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Writer's pictureDenise Phan

Iceland- the Ring Road-Day 2- Reykjavik to Vik

Updated: Sep 24, 2022


The second day of our Iceland tour started out spectacularly with brunch at the Seabaron restaurant near the harbor.




Fortified with the best lobster soup and freshest fish skewers we've ever had, we were able to head up to Geysir to see the grandfather of known geysers worldwide. The area was like a mini-Yellowstone with bubbling cauldrons, multi-colored steaming mineral pools, and spouting geysers every few minutes.





We continued our drive after visiting the gift shop and grabbing ice cream at the Visitor Center. That's another interesting thing, there's ice cream everywhere you go in Iceland; you would think it's only in the summer that it's popular, but apparently, Icelanders eat ice cream regularly even in the middle of winter.


Our next stop was the beautiful Gullfoss, translated as Gold Waterfall. It was either named because of the golden hue of its water, or the rainbow that is often present stretching across the gigantic width or, as legend has it, a farmer residing nearby possessed a large amount of gold and could not bear the thought of anyone else possessing it after he died, so he put it all in a coffer and threw it into the depth of the waterfall, never to be seen again.






By the time we got off the mountains to rejoin the coastal Ring road at Selfoss town, it was late afternoon so we stopped for fry chicken at KFC, having been warned that food will be few and far in between once you get out of the cities. The road from Selfoss town to Vik is lined with cliffs and mountains on one side, wild fields and ocean on the other, scattered with a multitude of waterfalls, all of them with something unique. We chose to stop at the Seljalandsfoss waterfalls so the boys can hike all the way behind it and out the other side.





We had reservations at the Skammidalur Guesthouse a few kilometers out of town from Vik, and we wanted to get there before the kitchen closes at 10 pm. I would have liked to stop at Skogafoss on the way there but it was getting late and the girls were getting tired. As it was, the scenery on the drive to our guesthouse was superb, and we were about to see several other more spectacular waterfalls every day, anyway.


The Skammidalur Guesthouse, located on a peaceful farm several kilometers from Vik, was an interesting experience for the kids since they were bedrooms on the lower level of a house that share a couple of bathrooms and a kitchen with others, like a hostel or dormitory, but more private. There were little sinks in the bedroom so you can brush your teeth, etc... It was nice having a kitchen because we had stocked up on some soup packets and pasta cups when we were in town that was great for a late-night snack. It was also lovely to wind down with a cup of chamomile tea or hot chocolate at the end of a long day.





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