The Travel Diaries: Visiting Iceland, the Land of Fire and Ice

I am finally back in the United States and my heart is already missing the beautiful country of Iceland. My trip got a little crazy–almost missing my connecting international flight, losing my luggage, having an allergic reaction and spending a couple of hours in the hospital–but in the end, it was so amazing and I am still in disbelief that I got the opportunity to go!

Basic Trip Information:

• Country Visited: Reykjavik, Iceland
• Flights: United Airlines & Iceland Air
• Time in Country: 6 days (including travel days)
• Travel Agency: EF Ultimate Break
• Where I Stayed: Storm Hotel
• When I Visited: March (Winter in Iceland)
• Would I recommend: YESSSSS 10/10

I got into the habit of doing solo travel trips from my mom. A couple of years ago she signed me up for a trip to Spain with EF College Break where a bunch of college-aged kids left their campuses to meet up in Barcelona, Spain. So I guess you could call it semi-solo travel because in the end, you meet so many friends! This was my second tour with EF and I can’t wait to book my next trip with them!

The City of Reykjavik

Reykjavik is the main city in Iceland. There are only 340,000 people that live in the country and most of them live around the city. Unless I was going on a tour, I mostly stayed and ate around the city.

Places to Eat:

• Reykjavik Kitchen
• L96 Matwerk Kitchen
• Íslenska Hamborgarafabrikkan
• Valdis Ice Cream
• Café Loki
• Cafe Babalu

Places to Shop:

The best street to shop in Iceland is called Laugavegur street. According to guidetoiceland.is the street name roughly translates to ‘the Water Road’, as it was up and down this area where women used to bring their laundry to be washed in the hot pools. This is the street that has most of the clothing and food places where I shopped.

One of my favorite stores to shop at was idontspeakicelandic. They have a website here if you want to check it out!

The Beautiful Nature

Iceland is known as the land of fire and ice because of its geography. The Nordic island nation is filled with volcanoes, hot springs, geysers, lava rock, and massive glaciers. During my trip to Iceland, I visited the Golden Waterfall, the Icelandic countryside, Thingvellir National Park, the boundary between the North American and the Eurasian tectonic plates, the Great Geysir Geothermal Area, and so much more! I totally recommend checking these places out on a tour if you are interested!

My trip to Iceland was truly a dream. Solo travel can be scary at first but I love it because it challenges and helps you realize how independent you actually are. As a girl who used to be so scared to do anything by herself, becoming a solo-traveler seemed almost impossible. Now, I can’t wait to see the world because I know that with a little faith, I can do anything with Christ leading my footsteps.

Have I convinced you to solo-travel yet? If I have, send me an email at blessedbrilliantbeautifulblog@gmail.com to get $100 off your trip with EF Ultimate Break!