We are just back from a 17 day
vacation, August 30, 2019 to September 15, 2019...9 day driving
holiday in Iceland followed by 6 days in Finland, a day in Estonia plus the travel
days.
Iceland, a lovely Nordic island nation,
resting at the edge of the Arctic Circle is defined by its dramatic
landscape with glaciers, thundering water falls, ice fields, and
fjords, active volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and lava fields. It
had been on our wish list for long. We took the plunge this year and
WOW!! IT DELIVERED ON ALL FRONTS!
Hardly any crowds, we had many of the sites all to ourselves!! Weather was great on all days except one
Here are a few highlights:
Skógafoss here with a rainbow as bonus
Gullfoss...
Rjukandi
Dettifoss...
Selfoss
Hvitserkur...
Kolugljufur waterfall...
Kirkufell
The reflections were INSANE! Waterbodies were sheer mirrors!
Every pullout looked like a painting...
Aside from the scenic highlights, the lovely animals... horses and sheep were such fun to see on the farms all over.
We hardly saw any humans around on our drives, just vast stretches of land and the animals! [We even stayed on a few farms, again with no owner contact as checkin/out were all automated!]. Population of Iceland is just 320,000, half of whom live in Reykjavik!!
Hverir/Namjafjall geothermal area...
Kolugljufur canyon...
Kirkjufellsfoss ...
Bjaerfoss, Olafsvik...
The reflections were INSANE! Waterbodies were sheer mirrors!
Every pullout looked like a painting...
Aside from the scenic highlights, the lovely animals... horses and sheep were such fun to see on the farms all over.
We hardly saw any humans around on our drives, just vast stretches of land and the animals! [We even stayed on a few farms, again with no owner contact as checkin/out were all automated!]. Population of Iceland is just 320,000, half of whom live in Reykjavik!!
We missed the puffins whose nesting season is over by mid August, we had to be content with fulmars nesting on the cliffs near Skogafoss and at Hvitserkur.
Also plenty of Guillemots swimming in the water at Hvitserkur. Tons of SEALS as well...AWESOME!!.
There were Santas too and some lovely local craft dotted all over!
The churches presented their own serene beauty.
Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik...
Akureyrarkirkja church ...children of the same father with Hallgrimskirkja - architect
Gudjon Samuelsson.
Olafsvikurkirkja ...
Rainbow road leading to Seydisfjordur church
We managed to catch some flowers too
All in all, a TERRIFIC EXPERIENCE!
WHEN TO GO?
Iceland is the land of light and
darkness. Long summer days with near 24-hours of sunshine are offset
by short winter days with only a few hours of daylight.
Tourist season peaks from mid-June
through August. Iceland in summer is warmer and drier. ...
Many waterfalls are better accessible in summer.
In winter it's just too slippery to get closer. The northern part
of the island can be visited easier in summer months than
in winter. However, Iceland offers plenty to do in spring, fall,
even winter, and prices are dramatically lower for airfares, car
rentals, and accommodations.
Icelanders are avid Christmas
celebrators, and the Aurora Borealis / northern Lights is remarkably vivid in winter.
Most off-season visitors enjoy activities such as horseback riding,
snowmobiling, and visiting spas. Except in summer months, self drive is not recommended, as roads can be slippery/dangerous.
The Northern Lights, or Aurora
Borealis, are among the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland.
Auroras are linked to solar wind, a flow of ions radiating from the
sun. These particles become ensnared in the earth's magnetic field
and collide with atmospheric molecules, causing bursts of energy,
which appear as large circles around the poles. This spectacular
natural light show is best admired in dark places. Anyway, it is not practical to plan around seeing the lights... better to plan around other logistics and enjoy the lights if they happen to be seen! When we took our zodiac cruise, the guide asked us if we had seen the Northern lights the previous night and everyone else yelled YES! We sleepy heads had slept soundly on all nights! We had packed our days with spectacular sights and did not have the energy to keep awake at night!
Analyzing the pros and cons we decided
on our dates from Aug 30 to Sep 7 and it proved great.
WHAT TO SEE?
Known as “The Land of Fire and Ice”,
Iceland is home to some of the largest glaciers in Europe, and some
of the world’s most active volcanoes. The water falls are awesome as well.
The Iceland Ring Road, also known as Þjóðvegur 1, or Route 1, is a national road that runs all around the country, connecting all the major towns and cities.
The Ring Road is 828 miles long (1,332 kilometres), making it the longest road in Iceland. It covers a great deal of the country, and passes right by, or very close to, many of Iceland’s famous attractions.
For the majority of the route, the speed limit is 90 km/h, So we can drive the whole ring road in 15 hours or so...obviously we'll be CRAZY to do so...purpose is to enjoy all the sights along the way!! A minimum of 10 days is recommended to drive the ring road. Western fjords will require many more additional days... no paved roads there, so it's slow going but scenery is stunning
Being a circular route, we can drive the Iceland Ring Road in either direction. Our preference was to drive it in an anti-clockwise direction, tackling the south of the country first.
The Iceland Ring Road, also known as Þjóðvegur 1, or Route 1, is a national road that runs all around the country, connecting all the major towns and cities.
The Ring Road is 828 miles long (1,332 kilometres), making it the longest road in Iceland. It covers a great deal of the country, and passes right by, or very close to, many of Iceland’s famous attractions.
For the majority of the route, the speed limit is 90 km/h, So we can drive the whole ring road in 15 hours or so...obviously we'll be CRAZY to do so...purpose is to enjoy all the sights along the way!! A minimum of 10 days is recommended to drive the ring road. Western fjords will require many more additional days... no paved roads there, so it's slow going but scenery is stunning
Being a circular route, we can drive the Iceland Ring Road in either direction. Our preference was to drive it in an anti-clockwise direction, tackling the south of the country first.
The drive in itself was AWESOME... with roads like these...
Rainy/drizzly weather brought its own reward of rainbows
Rainy/drizzly weather brought its own reward of rainbows
LOGISTICS:
FLIGHTS:
We flew American airlines Houston to
Reykjavik via Dallas. Return fare was reasonable as opposed to open
jaw ticket flying out of Helsinki. We chose to spend only 10 days in Iceland as we did not want to tempt fate... it's so essential to have good weather to enjoy the sights and we did not want to put all our eggs in one basket. After our 9 day drive in Iceland,
we flew to Helsinki by Iceland Air. Stayed at an airport hotel the
previous day as we had an early flight at 7.30 am. Helsinki is 3
hours ahead of Iceland in time zone and the flight is 3 hours; so not
much sight seeing time on that day.
Iceland Air charges 55 euros one way
for each checked bag, so we stored one bag at the Reykjavik airport hotel with
our hiking poles etc and took only carry on bag to Finland for the 6
days there. We flew back to Reykjavik on Saturday, the day before our
return to Houston, got to our airport hotel, collected our stored bag
and took our flight back home the next day. Waste of that Saturday,
but could not help it.
2 more comments here. We returned our
car at 5.30 am at the car rental … just after we entered, it became
so crowded. The shuttle to airport was also crowded, airport security
was also chockful of people. Very surprising!!
Reykjavik Airport hotel charged us 3000 ISK for storing our bag (600 ISK/Day)... no biggie!
CAR RENTAL:
A GREAT way to explore Iceland in summer and early fall is on our own with a rental car, along the Ring Road that runs in a complete circle around the country. Another way is with tours, esp advisable in winter to see the Northern Lights, ATV trekking over lava fields, etc.
Our rental was Automatic transmission Renault Kadjar SUV with high clearance and we took the full insurance.We booked in March with local company Blue car rental. [[ The icelandic budget Airline WOW had collapsed in March 2019 leading to slump in tourism and drop in rates]] When we checked the price in August, the prices had come down. We rang them up and adjusted the price. Since we use SKYPE for international calls, call costed a few cents only.
Our rental was Automatic transmission Renault Kadjar SUV with high clearance and we took the full insurance.We booked in March with local company Blue car rental. [[ The icelandic budget Airline WOW had collapsed in March 2019 leading to slump in tourism and drop in rates]] When we checked the price in August, the prices had come down. We rang them up and adjusted the price. Since we use SKYPE for international calls, call costed a few cents only.
There were a few niggles with the
rental experience....
It took an hour and more to get the car
when we landed.... so much crowd, and they were processing so slow.
[Same issue while returning the car at 5.30 am. Thankfully we were
second in queue during the return, so we were OK.]
We started driving the Reykjanes
peninsula, I felt a little itchy. started getting big red bumps in my
face. When we get out for some scenic sight, I 'll be alright,
itching will start once I 'm in the car. Son wanted to drive back and
return the car and exchange as he thought I'm allergic to some
cleaner used. I saw a black tiny insect and realized it may be midges
inside. We kept the window glass fully lowered while driving, this
probably flushed out the midges. I had used 2 parts of baby oil mixed
with one part Dettol during our New Zealand trip but had not brought
the mix to Iceland thinking September did not warrant. Thankfully, we
did not have any more midge issues though we did see swarms in a
couple of places in the north.
When we were near Vestrahorn, the car
dashboard displayed that key battery is LOW. It was scary as we did
not want to be locked out when the car does not recognize the key
with the battery dying. Wasted time getting the battery replaced …
as couple of gas stations at Egilstadir did not have it. We had to go
to special autoparts shop. We had already complained to Blue car...
they said they'll reimburse the battery cost!! When we flagged how
our prime time had been wasted, they apologized and deducted 5000 ISK
from our bill.
Car handled well...otherwise no issues.
On the 1st and penultimate day, the winds were so heavy, I
made son hold the door when I had to get in /out. Did not want to
join the 10% statistic of having the car door blown.... On the day
we landed from Helsinki, they could not open the front /rear doors of
our plane to put the ladder for getting down.... they opened the
emergency exit. The wind was so fierce.
We had a great
experience otherwise driving in beautiful Iceland.
[When driving east from Akureyri, signs indicating Húsavík and Egilsstaðir point drivers toward the tunnel road, while the alternative Víkurskarð road simply indicates the towns of Grenivík and Svalbarðsströnd. There is no sign indicating that the Víkurskarð road also continues on to Húsavík and Egilsstaðir, and unlike the tunnel, is toll free. Similar signage is lacking when approaching the tunnel from the east, toward Akureyri. east of Akureyri on the way to Mývatn]
Also for Dettifoss, GPS will route us thru the unpaved road on the east side. Getting to Dettifoss on the west side is paved Road 862 but it is only graded road 864 on the East side. We preferred to use the paved road and rerouted on our own.
Free wifi at accommodations sufficed for our needs. When we had a bit of emergency with our car signalling LOW KEY BATTERY, we asked for wifi at the restaurant at Vetrahorn after buying their tickets to enter. They obliged, we were able to call the Car Rental as well as our Accommodation using SKYPE on their wifi.
We could have used our AT&T for calls at 10 USD per day in case we needed to make urgent calls... we did not have the need.
We used the following websites to check weather and road conditions daily
On the day we were to drive the Snaefellsnes peninsula and return to Reykjavik, there was a YELLOW ALERT. Our stationary car was being rocked by the wind and rain was pelting. We rang up our reception girl and she assured us it was safe to drive in the heavy wind and rain. So local advice is paramount!
The bad weather was a reality check and made us appreciate how lucky we had been to enjoy all the sights in great weather the previous week!
Here's the map with all our sights marked up... you can zoom in and read the details on the bubbles.
GPS:
As usual with all our vacation trips,
we used offline maps. Downloaded google maps and pinned all relevant
places on the Iphone. Downloaded maps.me maps and pinned places as
backup on an old blackberry. .
We did due diligence ahead of the trip,
noting routing, distances etc for each day, also saw street views for
all our accommodations. Proved really useful.
Noted that using the toll tunnel
Vaðlaheiði when driving from west to Akureyri can become
problematic as payment should be done online within 3 hours of use...
if the car is not registered. All other tunnels and roads
in Iceland are free. Google will happily route us thru this
tunnel. Google map does not show street view as the map is from 2013,
when the tunnel was not built. We avoided the Vaðlaheiðargöng
Tunnel during our Ring Road trip by taking Routes 83 and 84
after Godafoss. In summer, it's best to avoid the Vaðlaheiðargöng
Tunnel. Take routes 83 and 84 instead for beautiful scenery, peace,
and no headache of paying online tolls. Road signs are also
inadequate in this case, so being prepared, made us avoid toll issues
[When driving east from Akureyri, signs indicating Húsavík and Egilsstaðir point drivers toward the tunnel road, while the alternative Víkurskarð road simply indicates the towns of Grenivík and Svalbarðsströnd. There is no sign indicating that the Víkurskarð road also continues on to Húsavík and Egilsstaðir, and unlike the tunnel, is toll free. Similar signage is lacking when approaching the tunnel from the east, toward Akureyri. east of Akureyri on the way to Mývatn]
Also for Dettifoss, GPS will route us thru the unpaved road on the east side. Getting to Dettifoss on the west side is paved Road 862 but it is only graded road 864 on the East side. We preferred to use the paved road and rerouted on our own.
WIFI/TELEPHONE:
Free wifi at accommodations sufficed for our needs. When we had a bit of emergency with our car signalling LOW KEY BATTERY, we asked for wifi at the restaurant at Vetrahorn after buying their tickets to enter. They obliged, we were able to call the Car Rental as well as our Accommodation using SKYPE on their wifi.
We could have used our AT&T for calls at 10 USD per day in case we needed to make urgent calls... we did not have the need.
RESOURCES (WEATHER, Road conditions):
We used the following websites to check weather and road conditions daily
weather http://en.vedur.is/
and https://en.vedur.is/alerts
On the day we were to drive the Snaefellsnes peninsula and return to Reykjavik, there was a YELLOW ALERT. Our stationary car was being rocked by the wind and rain was pelting. We rang up our reception girl and she assured us it was safe to drive in the heavy wind and rain. So local advice is paramount!
The bad weather was a reality check and made us appreciate how lucky we had been to enjoy all the sights in great weather the previous week!
Here's the map with all our sights marked up... you can zoom in and read the details on the bubbles.
ACCOMMODATIONS:
Booked all months ago, when we checked in August, prices had come down. May be the effect of WOW airline collapse in March. We cancelled and booked some 3 hotels.
FOOD:
We are vegetarians and self catered. Iceland allows 6 kg of food to be brought in by visitors. We carried 4 kg parboiled rice, soup packets, spices. salt, drinking chocolate powder, home made whole wheat tortillas, tomato relish and cashew nut sweets.
Bonus, Kronan, Netto were great to pick up milk, yogurt (skyr), bananas, grapes, tomatoes, zucchini, bread, chocolates etc [chocolates we bought were all made in UK or Germany]. Our total food expense in Iceland was USD 70 for the 9 days. 1 USD=125 ISK approx
Just sitting comfortably watching the food cook....
Window sills proved excellent for storing food items at cool temp thru the night.
We drew 5000 ISK at the airport ATM and changed it to smaller currency/coins at the airport supermarket buying a chocolate bar. Coins came in useful to use the restroom in a few places... everywhere else the facilities were FREE and clean!
We fueled up the car once in 2 days, when the attendant was around and could process our US credit card... no issues
I felt the magnets /key chains were a little overpriced at the tourist shops, so bought just a puffin patch. Later when we were leaving, bought some stuff, magnets, key chains at the Reykjavik airport....same cost as noted elsewhere.
The Estonian hand painted tiles/magnet below bought during the Finland part of our trip were so pretty and reasonably priced
Bonus, Kronan, Netto were great to pick up milk, yogurt (skyr), bananas, grapes, tomatoes, zucchini, bread, chocolates etc [chocolates we bought were all made in UK or Germany]. Our total food expense in Iceland was USD 70 for the 9 days. 1 USD=125 ISK approx
People find it surprising that we self cater during vacation.... it's just about tossing some ingredients in a pot and watching it boil.... As my beautiful mother said.... One does not need to boil along with the food!!
CASH:
We drew 5000 ISK at the airport ATM and changed it to smaller currency/coins at the airport supermarket buying a chocolate bar. Coins came in useful to use the restroom in a few places... everywhere else the facilities were FREE and clean!
GAS:
We fueled up the car once in 2 days, when the attendant was around and could process our US credit card... no issues
SOUVENIRS:
I felt the magnets /key chains were a little overpriced at the tourist shops, so bought just a puffin patch. Later when we were leaving, bought some stuff, magnets, key chains at the Reykjavik airport....same cost as noted elsewhere.
The Estonian hand painted tiles/magnet below bought during the Finland part of our trip were so pretty and reasonably priced
ITINERARY:
DAY 1 Friday Aug 30, 2019: We had to drive to Reykjavik. Hotel
island; 47 km from airport. but we went around Reykjanes Peninsula hitting up Bridge between continents, Gunnuhver geothermal area, Grindavik:and the famous BLUE LAGOON. After checkin, drove down to Reyjavik and enjoyed Hallgrimskirkja tower views, Sun voyager etc
STAY: Hotel Island, Reykjavik
STAY: Hotel Island, Reykjavik
DAY 2 Saturday Aug 31, 2019: thorufoss/ þórufos, Þingvellir National Park, Öxarárfoss, Geysir Geothermal Area,and Gullfoss. After golden
circle. visited Faxafoss and Kerid crater.
STAY: Hlidarbol farm guesthouse 114 km from
hotel island reyjkavik, little past Hvolsvollur
DAY 3 Sunday Sep 1, 2019 south coast: Urridafoss, Gluggafoss (also called Merkjárfoss), Seljalandsfoss, Gljufrabui waterfall,
Skogafoss, Kvernufoss , Solheimajokull,
STAY: Guesthouse Steig Vik, 76 km.
DAY 4 Monday Sep 2, 2019 south coast Dyrholaey, Reynisfjara Black Sand
Beach, Vik, Fjadrargljufur canyon, Skaftafell National Park, Svartifoss Waterfall hike, Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, Svínafellsjökull
STAY: Hostel Vagnsstadir-Hofn 235 km
STAY: Hostel Vagnsstadir-Hofn 235 km
DAY 5 Tuesday Sep 3, 2019 south lowland. Zodiac cruise on Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, Fjallsarlon, Vestrahorn, drive thru East fjords
STAY: Eidavellir Apartments and Rooms, Eiðavellir 6, 701 Eiðar, 239 km.
STAY: Eidavellir Apartments and Rooms, Eiðavellir 6, 701 Eiðar, 239 km.
DAY 6 Wednesday Sep 4, 2019: Gufufoss, Seydisfjordur, Rjukandifoss, Dettifoss, Selfoss, Hverir/Namjafjall geothermal area, Godafoss
STAY: Akureyri H.I. Hostel 258 km
STAY: Akureyri H.I. Hostel 258 km
DAY 7 Thursday Sep 5, 2019: Northwest Region. Húsavík, Trollaskagi Peninsula [Dalvik, Olafsfjordur,Siglufjordur.]
STAY: Gladheimar cottages, Blonduos Northwest Region 170km
STAY: Gladheimar cottages, Blonduos Northwest Region 170km
DAY 8 FRIDAY Sep 6, 2019: Hvitserkur, Kolugljufur canyon, Kolufossar waterfall, Grabrok crater [STUPID CHOICE!], Kirkjufell, Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall
STAY: Grundarfjörður HI Hostel 228 km
STAY: Grundarfjörður HI Hostel 228 km
DAY 9 Saturday Sep 7, 2019: Snaefellsnes, mostly whited out due to bad weather. Ólafsvík the cute village was bathed in sunshine and the Bjaerfoss was nice to check out
STAY: Base hotel Reykjavik, 216 km
DAY 10 Sunday, Sep 8, 2019: Returned rental car at 5.30 am and took the 7.30 am flight to Helsinki on Iceland Air
STAY: Base hotel Reykjavik, 216 km
DAY 10 Sunday, Sep 8, 2019: Returned rental car at 5.30 am and took the 7.30 am flight to Helsinki on Iceland Air
I've written a detailed account of each day, links are at the end of each day report.
Report on day 1 is here:
VIDEOS:
Our videos are at :
The water falls have the original sound, rest are set to music
INDIVIDUAL LINKS:
Öxarárfoss:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/w5NqNAiMxrs7NYAq9
gluggafoss:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/eNuaoATkeEgGgZBb9
Seljalandsfoss
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5TEFgPVR8upG1Tkt5
Dettifoss and selfoss
https://photos.app.goo.gl/puPKw1CUKuvziPNe8
Svartifoss
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3HYuakfjRkhU3H3N9
Kvernufoss
https://photos.app.goo.gl/6cKz5NiNeWu832D1A
Kerid crater
https://photos.app.goo.gl/DF1U64vgKjT5zENcA
Fjallsarlon and Jokulsarlon
https://photos.app.goo.gl/d8HpMGwWQUhQbYzY7
Zodiac cruise Jokulsarlon
https://photos.app.goo.gl/SjrYjEfPUWXgHi4A6
Solheim glacier
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fvM1DZTogVYRrTwL8
Svinafels glacier
https://photos.app.goo.gl/yuPUFN4YswgSDysi9
Fjadrargljufur canyon
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Avc7p4rTebLKUU257
Vestrahorn
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ujv1uHoijgiD2Fw77
Seydisfjordor
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tnnVEGLqEPawz8jH8
