Iceland - only 2 hours away from Manchester and yet one of the most unique and picturesque places I have ever been to. My boyfriend whisked me off to Reykjavic just before Christmas to celebrate my birthday. Iceland has always been on my Bucket List of places I wanted to visit, and with direct flights from Manchester, it couldn't have been easier!
I was completely spoilt by Graham... He booked everything, organised a whole itinerary of sight seeing and hired a car to get us from place to place. He should really be the one writing this post, but I would like to share with you some of the highlights of our trip and some top tips to take away with you!
Day 1: We went to a hot spa right on the beach! It was hidden away and only visited by locals. We made a dash into the freezing cold sea and then thawed off in the warm waters. If you can find this place, it was a cool way to start the day!
Tip: Afterwards we went up to the top of a nearby place called The Pearl, to check out the amazing views over the city. This is definitely worth a visit as it is free to enter and easy to access if you have a car.
Reykjavic had the most beautiful scenery. The landscape was stark and snow covered. The mountains rise up out of the mist over the town below. It was completely like something out of The Lord Of The Rings!
After a hot choccy and waffle at the Pearl (Mmm!) we drove over to one of the most beautiful spots right on the coast - the Lighthouse. This was stunning and it was at this spot, looking out to sea that my boyfriend got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!! <3
The moment was perfect and we did seem to lose track of time. As we headed back across the beach to our car, we found that the tide had come in and almost cut us off from the main land!! EEK! We had to clamber across the rocks to safety!
My top tip here?! Check for Warning signs near beaches and don't get cut off at high tide!
Day 2: We got up early and headed out to do some sight seeing!
Tip: If you feel up to it, definitely hire a car! We did this and it meant we could come and go at our own leisure and weren't bound by a tour group. We got to see way more than we would have on a one-stop bus ride. The roads were fairly straight forward to get around but we did rent a sat nav at the airport just to stay safe!
We drove out to see the biggest Geyser near Reykjavic - but there were plenty of stopping points along the way where there were amazing views. We also visited the famous waterfull, Gulfoss - but we didn't stay long simply because it was absolutely FREEEEEZING! (My next post will be wardrobe recommendations in Iceland!)
Tip: Hike up the mountain at the Geyser for incredible views over the area.
Tip: The days are short in Reykjavic in Winter, the sun rose at around 11am and started to set at around 4pm. It did seem to be a long slow sunset, but we always made sure that we didn't leave it too late to get out and see some sights.
We were also lucky enough to see the Northern Lights right over Reykjavic itself - without going on a tour!
If you're interested on going to Iceland, check out my next post for tips on what to take with you!
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