This weekend I explored the inside of a cave, walked along a black sand beach, and played around on lava rocks. All of these places I have never visited before, and they are all less than an hour from my house! There are so many beautiful places right in my backyard, all it takes is a little effort of getting myself out the door and a new adventure awaits me.
If you have been reading this blog for long you know how I feel about weekend adventures… I live for them!
There is no better way to spend a Saturday than off exploring some gorgeous place in Iceland. My love for weekend adventures all started last spring when the Viking and I had a serious case of cabin fever that needed to be cured after the long winter and so our weekend adventures started. Now, almost a year later and we are still getting up to our weekend shenanigans.
And my favorite kind of weekend adventure, discovering places “off the beaten path”.
I am often asked how I find the places we visit, especially those places off the beaten path that my Viking and I love to discover, many of which are not listed in any guide book. So today I wanted to share the different ways I research places to visit. These methods work for wherever in the world you are, I use them to find places for exploring both in Iceland and abroad.
Not only is Instagram my favorite form of social media, it is also one of the first places I go to when trying to find new places to discover both here in Iceland and when I am traveling.
One way I use Instagram to search for new places is by using the explore option to look up hashtags that is related to the area I am traveling in. For example, if the Viking and I are planning a trip along the south of Iceland I will search the hashtag #southiceland and scroll through the different images. When I see a picture of a place that looks unfamiliar or just really beautiful I will click on those to see if I can find more information about the place. Often there will be a location tag that shows me exactly where to go, but if there is no location information I continue my search with google.
An example of this step is the Viking and I’s recent adventure to Kvenerfoss. I found the picture of the waterfall on Instagram but the only information about it was that this waterfall was visited after Skógafoss. I then took to google to search for waterfalls in the area of Skógafoss and there I finally found the name of Kvenerfoss and rough directions of how to get there. And just like that a new weekend adventure was planned.
Similar to how I use Instagram, I use Pinterest to browse images of Iceland to discover new places and find inspiration for future travels. Pinterest lets you get more detailed with your search so you can look up more specific terms. For example, before our south Iceland trip I looked up on Pinterest “hidden gems in the south of Iceland” and “waterfalls to visit in south of Iceland”. I then have dozens of posts and images to look through that have been tons of information on the area from past travelers. Using this method I always find a new place to visit, and it reminds me of places tha I need to revisit!
My favorite Pinterest discovery, the beautiful blue waterfall Brúarfoss. I discovered this place by looking up “Iceland photography” and the blue waterfall appeared in my feed. The Viking had never even heard of Brúarfoss until I discovered it on Pinterest, now we both rave about it to everyone looking for a weekend adventure in Iceland. Thank you Pinterest!
Tourist Board Websites
I never would of thought to use tourism websites, especially for Iceland, I mean I live here, I already know everything that the website would be saying right?! Oh how wrong I was!
Tourism websites are created with one goal in mind, get visitors to their area! This means that they are an excellent resource of information and one I have used for my travels in Iceland and abroad. Iceland has an excellent tourism website Visit Iceland that I highly recommend for anyone planning a trip here. You can choose the region you will be visiting and a list of top attractions will appear, kind of like an Iceland to do list!
I first started using Iceland’s tourism websites last spring when we were heading off on weekend adventures constantly. One weekend we wanted to stay close to home but couldn’t think of any new place to check out, in our minds we thought we had seen everything. I decided to check out what the tourism websites had listed for the top attractions in the Reykjanes Peninsula to see if we could find a new place to check out. Umm there were dozens of places I hadn’t visited! The Viking and I spent a whole day exploring the Reykjanes Peninsula visiting places we found on the website and there are still more I want to get back to visit!
Talk to the locals!
My favorite places that we have visited here in Iceland, they were discovered thanks to a helpful local. No one knows the area better than a local, and more often than not you will find someone who knows the hidden gems in their own area that they are more than willing to share! Stop into the local gas station, pop into a cafe, or check out the tourist information and ask whoever is working what their favorite place in the area is. People love and are proud of where they are from and are usually full of tips!
I have a helpful man working at the tourist information in the middle of nowhere to thank for sharing with us the fairytale land of Gjáin and the accommodation manager at Hvammstangi cottages for pointing us in the direction of the gorgeous waterfall Kolugljúfur. The locals, they can be the best travel resource out there, be extra nice and see what tips they will share!
Using these four tools has not only taken me to some beautiful places, it has also made me appreciate this beautiful place I live even more! If you are looking for ways to discover new gems in your own backyard or someplace new try some of these tools out and see where they lead you!
Happy Adventuring!
Question of the Day?
How do you discover new places to visit? What is your favorite travel planning tool?
