Iceland is one of the most scenic places on Earth, full of volcanoes, glaciers, waterfalls, and geysers. It’s often called the “Land of Fire and Ice,” and after spending four days there on our geography trip, we can definitely see why!
Day 1: Hot Springs and Tectonic Plates
When we landed, the first thing we noticed was the icy wind. It hit us as soon as we stepped out of the airport! The landscape was rocky and wild, nothing like home.
Our first stop was the Bridge Between Continents, where we walked between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. How cool is that? The ground was sandier and slipperier than we expected. Next, we visited the Gunnuhver Hot Springs. They were beautiful, but they smelt like rotten eggs! That’s because of the sulphur in the steam.
For lunch, we stopped in Njarðvík at a lovely restaurant (the sauce was amazing!). We even saw a shop with a giant pig on the front, random but funny. After lunch, we explored the Krýsuvík geothermal area, which smelled even worse than Gunnuhver but looked incredible with its bubbling mud pools. Our last stop was Nátthagi Valley, but by then we were exhausted and didn’t take in as much as we wanted. We ended the day at a surprisingly big and comfy hotel, had dinner, and crashed into bed.
Day 2: Waterfalls, Glaciers, and Black Sand Beaches
We started early with a trip to the Lava Centre, an interactive museum about volcanoes and earthquakes. The earthquake simulator was intense, it felt like a magnitude 7 quake! Luckily, the real earthquakes happening that day were tiny (the strongest was 2.8, and you need at least 3 to feel it).
Next, we visited Skógafoss, a massive waterfall 62 meters high. You can walk right up to it but prepare to get soaked! There’s also a staircase leading to a viewing platform with an amazing view.
Then came the Sólheimajökull Glacier. It’s huge but has retreated a lot because of climate change. You can pay to hike on it with a guide, but it’s risky because of quicksand and sharp rocks. We stayed on the safe viewing platform and admired the view. After lunch, we headed to Reynisfjara Beach, famous for its black sand and towering basalt columns formed by cooling lava. The waves were incredible – but dangerous – so we kept a safe distance.
Day 3: The Golden Circle
Our last day was all about the Golden Circle, a route packed with natural wonders. First, we visited the Secret Lagoon, Iceland’s oldest natural hot spring. Some parts were over 100°C, so we had to be careful! We even tried the cold plunge, freezing but fun.
Next was Gullfoss, a two-tiered waterfall that drops 11m and then 21m into a canyon. It was breathtaking and one of our favourites. Then we saw Strokkur Geyser, which erupts every 10 minutes, shooting water 10–20 m high (sometimes up to 40 m!).
We also visited Efstidalur II, an ice cream farm where we met the cows that produce the milk for the ice cream and even saw some adorable calves. Our final stop was Þingvellir National Park, where you can walk between two tectonic plates. It’s also the site of Iceland’s first parliament, which started in 930 AD. Standing where history was made felt pretty special.
Day 4: The Final Day
On the last day of our trip, we got up bright and early to check out of the hotel. Since our flight wasn’t until the evening, we got on the bus to go to Reykjavik. We spent an hour or two in the beautiful capital of Iceland. It was a very pretty place, with clean streets and friendly locals. A very popular stop was a soup shop in the city centre, famous for the soup bowls you could purchase –if you bought a soup bowl, you could have as many free refills as you liked! There were also free waffles available.
After browsing the shops, we stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was “Rock n Roll” themed. The cafe included framed guitars of many famous bands, such as My Chemical Romance, Bon Jovi and Rammstein. We bought some drinks, before leaving to group back with the rest of our school, as it was now time to go to the airport. Our flight was early evening and landed back on English soil at around 10 o’clock at night. We were all exhausted, having been up for almost seventeen hours!
