Food rating now.
This was one of the places I grew up thinking about, I’m not sure why but I have a certain bias for cold. This destination was not so planned ahead, it was just mentioned by a friend and without a doubt I said YES, I’m in. I went with a group of friends without a question, except I wanted to do skydiving and no one else did. So, I planned to get some time before everyone else and skydive on my own. That was a highlight on my trip. I missed a connection in Atlanta and arrived one day late to Boston( from where I took a flight to Iceland) luckily when I was buying the tickets I got confused and bought that connection 1 day earlier to spend one night in Boston.
Not that bad, I was able to meet with my friends in Boston grab a beer and of course one of the best lobster rolls I’ve had in my life just before taking my early flight to Keflavik. If you like lobster and crab, you have to try them in Boston at this place (James Hook & Co), it has a lot of fresh meat, nothing fancy, but so good.
After a 6 hour flight I’m finally in Keflavik, first thing I see is a phrase in the wall that I won’t forget “Better weight than wisdom, a traveller cannot carry” (The sayings of the vikings). Without even having a place to stay I started driving to the dropzone which was like an hour and a half away to jump into an airplane and enjoy the views while free falling. There are no words to describe how amazing that felt.
That was a very busy day, I went back to Reykjavik and looked for a place to stay and wait for my friends. Reykjavik is a very small city with several places to check around like the emblematic Church Hallgrimskirkja(gotta try the sandwiches and pastry at Braud & Co which is nearby). I recommend checking some artisan stores and choosing from several restaurants between Hallgrimskirkja and the Harpa Concert hall. Walking around through Reykjavik you can discover several curious places, but I would leave that for the last part of your trip, since the most attractive part of Iceland is nature.
What would be the best way to get to know Iceland? Well I don’t like tours, and apparently we all loved road trips. In my opinion the best way is to rent a van and drive around the ring road. It was one of my most memorable trips to drive between waterfalls, glaciers, lagoons, mountains, hot springs and Fjords. You get to know as many details as you want, since you choose where to stop and walk around (nobody from a tour telling you what to do), you can cook dinner inside the van or stop at any small town nearby for food. Iceland is the land of waterfalls, there are so many and of all sizes that it is difficult to choose which to visit, and these end up on lakes with glaciers near the coast. You’ll be amazed by the colorful scenery.
If you are worried about taking a shower every day, well you can usually find bathrooms and showers at the designated places to park and sleep (you can’t just stop by the road). If you feel really daring (or don’t want to pay so much for hot water haha) you can use them with room temperature. Oh yes, I did, it was freezing!! literally.
I won’t forget the morning view of the RV parking near the Hoffellsjökull glacier, just astonishing. Go ahead and walk to the glacier, it’s worth it.
After taking an unexpected shortcut on route 939 which was a gravel road and finding some hidden waterfalls and views (totally worth it), I remember picking a couple of hitchhikers during our road trip, I don’t even understand how two girls accepted joining us, 5 guys on a van. Maybe we all had good boy faces. I gotta say it was super fun to meet strangers in Iceland, their story was very entertaining, we visited some other places like Goðafoss and we even ended up going out dancing some days later while at Reykjavik.
While driving the north side you’ll have better chances of admiring the northern lights, and you definitely don’t want to miss them. Check on the season and plan accordingly, I barely managed to see them during the last night.
We spent 5 days doing the regular road trip, but we were not able to check the north west roads which have even more Fjords. Whenever I come back I’ll plan for that part. I wish we had 1 more day with the van to finish every spot. So after 5 days we went back to Reykjavik for some extra time to explore the city.
I know I said I don’t like tours, but I had an extra day left and not so much money left. In order to get to know some extra places and not paying for a rental car I booked a tour. I have to admit it wasn’t that bad since it was for half day. We visited several nice locations like the tectonic plate division, ancient ceremonial place, geysers, old inactive volcano crater and one amazing waterfall.
If you want to try local food I recommend the Islenski Barinn, it is a top notch Bar/Restaurant with unique hamburgers (quite different, and a little pricey but it’s worth it) it also offers local beers and the unique local food like whale meat, fermented shark and puffin. If you want to taste more in a budget there are some local markets where you can get this and much more unique food, I heard about the sheep head some time after the trip.
Trip’s Food Rating!
- Braud & Co sandwich
This bakery has really good tasty sandwiches with cold cuts and quality bread, also try the sweet pastry. It is highly recommended.
- Lamb Burger at Islenski
Icelanders at this restaurant do things differently, for example it is quite common to use lamb and horse meat. I tried BERNESBORGARI with lamb meat, lamb bacon, cheese, mushrooms and caramelized onions with garlic. The best lamb burger I’ve had, Ohhh and also another curiosity, you will be missing the top bread slice. They do have a variety of really good beers for your delight as well.
- Skyr
You can have it everywhere, it is yogurt, but, their way is the best I’ve tried in the world. Not super sweet, not liquid, kind of similar to greek yogurt. I enjoyed vanilla and goji flavors the most, even plain skyr is good.
- Fiskur
Are you into fish flavor? This is kind of an acquired taste, in the beginning it is too strong but if you keep eating eat you might become addicted. Besides, it is healthy and nutritious. What is it? Super simple, dried and salted cod meat cut as chips.
- Icelandic Hot Dog
These are the same everywhere, but still you should try their sausages. They usually use a mix of meats including lamb, pork and beef. Some claim icelandic hot dogs are the best tasting dogs in the world. Judge for yourself.
- Whale
This was a really difficult dish to try, I’m certainly not in favor of killing whales but also it’s a tradition in Iceland and in the end we all eat mammals around the world even though they are usually bred for our consumption. I had forgotten it was a mammal I was ordering, so I was surprised when I saw the red meat. Another surprise, it actually tastes good. But, that will probably be the last time I have whale meat.
(white left closed jar)
- Fermented Shark
There are lots of stories about how this is made, but nowadays I’m pretty sure the process does not include urine. This was one of the dishes I wanted to try the most because I’ve seen tv shows talking about it and people vomiting because of it, even the ones that do this for a living and try lots of weird stuff all the time. I have to say, it is not that bad and you can also help yourself with the super strong alcoholic shot you have to drink along. Do keep the container closed (mind about people around you), since it’s very smelly and that is what makes people feel sick. This is no big deal if you’ve tried durian before.
- Puffin
This is a local bird, not found anywhere out of the northern ocean between Canada and Iceland, they live in Iceland depending on the season. As a bird, it is not very tasty, it is usually prepared smoked to add flavor. To be honest, I could have lived without knowing how it tastes.
- Beef soup
How special could beef soup be? Well I’ve had super flavorful soups in many places, and I’m sorry Iceland. But, at least where I tasted it was very unimpressive. It felt like something I would eat just to get full and not enjoyable.
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