Thank you for your virtual travel patience, and now we were on the home stretch back towards Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavik, before our departure back to London on our way back home.
Below is the route map for our final section(s) of travel in Iceland.
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| The final section of our road trip is in red |
Snaefellsnes
Snaefellsnes is a peninsular on the west of Iceland surprised us, due to the range of continuing scenery on offer, including one of the most photographed mountains in Iceland and yes, the fosses continued.
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| One of the views whilst driving out along the Snaefellsnes peninsular |
As a side note, the Snaefellsnes area was where Eric the Red lived and also became the first person to settle on Greenland. His son Leif Erickson was also one of the first Europeans to reach North America.
We were able to get up close and personal to a dormant (hopefully) volcano called Grabrok and after climbing up to its rim with its dark gritty surface, we were able to look via the crater to yet another smaller volcano nearby.
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| Standing on top of the dormant crater of Grabok volcano |
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| Smaller crater viewed from atop Grabok |
One of the benefits of all the volcanic activity in Iceland beyond geothermal power generation, are those same small hard gritty rocks which are abundant everywhere, they are used as a robust base material when making and repairing their roads.
We simply enjoyed exploring down some remote dirt roads around lakes going deeper into the Berserkjahraun lava field, the continued presence of mountains providing wonderful reflections to admire, especially with the still waters and no other sounds to disrupt us.
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| Driving around within the Berserkjahraun lava fields visible to the left |
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| Reflections we enjoyed during the Berserkjahraun lava field wander |
Finally we reached ‘the mountain’… Kirkjufell, also known as the church mountain, 463 metres high and near the town of Grundarfjörður, and was used in seasons 6 & 7 of Game of Thrones.
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| Kirkjufell from a distance but there was better to come |
It is regarded as the most photographed mountain in Iceland, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise to see 2 large cruise liners berthed near the town and hordes of people walking towards the mountain.
‘Great’ we thought, this is going to make it tricky to get photos without crowds of people in them, so once we got there, we broke some ‘rope rules’ by climbing over them and clambering down to where the water was falling from the waterfall Kirkjufellsfoss, beautifully positioned with the mountain in the background.
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| Kirkjufellsfoss and Kirkjufell together |
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| Just another view of Kirkjufellsfoss |
The water from the falls then flowed further along the stream, reaching the ocean beyond.
Naturally there were still more fosses further on like Svodufoss which included some more basalt columns next to the falling water.
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| Svodufoss and its basalt columns |
But in Snaefellsnes it wasn’t all mountains and fosses as we reached the western tip of this area and approached the Lóndrangar basalt cliffs, with its large sea stacks and lighthouse in the distance.
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| The cliffs and sea stacks of Londranger |
Whilst still hugging the coastline, next was a stop and coast walk from the small Arnarstapi fishing village to view the formations along the cliffs. Some of the buildings in the village date back to the 1770’s when Captain Cook was first visiting Australia.
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| Coastal views near Arnarstapi |
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| Old homes in Arnarstapi |
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| People walking over the coastal formations near Arnarstapi |
The variation in things to look at in this country just kept coming as we investigated a narrow canyon we had read about called Raudfeldsgja which involved a bit of a walk to reach, only to discover as we tried to enter it, there was ice still blocking the entrance a short distance in.
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| People walking towards the gap in the cliff called Raudfeldsgja |
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| Still frozen ice blocked the entrance to Raudfeldsgja |
West Coast
At long last we managed to get close to the Icelandic horses as we ventured along the west coast back finally to Reykjavik. These horses are smallish, friendly and very hardy plus are the original Viking settlement horses and one of the purest horse breeds in the world.
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| Icelandic horses |
After a quick visit to yet another very active geothermal set of boiling pools called Deildartunguhver, this time where the hot springs provide very high flows of water at 100 celsius which is captured and used by heating plants to keep towns warm.
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| The geothermal activity throughout Iceland is great for creating energy and keeping people warm |
Hraunfossar came next and notice how ‘foss’ is contained within its name. Hraunfossar are a series of waterfalls formed by rivulets which have travelled through nearby lava fields to reach the Hvita River.
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| The beauty of Hraunfossar |
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| Closer view of section of Hraunfossar |
Before finally returning to the capital, we detoured off the ring road to a town called Akranes, the 9th most populous town in the country at 6,600. Here there is a lighthouse built in 1947 and is the only one in Iceland regularly open to tourists.
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| The Akranes lighthouse |
There were now only 2 things left to complete after nearly 2.5 weeks in this amazing country before departing.
First we had to try their national dish…
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| Hot dogs are regarded as a national dish in Iceland |
…and then re-visit something we saw when we first came to Iceland, located next to the harbour in Reykjavik, which pays homage to the adventurous and sturdy people who settled this truly stunning country and made it home!
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| Artistic sculpture of a Viking ship on shore of harbour in Reykjavik |
We were done and had enjoyed every bit of what we saw and experienced in Iceland and we hope if you have the slightest inkling of wanting to visit, just remember, “if you don’t go you don’t know”, you will love it no matter how much or little you see and experience.
CLICK HERE for more photos Iceland Part 4. - Snaefellsnes & West Coast
We also managed to take quite a bit of video whilst in Iceland so if you want to see some of that, well… but be warned… there are a few fosses in it!
CLICK HERE for VIDEO of Iceland 2024
Geripackers will return sometime in 2025 so take a break, enjoy life and go well!
The video is stunning! Thanks!
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