First, I would like to mention that my trip took place during the Corona pandemic, which made it both more difficult and more unique. 

At that time, we had to take several Corona tests both before departure in Germany and upon entry into Iceland, as well as enter a 5-day domestic quarantine immediately after arrival. During this time, one was not allowed to go shopping or to other busy places. Smaller walks off the main paths, however, were allowed. We therefore did not find the quarantine very bad. Actually, this trip had already been planned one year earlier in March 2020. At that time we unfortunately had to cancel it because of the first lockdown in Germany.

When our "time of freedom" in Iceland began, we quickly realized that all the effort and difficult conditions had been worth it. The island was as empty as it probably ever was or last was many decades ago. 

Since our originally planned travel time of 12 days was now shortened to one week due to the quarantine, we unfortunately had far too little time on this beautiful island. Iceland is actually much bigger than I expected it to be. If you want to explore the whole island in one trip, I think you need at least three to four weeks if you don't want it to turn into stress. So we only had the opportunity to get to know a small part, mainly the south of the country. There are also many of the most famous "sights". And at exactly these places, where usually busloads of people arrive, we were mostly the only car on a large, empty parking lot.

We quickly realized: traveling in Corona times definitely has its advantages.

In addition to our pre-planned excursions, we were surprised by an experience of a very special kind. Shortly after our arrival in Iceland, the Fagradalsfjall volcano erupted on the Reykjanes Peninsula, south of the capital. Of course, we did not miss this opportunity and hiked to the site. Standing on the edge of a volcano that has just erupted is an undescribable experience that I will never forget. If you want to know more about our volcano expedition, you are welcome to read my blog post about it. blog post about it.

The Icelanders themselves are typically Scandinavian, rather reserved at first, but by no means dismissive, rather friendly and helpful. 

The cost of living in Iceland is quite high, prices for food at least as in the more expensive supermarkets in Germany, rather a little higher. Actually, we had planned to eat little or not at all in restaurants, since the prices here are also significantly higher than in Germany. However, since at home we had still a lockdown and all restaurants were closed, we enjoyed the public life in restaurants and bars in Reykjavík even more. A beer costs here about € 8, a pizza about € 15-20.

I was also shocked by the prices for a rental car. I knew that everything is a bit more expensive in Iceland, but as we were traveling in winter we furthermore needed a four-wheel drive vehicle, which was finally over € 100 / day. 

The price of accommodation is something for everyone, depending on how much comfort and luxury you want ... or not. We had booked two really nice cottages via Airbnb, which were also not cheap, but compared to hotel accommodation still reasonably affordable.