MINESSAA: TOP 5 Visits in Iceland

#5) Seydisfjordur: I like nature but I love little towns embracing the nature even more! We decided to visit this fjord in particular because according to the "500 places you must visit" book by Lonely Planet suggests that this is the prettiest fjord in the country and we didn't want to risk missing it. And they were right.

When we reached the car park to visit this fjord, this is the first view we got and I started to feel like emojis with hearts instead of the eyes. I was in love! The cute church, the fish restaurant and the grill bar was so cute together. They even painted a rainbow street to reach the church, which was impressive!

The more we walked around the city, the more I was in love. The population of this town is about 360 people. Yes, 360! Yet, it was amazing to observe more street art in every corner. As a girl who grew up in Turkey, where big big cities are built with no art, I cannot believe this way of living and I love it!

So our stops to visit the black sand beach was Dyrholaey lighthouse, Dyrholaey, Reynisdrangar Cliffs, DC Plane Crash spot and Diamond beach. They are all amazing!

Keep in mind that Iceland is not all about the black sand beach. In fact, the north coast is full of gold sand beaches. In the end, it doesn't change that much as the weather is freezing to have a dive.

#3) Icelandic Street Food: OK I will dramatize my experience here but it is completely worth! Before going to Iceland, we kept hearing about famous seashell soup and lamb soup. As a soup lover, especially in the cold, chilly weather, I was dying to try one despite of super high Icelandic prices.

We kept walking around the city and about to lose hope to taste it due to the super high prices. When we decided to settle down for a hot dog, I remembered the Icelandic Street Food and suggested my friends to go there for a hot dog. Unluckily, I remembered wrong and they don't make hot dogs. Luckily, my friends said "well, that's OK let's share some soup". So we decided to get 2 of these soups in a bread bun for 4.

Once we settled down and start to eat, the owner came along saying that they made two extra bun soups and they don't want them to get ruined and offered them for free! We were happy to get more soups and keep enjoying the heavenly shellfish soup. Then we saw this sign on the counter:

We thought OK, this cannot be real! But it was. It turns out we could get as many refills as we could. Plus, even though our first order was the shellfish soup, they allowed us to get the refill with the lamb soup! We left the place completely full and happy. When we were giving our gratitude, the waiters were happy to offer us free beer in their bar next door. And when we were almost flying over happiness, they told us we deserve a balloon and made me the happiest girl ever!

#2) Jokulsarlon: As Iceland means the land of ice, to me, one of the most incredible experiences was obviously the glaciers. And the most popular one is Jokulsarlon.

We have visited Iceland in August after going through 35 degrees of heat wave in Italy so it was a bliss to get in contact with some ice! We hold them, hugged them and even ate them (no really, amazing!!)

After enjoying a lunch over the lake as well, we took one of the boat tours to learn more about the glaciers and also to get more view. We were incredibly lucky for the weather since we got the sun and no wind at all. It costs about 40 euros for a trip and I leave it to your judgement to decide whether it is worth.

Remember I just said I loved the black sand beach before? The diamond beach is the point where glacier meets the black sand beach and I think I lost a piece of my mind when I saw this view for the first time! We took more than 1 hour just to sit around, have a beer and watch people and ice cubes pass over. It was the best way to chill out..

#1) Blue Lagoon: The best experience was obviously, the blue lagoon! While I was reading about Iceland, blue lagoon was always left behind and mostly mentioned as "well, too much touristic and costly so maybe it was not worth the price". To me, this was not true and it was one of the best experiences among Iceland.

We paid about 80 euros each, including a face mask, a towel and a drink. Obviously, this was not a very welcoming price and I completely accept it. Especially when you think about the fact that this lake is not naturally hot (they use geothermal energy to heat it up) and the island is full of natural hot pools around for free. But also keep in mind that these free options require you not to have a place to change your wet suit (keep in mind that outside the temperature is about 9 degrees and full of wind and rain) or to bring your towels with you. So it requires a lot of organizing. Personally, we couldn't find the right spot, right time or right weather for alternative baths and that is why I am happy we organized the Blue Lagoon in advance.

Another fact is that, the environment is dreamy! Let me tell you this, Blue Lagoon was probably the ONLY place which looked exactly the same in real life as in photos. And enjoying a cider under the rain having a bath in a hot water lake is speechless. We also got lucky in the sense that the weather was cold, misty and rainy which gave us a completely different experience.

I don't know if we would go again, especially with those prices. But, I am not upset for all the money we spent for it and I am not ashamed to say that this made the best experience of my trip.