Iceland Six-Day Five-Night Trip Diary: The Wonder of the Blue Ice Cave and a Southern Adventure Under the Northern Lights (Part 2)

Iceland Six Days Five Nights Travel - Guide to Iceland Local Tours

3/23 - Day 2 of our two-day southern trip. This hotel provided a breakfast buffet, and since we knew there would be no lunch available today either, we all agreed to eat as much as we could for breakfast to fill up! This hotel's breakfast spread was very abundant - besides Western-style dishes like bread, cheese, and ham, there were also some Icelandic specialty dishes. Because of the northern lights we saw in the early morning, we all walked around today with our heads held high.By the way, I just realized that yesterday's 'mission continued' was actually the notification sound from Lumos charging completion, which said 'mission completed'. I unexpectedly took it as a hint from the universe. This morning's first stop was Diamond Beach. The first thing we wanted to see when we came to Iceland was the Northern Lights, which we've already seen. Next are the Blue Ice Cave and glaciers. I didn't expect that all the ladies would unanimously vote Diamond Beach as the second most desired attraction. Indeed, women simply cannot resist the charm of diamonds! The ice diamonds on Diamond Beach are massive glacial icebergs that break off from Jökulsárlón glacier and flow out through the channel connecting it to the Atlantic Ocean, eventually being washed back onto the beach by the waves after reaching the sea.

Ice floes of all shapes and sizes were scattered across the beach — it wasn't just the girls who got to strike their best influencer poses; I was thoroughly enjoying myself snapping photos too.

The second stop is right across from Diamond Beach, and it's also one of the spots I've always longed to visit — Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. It's a glacial lagoon formed by the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier tongue, where floating ice from the melting glacier tongue falls into this lagoon that connects to the Atlantic Ocean. It's a beautiful yet heartbreaking place, because global warming has caused the Earth's temperature to rise — the glacier tongue began melting rapidly in 1920, and it wasn't until 1935 that this lagoon was formed.

Facing the vast lake, everyone first competed to see who could throw ice further, and then Lumos even started skipping ice like skimming stones on the water

Next up was the Icelandic winter-exclusive Blue Ice Cave tour that I'd been really looking forward to. This tour was led by a different tour group, and the four of us were assigned to the same small group. We rode in a specially modified super jeep for about 15 minutes to reach the center of the glacier. (Even though it's the center of a glacier, the route passes through very steep gravel terrain — it actually felt like riding a 4WD through the desert in Egypt.) The Blue Ice Cave is formed when meltwater from the glacier flows beneath it each summer, carving out an underground tunnel. In winter, when temperatures are low enough, this tunnel freezes solid and becomes an ice cave. Every year, the shape, size, location, and number of the Blue Ice Caves are different, so it's impossible to visit them on a self-drive trip — you have to join a local tour, since they need to survey the area and pinpoint the GPS coordinates first before they can find them. After parking, we first had to walk a stretch of gravel terrain.

Getting ready to enter the glacier, wearing crampons

A bonus of the Blue Ice Cave~ a short stretch of glacier hiking (during this part, Lumos totally came alive! Before, wearing casual shoes, he could finally, for once, walk freely without being afraid of falling)

Listening to the sound of ice cracking underfoot, crunch, crunch—it's incredibly soothing. This is the entrance to the Blue Ice Cave~ Honestly, it kind of resembles the entrance to the underground tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Slowly stepping into the blue ice cave, descending along the ice steps that the exploration team had carved out.

The Blue Ice Cave is not entirely an underground cave; it also has openings through which you can exit. Take a photo with the natural ice wall from the tour.

Because of the sunlight, today's ice cave looks a bit more green.

Naturally eroded ice columns (also somewhat resembling the scenery you'd find in stalactite caves)

Photo of the four of us together~ Thank you all for giving me the chance to come to Iceland

Finally, I stepped onto the exit at the far end and left the blue ice cave.

I'm so delighted! This Iceland trip has truly turned around! After hitting a low point, we've seen a big V-shaped recovery. The two-day southern adventure let me witness the northern lights, blue ice caves, and glacier lakes. It's time to head back to the capital now. And there's more good news—the aurora bus tour has finally happened! With a KP index of 4 tonight, we should have an excellent chance to see the northern lights for two consecutive nights! We returned to the city around 6 PM. For tonight's dinner, we chose the restaurant Old Iceland, which serves a three-course set meal. For the main course, you can choose between lamb chops or fish. Since I had lamb chops yesterday, I'm naturally choosing fish today.

Appetizers were homemade bread and salmon salad; the main course was fish fillet or lamb chops; dessert was ice cream and brownies—everything was delicious! At 2500 per person, our dinner just got more and more luxurious! The Northern Lights bus was scheduled for 8:30-9:00 pickup, but our bus didn't arrive until 8:57 at the very last moment. Our guide was an incredibly enthusiastic young man who had lots of American-style banter with the passengers (those of us without great English couldn't quite catch his jokes!). With his experience, he smartly took us out just about 10 minutes' drive from the city center. True to the Kp4 brightness level, there was a very clear aurora dancing across the entire horizon!

I had originally looked into it and read that the aurora would only dance at Kp6, but tonight the aurora was visibly dancing to the naked eye as well, and it could even be captured in video mode. After about another 30 minutes' drive, we arrived at the northern suburbs of Reykjavik, where you could see snowfields paired with the aurora, and the aurora grew even more active, gradually showing colors beyond just green.

Finally I was able to successfully capture the combination of people and the aurora together. Our guide brought us to move again, still in the northern suburbs, with scenery similar to the previous spot, but here you could additionally see the orange glow produced by a volcano to the south.

The tour guide here handed out hot cocoa to us, which really was a timely blessing — out on the vast, wind-blasted snowfield the cold cut right through us, and even bundled up in a sweater plus a down jacket, we were still shivering.

The aurora observation didn't end until after 12, and we only got back to the city then — thank you, Aurora Goddess, I really feel so blessed~ Explore more of this fantastical 6-day 5-night journey through Iceland! 👉 [Iceland 6-Day Essential Self-Drive Trip Guide] Itinerary Planning × Local Group Tour Experience × Estimated Costs Get a full picture of the itinerary and start planning your dream trip to Iceland! 👉 Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Travelogue: The Start of the Journey and a Bumpy First Day Arriving in Iceland, strolling through Reykjavik 👉 Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Travelogue: Snæfellsnes Peninsula Day Trip Guide and Hidden Gems Exploration Explore Iceland's captivating peninsulas and capture magnificent natural scenery. 👉 Iceland Six-Day Five-Night Travel Diary: The Golden Circle One-Day Tour — Classic Sights and How to Do It Feel the breathtaking charm of Iceland's classic attractions and gain memories you'll treasure for a lifetime. 👉 Iceland Six-Day Five-Night Travel Diary: Exploring the Magnificent Black Sand Beaches and Waterfalls of Vik in the South (Part 1) Step into the mysterious world of Vik and feel the natural beauty of the south. 👉 Iceland Six-Day Five-Night Travel Diary: The Blue Ice Cave Wonder and a Night of Auroras — Southern Adventure (Part 2) Experience the blue ice cave adventure firsthand, and capture the wonder of the northern lights illuminating the Nordic wilderness. 👉 Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Travel Diary: Helicopter Volcano Sightseeing Experience, Overlooking the Magnificent Lava Land Fly over Iceland's volcanic landscape and enjoy a truly one-of-a-kind adventure journey.