Iceland Travel Blog / Part 1 / Hella to Jökulsárlón
Here’s the start of my 3 part travel blog around Iceland after my wife and I got married out there!
Take a look at the blog post before this one about our wedding and how we chose to elope to Iceland, this series of blogs is all about the road trip afterward and what we got up to.
Our journey starts near Hella in the Iceland Panoramic Glass Lodge where we got married and took us in our campervan around the ring road of Iceland and to loads of awesome sights and places to see.
We chose to alter our sleep schedule a fair bit to make the most of being out when it was quiet, so we were waking up at about 4/5am each day and getting to sleep at about 8pm, it was near constant daylight at this time of year so it’s quite easy to switch sleep patterns with some eye masks.
Doing this meant we arrived at most of the places we wanted to visit before anyone else, let me tell you that doing this and avoiding the big crowds made the trip so much more enjoyable.
I’ve also written a blog on Icelandic Travel Tips, which is a good place to start if you’re planning your own trip.
Day 1
This was the start of switching our sleep around and as we didn’t want it to hit too hard we ended up getting to the first sights of the day with a fair few crowds, but the plan was to get an early night and start the early mornings on day 2.
We set off from our cabin down the long gravel road in our campervan (we named it Betty) and drove south through endless fields of purple lupine towards Seljalandsfoss.
Seljalandsfoss & Gljufrabui
Heading East along the ring road you’ll see Seljalandsfoss from the road a fair few miles away, turning off and into the car park and the waterfall is right in front of you.
This is a paid-for car park and I’d advise getting here early, we ended up arriving at about 10am and the car park was full by the time we left with a long queue of cars waiting to get in.
You can walk up and behind Seljalandsfoss, beware that the wind can take the water and you might get soaked, which is what happened to us while wearing jeans. Smart move.
Then before leaving be sure to keep walking along the path to get to Gljufrabui, a stunning waterfall inside a cave. Again be prepared to get wet. We got back to the van, changed clothes and set off back along the ring road.
Skógafoss, Skógar Museum, & Kvernufoss
A few miles down the road and you’ll come to Skógafoss, it’s free parking here and another one for getting very busy, but the car park is fairly large.
We stopped in the van for a bite to eat and then walked up to the waterfall, there are also stairs to take you right up to the top, at which point you can continute to walk to see more waterfalls up the river.
Then it’s a short 2 minute drive over to the Skógar Museum, a great collection of artifacts as well as an outdoor museum that’s well worth a stop if you want to learn about Icelandic history.
The parking for the museum is free, so instead of driving over to the Kvernufoss car park which will cost money and is about 50 meters away, just walk over and down the path to this much quieter waterfall.
Then it was back to the car and back on the road.
Sólheimajökull
A quick stop and a short drive from the main road is the Sólheimajökull Glacier, which you can walk up to (but not without a guide). They do operate tours from here too so if that’s your thing then I’d book one.
Interestingly I’ve seen this glacier recced quite a lot since my first visit in 2014 and there is an information sign which measures how far back it melts each year.
We then headed back on the road and towards Vik.
Vik, Black Crust Pizzeria, Icelandic Lava Show, &Víkurfjara
Our last stop for the first day on the road and we pulled up into the Vik Campsite and checked in for the night. Getting to the campsites early meant that we had a good choice of spots and as we parked here we could then just walk around Vik and not worry about driving.
We went to the Black Crust Pizzeria for some amazing pizza and a beer and then took a walk to the Vikurfjara black sand beach.
The highlight of Vik was the Icelandic Lava Show, where you sit in a small room and they show you Icelandic lava. It’s really well worth doing and the guys that run it are very informative, they also give you a piece of lava to take home with you.
We then headed back to the campsite to sleep before an early start the following morning.
Day 2
We woke up early and hit the road, stopping to refuel, and then drove along the ring road.
Vik is a good spot to get some supplies as there is a supermarket there as well as fuel, the nice thing about waking up early is that everywhere is very quiet so you can drive with barely seeing another vehicle on the roads.
Reynisfjara Beach
We actually doubled back a little to the famous Black Sand Beach of Reynisfjara, well known for the huge basalt columns and the super dangerous ‘sneaker waves’ (seriously, don’t go near the water)
I took the drone up for a little fly as there was no one else about except another drone operator, so I checked in with him first to be sure we weren’t in each other’s way.
We then hit the road, heading east…
Laufskálavarða & Fjaðrárgljúfur
A little ways around the ring road and we made our second stop of the day at Laufskálavarða - a series of stone cairns that must number in the hundreds.
There’s a nice little viewpoint atop of some toilets so a good stop for a rest and to take a look at the vast landscape.
Please note it is forbidden to move or touch the stones, or build your own stone cairns.
Then heading back along the road we got to the Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon as a few other people were arriving, we managed to time it that we walked up and had the view all to ourselves which was great. I’d say getting here early is really important as by the time we left the car park was full and there was a queue of cars waiting to park.
Stjórnarfoss, Kirkjugólf, Dverghamrar, & Lómagnúpur
There are plenty of little places to see and stop at along the south coast of Iceland, the nice thing about this is that it breaks the journey up and you get to see all sorts of exciting things!
Stjórnarfoss is a great little waterfall a little drive off the main road. Kirkjugólf is a floor of natural basalt columns which translates to ‘Church Floor’. Dverghamrar is more basalt columns said to be the home of dwarves. Finally on the long drive is the imposing Lómagnúpur mountain, which can be seen for miles around.
Svartifoss & Skaftafell Tjaldsvæði
Our last stop on this day was the Skaftafell National Park, a great campsite and place to hike from.
You have to pay to get in and park, or camp and the fee is included, we pulled up early and paid our camp fee before taking the hour or so hike to Svartifoss and back.
The waterfall is a great one to see, surrounded by more basalt columns, keep to the paths and viewing platform, and don’t be a dick like the guy we saw swimming in the pool.
We got back to the campsite, cooked up some food and got an early night to make another early start the next day.
Day 3
Another early start and we quickly made our way from the campsite so we didn’t wake anyone up (parking in the right direction and near the exit is a good idea if you’re leaving early).
We headed along the ring road once more…
Jökulsárlón + Diamond Beach
Being up so early meant we were the first people to Jökulsárlón, which is probably the best way of seeing this fantastic iceberg lagoon and beach.
We started by making coffee in the back of our camper and then walked up to the lagoon where we took about a half hour to just sit and watch the icebergs slowly move, as well as listen out for the cracking sounds that echo across the water.
As we headed back to the car it was getting a little busier so we drove to the west side to park (it’s paid for parking here, one ticket covers both car parks) and walked along Diamond Beach where the icebergs wash back up from the sea onto the black and beach.
Stokksnes & Vestrahorn Camping
Day 3 was a quiet one and after a pit stop for snacks in Hofn, we headed around to Stokksnes and set up the camper for the night here.
The campsite is paid for in the cafe so we treated ourselves to a pint and then made it back to the camper.
It was crazy windy here and we saw a fair few people almost have their car doors ripped off in the wind, we got what sleep we could and just hunkered down to avoid being outside.
And so ends the first part of my Icelandic Travel Blog, I hope you found it interesting or useful.
If you’re planning a trip to Iceland then please ask any questions below, most of these photos were shot on my Fuji X100T, with a few on the XH2 and the drone shots on the DJI Mavic Air 2.
Thanks for reading, part 2 will be coming soon!
Cheers,
Col-
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