My trip to Iceland by car

I've always wanted to see Iceland by car. It seemed to me that this country was created for road travel in general.: you get behind the wheel, turn on the navigator, grab a coffee and drive to where waterfalls, black beaches, mountains, sheep and some completely alien landscapes appear outside the window. Everything looked so beautiful and calm in the photos that for some reason I decided that the main challenge would be related to the roads, and not to the weather, wind and my own desire to stop at every second turn. As a result, I spent eight days in Iceland and traveled a fairly long route along the southern coast, saw famous waterfalls, glaciers, black beaches, small towns and several places that I did not know about before the trip. At the same time, almost every day something happened that was not in the original plan, but it is these moments that are now remembered best. Cars for rent Upon arrival, I picked up my rented car and just sat behind the wheel in the parking lot for a while, getting used to the idea that now this car will become my main partner for the next week. I looked at the route in advance, downloaded maps, and even checked several times exactly where to go, so I felt pretty confident. However, my confidence was slightly shaken when I saw the weather forecast and realized that the word "wind" in Iceland may mean something completely different from what I used to understand it. Laugavegur, a street in the center of Reykjavik I decided to spend the first day in Reykjavik, so as not to start the trip immediately with a long haul. The city turned out to be quite calm, compact, and not at all like the European capitals I was used to, and after a few hours of walking, I especially enjoyed just walking the streets without a specific purpose. I stopped at a cafe, strolled along the waterfront, looked at the local architecture, and gradually began to realize that Iceland would not look at all like the trip I had imagined in advance. Then I went back to the hotel and did the most important thing of the trip – I put my things so that I wouldn't have to look for anything in the morning. Of course, in the morning it turned out that I had put exactly the right thing somewhere completely illogically, so the first ten minutes of the new day were spent not among waterfalls, but in the company of an open suitcase.

On the second day, I finally hit the road. The first big part of the route was Iceland's Golden Ring, and after some time after leaving Reykjavik, I realized why it was worth driving here. The city disappeared behind him, and mountains, fields, water, and an endless sense of space appeared around him, when it seemed that there was nothing but the road ahead. Tinguetlir National Park The first major stop was Tinguetlir. I arrived there quite early, so there weren't too many people and I could walk around the area, look at the scenery and get used to the local scale a little. In Iceland, you quickly stop being surprised that a place that looks like a small dot on the map actually turns out to be a huge space where you can walk much longer than you planned. Geyser Then I went to Geyser and Gullfoss Waterfall. Gullfoss is especially memorable because he is beautiful in the photos, but in person there is also the sound of water, wind and small splashes, which instantly explain why you should not pretend to be a man who came to Iceland solely for the perfect shot for too long. Gullfoss Waterfall By the evening, I was already a little tired and realized one important thing: it is better to think of distances in Iceland not as an ordinary trip between two points, but as a separate part of the journey. Here you can drive quite a bit on the map, but stop five times, because every time a new landscape appears outside the window, and it becomes almost impossible to say to yourself, "Okay, one more stop."

On the third day, I continued south. This particular section of the route turned out to be one of the most beautiful, because the road constantly passed through landscapes that I had previously seen only in documentaries. Green fields, mountains, waterfalls, and small houses appeared outside the window, and sometimes the road went so far away from everything familiar that I wanted to stop just to realize where exactly I was. Seljalandsfoss Waterfall The first big impression was the Seljalandsfoss waterfall. You can get pretty close to it, and of course I decided that if I came here, I should walk as close to the water as possible. A few minutes later, I was already standing wet and satisfied, trying to figure out why I didn't listen to the inner voice that quite reasonably suggested staying a little further away. Skaugafoss Skogafoss was next. I've already been more careful here, but I still spent a lot more time than I intended. At some point, I just sat on a bench and looked at the water, because after driving for several hours, such stops become no less important than the sights themselves. The black beach of Reinisfjord After that, I went to the black beach of Reinisfjara near Vic. It was one of those places where photography doesn't convey the atmosphere at all. The black sand, huge waves, basalt columns, and gray sky made me feel like I was in the set of an exciting movie, except instead of the crew, I was standing next to them with a hood that the wind was trying to take off my head. Vic I arrived at the Vic in the late afternoon and realized that I would stay here for the night. At such moments, you understand the advantage of a car especially well: you don't have to return to Reykjavik every time, you can just choose a small city along the route, find accommodation and continue your journey in the morning.

The fourth day started calmly, but after a while after leaving, I started stopping every few kilometers again. Iceland knows how to do a very unpleasant thing to a tourist: you think you've already seen the most beautiful scenery of the trip, and ten minutes later the next one appears, and the previous one suddenly becomes just "well, that's not bad either." Yekulsaurloon Lagoon On this day, I headed further along the southern coast towards the Yekulsaurloon glacier lagoon. The road became even more impressive, and the feeling of the real north appeared around – a lot of open space, mountains, glaciers and the ocean. I deliberately drove slower than the road allowed, because I constantly wanted to look around. When I finally saw the glacier lagoon, I just stopped the car and sat inside for a few minutes without getting out. Chunks of ice floated on the water, mountains towered around, and it all looked so unusual that it took a little time for the brain to accept what was happening as reality. Diamond Beach Then I went for a walk along the water, and after that I went to the Diamond Beach, where pieces of ice lie on the black sand. The name seems a bit touristic, but to be honest, it really suits this place in person. It was especially beautiful when the ice reflected the light, and the ocean rolled onto the shore and gradually carried small pieces back into the water. In the evening, I returned to the hotel and realized that I had barely spoken to anyone during the day except for the cafe staff and myself. But talking to myself while driving was enough, especially when I said out loud several times: "So, are we really going there?"

The fifth day has become the day that at first seems ordinary, and then you remember it with a smile. The weather was normal in the morning, but after a few hours the wind increased noticeably. In Iceland, the wind is not just a weather phenomenon that slightly interferes with the hairstyle, but a full–fledged participant in the journey, which sometimes makes you watch the car door very carefully. Observation deck At some point, I stopped on the observation deck, opened the door and got such a gust of wind that I immediately remembered all the recommendations to treat the car carefully. After that, I opened the door with such attention, as if it cost more than the car itself. But it was on this day that I allowed myself to deviate a little from the route and go to small places that were not the main points of the program. I liked that Iceland doesn't get any less interesting outside of the popular attractions. Small roads, farms, individual houses, sheep near the highway and mountains on the horizon sometimes make no less impression than famous places. In the evening, I stayed in a small guest house. The room was simple, but after several hours of driving, it seemed almost luxurious to me, especially when I realized that I could take off my shoes, put on the kettle and not go anywhere else today. In general, a strange value system appears in travel: an ordinary bed after a long journey suddenly becomes the main object of a tourist program.

On the sixth day, I began to gradually return towards the capital. It would seem that the most interesting things are already over, but it was here that I realized that a road trip around Iceland cannot be divided into "sights" and "crossings". The crossing itself becomes part of the route, because the road is constantly changing the picture in front of your eyes. The center of Reykjavik I stopped several times just to drink coffee and look at the surrounding landscape. And at first it seemed to me that I was wasting time, but then I realized that it was for such moments that I took the car, and not just came to one city and went on excursions. Hauifoss Waterfall On the way, I stopped at several more natural spots and saw waterfalls again, which I had already stopped counting. At some point, I even caught myself thinking that I started walking past the waterfall almost as calmly as I walk past an ordinary store at home. However, he stopped after a minute anyway, because the conscience of the tourist did not allow him to just drive past. In the evening, I returned to Reykjavik. After several days of almost constant travel, the city seemed unexpectedly lively to me, although objectively it remained quite calm. I walked around the center, had dinner, and for the first time in several days, I didn't set my alarm too early.

I decided to spend the seventh day practically without a car. After a few days behind the wheel, I just wanted to walk, go somewhere along the road and not look at the navigator every few minutes. I walked aimlessly around Reykjavik, looked into shops, sat in cafes and just watched the city. After the natural scenery of the previous days, it was nice to return to ordinary urban life, but even here Iceland managed to remind of itself with its unusual architecture, weather and some very special sense of space. In the evening, I started packing and discovered that I had somehow managed to accumulate a whole collection of small things in the car: bottles of water, snack packs, receipts, a card, chargers, and several other items whose purpose I no longer remembered. At that moment, I realized that the car had turned into a small version of my hotel room in a week and decided to put things in order. It wasn't that hard, but it wasn't easy either. It was worth it, as was the whole trip that was coming to an end.

The last day turned out to be a bit strange. I was kind of tired of the road, but at the same time I didn't want to return the car and end the trip. In eight days, I've gotten used to the fact that in the morning I need to check the weather, check the route, pour coffee into a thermocup and drive to where something unexpected will appear again. I purposely left some time before the flight, so as not to turn the last day into a nervous race. On the way to the airport, I stopped a few more times, looked at the scenery and caught myself thinking that now I perceive Iceland completely differently than on the first day. When I handed over the car, it was a bit of a pity to part. During this week, it became almost a part of the trip: I listened to music, argued with the navigator, ate snacks I bought on the way, waited out the rain, and several times said out loud the phrase "well, we'll definitely stop here." What I realized after this trip Iceland by car is a journey where it is impossible to fully control the route. You can book hotels in advance, make a list of waterfalls, mark beautiful places on the map, and even roughly calculate the travel time, but then there is wind, rain, a closed road, an unexpectedly beautiful turn, or just a desire to stop and look at the mountains. I liked that feeling of freedom. I didn't try to put a check mark in front of each place, but gradually learned to leave room for accidents. Sometimes the best moment of the day didn't happen at a famous landmark, but somewhere on an ordinary road, when I stopped, got out of the car and just looked around for a few minutes. I also realized that Iceland is a country where a car really changes the travel experience. You are not tied to one city, you can change the place of your overnight stay, stay wherever you want, and build a route around the weather and your own mood. However, with freedom comes responsibility: it is especially important to be attentive to road conditions, wind and weather changes, because nature quickly explains who is in charge here. And most importantly, after this trip, I realized one simple thing: it is impossible to see Iceland properly, constantly in a hurry. You can create an ideal route and try to complete it minute by minute, but then there is a risk of passing by the most interesting. Sometimes it's better to turn onto a small road, stop at another waterfall, drink coffee from a thermocup and just stand in the wind, thinking about how it happened that I ended up in the middle of this incredible country. This is exactly how I remember my trip to Iceland: not as a list of attractions and kilometers, but as a long road with waterfalls, glaciers, black beaches, rain, wind, coffee in parking lots, a little fatigue and a lot of moments when I looked through the windshield and thought: "That's why I came here."