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Iceland By Car: Exploding Geysers and Northern Lights
Writing as we struggle through another week of Coronavirus lockdown, I find myself looking through old photos and realise it’s over 4 years since a couple of friends and I explored Iceland by car. How time flies!
This was definitely one of my all time favourite trips. Iceland is a truly remarkable country and one everyone should try and visit.
Off to a great start…
The trip didn’t get off to the best of starts. My friend Sam and I flew out from Manchester whilst our other friend Matt flew out from Gatwick. Unbeknown to us, Matt somehow boarded his flight and landed at Keflavik without his passport!! Fortunately, the Icelandic Air Stewardesses talked passport control into letting him into the country. His passport was subsequently found at the gate…at Gatwick! Thankfully the staff back at Gatwick sent it over on the next flight. What a start!
Where to stay in Iceland?
We spent 5 nights at Hostel village just outside the centre of town. Despite being basic accommodation, it was perfect for our stay. As three 22-year-old lads all we needed were 3 beds and somewhere to dump our bags (and somewhere cheap)!
Our room and the entire building were VERY warm; to the extent that we actually slept with the windows wide open every night…in Iceland…in January!
Arriving in Iceland
The first remarkable thing about Iceland is the overwhelming smell of sulphur which hits you as you exit the airport. Even the tap water is sulphur rich and you end up getting out of the shower smelling of sulphur! You soon get used to it though and after a couple of hours it’s no longer noticeable… until the next morning when you step outside again!
Fun Fact: Sulphur Water is believed to help treat skin conditions such as dermatitis. It assists in the shedding of skin and has antibacterial effects on the bacteria that cause acne.
Exploring Iceland by Car
Now if you’re going to travel Iceland by car there’s one thing you will need… We hired our car from Lagoon car rental which cost £240 for 5 days. We could only afford a 1 litre Renault Clio, not ideal for January in Iceland you may think, but with winter tyres it dealt just fine and even climbed a volcano (more of that later)! Although we paid a premium as 22 year old lads, it undoubtedly saved us a lot of money on excursions and gave us the freedom to do what we wanted, when we wanted. It certainly felt like more of an adventure with our own car.
The Golden Circle
Top of the list for any adventure of Iceland by car must be the classic ‘Golden Circle’ tour. Albeit at your own pace and minus the waiting around for the last of your coach party to finish taking selfies!
Route Map
Gullfoss and Geysir Hot Springs (Stop 1 and 2)
Our first stop was beautiful Gullfoss (B on the map above). We fought our way through the crowds to be greeted with the most spectacular, semi-frozen waterfall. From Gullfoss, we headed onwards towards the Geysir hot spring area, (C on the map above) where we were treated to a remarkable show from Strokkur! Despite the boiling water being erupted every 6-10 minutes, it was almost instantaneously freezing as it hit the ground which made walking around good fun! There’s nothing funnier than seeing your mates slip and fall over is there?!
Fun Fact: Although most Golden Circle itineraries name this stop as Geysir, it’s actually Geysir’s younger sibling Strokkur which erupts most frequently and you are most likely to see.
We continued the journey to Pingvillir National Park just as the sun began to set (only about 4 hours after sunrise!). The spectacular scenery somehow became even more jaw dropping, with crimson skies reflecting beautifully in the snow and ice. It was time to return to Reykjavik and enjoy a beer. If you’re planning on exploring Iceland by car, the golden circle is a must.
En route to The Golden Circle we had stopped at the petrol station and got talking to a young Icelander who worked there. He kindly annotated a map for us with his favourite locations to catch the northern lights. Our next two days were planned around the petrol station attendant’s advice and made for a truly epic way of exploring Iceland by car.
Route 1 Road Trip
Road Trip Route Map
Seljalandsfoss and Eyjafjallajökull
Following the petrol station attendant’s advice, we embarked on an epic one day road trip along Route 1 towards Jökulsárlón, a glacial lake in the south east of the island. We made a number of stops en route, the first being Seljalandsfoss, a staggering 60m waterfall which you can actually walk behind. Just 20 minutes beyond Seljalandsfoss, we pulled in at the viewing point of the infamous Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano which brought European aviation to a standstill in 2010.
Fun Fact: Prior to 2010, Eyjafjallajökull had last erupted in 1821. This eruption continued intermittently for 2 years!
Skógafoss
The next stop was Skógafoss, a spectacular waterfall synonymous with the Icelandic landscape. We climbed what felt like 5000 steps in the cold arctic wind, hopped a fence at the top and discovered a series of hidden waterfalls carved by the Skógá river before it plummets 60m over Skógafoss.
The weather took a turn for the worse as we left Skógafoss and we found ourselves in a blizzard by the time we reached Vik. Unfortunately this meant we were unable to explore the black sand beach and the Instagram famous Solheimasandur plane wreck.
Top Tip: Be sure to have plenty of fuel and supplies for this route, it’s a 475 mile round trip and a very, very long day! There is a fuel station at Vik which is about half way along the route.
Jökulsárlón
By the time we reached Jökulsárlón the weather had set in and it was almost pitch black. We realised we weren’t going to see the northern lights dancing above the lake that evening. Driving back westwards, the weather improving as we did so, the most spectacular night sky unveiled itself above us. We took regular stops to lie in the road and gaze upwards, mesmerised by the number of stars on display and hoping we might get lucky with the appearance of the aurora.
Aurora Borealis
We decided to pay another visit to Seljalandsfoss on our way back when we spotted it beautifully lit up at night. Just before we got back in the car, I thought I saw something on the horizon. I grabbed the others, ‘Is it?’ ‘No it can’t be.’ ‘But wait what’s that….?’. Very slowly over the next few minutes, a faint green glow unfurled across the horizon…. It wasn’t the spectacular showing we had dreamt of, but we went to bed with smiles on our faces.
Top Tip: If you plan to do the same road trip, set off early!! In hindsight, we should have left Reykjavik before sunrise which would’ve allowed us to see Jökulsárlón properly.
Aurora Hunting
The following day we decided to explore the second location the petrol station attendant recommended to see the Aurora. Shortly after sunset we headed north west out of Reykjavik towards the Snaesfellsness peninsula and Snæfellsjökull. We drove through eerily quiet fishing villages and stopped for a quick break after spotting another spectacular waterfall.
Top Tip: Prime time to see the northern lights in Iceland is between September and March when the nights are longest.
We loosely followed the maps on our phones, until we encountered a little issue. We hadn’t actually considered that Snæfellsjökull is a 1466m high volcano! The Clio somehow managed to climb some incredibly steep, narrow and snowy tracks with drops that don’t bare thinking about… There was nothing but silence in that car for a few minutes as we all held on to our seats. Eventually we found ourselves back on some flat, open road where we parked up and waited.
Like the previous evening, we noticed a very feint grey band arch across the entire sky. Initially we thought it might have been an ash cloud and began searching for reports of eruptions in case we needed to escape! No such reports seemed to exist and the grey band slowly transformed. What followed was almost indescribable. The aurora danced across the sky and put on a feature length, personal performance for us. Vivid green, red and purple lights burst across the night sky against a backdrop of stars as we desperately tried to capture that perfect photograph. Capturing the lights proved beyond our skill sets, armed only with old iPhones and my Dad’s old camera. Eventually we gave up and just lay down to enjoy the show.
It was 6am by the time we got back to the hostel but we didn’t want to sleep. The adrenaline was still pumping. It was certainly the best night of my life. Lying in the middle of a road on the side of a volcano, watching the northern lights. Amazing.
Exploring Reykjavik
After such a long night, we decided to have a lie in and spend our final day exploring Reykjavik. It’s a small city with not a great deal to do other than eat, drink and shop but climbing to the top of Hallgrímskirkja is recommended. The entrance fee is around £5 and rewards you with stunning views across the city.
The one tourist destination we missed out on was the Blue Lagoon, which was unfortunately closed for maintenance. However speaking to locals, they recommended we avoid it anyway and instead go to the Nautholsvik Geothermal Beach in Reykjavik. We headed there for sunset and enjoyed the geothermal baths, the dip in the north Atlantic wasn’t quite as pleasant…
Fun Fact: The famous tourist hotspot, Blue Lagoon, is not a natural hot spring. It’s actually the effluent water from the adjacent Geothermal Power Plant.
Food and Drink
A travel blog wouldn’t be complete without food and drink. Reykjavik has quite the reputation for being expensive, however if you shop around you can find value for money. Most bars at the bottom of town have happy hours a couple of times a week (usually 4-5 hours, thankfully!). During happy hour you can get a pint for about the same price you would in a British city.
The same goes for food. We enjoyed a special ‘Whale and Puffin menu’ one evening at the Hereford restaurant on the main high street which worked out at £30 a head with drinks.
Tommi’s Burger Joint is a great value for money option if one night you just fancy a burger and chips. The food is great, affordable and the restaurant is set in a beautifully unique and quirky little venue. We’ve since been to the Tommi’s restaurant’s in London and are big fans!
However, my biggest recommendation must be the hot dog stalls scattered around the city. You MUST try one with all the toppings!
Thanks for reading and I hope you’ve been inspired to plan your own adventure of Iceland by car! Please like, comment and share if you found this useful and do get in touch with your own Icelandic adventure stories. You can also check out some of our other travel guides below, thanks for reading!
Keep exploring!
Nick