Destination Iceland
By Kirsti Scott
Malarrifsviti Light house, Snæfellsnes (John Herreria).
Glaciers, waterfalls, black beaches, volcanoes, geothermal hot springs, charming villages, the Northern Lights: these are just some of the reasons to put Iceland on your beach destinations bucket list. Whether you decide to drive the 1,332 kilometers (828 miles) of the Route 1 Ring Road, take day trips out of Reykjavik to destinations in southwest Iceland, or stop into multiple ports on a cruise, you can experience the friendly people, unique culture, rich history, and natural beauty of Iceland all along its coastline.
John Herreria traveled to Iceland in the summer with his wife Joyce. “She wanted to see the Northern Lights, and I just wanted to walk the beach.” John and Joyce took a cruise with Holland America that made stops in seven different locations around Iceland, including above the Arctic Circle.
“We packed our luggage in Las Vegas when it was 105 degrees,” says John. Still, at the top of his packing list were warm hats and gloves or mittens. They always keep their rain and cold weather gear with them wherever they visit. “The weather was perfect in Iceland—windy, rainy, sunny, and cold in only a matter of a few hours!”
“There’s an old Norse saying, ‘There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.’ At least that’s what an old Norwegian man told me,” says Nancy Tedesco, who cruised from Norway to Iceland with her husband Philip.
In the airport waiting for our flight to Reykjavik, a fellow traveler asked if my husband Matt and I had packed our warm clothes in our checked luggage. Looking down at my windbreaker and sweatshirt (my winter wear in California) I said, “You’re looking at it!” It ended up being a case of “bad clothing,” but thanks to our local friends Didda and Jens, who loaned me a warm Icelandic sweater, we were ready for the windy autumn weather in Iceland.
“Iceland’s landscape is characterized by geysers, volcanoes, black sand beaches, and steaming lava fields, evoking the impression of an extraterrestrial landscape. We worried about the smell of volcanic sulfuric air, often called the island’s perfume,” says John. “We never experienced it. It was a haven of tranquility where every moment was a breath of fresh air—literally and figuratively. Breathing in the fresh, sea-salt air is pure bliss.”
Seyðisfjörður (Bill Kennedy/Shutterstock.com). Bolungarvik (Nancy Tedesco).
Seyðisfjörður
“Seyðisfjörður is a quaint fishing town in Northeast Iceland with some hiking trails and fantastic views and folklore,” says Nancy. “The rainbow walkway leading to a little blue church was a very welcoming sight in this small village—it felt like all were welcome there.” Nancy and Philip also visited the small outlying fishing village of Bolungarvik, which has a living museum complete with moss-covered houses.
Joyce and John in Seyðisfjörður (John Herreria).
“While docked in Seyðisfjörður, I had the extraordinary fortune of encountering the summer residence of Vestmar, a native Icelandic man,” says John. “His entire front and back yards were meticulously adorned with beachcombed treasures, piquing my interest.” John asked to meet the artist and visit his home.
Vestmar’s collections and art (John Herreria).
“To my astonishment, the house was replete with artworks crafted from driftwood collected over decades, covering every available wall space. The ceiling was adorned with intricately designed, larger-than-life wire ants, while the dividing beams were supported by lengthy driftwood, suspending netted glass floats. The baseboards of the expansive glass windowpanes were adorned with broken bottle glasses in a kaleidoscope of colors.” One piece that captured John’s attention was the Solaster endeca, a purple sun star. “It has nine arms—the size of this starfish was huge!”
Atlantic puffins (Olga Shusters/Shutterstock.com).
Ísafjörður
Both John and Nancy’s cruises stopped in Ísafjörður, a town in northwest Iceland. “We saw whales, seals, and an incredible number of Atlantic puffins!” says Nancy. “The puffins flew in formation right off the water’s surface. They were amazing to watch.”
Birdwatching is the most popular wildlife activity in Iceland. “Just a few hundred yards from the beach, breeding grounds can be spotted, but I had to adhere to the designated tracks, as the delicate ecosystem and nests can be found anywhere,” John says. They took a bird watching tour via small boat. “To our amazement, we saw beautiful puffins by the cliffside. These majestic creatures are stocky birds with black and white plumage, large beaks with colorful stripes, and short wings.”
Puffins are great swimmers and divers. “They aren’t great at flying, and that especially applies to the babies, which are called pufflings,” John says. “Pufflings spend their first moments on cliffside and once they are ready for the real world, they have one chance to fly to the ocean. Once they are in the ocean, they don’t come back to the cliffside until they’re three years old. Imagine that!” The best time to spot puffins is between April and September, when nearly 8–10 million Atlantic puffins come to Iceland to breed.
Mouth-blown Danish float with a “whittled” surface from the Kastrup Glassworks in Copenhagen (John Herreria). Westfjords Heritage Museum (John Herreria). Westfjords Heritage Museum (John Herreria). Westfjords Heritage Museum (John Herreria).
John is an avid glass fishing float connoisseur, with a collection from all around the world. “At the Westfjords Heritage Museum, the glass fishing floats on display were predominantly made in Denmark.
Ísafjörður (John Herreria). Westfjords Heritage Museum (John Herreria). Ísafjörður (John Herreria).
The wooden shapes displayed are markers,” he says. “The netted glass buoys are mainly used for herring fishing. Catching herring was basically unknown in Iceland until the middle of the 19th century when Norwegian fishermen came over.”
Ísafjörður (Robin Runck/Shutterstock.com).
In 1880, some of the Norwegians set up their stations in Ísafjörður, though in few years’ time they had moved to other parts of the country.
Icelandic Horse (Summit Art Creations/Shutterstock.com).
Snæfellsnes Peninsula
“It is exhilarating to traverse the black sand beaches of Snæfellsnes coastline and Snæfellsjökull National Park while marveling at the majestic cascading mountains and waterfalls adjacent to Highway 54,” John says. The vast majority of Highway 54 is a paved, two-lane road. There are a few, very brief unpaved stretches, and you’ll cross many one-lane bridges.
Joyce and John, Snæfellsnes Peninsula (John Herreria). Pebble collection, Snæfellsnes Peninsula (John Herreria). Gatklettur Arch Rock, Snæfellsnes Peninsula (John Herreria).
“We spotted horses grazing the vast green landscape opposite the blue ocean. Can this be real?” asks John. “This island is aptly referred to as the land of fire and ice, boasting diverse and breathtaking landscapes. I had the rare privilege of being the first to leave footprints on a beach.
Beach finds from Djúpivogur, including an undocumented Norwegian float (top), meaning it is not listed in the Norwegian glass float book by Olaf Raabe. This little molded “pin” was once used for small fish like herring. (John Herreria).
In Snæfelness Peninsula, I observed shards of metal scattered along the shores, miniature shells glistening like diamonds against the black sand, and a scarcity of driftwood. I collected samples of smaller pebbles for a friend and for my own collection. I was on a hunt for sea glass, glass floats, and shells, but had no luck finding glass buoys in this area.”
Jens and Didda overlooking Hveragerði (Kirsti Scott). Behind the falls at Seljalandsfoss (Matt Scott). Didda at Skógafoss (Kirsti Scott).
Vík í Mýrdal
Didda and Jens took me and Matt to some of their favorite places in southwest Iceland.
Reynisfjara Beach (Kirsti Scott). Sand from Reynisfjara Beach (Aleksandra Tokarz/Shutterstock.com).
We visited beautiful waterfalls at Urriðafoss, Seljalandsfoss (where you can walk behind the falls), and double-rainbow-covered Skógafoss on our way to Vík í Mýrdal, the southernmost village on the Icelandic mainland.
Reynisfjara Beach (Andrey Bayda/Shutterstock.com). View from Vík í Mýrdal (Matt Scott).
Vík í Mýrdal is home to Reynisfjara black sand beach, with soaring basalt columns and dramatic offshore rock formations.
Vík í Mýrdal (Summit Art Creations/Shutterstock.com).
I brought home a handful of the black sand to add to my collection. We stopped in the beautiful village to warm up with some hot cocoa, and we admired the 1920s Reyniskirkja wooden church, dwarfed by the surrounding mountains.
Halldórskaffi, Vík í Mýrdal (Kirsti Scott). Icelandic sheep, Vík í Mýrdal (Kirsti Scott).
Watch out for the local farm life, who seem to have the right of way on the narrow roads!
Hvalfjörður Bay (Robin Nichols/Shutterstock.com).
Hvalfjörður Bay
Another day trip with Didda and Jens was to Hvalfjörður Bay in southwest Iceland for a unique beachcombing experience possible only in this one spot in Iceland. We hunted for baggalútar (spherulites), which are small, hard concretions that form in the spaces where gas is trapped in rhyolite lava as it cools.
Collecting baggalútar in Hvalfjörður Bay (Kirsti Scott).
The lava surrounding the single and multiple red and brown spheres eventually erodes, exposing the baggalútar. At first, they were hard to spot among the rocks on the beach, but we eventually filled our pockets with these beach treasures.
Botanical garden at Akureyri, Iceland(Trabantos/Shutterstock.com). Heart-shaped stop light (Nancy Tedesco).
Akureyri
“This port is the gateway to Godafoss Waterfall, only a 40-minute journey to the mighty falls,” says John.
Danish glass float that was mouth-blown into an iron cast mold by the Kastrup Glassworks in Copenhagen (John Herreria). Common 5-inch float marked with “Extra RG Portugal” (John Herreria).
Nancy adds, “It is a great little city with bookstores, boutique shopping, and wonderful urban gardens at the Akureyri Botanical Gardens. Akureyri is known for the Arts and has a very eclectic vibe. We especially loved the traffic lights in town with red stop lights shaped like hearts.”
Sunset near Grundarhverfi (Kirsti Scott).
After Sundown
At the end of every day, we were treated to beautiful sunsets. And once night fell, the light show began. An aurora app indicated that there was pretty much a 100% chance of seeing the Northern Lights while we were there, so Didda and Jens took Matt and me to a secluded road away from the city lights.
View of the Aurora Borealis (Kirsti Scott).
We got a chance to witness the spectacle of dancing lights in the sky, and they were so bright that even when we returned to Reykjavik, we could see them over the spires of Hallgrímskirkja in the center of the city.
“It was an epic summer, and Iceland moved up to number one on the list of all the places we’ve been,” says John. “I hope that you consider visiting this wonderful country,” says Nancy. “Whether you stay in town or venture off, we promise that you will enjoy your visit. ‘Petta Reddast’ is an Icelandic saying that means ‘it will all work out okay,’ which it always seems to when we’re in Iceland.”
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This article appeared in Beachcombing Magazine Volume 48 May/June 2025.
