Amateur Traveler: Iceland's Ring Road Adventure with Dave Grenewetzki

Iceland's Ring Road Journey

• 🚗 Dave Grenewetzki and his family embarked on a 12200-mile counter-clockwise drive around Iceland's Ring Road in May, taking advantage of favorable economic conditions.
• 💡 Iceland is described as a surprisingly geothermal center of the universe, running on geothermal power with abundant hot water, and is less cold than its name suggests.
• 🏞️ The trip featured stunning natural wonders including 200-foot waterfalls, glaciers with fingers reaching the sea, and unique wildlife like puffins, reindeer, and Icelandic ponies.

Natural Wonders and Surprises

• 💎 The Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon was a major highlight, offering surreal boat rides among calving glaciers, with a reminder of the submerged two-thirds of icebergs.
• ⛰️ While guidebooks recommended places like the dark castles of Dimmuborgir, Dave found them less impressive than other, less-publicized discoveries.
• 🐦 A standout experience was a bird-watching trip to Ingólfshöfði, involving a tractor ride across sand dunes to a promontory teeming with puffins and other seabirds.

Unique Icelandic Experiences

• ♨️ Visiting public outdoor baths, including the Blue Lagoon and the Nature Baths at Lake Mývatn, provided a relaxing and unique geothermal bathing experience.
• 🚶 The free welcome walking tour of Reykjavik with Jonas was a memorable experience, highlighting the city's friendly and walkable nature, and Jonas's engaging personality.
• 🏨 Accommodations outside Reykjavik were basic but clean and nice, with hosts often leaving guests to their own devices due to low tourist traffic.

Icelandic Culture and Cuisine

• 🍲 Fish is a staple, and the national dish is a lamb hot dog, but the highlight was the lobster soup at The Sea Baron in Reykjavik.
• 🦔 While puffin is on the menu, it was not a recommended culinary experience for Dave.
• 🏞️ Iceland is characterized by its desolate, surprising, and otherworldly landscapes, with a unique geological setting on the Mid-Atlantic Rift.

Travel Tips and Recommendations

• 💰 The best money-saving tip is to visit before the economy fully recovers.
• 😴 Travelers should bring an eye mask due to the nearly 20 hours of summer sunshine and lack of blackout curtains in hotels.
• 🗺️ Navigating the Ring Road is straightforward, with minimal traffic except for occasional sheep jams, and roads are generally good despite some gravel sections.