<<It’s taken me a while to get this one online.  Even though it was 9 months ago, it remains a memorable adventure for us.  If you’re just here for animals, know that this trip blog will have fewer critter photos and more touring, hiking and exploring.  Still, we found Iceland fascinating.  Read on>>

Iceland….  Let me set the stage.  

The country has been on our (ever growing) travel bucket list for a while.  It was only after I started researching that I realized that I wasn’t sure why it was on the bucket list.  I mean, everyone that went loved it.  Everyone.  

We wanted to go, too.

Still, I kept thinking that it was a country of nice landscapes …. and not much else. 

We investigated this trip for over a year ago, but couldn’t decide to do it by land or by sea (everyone said land, especially to see the South Coast where cruise ships don’t go there.  But, we didn’t want to do a long driving and hotel hopping trip). 

We couldn’t decide, so we put it aside.

Sometime in June our close friends said that they wanted to go, and wanted to go with us.  That was enough to jumpstart us planning for Iceland.  One of our top cruise lines had an Iceland intensive voyage.  We jumped on it.

A two month planning window is UNBELIEVABLY last minute for us.  It’s usually 8-18 months in advance.  Luckily, we also work well under pressure.  A two month research, planning and organizing frenzy later, we had our trip set:

We’d stay five nights on land in Reykjavik and the South Coast.  We’d spend days on the small (700 person) Azamara Quest. We’d have 6 stops around the country, plus a stop in the nearby (Denmark owned) Faroe Islands.

We learned about the weather, and how much rain and potential cold we might see.  We bought some extra thin layers and some rain gear, and prepared ourselves for any kind of weather. 

Purchases done and the dates set, we booked airfare, found tours and planned our days in each stop.  As usual, we’d do our best to stay away from crowds of tourists, and we’d experience Iceland our way.  The itinerary was set.

We had nothing left to do other than discover if there was more to the country than simply nice landscapes.

Spoiler: Iceland was amazing.  All four of us loved it and I’m so glad we went.  Count me as a convert!

Want to see why we all felt that way?  Read on.

First, for the planners among you, here’s the pre-trip spreadsheet: