull Facts: The resulting volcanic ash of Eyjafjallajokull’s eruption disrupted air traffic over Europe and the Atlantic. The pronunciation of Eyjafjallajökull became a news story of its own at the time. Check out this video to learn how the correct Eyjafjallajökull pronunciation. We were not able to master it.
Eyjafjallajökull Kid Moments: Show your children video of the 2010 eruption, which did not cause any injuries, and discuss some of the most destructive volcanic eruptions.
Skógafoss is one of Iceland’s largest waterfalls with a width of 75 feet and drop of 200 feet. Skogafoss was probably the safest and most accessible waterfall we visited as the viewing area was located on the river bank below the falls and just at the edge of the parking lot. Don’t miss Skogafoss falls right off the Ring Road.
Skogafoss Kid Moment: Look for rainbows, which are common at Skógafoss, due to the amount of spray.
Sólheimajökull is a beautiful outlet glacier of the Myrdalsjokull glacier. We took a short walk on a path from the parking area to view the glacier. Sólheimajökull glacier tours were generally not offered for children under 10. While this is one of the easiest glacial tongues to reach, we did not take attempt a Sólheimajökull glacier hike on our own. Here is the correct Sólheimajökull pronounciation.
Sólheimajökull Glacier Facts: A glacier is a body of dense ice that is moving under its own weight. Glacial ice is the largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth and appears blue because water molecules absorb other colors more efficiently than blue.
#5: Dyrholaey Iceland
Dyrholaey is a coastal bird sanctuary located on a peninsula at the southernmost tip of Iceland. It’s a short walk to the lookout point, and we spotted a few puffins in the caves. Note – This is not a black and white picture, but it was really that gray during our visit.
Dyrholaey Facts: Dyrhólaey means “doorway hill island” because it was originally an island
Dyrholaey Kid Moment: Highlights include the Dyrhólaey puffins during the summer months and a view of the Dyrhólaey arch.
Reynisfjara Beach is a black sand beach with a phenomenal basalt sea cave, Halsanefshellir. The Reynisdrangur sea stacks are visible from the beach.
Reynisfjara Beach Facts: A scene in Rogue One was filmed at Reynisfjara Beach in which Jyn unsuccessfully tries to save her wounded father.
Reynisfjara Beach Kid Moment: Compare the basalt columns to a church organ.
Reynisfjara Beach Kid Caution: While this appears to be a safe beach, it was the only place in Iceland where we saw cautionary signs regarding recent tourist deaths that occurred in 2016 and 2017. The Reynisfjara waves here are very dangerously unpredictable, and the undertow is extremely strong. During our visit, our nine-year-old tripped and fell running away from a wave that came inland much further than previous ones, and he was covered by the water. My husband pulled him out before the wave retreated, but it was a very scary experience for all of us. Luckily, the only casualty was the pair of shoes he was wearing.
Continue to Part VI – Southeast Iceland. Planning a family trip to Iceland? Check out our listing of all Iceland posts or join our Facebook group We Go To Iceland With Kids, which is a forum to ask questions and share ideas about family travel to Iceland.
On our way to Kerið, we turned too soon and ended up on an unpaved road we believed would take us to Kerið. We did realize our mistake but found the mystery crater adjacent to Kerið pretty fascinating in the meantime.
Pro-Tips:
At the beach, I noted the existence of 
The next thing that we did was we drove, well we tried to drive to Kerid crater, but we drove into another crater. In that crater, there were many lava rocks. We could also see all the layers of the crater.
