Quick Summary
When did we go
Late Feb
Day 0 - Fly London to Reykjavik (Travel only)
Day 1 - Spend the day in Akranes (Whale Fjord)
Day 2 - Golden Circle Tour (Thingvellir, Laugarvatn, Geysir, Gullfoss)
Day 3 - Reykjavik and surroundings (Hallgrímskirkja, Sun Voyager, Quad and Cave, Lava caves)
Day 4 - Blue Lagoon and return (Grotto lighthouse, Nautholsvik Geothermal Beach, Blue Lagoon )
Where we stayed
Akranes - Hotel Glymur
Reykjavik - Hotel Fron
Transportation
You need a car to be able to explore well. Inside Reykjavik there is public transport but to explore the country side you need a car. In winter you are better of limiting your own driving, especially if it is snowing.
Food
Iceland caters to tourists and to there is no problem with food. Vegetarians can struggle a bit because there is lots of sea food. Although, most restaurants have some veggie options and in Reykjavik there are some veggie-only restaurants as well.
Day 0
We flew Icelandair which was one of the better airlines we have flown. What struck us immediately was that they seemed to have a good sense of humour which was something we observed about Iceland generally.
When did we go
Late Feb
Day 1 - Spend the day in Akranes (Whale Fjord)
Day 2 - Golden Circle Tour (Thingvellir, Laugarvatn, Geysir, Gullfoss)
Day 3 - Reykjavik and surroundings (Hallgrímskirkja, Sun Voyager, Quad and Cave, Lava caves)
Day 4 - Blue Lagoon and return (Grotto lighthouse, Nautholsvik Geothermal Beach, Blue Lagoon )
Where we stayed
Akranes - Hotel Glymur
Reykjavik - Hotel Fron
Transportation
You need a car to be able to explore well. Inside Reykjavik there is public transport but to explore the country side you need a car. In winter you are better of limiting your own driving, especially if it is snowing.
Food
Iceland caters to tourists and to there is no problem with food. Vegetarians can struggle a bit because there is lots of sea food. Although, most restaurants have some veggie options and in Reykjavik there are some veggie-only restaurants as well.
Day 0
We flew Icelandair which was one of the better airlines we have flown. What struck us immediately was that they seemed to have a good sense of humour which was something we observed about Iceland generally.
We landed in Keflavik airport and headed to our rental only to find a no travel / driving advisory for the following day. We got bumped up to a 4x4 due to unavailability of a normal economy car and to be honest we were to glad to get it as we would discover, driving in Iceland is a fun experience if you are not used to driving in cold weather. Generally most of the important roads are clear but smaller roads can be covered with ice this time of the year.
We planned to stay at Hotel Glymur for the 1st
half of our trip, a remote hotel overlooking a Fjord called Whale Fjord. It was
about 90 min drive from Keflavik. The GPS decided to take us around the fjord
which took longer, but we discovered there is a tunnel under the sea which cuts
this to about 75 min (there is a toll charge of 5000 IKR). The drive was
interesting – we started in clear skies with the sun shining in Keflavik,
leading to a slight snow and then some more with very low visibility as we
headed closer to the Fjord. But the Fjord and hotel was definitely worth the
drive. Set in a beautiful location, the view it is to die for.
The hotel itself was cosy with a mezzanine bed room, a
restaurant, bar and a small sitting room. It overlooks a church on the banks of
the Fjord. Our first impression of Iceland was that houses / farms are few and
far between and everything is really spread out. Even a convenience
store is probably about 10 km drive on a average and farther as you go further
inland. We decided to make dinner out of the sandwiches we picked at a gas
station and enjoyed some fine single malt which we bought from London. Alcohol is generally expensive in Iceland.
Day 1
Day 1 was a complete write-off given the no travel advisory and trust me, it was well advised. We ventured out for a short walk across the road to the banks and it was WINDY! Any bravado to drive a short distance was all gone in that windy, snowy weather. We stayed indoors and enjoyed quiet day. The loss of the day meant we had to move a few tours around and completely lost our 1 day of driving around that we had planned for.
We hear that weather in Iceland can change quickly, so it is worth factoring a day extra to cater for any disruptions like this.
Day 1 was a complete write-off given the no travel advisory and trust me, it was well advised. We ventured out for a short walk across the road to the banks and it was WINDY! Any bravado to drive a short distance was all gone in that windy, snowy weather. We stayed indoors and enjoyed quiet day. The loss of the day meant we had to move a few tours around and completely lost our 1 day of driving around that we had planned for.
We hear that weather in Iceland can change quickly, so it is worth factoring a day extra to cater for any disruptions like this.
Day 2
On Day 2, we checked out early and started a superjeep tour
with Wild West Tours from Mosfellsbær (a suburb of Reykjavik). Wild West tour (which we had booked
beforehand) turned out to be a small family run tour company. We had a
father-daughter team acting as guide on this private tour and they did a fantastic job. In summer you could do this tour yourself but during snow and winter it is best to get a guided tour.
We started off in bright weather up a mountain road to
Thingvellir (Þingvellir in Icelandic) as our guides regaled us with information
about the various sites and about Iceland in general. Thingvellir is a national
park and the site of the 1st parliament in Iceland. The beauty of
this place is beyond words. Set in a valley below which is the Lake Þingvallavatn and a few inlets. The Lake is quite unique in that it is home to a number of
types of trout and salmon, its bottom is below sea level. It is rising every year apparently and a lot of land that was exposed about 50 years ago is
now under water. In Feb, this place was full of snow with the river still
flowing. The water is so pristine, you can see the bottom.
After about an hour at Thinvallir, we headed up another
mountain road towards Laugarvatn. By
this time, it has started snowing quite heavily making the road look quite erie – everything white except the road. We passed a few summer houses and horse farms where the
horses seemed to not mind the snow. Laugarvatn was
spectacular – alas it was snowing too heavily to risk taking out the camera –
one that we regret. It’s a sight from documentaries – a steaming geothermal
lake with bubbling hot water in a few places while it was snowing heavily. It
was the epitome of tranquility. (I suspect it won’t be for long as it is now
the site for a new Spa called Fontana.)
Our next stop was Geysir – the first documented geyser and
the source of the word “geyser” apparently. While Geysir (the main geyser) is
no longer active, Strokkur is very much so. We managed to see it erupt about 3
time within a span of 5 minutes which was spectacular. It was exciting to see the
water disturb in preparation of the eruption and the bubble come up leading
into a explosion about 8-10 feet in the sky and all settling down as if nothing
ever happened. Quite spectacular – and definitely worth watching. A note that this is quite popular and will be teeming with tourists (like us!).
After lunch we headed up the glacier up some very
treacherous roads – with constant adjustments to tyre pressure to provide
traction. When we reached the top (which was the foot of the glacier) the weather cleared up with the sun shining
and everything settling down. In bad
weather – all you see is white except for the tiny yellow bars marking the road
side – its definitely not a trip you would want to do on your own in a small
car. At the top there were about 4-5 other super jeeps and pretty much all of
them got stuck in the snow at least once and the other jeeps had to
tow them out to safety! A company does snow mobile tours up there, which seemed like a lot of fun and worth doing if you have more time.
We then headed to
the Gullfoss falls which start from the glacier as a stream and into the fall
in amazing force. It’s a beautiful view on its own – but paled in comparison to the
others. We made way via another mountain road back toward Mosfellsbaer to be met
with a snow storm which started out of nowhere and with visibility so low we
could hardly see the car before us. Sure glad we were not doing the driving that
day!
After an eventful day, bid goodbye to our guides and headed
to Reykjavik and checked in to our hotel – Hotel Fron. This was a nice little
place in city center near all the restaurants and bars and shops.
Day 3
After a quick breakfast, we walked around the harbor, which has a great view and them headed to the Hallgrímskirkja Church tower. This is a wonderful church and the view from top is quite good. We wandered a bit around the city and visited the Sun Voyager.
We then headed to our Quad and Cave tour, which we booked with a company called Eskimos. Given how sparsely populated some of these areas were, we were able to drive the Quads on smaller city roads and head a small lake outside Reykjavik called Hafravatn Lake which was completely frozen. After some adrenaline pumping drive over snow and ice, we reached the summit of a mountain / hill nearby to drink in the view of the entire city of Reykjavik! No kidding…the view is spectacular and so is the cold and the wind! But totally worth the trip and the Quads made is fun. On the return , we stopped to pet some Icelandic horses.
The caves are in separate place and we originally thought that the Quad would take there. Nevertheless after returning the quads, our guides drove about 40 min outside the city to the Lava caves which was one of the best parts of our trip here. The caves were carved by flowing lava about a 1000-2000 years ago leaving a system of tunnels and caverns with lava stalactites and stalagmites. The entrance to this cave was completely snowed under and someone had cleared the snow enough to create an opening small enough to crawl down. The makeshift entrance was just enough to fit 1 person, crawling in – not a place for anyone with claustrophobia. Once in, this was a dark cavern with icicles everywhere and wet & icy floor. The lava rocks, the icy mounds and icicles look spectacular in that setting. There is a lot of crawling involved to get to the end which has one remaining large lava stalactite. It appears these have become popular souvenirs and over the years and people have taken these back. You can also see remains of a skeleton at the end of the cavern – the guides speculated it was a sheep or a large animal but the source isn’t clear.
After a quick breakfast, we walked around the harbor, which has a great view and them headed to the Hallgrímskirkja Church tower. This is a wonderful church and the view from top is quite good. We wandered a bit around the city and visited the Sun Voyager.
We then headed to our Quad and Cave tour, which we booked with a company called Eskimos. Given how sparsely populated some of these areas were, we were able to drive the Quads on smaller city roads and head a small lake outside Reykjavik called Hafravatn Lake which was completely frozen. After some adrenaline pumping drive over snow and ice, we reached the summit of a mountain / hill nearby to drink in the view of the entire city of Reykjavik! No kidding…the view is spectacular and so is the cold and the wind! But totally worth the trip and the Quads made is fun. On the return , we stopped to pet some Icelandic horses.
The caves are in separate place and we originally thought that the Quad would take there. Nevertheless after returning the quads, our guides drove about 40 min outside the city to the Lava caves which was one of the best parts of our trip here. The caves were carved by flowing lava about a 1000-2000 years ago leaving a system of tunnels and caverns with lava stalactites and stalagmites. The entrance to this cave was completely snowed under and someone had cleared the snow enough to create an opening small enough to crawl down. The makeshift entrance was just enough to fit 1 person, crawling in – not a place for anyone with claustrophobia. Once in, this was a dark cavern with icicles everywhere and wet & icy floor. The lava rocks, the icy mounds and icicles look spectacular in that setting. There is a lot of crawling involved to get to the end which has one remaining large lava stalactite. It appears these have become popular souvenirs and over the years and people have taken these back. You can also see remains of a skeleton at the end of the cavern – the guides speculated it was a sheep or a large animal but the source isn’t clear.
We had dinner at a Raw restaurant called Glo and retired
early with the aim to catch some northern lights in the wee hours of the
morning when the sky was expected to be clear. Unfortunately, we failed to
realize that the parking lot where we parked our car was closed at night. A car is definitely handy for northern lights hunting. Instead we walked near the harbor in the wee hours of the morning (we felt safe
walking around at this time). The weather wasn't too harsh for the walk looking like tourist while the bar owls roamed
around in light t shirts and jeans. We found a good dark spot to sit and watch the skies.While Northern Lights eluded us – we hope to capture this fabulous spectacle
some other time!
Day 4
We checked out and wandered around the Grotto lighthouse where we had originally planned to go Northern Lights hunting. It has a nice view of the coast especially under clear skies.
Next stop was Nautholsvik Geothermal Beach which is about a 20 minute ride from Reykjavik centre. Then we headed towards the airport, stopping at the Blue Lagoon. We skipped the spa as we were not that keen but that is a popular activity with tourists. We did walk near it and it was a pleasant walk around volcanic black rocks. Then we headed to the airport and flew back to London.
Final Thoughts
Wish we hadn’t lost the day due to bad weather as we could not do some of the other stuff we had planned. If we had time, we were planning on exploring the country by driving around. So if you are planning a winter trip be prepared for unplanned interruptions. Other things we could have done were dog sledding, a longer snow hike and some clubbing in Reykjavik. Iceland in summer is also very popular with tourists and it is likely to present a whole new country and landscape. It seems to be one of those countries where you enjoy a trip both in winter and summer.
Overall – this was a spectacular trip and Iceland is one freak of a country !!
We checked out and wandered around the Grotto lighthouse where we had originally planned to go Northern Lights hunting. It has a nice view of the coast especially under clear skies.
Next stop was Nautholsvik Geothermal Beach which is about a 20 minute ride from Reykjavik centre. Then we headed towards the airport, stopping at the Blue Lagoon. We skipped the spa as we were not that keen but that is a popular activity with tourists. We did walk near it and it was a pleasant walk around volcanic black rocks. Then we headed to the airport and flew back to London.
Final Thoughts
Wish we hadn’t lost the day due to bad weather as we could not do some of the other stuff we had planned. If we had time, we were planning on exploring the country by driving around. So if you are planning a winter trip be prepared for unplanned interruptions. Other things we could have done were dog sledding, a longer snow hike and some clubbing in Reykjavik. Iceland in summer is also very popular with tourists and it is likely to present a whole new country and landscape. It seems to be one of those countries where you enjoy a trip both in winter and summer.
Overall – this was a spectacular trip and Iceland is one freak of a country !!
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