A last minute decision to go to Iceland! A good deal came up thru Nordic Visitor for the Iceland Ring Road Express….that was until we upgraded the accommodation from guesthouses to hotels and the car from a manual transmission to automatic…..but still an OK price. The self-drive tour was a 6 night, 7 day trip that we added an extra day to in Reykjavik at the end.
BUT…..this should be a post about how NOT to do Iceland! Planning is key, but not over-planning…..you can only do so much and still enjoy your trip. Don’t plan so that you have to be here or there at certain times….any number of things can throw a wrench into your well thought out…and timed…..plans. Sheep on the road, road work, a washed out road, a gravel road with pot holes as big as your car, snow (yes, even in June!), spectacular scenery that you just have to stop to look at…..the reasons to stop (and smell the lupins!) are numerous. Allow yourself time to explore the less explored!
Iceland is an amazing, magical place and deserves much more time than we gave it……a reason to go back!! Which I hope to do one day but would do it much differently. It’s always easier once you’ve been somewhere to know how you SHOULD have done it. Would be much better to slow it down…..add more days to reduce driving times by adding places to stay on your route in areas of interest to you. We passed many guesthouses, BnBs, etc. on our travels that we wouldn’t have known about that, as over night stopping points, would have reduced our driving times significantly giving us more time to explore and enjoy all those areas. We put 2000km on the car! All that said Nordic Visitor was great to work with, all accommodation was good, great little car with wifi and lots of good information in the package with regard to the route and things to see on the way.
Many great blogs/vlogs out there now about Iceland as it seems to be the destination of the year. Mine is a very abbreviated version, partly because we just didn’t have time before we went to research all there was to see nor did we have the time do all of what Iceland has to offer. We also were not that adventurous……we didn’t snorkel in freezing cold water, we didn’t hike on a glacier or ride horses…but the Ring Road was just spectacular and definitely worth doing. I think my favourite part was the fjords. The bonus was that we had 24hrs of daylight!
June 17 Mon
Packed up and out the door by noon. Dropped the car at the Park & Fly. WestJet check in was rather painful. None of kiosks were able to print baggage tags so waited in line about 20 minutes. Quick getting through security at YVR. Flight left on time…..they gave us water and a cookie for the one hour flight to Calgary, where we had a 2 hour layover. Even though we had a connecting flight we had to go through security again!(?)
Took off about 15 minutes late so close to 7:30PM. No screens on WestJet so you have to download their app (before you board when you have data or wifi!!) for any entertainment. Dinner and drinks and then lights out…..an overnight flight. Did manage to doze on and off.
June 18 Tues
Did not get dark at all on the flight. Great views of the ice on Hudson Bay and Greenland. Lots of spotty cloud arriving in Reykjavik but caught views of the coastline, very barren! The volcano had stopped erupting a couple days before so no lava just patches of steam.
Arrived at 8AM so a bit early. No issues going thru customs and immigration or getting our luggage which was already going around the carousel by the time we got there!
The driver was waiting with a sign as promised. Nice guy…..chatted all the way to the hotel. Drive was about 30-40 minutes. The part of Iceland from the airport to the city is very barren. Not a tree in sight. Rock, lava (old and new), lichens and patches of pretty purple lupins. The driver told us the lupins were not endemic to Iceland and are considered an invasive species. They tried ripping them out years ago but that just caused them to spread even more! They at least add some colour to the very stark landscape. They are adding on to the airport. Tourism is now pretty much 50% of their economy.
Got to the Storm Hotel just after 10. Rooms not ready of course but could store our luggage. Grabbed our coats and umbrellas and off to explore the city. It was pretty overcast and quite chilly. It said it was 10C but the wind that makes it feel a lot cooler.
Our walking tour started at 2 at the church so we just walked down Laugavegur hoping to find a coffee shop or bakery to grab a coffee and snack but not such luck. A couple places but they don’t open until 11:30 or noon. Saw glimpses of the famous church on the way! What a great city. Parts of it are fishing village-ish with brightly painted buildings, other parts are older with almost Victorian looking buildings and houses, others are just plain old grey or brown concrete with the odd one painted a bright colour, like purple! Ended up on the Rainbow street with a great view straight up the hill to Hallgrimskirkja!
Found a funky little place for lunch just as a downpour started!! Good timing! Cafe Babalu was fun, very eclectic decor but good coffee (with free refills). Their special was a grilled cheese sandwich and their special tomato soup…..both were delicious!! My bill came to $28Cdn.
Was just spitting a bit by the time we left just after 12. Walked up the hill to the church but didn’t stop because it’s part of our tour later. Headed back to the hotel and were able to check in so got our luggage up to the room and had a bit of a rest. Our room looks out on other buildings but with a little view of the water between them.
Our walking tour started in from of Hallgrimskirkja. Only 6 of us, which was nice! Our guides name is Asi, pronounce “Ow-see”. Got our first little lesson on the Icelandic language and some of the history and their economy. 50% tourism, 25% fishing and 25% geothermal energy…..some major companies have relocated manufacturing facilities to Iceland to take advantage of the cheap geothermal energy. First stop was Hallgrimskirkja. The structure is incredibly unique and, to me, quite out of place. It represents the six sided basalt columns of Iceland. It’s really quite stark and rather ominous looking. The doors are beautiful though. It’s a Lutheran church so inside it’s very simple, no ornate decoration, some minimalist stained glass but it does have a rather impressive organ…..the organist was practicing so we were also given a bit of a concert. The organ has over 5,000 pipes. The building was started in 1945 but not finished until 1980’s because they kept running out of money. They had a big fundraiser and everyone who donated over a certain dollar amount had their name engraved on one of the organ pipes……the bigger the donation, the bigger pipe their name went on. An “ugly” beautiful building…..a lot of controversy over the design.
Next door is a sculpture garden that is part of the Einar Jonnson Museum. Didn’t go inside but some of the garden pieces are very interesting.
Down the street from there are a few very pretty wall murals…..he called them “signed graffiti”. Asi also explained more Reykjavic history and why all new(er) houses are built of concrete or cement. A big fire in 1912 wiped out most of the buildings because they were built of wood. A few of them survived and are now covered in sheet metal siding or have been covered in concrete. Building code no longer allows wood structures.
A quick stop at the Kattakaffihusio, the Cat Cafe! On to the Rainbow Street. The rainbow was painted for gay pride days a number of years ago and was just left. Iceland is one of the most liberal countries in the world. Talked a little about their political system. He also explained that people do not use titles in Iceland, such as Dr. This is because of the their names……you do not have a “family” surname like Smith or Jones as most other countries do. In Iceland you have a first name but your last name is always your fathers first name with either “son” or dottir” at the end. So for example in Iceland if John Smith had a son and named him James his official name would be “James Johnsson”, if it was a girl named Mary it would be Mary Johnsdottir. Married women do not take their husbands names and generally do not use Mr, Miss, Mrs or even Dr. You just call your doctor by his first name. Very complicated genealogy. There is a history of everyones genealogy in “The Book of Icelanders”. It is also referenced when a couple meet and start to get into a serious relationship to make sure they are not related. Asi said he and his wife are in fact related but back 6 or 7 generations which is OK. You do not want to end up marrying a first, second or even third cousin! Wow!!! Up Rainbow Street (really named Skolavordustigur) a little way is the old prison that was also the courthouse….don’t recall what it is now.
Went next to a big park with the statue of Ingolfur Arnarson, the founder of Reykjavik. Fun story of how he came to decide to settle there because of two log beams, that are now the city emblem. Walked to another park that has the statue of Jon Sigurdsson who came up with the independence plan for Iceland. The park is across from their parliament building…..no security and it is apparently open to the public. Iceland does not have any major crime issues, against politicians or anyone else. They have very strict gun controls. People, other than maybe farmers, do not own guns, nor do they want to. They have only one or two murders per year, if that.
Ended our tour at City Hall. Nice new building with a great topographical map of Iceland.
Linds and I walked back to the original hotdog stand. I had to try one because I’d read how good they were. And it was!! Looked a bit odd but it was really good!
Walked up Rainbow street looking in some of the shops that he’d recommended. Linds was thinking about a sweater, but pretty expensive and really quite itchy so she’s going to think about it. Went down to the next block checking out restaurants for dinner. Was just 5 so a little early. Ended up back at the hotel, had a drink in the bar and asked about good places for dinner nearby. She suggested the Food Hall down the street.
A bit of a trek through a construction area but found Hlemmur Matholl. What a fun place. Outside, even though the weather was iffy, they have a bunch of tables and benches and a huge big screen that you could watch the Eurocup (?) soccer/football. Inside are a bunch of stands offering all different types of food like fish and chips, Greek, Italian, Japanese, burgers etc. There are lots of tables all around. It was really busy so knew it had to be pretty good. Wandered around checking everything out and decided on Fish and Chips. You place your order and they give you a pager that buzzes when it’s ready. Mine buzzed and I went to get it and the lady said it wasn’t mine ????? and took it back. She asked what I ordered and took my receipt then gave the pager back and said it would be another 10 minutes….what the heck! A couple minutes later it buzzed again and there was a man at the counter. He asked what I was drinking…..cider but I already had it. He said no, no….and gave me another on the house because they messed up! How nice was that! And the fish and chips were excellent to boot!
Wasn’t even 10 but just back to the hotel. Both of us were pretty much dead on our feet. A really long day, or was it two days…….kind of lose track on the first day. And we have an early start tomorrow. The rental car shuttle pick up at 8:30!
June 19 Wed
Very warm in the room (no AC in Iceland!) so we opened the window and had to leave the drapes open a bit to get some cool, fresh air in. That also meant letting the light in!! Woke up around 3AM and it was of course daylight….turned over and sort of dozed on and off for another hour or so and finally just got up. It’s hard to describe how disorienting it is to not have darkness. Will definitely pull out my eye mask tonight!
Good little buffet type breakfast.
We were packed and ready to go by 8. Shuttle could only take me as it was full. So I picked up the car and the guy gave me the directions to get back to the hotel to pick up Linds and the luggage. It was also pouring rain which made it all a little stressful but it worked out. They include the wifi which is really handy as there is no GPS so we could use Google Maps for our directions.
Stopped at a convenience store to pick up car snacks and figure out the route we were going to take. The rain had pretty much stopped so that made it much easier getting out of the city centre.
Was a really nice drive, lots of unique land formations and also an easy drive to our first destination of the day, Thingvellir National Park. Pay parking. A few minute walk to the visitor centre to review all the information there.
This is where you can see the rift between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Linds was in her glory with here Geology degree paying off!! It is pretty amazing to see. It had started to pour while we were walking down to the waterfall at the end of the trail. There are a few other outlook areas that are interesting…..the wall of basalt on one side the a rather flat open area on the other.
There are lots of walkways to be able to take everything in. It is also the cite where Iceland gained their independence so historically important. Sadly the weather just got worse. Even though we were dressed for it, it just wasn’t pleasant and hard to enjoy what we were seeing there. Still managed to spend over an hour so was definitely worth the visit!
Drove past the visitor centre to a couple other lookout points where you can clearly see the rift….kind of mind blowing when you think about it!!
On to Geysir, about an hours drive. Very flat just about all the way until just a bit before arriving. Parked and checked out the visitor centre. Thought we might have lunch there but crazy busy with tour buses! Interesting place. We did see Strokkur go off a number of times. Wandered around looking at everything but I didn’t think it was that exciting. I guess if you have not seen anything like it it’s amazing but if you have been to Yellowstone, Geysir is really not worth spending too much precious time on.
Gullfoss was about a 15 minute drive beyond Geysir. It is spectacular!! There are no words to describe the beauty and the power of the falls. Unfortunately it was absolutely pouring and the wind was brutal. If you park in the lower lot you can actually walk right up to the edge of the cliff…..no guardrail or fence…..which goes way down to the river below. I guess people just have more common sense here….at home I’m pretty sure there would be mega fencing, signs etc. The canyon is very deep. The noise of that rushing water is something else too. What a magnificent display of nature at it’s best! Had the weather been a bit better I would have like to spend more time there to walk to the further lookout point.
Left around 4:30. Still at least a 2 hour drive to our hotel Skogafoss. Took Hwy 30 back to Hwy 1. Seems to be a plateau, quite flat. A very pretty drive even in the rain. Very green, lots of farms, hay bales piled up, some fields with horses. A few houses here and there and tons of small hotels and guesthouses. Back on Hwy 1 we drove thru Hella, which seems to be a good size place. Lots of sheep! So far none on the road but they stand and lay right at the edge so you have to slow down because you just don’t know if they’re going to decide to wander in front of your car. A bit further along is the Lava Centre, which would have been interesting but just stopped for a few minute break. Pretty flat but off in the distance we could see a flat topped mountain and as we got a bit closer you could see a waterfall. It seemed like we drove forever before it got closer. It was Seljalandsfoss!! When we got there it was already 6 so decided we’d backtrack in the morning. We were both pretty tired…..driving does that! Traded drivers at that point.
From that point on the scenery changed to mountains on the left and fields on the right. The rain had stopped which was nice. The hills are rocky topped lots of green (moss?) that looks like it’s flowing down the sides. The odd grass-roofed building. Very “Hobbit-ish”!
Arrive at the Skogafoss Hotel just before 7. It’s in a little town called Skogar that has a museum (not open) and a half dozen houses and buildings. And of course Skogafoss, the falls!! Just spectacular! We even have a view from our room! Decided to have dinner before walking to the falls. I had a seafood pie that was not terribly good….tasted OK but the fish bits in it were pretty dry and definitely needed salt and pepper, that and a cider $48Cdn. Linds had the pasta which she said was good.
After dinner the wind had died down which was nice. You walk through a parking lot/campsite to the falls, only a 5 minute walk. It really is quite breathtakingly beautiful. Lots of mist and the sound! There are stairs/trail that you can climb to the top where there are more falls that run into this one. I think they said there are 500+ stairs. It is so pretty….the falls, the black rock and sand surrounded by the green hills that are dotted with sheep. It’s another bit of Icelands magic. And the sun even popped out for us for a few minutes!
Did 300+ kilometers today.
Had a nightcap in the little bar….glass of sauv blanc $20Cdn. At 11PM its just as bright out as it was at noon! Lots of cars coming and going from the parking lot even at that time because why not when you’ve got the daylight. The room was very warm so we had to open the window and leave the drapes open a bit to get some cool air in. Definitely will use the eye mask.
Asi, our Reykjavik tour guide, did tell us that you’ll always see windows open in Iceland regardless of the time of year or day. Because of the radiant heat, even when you don’t turn it on, there is always warm water in the pipes. Nobody has AC because it just doesn’t get hot enough for it…..if it does get hot it usually isn’t for more than a couple days at a time. This hotel even has a heated bathroom floor.
June 20 Thurs
Slept OK. The eye mask definitely helped.
Breakfast at 7 and on the road by just after 8. No rain this morning, so far! Today was a long day! A real mixed bag of weather too.
First we backtracked to Seljalandfoss. Another beautiful spot. This is the one that you can walk behind! There are actually 3 different waterfalls there. We walked down as far as the second one. There is also a cave further along, which would have been nice to see but because we had a lot of miles to put on and lots to see we had to get going.
Just past Skogar we started to see the tops of bigger snow covered mountains. Stopped at Solheimajokull to see the glacier. The glacier comes down and the melting ice forms a little lagoon that has bits and pieces that have broken off floating in it. You can hike the glacier but it must be with a guide. There’s a place to get coffee and bathrooms. We were quite impressed by it but in hindsight the best was yet to come. Spent more time there than we should have had we known!
Our next stop was Dyrholaey. Just wow! A very rough and dramatic coastline. It’s a protected nesting area for a number of birds including puffins which we were hoping to see but didn’t. Huge black sand beach with black vertical cliffs around it. One direction you can see all the way to Reynisfjara (the other black sand beach). Ancient volcanic activity and erosion have created some interesting formations and holes in the rocks.
Only a short drive to the Reynisfjara and the famous black sand beach. Pay parking. Very, very windy and when we first arrived only a few sprinkles which was good. Very impressive. Rugged, basalt columns, the cave, the sea stacks and other interesting volcanic and geological rock formations. On some of the rock you can see all the thin layers that were formed by the cooling lava….it looks like you could just peel the layers away. Someone had made cute little rock cairns. The water is unbelievably rough…..you can see how people get caught by those rogue waves. Some big ones today that crash on the beach then wash up way further than you would expect. Tons of people climbing on the basalt cliff at the edge of the water…..scary because you just can’t really tell just how big the wave coming in is and one could easily wipe out anyone near these cliffs. It’s quite a commercial site. They have a restaurant and a hotdog truck! Started to pour rain and we were a bit chilly so decided we’d have lunch there hoping it would pass by the time we were finished.
Left there heading to Jokulsarlon. Drove thru Vik, which in hindsight is where we should have stopped for lunch. Very pretty drive for quite a few miles. And lots of sheep today……all different kinds. Some look like they’d been sheared recently, others were really wooly, some had long-ish hair, lots of lambs and some with horns, which may have been goats! Had to stop a number of times for them in the middle of the road…..sometimes they’d run off to the side other times they’d just stand or lay there and look at you!! Too funny really. It’s not the ones on the road that you need to worry about, it’s the ones that are standing at the side of the road….you just don’t know if they’re going to jump out in front of you. Asked about them roaming all over and was told that in spring the farmers let them loose to go off wherever. Some were in fenced fields but most just seemed to be everywhere and anywhere they wanted to go. Pretty well every hillside is dotted with them. I’ll have to remember to ask how they get their sheep back at the end of the summer!!
The pretty green, hilly countryside soon turned to wide open flat grassy fields with big snowcapped mountains off in the distance then to fields of barren black lava with the odd cinder cone here and there. It seemed to go on forever!! Just nothing for miles and miles. I think this was from and eruption in the 1700’s. Just unbelieveable……pretty sure this is what driving on the moon would be like! That black stark lava (a’a….the chunky stuff) started to change to rounded boulders covered in moss. It too went on for miles but was just fascinating to see!! This area is called Eldhraun. It’s so beautiful and bizarre at the same time……you just can’t even describe it. The land of trolls and hobbits!! Not sure if it was the same eruption as the black lava but this one happened in the 1700’s too and covered more than 200 square miles. The moss is called fringe moss and grows quite thick when there is enough moisture. Stopped at an info area that had some good little trails and plaques with lots of information about the area.
Eventually we started seeing the mountains again and a glacier off in the distance. Stopped to take pictures and read about a major flood that had happening in 1996 when Vatnajokull erupted taking out the bridge and a big chunk of the Ring Road. Drove to Fjallsarlon glacier, which is a bit off the highway. Pretty fantastic! You are right at the glacier. Can take boat rides into the lagoon that is filled with big pieces that have broken off and/or you can walk down on to the beach. As you get closer you can feel it getting colder. We were pretty impressed…..little did we know the best was yet to come!!
When we got to Jokulsarlon and Diamond Beach it was already 7 so decided we go straight to our hotel, Lilja Guesthouse, so we could have dinner (no where else to eat near there) before they closed and then go back because we had lots of daylight left. Lilja is a mix of a new building and old one with renovated rooms. We were in the old but the rooms are basic but nicely done (have kettle and coffee/tea) and very clean. And from the front deck there is a great view of not one, but two glaciers off in the distance.
Had a quick dinner……an excellent burger…..and at 8:30 drove back to Jokulsarlon and Diamond Beach. It was about a 45 minute drive (50K) back. What can one say about this place! It is spectacular. The lagoon is filled with big chunks of ice that have broken off the glacier….small icebergs I guess. The mountain behind it covered in snow, the glacier, the lagoon….it’s a magical place. There are seals lounging on some of the icebergs!! Lots of different sea birds. Walked under the bridge and to Diamond Beach……just nothing like it anywhere!! The black sand with huge big chunks of ice that have washed up with the tide. All different kinds of ice…..some very smooth and sculpted, others crystalized. Just imagine how old some of those pieces of are are…..the glaciers have been around for eons so any of the pieces that you see could have been from rain or snow that fell thousands of years ago!!
Many different shapes and sizes including one that would fit right in at the Phallic Museum in Reykjavic! Another place that you just can’t describe.
We still had lots of light at 11PM…..the sun even popped out for us a couple of times…..but I would have loved to have been there in the middle of the day and have more time to just wander and really take in all there is to see. Walking back to the car we saw a smallish iceberg that was floating out to sea crash into one of the big ones. When it hit it sounded like a bomb going off! Bits and pieces went flying off both. The smaller one changed course a bit and just carried on. The lot is pay parking and there are food trucks, not open of course when we were there but would be a good spot for lunch or dinner.
Back to the hotel at midnight! We have a very nice view of two glaciers off in the distance. Definitely chillier here than the last night.
Today we put on 500K!! That is an incredible amount of driving! I do wish we had more time to spend at places and even go off on some of the smaller roads that lead to interesting things. All that said what we have seen is incredible…….such a magical country!
A long but good day!
June 21 Fri
Up early. Good breakfast. Small continental type buffet but you can also order pretty well a full English breakfast.
Got on the road before 9 this morning……another long driving day! We had booked a 6:30 appointment at the Myvatn Nature Baths…..so we had a deadline that we had to make. Another “in hindsight” thing not to do!
Stopped in Hofn to get gas and more road snacks. Had a little drive around…..nice little place.
Back on the Hwy 1 and just a few miles out of Hofn we were driving along the coast. Pretty spectacular……water on one side and mountains on the other. The mountains are black gravel…..very stark. Caught some “roll clouds” coming over the mountain tops. Had only ever seen them one time before in Argentina! Had to stop and watch for a few minutes…..it’s like a waterfall slowly coming down the mountain side.
Went through quite a long tunnel…..at least 3km I think. When we came out we seemed to be more inland with fields of pretty lupins with snowcapped mountains on the left and black lava hills on the right. Passed the “Red Chair” that the trolls use lol…
A few minutes later we were back along the water and lower rounded/flat-ish mountains on the right that have been worn down from glaciers that have long ago melted. Passed a couple little hotels or guesthouses, lots of sheep of course and that was about it. Hardly any traffic either. The scenery seemed to change every few miles. From water on one side and mountains on the other to grassy, or mossy open fields, then trees and the black lava hills. Crossed a number of one way bridges.
We then came to one of the highlights of the drive, the east fjords! Ocean on one side and black volcanic mountains almost straight up on the other. We climbed a bit and drove along the very jagged basalt coastline that was pretty spectacular. Down again to where the water was only a few feet from the road. Lots of barriers to stop rock from falling on the road. Took a little detour for a break down a road that goes to a little bay and beach but didn’t stay too long as it had started to rain and the wind was pretty wild. Back on the highway we could actually feel the wind blowing the car sometimes but it had stopped raining. Passed a number of places that had big beaches that would be glorious on a warm sunny day…..although hard to imagine such a day here! Temps have been around 8 or 9C so not terribly cold but the wind just goes right through you.
Started passing more and more Bnb’s and guesthouses so making note if (when!!) we come back because it would definitely be better to add a few days to break up the long drives and be able to stop and explore more on the way.
This east fjords coast drive is truly breathtaking. Big snow covered mountains across the fjords. Crossed a number of little bridges over inlets from the fjords. Many fish farms. The road crosses an inlet, or maybe the end of the fjord. It looks like spits on both sides of the fjord with a little one way bridge in the middle. More farmland once on the other side with the mountains as a backdrop. Horses, not as many sheep, and a herd of reindeer!! Around another corner and you are looking at open ocean with a pretty wild coastline. Just amazing scenery!
Came to Stodvarfjordur and Faskrudsfjordur, either of which would have been a good stopover point……made note of that! Had lunch in Faskrudsfjordur where many of the street signs are in French….it was originally a fishing village/trading post built by the French in the 1880’s. The Sumarlina Cafe had great pizza and the most delicious seafood chowder. Was already 1:30, with 3 hours of driving still to go, so just couldn’t spend a lot of time exploring, which is too bad. Fun little place…..even had a golf course! Lots of little waterfalls and for Linds the geography as very interesting…..can clearly see the make up of the land from earthquakes and volcanoes over eons ago.
Just as we were leaving to get back on the highway we had to stop for a little seabird and her babies to cross the road. For whatever reason the babies stopped in the middle. We were worried a car would come whipping along and squish them so Linds got out and tried shooing them along. Mom and 2 babies did but one little guy just plunked himself down and wouldn’t move. Mom started coming back and then of course the other 2 babies did too…….ack!! Linds picked up the one just as a car did come along but thankfully stopped. Got the family to safety and off we went.
At this point we seemed to be heading inland…..its not as dramatic as the coast but very nice. Lots of small skinny waterfalls trickling down the mountain sides and snow quite close to the road. A bit further along a big wide open valley with farms and a little river running along the highway. Came to another tunnel that was 5900 meters/6km/3.5miles. There are signs in the tunnel that tell how far you’ve gone! When we came out we were driving along the end of another fjord! Our last one on the east coast. More farms and foothills, probably cinder cones. Very pretty and we even had the sun popping out a few times. We climbed up on to a plateau. Rolling hills, no houses or buildings until we got closer to Egilsstadir. Quite a big city, nice lake and lots of trees. The farmland carried on for a few miles but slowly started changing from green to a mix of green and dried brown/black rock, then it turned to a moonscape. This part was a bit of a boring drive….over a hundred kilometres and much of it was flat and barren with mountains way off in the distance. Came to the road to Dettifoss but was already after 4 so again we had to pass.
Arrived at Hverir just after 5 . So different again…..very volcanic, fumeroles, bubbling mud pots, red clay/earth. Lots of trails to hike up the mountain. We just didn’t have time so will come back tomorrow morning and spend a bit more time there. Tomorrow is a short drive!!
Checked into the Laxa Hotel. Quickly made a reservation for dinner for 9 not knowing how long our thermal experience would be, grabbed our bathing suits and off we went. About a half hour drive back the way we came. We passed it on the way to the hotel. Across the road is the big geothermal plant that provides the water to the Myvatn Nature Bath (??). Made it just in the nick of time for our 6:30 reservation. They do give you a 1/2 leeway.
Myvatn Nature Bath is probably a mini version of the Blue Lagoon. A very commercial operation. Check in and you “rent” towels, you can rent flip flops too if you want them (you don’t need them!), get a bracelet and a coin for your locker. A couple big changing/shower buildings. Only a couple private showers otherwise you use the big main area. We are so uptight in North America! Linds and I used the private ones which were really only partially private in that the doors were frosted glass that you could still sort of see through. Pretty well everyone else used the main one……big, small, skinny, wrinkly, hairy whatever didn’t phase anyone! Oh to be like that….ah sigh. On to the baths. It was packed!! There is a regular bar and a swim up bar to get drinks. A couple different pools. One is warmer than the other. You have to get out and walk over a little bridge type thing to get to the one that has great views out over the lake. The smell was a bit much at first but your nose gets used to it within a couple minutes. I guess we just aren’t really spa people because it wasn’t the “experience” we were expecting. Just too busy, noisy etc. We tried the different pools and after a half hour or so we were done. Did think about getting a glass of wine but didn’t bother. It wasn’t bad just not what we were thinking. That said both of us commented on how nice our skin felt!! Soft, not dry…..very nice!
There is restaurant at the Baths but didn’t check it out and from what we could tell the only other option in Reykjahlid, the little town, was a pizza place that closed at 9 so not much other than the hotel for dinner. We had a bit of time to kill so took a little drive to see if anything in the town was open…..it wasn’t. There is a museum.
Dinner at the hotel was very good but rather expensive. Not a big menu but enough variety. I had the seafood ravioli and a glass of wine (almost $80Cdn).
The hotel is on a few different levels……supposed to be “eco-friendly”. The bottom wing, where our room is, has a grass roof! The basement has a pool table, dart board, ping pong table, and a sitting area with a big fireplace. Hotel is black and glass so sort of fits in nicely with area.
Did think about going back to Hverir but felt like we’d done enough driving for the day and it had started to rain and it was quite chilly too. Just back to the room, caught up with the journal and read.
450km today!
Another great day. I am just amazed at the diversity and beauty of this country…….so different from anywhere else in the world!
June 22 Sat
Bit of a slower start this morning seen we didn’t have as much driving to do today. Just had breakfast at the hotel, which was not included. Nice buffet.
Got gassed up and more car snacks for the drive. Was sprinkling a bit when we started out and within a few minutes it had turned to snow!! That’s June in Iceland!! Didn’t last to long and had stopped by the time we got back to Hverir. What a unique spot it is. Pay parking. A short walk from the parking lot to where it starts. Get whiffs of the sulphur almost right away. Sulphur was mined there at one time, used to make gunpowder.
There are a number of fumeroles and the bubbling mud pots, which are very interesting, but to me it’s the unique landscape, the hills or mountains/cinder cones and everything around it that is almost surreal. Instead of black the earth was red. The fumeroles are almost scary……very loud hissing and the hot steam coming out of them….you can feel the heat standing a few feet away. People were actually going right up to it and sticking their hand in the steam to see if it was hot……it was! Interesting bits of info……the sulphuric acid disolves the rock and creates the mud. It was pretty mucky walking around because of the rain and snow earlier so we didn’t hike up the hill. Also would have liked to visit the crater and the other lava fields but again it all comes down to time. A good lookout on the hill back towards the lake. Good view of the geothermal plant and info about the lake being formed 2300 years ago.
Drove around Lake Myvatn. I believe its from the volcano but not a crater lake (??). There are big lava fields with lava tunnels around it as well as some very fertile farmland. Lots of hiking trails and we didn’t see any marinas or beaches but someone did say fishing (trout and Arctic Char) is big during the summer and ice fishing in the winter.
Nice drive from the lake to Godafoss. Started out quite flat, lots of farms and trees! Got a bit more hilly the closer we got. A couple towns enroute that had a number of accommodation signs up….good to know!
You can see the falls from a mile away! And you can see all the little waterfalls, that I guess run into the river, on the mountain behind it. Very pretty with the green hills and the purple lupins….almost looked like a water colour!! Great big parking area…..two areas actually, one near the gift shop at the bottom, or lower part of the falls and the other a bit further along the highway at the top end. The falls are very nice…..not tall but a big horseshoe shape made up of a few different falls……just stunning! That all runs down to cataract type falls that flow into the river. Great walking trails all the way to the top from the lower parking area. Great little gift shop and coffee bar.
On to Akureyri. Was a spectacular drive from the falls! We opted to take the longer route (Hwy84/83) instead of the new tunnel, which besides being not very scenic has tolls. The route we took was so much better, only took maybe a 1/2 hour longer. Drive through lovely countryside with a mix of green patches, sprinkled with lupins, bits of snow and then down along the fjord with beautiful snowcapped mountains across the way. Had a little drive around the waterfront hoping to find a restaurant or cafe but didn’t find any. Parked in a parking lot just off the main road. Had just paid for parking when some people came by and said it was free on the weekends!! Oh well. Wandered around the city for a bit. Cute place. A number of cafes and restaurants and shops. Lots of brightly painted buildings. The best though are the red lights……they are shaped like hearts! Had lunch at Blaa Kannan Cafe. Had a yummy quiche, salad and coffee and a profiterole, just one of the many delicious looking desserts they had. I would stay here!!
Seen we did not have to be anywhere today by a certain time we decided to take the scenic route to Blonduos via one of the north fjords. I just love the fjords! We took Hwys 82/76/73, which pretty much kept us along the coast most of the way……added a couple hours to our drive but definitely worth it! Just a spectacular drive! Drove through a town called Dalvik, spread out all over. A fishing village I guess. Much bigger mountains here across the fjords. Linds was driving and went through a long, long tunnel (2 lane), 5km I think it was. Another cute little town called Olafsfjordur…..they have a ski jump. 82 turned into 76 at that point…..thank goodness for google maps and wifi because we thought we’d missed the highway or taken a wrong turn. Another huge tunnel….or two I guess. The first one was 6 or 7km and then a few hundred meters down the road was the second one that was almost 3 miles long. It was called Hedinsfjardargong, “The North Passage”, the longest tunnel in Iceland! Another pretty village called Siglufjordur. Right after town we came to our first one lane tunnel (Strakagong). Lots of pullouts. Cars coming towards us had the right of way. Only had to pull over a couple times. Luckily it’s easy to see if a car is coming along because of the headlights and it was a short tunnel, not quite a mile.
The further north we got there was nothing but open ocean. Stopped to have a look and switch drivers. Lots of roadwork happening not to far past a very pretty orange lighthouse…..big patches of gravel that we had to go slow over. Not many cars at all on this route. Seemed that we were climbing. At one spot it looked like a big spit crossing to the other side of the fjord but not road, so not sure if it comes and goes with the tides ??? A few houses and buildings here and there and a lot more snow on the mountains and down much lower. Big herds of sheep and goats on the roads. Had to wait for them once to decide where they were going to go…..they just stand there for a few minutes and then slowly one by one they’ll start moving to the side of the road. Was quite overcast, no rain though. Very windy in some places…..could feel it blowing the car. Stopped at a rest stop at a big stretch of rocky beach with a bunch of little islands not too far out. Barely able to get the car door open because of the windy……just crazy!! Was warning signs along the way of doors actually been blown off!! Can definitely understand that happening!! Didn’t stay too there too long.
Further along there were a lot of farms on the flats between the sea and mountains and lupins started to appear again……they go on forever and so pretty against the different shades of green. Went through Hofos, small place, where there is at least one hotel/guesthouse and a big beach that is supposed to be beautiful but it was a little off the highway so didn’t check it out.
On to Hwy 75 to stay on the coast as long as possible. We drove over a skinny piece of land that I thought was just a spit but there was a little bridge connecting it to another spit. Some very rugged coastline with fingers of basalt cliffs jutting out into the fjord. Crossed yet another little one lane bridge over an inlet……..they must be just far enough into the fjord to not be washed away in storms. It’s crazy windy now in June I just can’t imagine what it would be like in winter! Changed to Hwy 73 that took us inland and on to Blonduos. Hwy 745 would have taken us up another fjord and kept us along the northern coastline but it was gravel from the start and we just weren’t sure for how far, so a bit too risky with the rental car. And the fact that we had not seen many other cars on the road….what if we had a flat?? More hills that are many different shades of green and half covered in lupins…..just spectacular! More horses on this route. Very pretty rolling hills with creeks and streams, fields of horses.
Arrived in Blonduos just after 7:30. Got checked into the “historic” Blonduos Hotel, clean and basic. They have a restaurant that we checked out but nothing that appealed to us. A few restaurants in town. Decided on B & S Restaurant. Good food and reasonable prices. I had fish and chips that were really good with a glass of wine for around $30Cdn. Linds had pasta that was really good too. After dinner we took a nice drive around the town. It’s rather spread out with the Blanda River dividing it into two parrs. Not really a “pretty” place though. Fields with lots of horses. It’s at the end of the north fjords so some big rock walls along the water which was pretty rough in some places. Some nice houses built up on the hills over looking the water, a couple of churches, a gas station, some cottages along the river and I think a campsite.
Got back to the hotel just after 11PM. Today in Blonduos sunset is at 1:05AM (tomorrow!) and sunrise is at 1:45AM! This is the furthest north we’ve been so the longest day on this trip! The best thing about 24 hours of daylight is the fact that you can still explore at “night”! The bad part is that things aren’t open that late.
Only about 350km today! But a great day…..had a little bit of everything Iceland has to offer!
June 23 Sun
Slept OK but still hard to process “sleep time” when it’s still daylight outside…..even with black out(ish) drapes and my eye mask. Once back in the room I updated my journal then read for a while……I was tired but even after turning out the lights somehow you know, or your body knows, that it’s not dark. Hard to explain and I’m pretty sure people who live here have adapted and maybe after more than a week we would too but after only a few days you just can’t quite get used to it.
Breakfast was at 7:30. Took our time today as it was only a couple hour drive to Hvammsvik and then another hour or so to Reykjavik. Went for a walk around the hotel and down to the river. The little church next door was bought by the hotel and converted into a suite! Packed up and stopped at the little bakery next to the restaurant we went to last night hoping to stock up on snacks or goodies for lunch but it wasn’t open. Filled up with gas and car snacks and hit the road.
Very flat just outside of Blonduos. Lots of horses. Pretty much the same scenery for miles. It’s “boring but beautiful”. We came across Kattarhryggur, the Cats Arch. It’s a magical little spot….I’m sure the trolls live here!! It was part of the original highway for horse drawn carts from Reykjavic to Akureyri. A little bridge with a very pretty waterfall on the hill behind it. A nice little break along this stretch of road. Passed a big evergreen forest, possible where they had done planting or a tree farm. The further south from there it got sort of mountain-ish, basalt (?) and mossy rocks started to appear. More trees in this area than we’ve seen anywhere else.
Borgarnes is quite a big city, spread out all over the place. The highway crosses an inlet or fjord on what looks like a floating bridge but not sure even going over it! Only a few miles passed there were entered another big tunnel but this one goes under water as opposed to through a mountain.
Arrived at Hvammsvik around 2:30 so very early but luckily they could take us then. Same shower process as at Myvatn. The place is a little more rustic, less crowded and has a much better ambiance. There are 5 or more pools of varying temperatures. One is right at the waters edge and when the tide comes in it comes right up to the rim of the pool. It’s on a fjord so has a lovely view from whichever pool you’re in. A few brave souls were going from the pools into the fjord, most only got as far as their knees but a couple did go all the way in. Was pretty overcast but no rain which was nice. It must be glorious on a bright sunny day! The biggest pool has a swim up bar so we got a couple of ciders and just sat and enjoyed the pool and the view. This place, to me, is so much better than Myvatn!! Spent almost 2 hours there! It was great experience and would definitely do it again. They have a restaurant that we thought about having lunch/early dinner but decided we’d just get back to Reykjavik and return the car.
Was about an hour drive back to the car rental office. Cleaned out the car, took pictures all around and of the dashboard, locked it up and dropped off the keys. Tried calling a taxi!! Got a recording in Icelandic…..waited for it so say press 1 or 2 or whatever for English but all I got was a beep. Wasn’t quite sure if I should start talking or what so I hung up. Called the hotel and asked them if they could call a taxi for us and they could and did! Very nice!
Waited about a 1/2 hour. Taxis are not cheap here. Was approx $22Cdn for the 5 minute drive to the hotel. Nice chatty driver. Got to Hotel Skuggi, checked in and up to the room when Linds realized she’d left her bag in the taxi!! Ack! A bit of panic. She went to the desk right away and they contacted the taxi company. The guy said a customer found it on the back seat and he’d be by with it in a few minutes. Linds offered to pay the extra fare but he just waved her off……how lucky all around!!
Was 6 so we just had a drink in the bar at the hotel then off to explore more and into a few shops before everything closed. This hotel is a little closer to everything. Checked out sweaters again……felt like I should buy one just because but I really don’t like them enough to spend $3-400. Found lots in thrift and consignment stores! One had a really nice black/grey/white longer type cardigan with a zipper for $100 but sadly was too small. Got our Christmas ornaments and a pretty city scape painting.
Had dinner at Rossopomodoro. Really good but not sure spaghetti bolognese and a glass of wine for $68Cdn is worth that much. The glass of wine alone was $26!!
Finished dinner around 9:30 and everything was pretty much closed up. Back to the hotel for a nightcap in the bar and caught the journal caught up.
Linds is off whale watching tomorrow. I’m going to explore more of the city and visit the Phallic Museum!
June 24 Mon
Slept good. Down for breakfast just after 8. Good buffet.
Today started out really nice. Lots of sun and not windy at all. Slowly made our way to the Old Harbour for Linds’ whale watching trip. Walked down some of the streets off the main drags. Lots of fun and unique buildings, some painted bright colours, saw a couple more murals. Nice walk along the water front to the The Harpa Conference Centre, very impressive building! It looks like fish scales! Nice big plaza around it. A big ferris wheel……the Reykjavik Eye?? A Hurtigruten ship in port and another off in the distance at another pier.
At the Old Harbour there are quite a few whale watching outfits. Hers was with Elding. Stopped at the office, checked in and off to her ship. The tour was 3 hours.
I found a nice little cafe called Rost, got a window seat and watched her boat leave. Had coffee (with free refills!!) and a muffin. Enjoyed all the comings and goings….big boats, small boat, zodiacs all heading out for whale watching. Was quite a busy place probably a lot of people from the ships on these excursions. Got caught up on emails and FB. Wandered around the marina area for a while then headed to the Phallic Museum. $33Cdn to get in. Fun little bar where you can sit and enjoy a drink in a penis shaped glass lol. Also a gift shop. It is quite interesting really and worth the visit just because! I showed the girl at the desk my picture from Diamond Beach. She thought it was fantastic and had me send it to her. She is going to add it to the screen show that they have in the bar. (a week or so after I got home I got an email from them thanking me for the picture and were happy to have a piece of ICEland to add to their picture collection)
Great little street market happening just around the corner. Some really nice stuff! I bought a pair of earrings from one vendor and a ring from another…..all took credit cards. Had started to rain a bit so spent time going in and out of shops until it stopped.
Worked my way back to the harbour to wait for Linds to get back. Nice little bar right there and it was happy hour….at 1PM! Ordered the $17 wine which was in a little bottle that held almost 2 glasses…..the best deal in Iceland! Rain had stopped so sat out on their covered patio.
Her trip was only OK. They only saw minke whales. She said it was really rough and almost impossible to stand anywhere without holding on for dear life and really cold so was glad she had all the layers on that she did. But she did enjoy it and even without a ton of whales the scenery was great.
Had lunch at the Old Harbour House. Really good fish and chips and I had another glass of wine!
Walked back along the water to see the Sun Voyager Sculpture and then back to the hotel so Linds could change out of her layers of clothing. Had warmed up again with the sun popping out every now and again.
Had lunch quite late so for dinner we went to Suarta Kaffid, a place where they only have soup! Comes in a local bread bowl. Was really good. I had the “stoup” of the day which was a combo of lamb and beef and veg……very tasty. The bread was delicious but just too much.
Started to rain again so just back to the hotel. Had a drink in the bar and up to the room to pack up.
We have a pick up for the airport at 6:30 tomorrow morning.
Iceland has been amazing. So much more to see and do……definitely on the list of places to come back to!
June 25 Tues
Too early for breakfast but they have a little coffee bar and croissants in the lobby so that worked.
Picked up right on time. Stopped at another hotel to pick up people and they just happened to be who Linds chatted with on her whale watching trip yesterday!
Got to the airport and found out our flight was delayed by one hour so had time for a good breakfast. Crazy busy airport!
Just barely managed to catch our connecting flight to Vancouver in Calgary. Told the customs/immigration gal that we were tight for time. She looked at our boarding passes and just waved us through!! Made it to the gate with just a few minutes to spare.
Arrived back in Vancouver and so did our luggage which we were a little concerned about with so little time in Calgary.
Iceland is an amazing place and we did have a wonderful trip. We didn’t do all the exciting things like hiking on a glacier or snorkeling in freezing cold water but we saw a lot of what it has to offer. We put almost 2000km on the rental car so covered a lot of territory for sure. With only 7 days, the long driving distances each day, plus a couple days having to be somewhere by a certain time because we’d booked something, It was not the ideal way to see Iceland. I did like the fact that we covered so much of the country, the diversity of it and the sheer beauty of so many waterfalls, mountains, the fjords, the sea. Definitely need to go back but to do it in a totally different way.
My Travel Journals 