When I first suggested going to Iceland to see the 2026 total solar eclipse, I was mostly joking.
Except, as it turns out, I wasn’t.
Iceland has been #1 on my travel list for years, and it was high on my husband’s list as well. And so even though it was far from the best option for eclipse viewing – only a tiny portion of the western edge of the country would experience totality and it’s a notoriously cloudy place – we decided to go for it.
We figured even if we didn’t actually see the sun during the eclipse, we’d still experience the darkness and silence that comes with totality. And – perhaps most importantly – we’d be in Iceland!
As I started planning the trip, what began as a few days in and around Reykjavik quickly took on a life of its own. When we mentioned our plans to my in-laws, they expressed interested in joining us. Same with my mom. And once I started researching in earnest, it quickly became clear that a week wasn’t nearly enough time, so the trip duration increased.
Then, I was texting with a friend and she recommended a multi-day hut-to-hut hike. I immediately spiraled down the travel planning vortex and reworked the details of the trip so my husband and I would arrive a few days earlier, do this hike, and then meet up with our parents shortly after their arrival in Reykjavik.
Then, I texted another friend to ask about his previous trip to Iceland – a conversation which quickly morphed into an invitation for him and his fiancée to join us for the hiking part of the trip before heading off to do their own thing (they went to Greenland for the solar eclipse, and I’m all sorts of jealous).
Unfortunately, the hiking part of the trip evaporated when we lost the highly competitive battle for hut reservations. This ultimately resulted in the four of us booking tickets to the Faroe Islands for 4 days instead. And really, when plan B was the Faroe Islands, I couldn’t even be mad that plan A fell apart.
Planning and logistics and booking (and re-planning and re-booking) commenced, and by March pretty much everything was done. All that remained was impatiently waiting for departure day to arrive.
We’ve been back home for about three weeks now, and I’m currently at that post-trip point of being utterly overwhelmed by the thought of sorting through hundreds of photos and writing about everything we did.
So instead, I’ll start with my usual photo-a-day overview.
(Choosing just one per day, by the way, was not an easy task.)
Day 1
I’m not even sure if this technically counts as day 1 or day 2, because this photo was taken around 8pm according to my phone, which was on airplane mode and trapped in Mountain Time. We were somewhere between northern Canada and Greenland at this point, though, which means it was already tomorrow, local time. But whatever. I’m counting it.
Day 2
Knowing we’d be jet lagged and not at all well-rested (I think I slept on the plane for about an hour), our first day in Iceland was just a walking day. After meeting up with our friends at Keflavík Airport, we all caught the bus into Reykjavik and set out to visit the famous Hallgrimskirkja. Unexpectedly, sunshine welcomed us into the country, which meant our climb to the top of the church steeple granted us some lovely views of not just the capital city, but also the surrounding landscape.
Day 3
The next morning found the four of us back at Keflavík Airport boarding a plane bound for the Faroe Islands. Our early afternoon arrival meant we had time to do some exploring before settling in for the night. We began with one of the most well-known hikes in the Faroes, conveniently located just a few minutes from the airport: Leitisvatn, the famous floating lake. It was raining lightly as we set off, but we were undeterred… and were ultimately rewarded for our perseverance by the appearance of a rainbow just as we arrived at the viewpoint!
Day 4
For our second day in the Faroes, we’d booked a ferry to the island of Mykines to see puffins. And see them we did. Thousands of them. Not an exaggeration. Over 1 million puffins return to the island each summer to mate. They’re literally everywhere. They’re also the dorkiest birds ever, and we absolutely loved watching them. It was a highlight of the trip. As you might imagine, I came home with hundreds of puffin photos on my phone. After much contemplation, I’ve decided this one is my favorite.
Day 5
On our final full day in the Faroes, we were up early with the goal of roadtripping to as many of the islands as possible. We’d been on three up to this point, and throughout the day we added five more to the list. We had to make a last-minute change to our itinerary to accommodate ferry schedules, which ended up working out perfectly because it meant we saved the best for last: an evening hike to Kallur Lighthouse, located on the northernmost (and beautifully rugged) tip of Kalsoy Island. And honestly? This wasn’t just my favorite place in the Faroes. It’s one of my favorite places I’ve ever been!
Day 6
Our final day in the Faroes was really just a few hours, as we had to be to the airport by noon. However, this left just enough time to visit the famous Múlafossur before saying goodbye to these incredible islands and beginning the journey back to Iceland.
Days 7-9
Back in Reykjavik with our parents, who had arrived the previous afternoon, it was time to explore the city. The truth is, I didn’t love Reykjavik. I’m not a city person to begin with, and the endless rain of the next 48 hours certainly didn’t help. We also spent much of our time indoors visiting museums. And while the museums were well done and very interesting, I don’t have a lot of photos to choose from, so I’m combining these three days into one.
Day 10
After three days in the city, it was time to venture out into the countryside on the popular Golden Circle. We were off bright and early on day 1 of a 2.5-day journey around this loop. Many people drive the whole thing in a day, but we wanted plenty of time to see as much as possible. First stop: Þingvellir National Park, home to Iceland’s original parliament meeting place, a waterfall, the country’s largest lake, and, most excitingly, the opportunity to go snorkeling in between two tectonic plates.
(Yes, it was as cool as it sounds!)
We also made an evening stop at Brúarfoss which, with a chasm right down the middle, makes it one of the neatest waterfalls I’ve ever seen. And since I cheated earlier by combining three days into one photo, I’m going to cheat again and share two photos from today.
Day 11
I imagine the Geysir area is a Golden Circle highlight for most people. And don’t get me wrong: geysers and hot springs are cool. But as someone who has been to Yellowstone more times than she can count, geothermal features were not the highlight for me. Neither was Gullfoss – not because it’s not an impressive waterfall, but because it was so ridiculously crowded. Despite that, though, this photo of a rainbow at Gullfoss did ultimately win the designation of my favorite photo from the day.
Day 12
With some unexpected extra time in our itinerary, we made a somewhat last-minute decision to venture away from the Golden Circle and head east to Skógafoss to hike the first half of the Waterfall Way. I’m so glad we decided to do this, despite the long drive in the wrong direction, because for the first time since we’d headed out into the Icelandic wilderness, we were away from the crowds. This hike ended up being my favorite thing we did in Iceland and was exactly what I needed by this point in the trip.
(And since I’m still one photo short, I’m going to share two from today as well.)
Day 13
The grand finale of our trip, then, was the solar eclipse. Uncertain of how chaotic traffic would be, we were up early and headed west along the Reykjanes Peninsula to the very tip, where I’d found us a spot to watch the eclipse. Totality wasn’t until 5:30pm, but thankfully it was a scenic area with some walking trails to help pass the time.
As for whether we were actually able to watch the moon obscure the sun… well, one look at the gloomy, grey sky in this photo is probably all the answer you’ll need.
Day 14
After two weeks of sunshine and rain and crashing waves and waterfalls (so many waterfalls, oh my goodness), it was time to say goodbye. While the skies below were cloudy for much of our journey, we did get some absolutely stunning aerial views of Greenland during the flight home.
Wrap up
If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that Glacier National Park/the Canadian Rockies are my favorite places in the world. But after this trip, they’re going to have to share the crown. The Faroe Islands have completely stolen my heart. They’re magical in a way I’m not sure I can put into words.
(Objectively, Iceland is a beautiful place as well. But I definitely underestimated how much the crowds would impact my experience there, and I came home with very mixed feelings that I’ll talk more about in a later post.)
There will be multiple posts to come about both countries, as well as many, many more photos. It’s going to take me a while to sort through all of them, though, and to get everything written up, so for the next few weeks we’ll be returning to my local adventures from June and July.
Up next: hiking to Shelf and Solitude Lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park
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