Up until recently , I was convinced that I was the last writer and photographer to visit Iceland. I’m serious. It had gotten so bad that I have scores of emails from people asking for my Iceland recommendations, because they’d just assumed that I had traveled to Iceland. But alas, while I’ve always wanted to travel to Iceland, a good opportunity hadn’t presently itself until last year. I can truly say that Iceland didn’t disappoint in the least bit.

Though just spending a week in Iceland, I can firmly say that Iceland is one of a few destinations that I’ve grossly underestimated. Iceland is absolutely beautiful around every single corner. And it’s not like a lot of countries, where you have to wait until you get out of the main cities to see its beauty. However, it should also be pointed out that Iceland doesn’t exactly have any cities other than Reykjavik.

During my week-long trip to Iceland, I split half of it in South Iceland, staying just outside of Reykjavik in an Airbnb, and the other half on the north side of Iceland in Siglufjörður, located an hour north of Akureyri. If I were doing it all over again, I’d probably do the same Iceland itinerary. However, if I were to travel to Iceland again, I’d go straight to Snaefellsnes Peninsula and then the Westfjords, which I didn’t have time for given we just had 6 days.

But while I’ll be sharing much more about my Iceland trip, I’m starting with photos from my time traveling around South Iceland. We started with a day trip of Iceland’s Golden Circle, featuring Þingvellir National Park, the Geysir Geothermal Area, and Gullfoss waterfall. South Iceland’s headliner, however, was the drive from Reykjavik to Vik, characterized by open highway set to the backdrop of waterfall after waterfall and dramatic coastline views. Below, see a few of my favorite photos from traveling around South Iceland.