Iceland

Arrived Reykjavík and completely enjoyed the city with our own food tour. Then we headed south to the Blue Lagoon.

After a night at the Northern Light Inn with a delicious dinner and breakfast. We took off on our first adventure.

The Lava Tunnel.

A volcano eruption created a tunnel we could hike and explore. ls

Trip highlight: We headed 15 minutes down the road to Hvergeroi and hiked 2 miles to Reykajadalur a hot springs river within a lush valley. Our favorite hike of the trip.

We continues our trip to Vik. But on the way hit Seljalandafoss waterfall. We had this waterfall almost completely by ourselves because we started the hike at 5pm.  Twenty hours of daylight has its advantages

And onto Skogfoss waterfall. Which we wished we had stayed at the Skogfoss Hostel where they had a great area with camping and activities. We were at the waterfall at 9pm (we love the midnight sun).

After a short hike to Skogafoss waterfall to end our days adventures we reached Vik and went to bed at 12:30pm at the Barn Hostel (our first hostel experience as a family and won’t be our last) with plenty of light remaining.  The Barn is a first class establishment and we would recommend it to all families.

Day 3

Kalta Volcano/Mjrsalsjokull Ice Cave. We started today on a volcano with crampons. The ice is black from the volcanic ash. This glacier melts at an alarming rate every year.  This tunnel did not exist three months ago.

Back in Vik for the Black Sand Beach.

Basalt columns at Black Sand Beach. Heading from Vik to Fjadrarglujfur Canyon (Justin Bieber video canyon). More views of our drive.

Arrival Skaftafell. View from our room at Skaftafell Hotel.   The food here was outstanding.

Day 4 …

Glacier Wonders glacier trekking.  In Alaska you have to fly on a helicopter for this experience.  In Iceland its a one mile hike and you are walking up a glacier.

Vatnajokull National Park And Svartifoss (Black Falls).  This was the view form the side of the road.  We pulled over and sat in a filed in the sun for over an hour.

Jokilsarlon Glacier Lagoon And Diamond Beach.

Zodiac boat trip on the Jokilsarlon Lagoon.  This was one of the highlights of the trip.  This is the lagoon that the froze for a James Bond movie.  They drove a car on the ice.

Diamond Beach with glacier ice from the Jokilsarlon Lagoon. Ice for our Icelandic beverages.

Dinner at the Saga Museum with the best burger of the trip and Viking costume play.  Staff and service here was excellnt.  Jumbo sized beers and and ax throwing to boot

Day 5…

Route F985 snowmobile glacier tour. The views were amazing and this was our favorite activity in Iceland.

Day 6 The Golden Circle of Iceland.

Most people come to Iceland and only see this sliver of the island. There is so much more to see. We wishes we had booked more time to visit the Northeast.

Gullfoss is the most famous of Iceland’s waterfalls. At one point the Viking pagan idols were thrown into this waterfall and Christianity became the national religion.

So much fun to catch this on film.

Silver trench where you can scuba dive between two continents between the tectonic plates.Warmed up at the Fontana Geothermal Baths.

Arrival Munich,Germany. We wished we could have spend more time in this beautiful city. dcDrove to Füssen, Germany for the night.  Fussen is a beautiful mid evil city with a castle at the top.  We could have spent a day just roaming the streets for this beautiful town.

Day 10. Neueswanstein Castle

This castle exceeded my expectations. King Ludwig who was very controversial built this castle as a showcase only to himself. Disney’s Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast Castle were inspired from it as well as Bambi.

Lucerne

The drive into Switzerland was amazing. We had a beautiful morning in Lucerne before heading to our next Disney themed stop: Colmar inspiration for Belle’s Village.

Colmar, France (Bell’s Village from Beauty and the Beast)

Beaune, France

Beaune located in Burgandy has an abundance of wine caves which gave some relief from the 100 degree weather.   We were there on Sunday so sevral of the caves were closed.  We were able to visit Patriarche in the mourning and Marche aux Vins in the afternoon.  Patriarch is huge and the gave us tasting cups and gave us free reign of the caves.

Mont St Michel

This magical place was such a treat. Brian and I were so excited to take our children to one of our favorite cities. Arriving at sunset was an added bonus.

The kids loved playing in the clay and watching the tide return.

Château Chenonceau

U.S. Cemetery on the Normandy coast above Omaha beach.  This is the cite of several of the D-day landings.  Also viewed the film at the round theater in Arromanches, a must do expirence.

Paris Catacombs

Hard to put into words how cool this experience was.

Paris offers great people watching. 
Norte Dame Cathedral
Au revoir Paris

We flew Charles de Galle back to Reychilivik for our flight back to the States. Booking our flights this way during the high season saved us 50% on our flights.