Erica Conover here and this is a video Journal of my world travels and little
bits of my life here in the greatest city on earth New York recently I got
back from a week-long trip to Iceland in this video I made a list of the most
incredible places I saw walks blow in the country now Before we jump into this
video make sure to leave a like share this video on social media with anyone
who wants to visit Iceland and if you're new to my channel make sure to subscribe
so you're notified when I post new travel destinations without any ado
these are the top destinations in Iceland you have to see to believe
Iceland is known as the island of fire and ice and for very good reason number
one on our list are glaciers located right at the Arctic Circle
glaciers cover 11% of the land area of Iceland
simply put a glacier is a slow-moving mass or river of ice formed by the
accumulation and compaction of snow over thousands and thousands of years on
mountains Iceland is home to Europe's largest glacier but due to a freak
snowstorm we weren't able to explore it so we are now at the second largest
glacier in Iceland and I'm not gonna lie to you I cannot pronounce it so I'm
gonna put it right here across the bottom of the screen now there are tons
of ways to experience these glaciers you can take a tour into another world by
venturing into the beating heart of these moving giants through one of the
many ice caves or you can choose to trek up and scale these massive bodies of ice
on a glacier climb
the only problem the tourists
partially in part to videos such as mine tourism in Iceland is exploding over the
past five years now this is great for the local economy but just a quick PSA
reminder that you are a guest in this location leave it as you found it if you
want that isolation you have to get there early in the morning before
everyone else and that's about it now back to the glaciers now in my
opinion you can forego the tours the crowds all that save some cash and truly
have a more intimate time by hiking on your own up to the foot of the glaciers
winter or summer if you're in Iceland to take the time you will not regret going
and seeing these massive glaciers number two on our list are the secret hot
springs with all the geothermal activity Iceland is home to dozens of hot springs
and many of them are just the right temperature to warm up from all of the
treachery on the island and have a nice little bit of relaxation the more
well-known hot springs can become very very crowded the other hot spring was
full tourists and look behind me there is not a single person here to place I'm
at now you can't find on Google you can't find that on TripAdvisor know what
tourist website will show you where we're at now but I tell them where it's
at Mike know it's a long story how we found this place we more or less made
friends with some locals that we met off of Instagram maybe a few people can find
out but no we can't we can't share with everyone cuz this is a secret for
Iceland it is a secret but it's one of those places that is so beautiful where
I feel like you would have I mean I feel I feel wrong not sharing it so this is
what I'm gonna do I'm gonna tell three people the secret location all you have
to do is follow me on Instagram right here send me a DM and I will reply to
three people only three this is four people going to Iceland or I mean if you
live here you might I'd say you probably know about this spot but I will pick
three people who DM me and I will tell them the location of this match I mean
look at this place this is a magical hot spring alright here we go into the hot
springs oh my gosh dude it's hot yeah it's
good show in a natural thermal spring a secret natural thermal spring in Iceland
is unreal number three on our list is black sand beach
during the winter months Iceland is devoid of all color it is black and
white located a short drive outside the tiny charming town of Veeck there is a
lava beach with jet black sand where a cliff plunges down a 500 vertical feet
to the sea with menacing basalt columns off in the distance that look like
something out of a Tim Burton dreamland at film especially if you come visit in
the winter the contrast from the snow to the black lava sand it's something you
have to see to believe again like most attractions in Iceland they get very
touristy at very quickly so make sure to arrive early and walk up each from all
the chaos to find some isolation the raw power of the shore break at black sand
beach is incredibly powerful and it will actually knock you off your feet with
the surge and suck you right back out to sea so be cautious
and if you're lucky the Sun might actually come out and light up those
blue skies and give a little splash of color to that black and white moving
south east along the coast live number four on our list diamondden beach
welcome to a diamond beach on the southeastern coast of Iceland there's a
massive glacier off in the distance way way in the mountain range where pieces
of icebergs from glacier lagoon drift ashore here the pieces of glacial ice
are tumbled by rough surf and melt in salt water forming these diamond that
like I mean the crystals that wash up on the shore and the most unique thing
about this Beach is that it will never ever look the same it's constantly
changing with the tides all that glacier runoff has to go somewhere and with the
rugged cliff terrain Iceland is known for some of the most unique waterfalls
on planet earth skogafoss is by far the most well known waterfall we're up here
early in the morning and we are at go the boss
we're still in the southeastern corner of Iceland and skogafoss is so unique
because of the sheer height of the cliff that this water is pulling over and we
have all of our rain gear on because we're gonna get wet you can get to the
waterfall without getting totally soaked right back here this thing is massive
being this cook you can see the raw power of this waterfall make it a point
in life to come and see things that make you feel small it's very important to do
go Falls is another famous waterfall in Iceland now go Falls is one of the most
incredible waterfalls I have ever seen it's located in southern Iceland where
the white river rushes south and flows down into this wide curve the three-step
staircase like waterfall and then plunges down into this crevasse and go
Falls with one of those spots where you just stand there in all of nature now
number 6 on our list isn't a place but a phenomenon the extreme weather this is
an actual whiteout I should project pole for now yeah
once this is a little dangerous to demonstrate how actually crazy is in
this storm I'm going to go out just for a second into the road so you can see
how gnarly this is and why we pulled over
there is nothing more relevant in your life when you are in Iceland than what
kind of weather it is we stayed in the town of Veeck for a little bit and when
we first arrived at our air B&B we found it was buried with three feet of snow
that would be which is right out there
between the driveway and the house the weather can change in a matter of
minutes take a look at this first shot it was kind of gray skies and gloomy
about 10 minutes later same location the Sun came out and it doesn't even look
like the same place while in Iceland we got caught in the worst storm that they
have seen on the southeastern coast in about 10 years
you're on the road now the storm cleared on one of the people working at the gas
station that we take refuge in said they recorded the highest wind gust ever in
Iceland and it was 214 km/h if you are from the stage you can do the conversion
but just about 133 miles an hour which i think is a category 3 hurricane this is
very very important in Iceland if the roads are closed you'll see this more or
less this says if you have problems call that number of a lot of the roads out
here can shut down very fast because the weather can change so fast when and thou
always turn around this is something that you need to take seriously while
traveling by car in Icelandic and number 7 on our list is the cost of living the
cost of living in Iceland is 72% higher than in the United States on my last day
in Iceland I traveled to Reykjavik and I went to a local grocery store just to
check out some of the prices 10 US dollars for a loaf of bread a dozen
donuts will cost you just about $20 a tiny bag of pasta will cost you $8 $10
for a bag of salsa chips a dozen eggs for $8 and for a tiny slice of New York
cheesecake that will run you about 23 US dollars if you want to see a more in
depth video comparing the cost of living in Iceland to New York I made a full
video comparing everything from toothpaste to rent so make sure to check
that video out on my channel it is very very eye-opening I'm curious comment
down below if you've been to any of the places on this list also comment any
places on this list that I missed because I will be going back to Iceland
at this summer for the Midnight Sun and with that I will see you in the next
destination peace