My favourite travel experience in Iceland took place in the week leading up to summer solstice a couple of years back. Me and a few friends visited the Westfjords of Iceland as none of us had ever been. We’d heard stories of breathtaking beauty and seen pictures that seemed out of this world so we decided to see this magical place with our own eyes.
It’s safe to say we were not let down. After a five hour drive from the capital we made our first pit-stop and pitched our tent by the sea in the bottom of a picturesque fjord where we watched the sun not quite go down before rising again.
The following days were spent exploring the length and width of the Westfjords. We visited the Rauðisandur red sand beach, Europe’s largest bird-cliff, Látrabjarg, home of millions of birds, we ate beautiful, locally sourced food, took numerous dips in natural geothermal pools and ventured all the way to the outdoor swimming pool affectionately referred to as The Pool at the End of the World where we spent hours watching the sea from the pool, spotting seals and seabirds.
Our most special experience though happened on our way back from the Westfjords when we stopped at the Hveravellir Geothermal fields right in the middle of the highlands of Iceland. It was the eve of the summer solstice and we were soaking in a beautiful natural geothermal pool. The temperature hovered around zero but the water was a perfect 38 Celsius. The sun, at its lowest position seemed to graze the glacier next to us before rising again, refusing to give us even a minute of darkness that night.
