u/Bright-Psychology808

Writing this here with the hope to find people understanding me :)

So, this year for various reasons (one of them being the eclipse madness, with the consequent higher prices) I decided not to go to Iceland as I usually do, but to give Norway a chance instead.

Already visited Norway like 12 years ago (well before going to Iceland), and I remember I loved the country, so for this summer I said "let's go there again and explore more, it will be nice".

Now at the end of the trip, I can really tell that visiting Iceland effectively ruined any other trip of mine to other countries 😄 don't get me wrong, Norway is indeed beautiful. But, every single time I was standing in front of a nice landscape, I couldn't prevent my mind from thinking "this is nice, but Iceland is just something else". I tried to keep an open mind but that thought keep coming back over and over in my mind, every single day.

Don't get me wrong: I still feel lucky and blessed to have the chance to travel to different parts of the world. But really, since my first visit in Iceland in 2023, every trip I made to other destinations felt.. perhaps slightly underwhelming? Especially for someone with passion for landscape photography, Iceland is just otherworldly, while other countries look somehow more "ordinary", despite being still beautiful.

I've seen plenty of countries full of gorgeous sceneries (Norway, Switzerland, Italy, New Zealand, Mongolia, just to name some), but to date none of them has ever made me feel like this as Iceland did.

Therefore, I've came to realize that next time, I won't think it twice - I'll just go to Iceland again, that's all 😄

(luckily no more eclipses in sight over there...)

Anyone else sharing this feeling? Hopefully I'm not alone!

Hi all,
I am contemplating a 4th visit to Iceland late August (I will be camping and have a car reserved but refundable, so the plan is still unsure). Duration of the trip will be around one full week. (not during the eclipse, don't worry)

I have been already to every "macroregion" of Iceland except for the Westfjords. Now, there are actually plenty of places where I want to go again to explore more in deep and for a longer time (e.g. Landmannalaugar, the Myvatn area, the Eastfjords..), however, I keep telling myself that I should probably see the Westfjords first, since it's the only area I haven't touched yet.

My only doubt is, whenever I look at online photos of the Westfjords, their landscape look 'less striking' to me.. in the sense that it looks more 'ordinary' than other places I've seen in Iceland.
I understand that being there is actually very different than just looking at photos (I've experienced this many times), but I know that so many people here love the Westfjords so I would be curious to hear from them what did you love more about that region... is it mainly for the remoteness? or the hotpools? or the landscapes are instead equally impressive and photos just don't give justice?

Apologize for the probably stupid question, I mainly just want to hear what people do find more special in the Westfjords to decide about my trip itinerary, considering also how rough the roads are there (based on what I have read) :)
Thank you!