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“Gesundheit!!” my dad said, when I told him where we’d be going on one of our day tours while in Iceland. I rolled my eyes; after a few days on the road, the Dad Jokes were already getting to me.
“No, it’s a real place!” I insisted. “Though it does kind of look like another planet.”
The place in question was Landmannalaugar, a colorful spot in Iceland’s central Highlands. You’ve probably seen the region’s rainbow-hued mountains in photos, and might even be aware that the area is very popular with hikers.
I desperately wanted to see those colorful mountains and get a taste of Iceland’s Highlands – an area I’d never successfully visited on my previous winter trips to Iceland. But my dad and I had limited time in Iceland, and he was waiting on a knee replacement – meaning we weren’t going to be doing any serious hiking.
So the question then became: could we visit Landmannalaugar in just one day?
A quick Google search revealed that there WERE, in fact, day trips to Landmannalaugar from Reykjavik. But they were long tours, and only allowed for limited time in those jaw-dropping rainbow mountains.
In the end, I decided to book a tour anyway; sometimes I’d rather get just a taste of something than not see it at all, and that’s definitely how I felt about this part of Iceland.