Magical Iceland

For many years now, Iceland has been a country that I have really wanted to visit. Mostly because of its amazing scenery with incredible waterfalls and northern lights as good as northern Norway. Before traveling, there were two specific places I definitely wanted to photograph; Seljalandsfoss and Kirkjufell. I had seen these two places so many times on Instagram, and I just knew I had to witness it live.

The Hotel

When traveling, choosing the right hotel is the key. One of the most important things about choosing the right hotel for me, is location. Radisson Blu Saga, Reykjavik had just that. Located in the center of Reykjavik you could literally walk to wherever you wanted in Reykjavik. Also, it was pretty much in the middle of Seljalandsfoss and Kirkjufell which is located south and west of Reykjavik. Let me tell you, I am not a big fan of driving, but on this trip I was averaging 4-5 hours of driving every day. I have also never driven a car that big, which was pretty cool. I got the impression that Icelandic hotels are a lot like Norwegian hotels. Modern, nice décor, friendly staff, but not the most spacious rooms. One thing that surprised me a lot at Radisson Blu Saga was the breakfast. They had a very big selection of all kinds of breakfast foods, and a lot of delicious fruits and pastries to top the meal off with. Another cool aspect was the hotels two top notch restaurants; Mimir and Grillid. One of first night at the hotel we had a tasty three course meal at Mimir which is located on the first floor of the hotel. Grillid is the penthouse restaurant where you can eat fancy food while enjoying an astonishing view of all of Reykjavik.

Great Food!

After eating a delicious meat at Mimir, I looked at my app for stars and northern lights and it looked like we might be in luck, so we got in the car and started driving towards Þingvellir National Park. To be able to see the northern lights really dance, you have to get as far away from the city as possible due to the light pollution that you will find in the city. That is also why you will realize that if you see a picture of the Eiffel tower surrounded by a lot of northern lights, it would 99.9 % sure be photo-shopped. Also, note to self, going to Iceland and walking around the dark without a headlight is not a very good idea. After getting to the national park and walking around a bit with our phones as a flashlight, we were able to find a really nice looking waterfall with an icy foreground. The northern lights also looked amazing in the sky. It had been a while since I had taken pictures of the aurora, so I struggled a little bit to find the right settings, but I think that in the end I got to take some decent pictures.

Waterfalls!

The next day we woke up early because there was a lot we wanted to see and do. After enjoying a nice breakfast at the hotel we started the 3 hour roadtrip to Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss. The wind was so crazy that day that is almost blew us off the road. Luckily, we made it to the waterfalls without any big issues. Seeing Seljalandsfoss live was really cool. Of course there was a ton of people there. I had seen some crazy cool photos from behind the waterfall, but unfortunately it was so slippery that they had closed the path to behind the waterfall down, which was a major bummer. Later that night we went back to Seljalandsfoss and there was not a single person there anymore. It almost had a chilly, ghostly vibe to it at night. Luck was also with us that night, because when we were at Skogafoss we got to see some amazing northern lights.

Aurora Borealis

The best northern lights however was seen the following day at Kirkjufell. Another day that started fairly early with a long drive. This was actually on Halloween. After we took some pictures at sunset (no clouds though, so the sunset was disappointing.) we decided to eat at this cozy little restaurant only a few minutes away from Kirkjufell. The food was great, but what made the entire experience was when the chefs had dressed up for Halloween, and suddenly knocked on the window right behind where we were sitting, and scared the living daylights out of us. After getting over the initial shock, I saw outside that the northern lights had started arriving, so there was only one thing to do; start up the car and drive over to Kirkjufell. What was expecting us over at Kirkjufell was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. That entire evening was amazing. On the drive back to the hotel, we had to pull over multiple times. One of the times, the northern lights was even pink-ish, which I had never seen before.

Goodbye for now!

After countless hours of driving, thousands of pictures taken, and way too much food eaten, it was time to head back home. One thing is for sure though, Iceland is a place I am definitely going back to.