Iceland (part 1)

Iceland highlights

(part 1)

Seyðisfjörður
Gufufoss
Foladafoss
Halvnes beach reserve
Höfn
Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon & diamond beach
Skaftafellsjökull
Vík í Mýrdal

Getting there and around

We sailed from the Faroe Islands to Iceland on the MS Nörrona ferry. We boarded in the evening and arrived in Seyðisfjörður in eastern Iceland early the following morning. The ferry journey cost £155 per adult and £78 per child.
We had some beautiful views of the northern Faroe Islands as we departed, and of Iceland as we approached from the south east.
We used Undiscovered Destinations to arrange transport and accommodation for us. They selected more expensive accommodation than we’d usually opt for, but it also gave us ATOL protection should anything go wrong.
After an overnight stay in Seyðisfjörður we took a taxi to Egilsstaðir airport to collect our hire car from Avis. We hired a hybrid Hyundai Tucson for 5 days which cost £650 including fuel, an additional driver, and a booster seat. It was a great car with loads of power and plenty of boot space for our bags. Our plan was to drive the southern half of the ring road east to west, ending in Reykjavik before flying on to the USA.

Data

Before departing London we purchased an e-sim data package from Airalo. It cost £10 for for 3GB data for their 30 day e-sim and we could use it in all the European countries we visited, including Iceland.

Money

We exchanged pounds for Icelandic kroner before leaving the UK which we used for small payments (taxis, toilets), but we could have gone cashless and relied on our UK bank cards which worked fine.

Accommodation

Hotel Aldan

Fosshotel Vatnajokull

**Vik Hotel**

Vik Hotel is a family run modern hotel in Vik town centre. We stayed in a split level family room which had a double bed on the lower floor and two single beds on a mezzanine level. The kids loved having their own cool space upstairs. It was a great room and a good hotel. It cost £430 per night, like everything in Iceland - massively over our budget. We really enjoyed our stay here and particularly liked listening to the Cranberries over breakfast!
Our star rating: 4
Our cost rating: 2

Hotel Vik i Myrdal

Seyðisfjörður

A very pretty town (population c.700) in the eastern fjords, where we arrived by ferry from the Faroe Islands. The town has a laid-back vibe and is openly welcoming of LGBTQ+ people, with rainbow flags flying and a rainbow path through the town. The town is surrounded by water and ice-capped mountains, providing a gorgeous backdrop.

The sun shined as we strolled around to explore. Amenities included a public swimming pool, library, cinema, campsite, hotels, art centre, a new playground with bouncy pillow trampoline, two restaurants, a church, a small supermarket and a couple of clothing shops.

Straightaway we noticed that Iceland has younger tourists than the Faroes, and many of them were vying for the best selfie spots, like the rainbow path. So of course we joined in!

We spent the morning at the brand new and well equipped playground. We ate a decent (but nothing special) lunch at Kaffi Lara (hamburgers, jacket potatoes, and chicken kebabs all served with salad. It cost £55 without drinks. We knew Iceland would be expensive but this is when we realised just how expensive!

In the afternoon we went swimming (£5 per adult and £2.50 per child). The town pool is small but clean with lots of floats and inflatables for the kids. We then went to the supermarket to buy some picnic food which we had for supper and also for lunch the next day.

Gufufoss

From Seyðisfjörður we needed to make our way to Egilsstaðir airport to pick up our hire car. With no frequent bus connections, we took a taxi to the airport.

On our way to Egilsstaðir our taxi driver stopped here to show us this waterfall. It is located right next to the roadside on the 93 road which leads to Seyðisfjörður; the road famed for Ben Stiller’s longboard ride as Walter Mitty in the eponymous movie.

Foladafoss

Egilsstaðir airport was super quiet and there was no one at the car hire desk when we arrived. We used the phone on the desk to call someone who said they’d come. A short while later the guy we had presumably spoken to on the phone turned up and gave us the keys for our hire car. A remarkably low key and slightly strange business transaction, but we didn’t mind!

When we picked up our hire car we were mildly warned that the 95 + 939 route to Höfn would be a trickier drive than the 1 ring road, but would be prettier.

And it was indeed quite tricky on steep and winding gravel roads but it was also very picturesque!

The fog and clouds surrounding the mountains, and the descents out of the mist made for stunning vistas. We stopped at Foladafoss to take photos. It rained but we had our waterproof jackets, so no problem.

Djúpivogur

A small town in east Iceland (population c. 450) home to an art installation named "Eggin í Gleðivík" (The Eggs of Merry Bay) by Siguròur Guòmundsson. The sculptures replicate 34 eggs of nesting birds in the area. The eggs were pretty cool but we felt the town was a bit subdued and depressing, so we ate a quick picnic lunch here using the food we had purchased the day before and quickly continued on to Höfn.

Halvnes beach reserve

On the drive between Djúpivogur and Höfn we were blown away by the scenery. Mal really enjoyed the driving, superbly navigating the single lane (at times unpaved) twisty roads.

Höfn

After stopping at Halvnes we continued on to the town of Höfn on the south west coast. The drive from Egilsstaðir to Höfn took us 4 hours with the stops at Foladafoss, Djúpivogur and Halvnes along the way.

Höfn is the second largest town in southern Iceland (population c. 2500). We went to the public swimming pool in the evening. It was outdoors and had two hot tubs, a lane pool, kids pool, and an ice bath. It was fantastic! Adult entry costs 1060 ISK (about £6), kids under 10 are free (and kids tickets for those aged over 10 only cost £1.50). Towels are available to rent. A great low cost and fun activity!

We ate a delicious supper of Mexican style food at a cool restaurant and craft beer bar called Úps in Höfn. We had nachos with really good guacamole, chicken burritos (child portion), belly pork with black beans, and corn on the cob with melted cheese. It cost £65 with a couple of soft drinks. Typical pricing for Iceland but well worth it for the quality.

Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon and diamond beach

After our stay in Höfn we drove to Jökulsárlón. Here the glacier calves big chunks of ice into a lagoon. It’s worth noting that this lagoon only appeared in the 1930s when the glacier started melting. It’s now a huge lake and the glacier is rapidly retreating. The obvious evidence of climate change was humbling and sad. The salty seawater then slowly melts the ice into smaller pieces which flow into the sea. The beach is strewn with icebergs which glimmer like diamonds.

We booked a boat tour of the glaciar lagoon about 3 months ahead (and it sold out shortly after we booked). The kids were too young for the fast Zodiac speed boat so we went on the slower Amphibian boat. The tour was 45 minutes and cost £100 for the four of us.

It was cool getting closer to the big icebergs but in hindsight we wouldn’t recommend paying for the Amphibian tour simply because you can see the lagoon and icebergs and get good photos at the beach (which we loved) without needing to go on the boat. The faster Zodiac boat which also gets closer to the icebergs than the Amphibian may be worth it with older children.

We had hoped to eat an early lunch at one of the (apparently good) food vans here but they didn’t open until 12 so we continued onwards.

Skaftafellsjökull

After the Jökulsárlón lagoon we drove to the Skaftafell nature reserve where we parked the car (£5 for parking) and looked for food. The cafeteria had lots of cakes and sweet treats but the healthy cooked food options looked pretty poor. So we sacrificed lunch and hiked to the edge of the glacier to take a look.

The glacier is massive but nonetheless receding due to climate change; so we actually found the experience quite sad because we could clearly see how far the glacier had retreated.

We were very tired after the walk to the glacier and back so didn’t manage to hike to the Skaftafell waterfall. We also decided to skip the Fjaðrárgljúfur river canyon which is located a little further along the ring road. So we will add these to the list of things to see on a future trip.

Vík í Mýrdal

After Skaftafell national park we continued on to Vík í Mýrdal on the south coast where we stayed the night. Vik is a small village of about 750 people.

Vik is famous for its black sand beaches with basalt column formations but we’d also read scary stories about 1. sneaker waves that are super strong and can knock you off your feet and drag you away with the currents and 2. many many tourists taking selfies. The fear that these things invoked, plus the fact we were all pretty tired, meant that we decided to skip the beaches at Vik this time.

Instead we spent some time doing some of the practical things that one needs to do when travelling long-term as we are: laundry, re-packing, charging devices and power packs, filling in journals, updating Instagram feeds, and writing blogs! We also spent some time relaxing and the kids played together with their tablets and toys. It was great to take some time out from sight-seeing to catch up and rest a bit!

In the evening we ate supper at Black Crust Pizzeria. Their pizzas were tasty and the marketing of black pizzas next to the black sand beaches of south Iceland is very clever. Supper cost £45 for 2 pizzas and soft drinks.

Final Thoughts

Click here for Part 2 of our trip to Iceland!