Why Women Love Traveling Through Iceland Together

“Wait, pull over.”

At some point or another, everybody says that while traveling through Iceland.

Sometimes it’s because somebody spotted Icelandic horses standing in a field next to the road. Other times it’s because the light suddenly changes and the mountains look completely different from how they did ten minutes ago. And occasionally there’s no real reason at all besides everybody in the car collectively deciding: “Okay, yeah, we need to stop here.” 

At home, people would probably get annoyed with constantly stopping the car. In Iceland, everybody somehow becomes the person asking for “one more picture,” including the people who swore before the trip that they weren’t really into taking photos.

The pictures never fully capture it anyway. Iceland is one of those places that somehow looks bigger in real life. The waterfalls are louder, the wind is stronger. Whether the group is driving through the South Coast, heading toward the Highlands, or pulling over somewhere random that wasn’t even part of the plan, people barely finish reacting to one view before the scenery changes again. 

And after a while, everybody starts acting like stopping the car seventeen times in one afternoon is completely reasonable. 

Somewhere in the middle of all the stopping, the whole group usually starts settling into the trip together. 

Strangers Stop Feeling Like Strangers Pretty Quickly

Going on a trip with a group of women you’ve never met before can probably sound a little intimidating. The first day is usually a little quieter while everybody’s still getting to know each other, figuring out where they’re from, and realizing that Iceland’s weather changes so fast that nobody can tell if they packed correctly. (Honestly, this is probably a good time to mention our packing list.)

Then, before you know it, people are sharing snacks during long drives, handing each other gloves, passing around lip balm, and talking about which hot springs they already want to go back to before the trip is even over. Somebody is always cold, and somebody else somehow never is. By the time evenings start rolling around, there’s usually one person constantly checking the northern lights forecast.

And every group eventually reaches the moment where somebody suddenly says:

“Wait… I think I see them.”

Then everybody’s outside staring at the sky, trying to decide if the northern lights are actually starting or if everybody just wants them to be.

The Parts Women Remember Most Usually Aren’t on the Itinerary

Most people expect Iceland to feel dramatic all the time because that’s how it looks online. (And to be fair, it actually is.) But what usually stays with people later are smaller moments that probably sound unimportant to everybody else.

But most remember laughing during long drives, helping each other through windy hiking trails in the Highlands, staying in hot springs longer than they meant to, or realizing halfway through the trip that the women who were strangers a few days earlier suddenly didn’t really feel like strangers anymore.

That’s usually the kind of stuff people bring up later. Not in a dramatic “this trip changed my life” kind of way either. More like:

“That was such a good week.”

The Women You Meet Become Part of the Trip

Many women arrive for the trip more tired than they expected. Tired from schedules, responsibilities, phones buzzing constantly, work, kids, stress, all of it. 

A few days of hiking, long drives, waterfalls, and hot springs start interrupting that pattern a little.

Not because people are sitting around trying to be mindful. (Although this is probably also a good time to mention our wellness tours.)  Mostly because the scenery keeps pulling everybody back into whatever’s happening right in front of them. One minute, people are talking during a drive, and the next, everyone’s quiet because the landscape outside takes their breath away.

The days stop feeling quite so rushed. You stay longer at dinner than you meant to. Someone’s always asking if there’s time for one more stop somewhere. Even the drives start feeling like part of the experience instead of just transportation between places.

Traveling with other women changes the experience. There’s something comforting about being with a group where everybody’s excited about the same things. Somebody wants one more photo while somebody else wants to stay outside longer for the northern lights. Some are already talking about the hot springs before breakfast. And there’s almost always one person on the hiking days reminding everybody how worth it the view at the top is going to be.

Those days out on the trails bring people together quicker than you’d think. Women start taking photos for each other, pointing out waterfalls or views up ahead, sharing snacks during breaks, or laughing about how many layers they’ve already added and removed that day because the Icelandic weather changes every twenty minutes. 

Every group develops its own personality.

Some women come to Iceland for adventure and long hiking days, while others are drawn to slower mornings, scenic drives, and good food. Then there are the women who have been dreaming about seeing the northern lights for years.

So… which part of Iceland sounds most like your kind of trip?