Iceland Day 12 — Full Circle

It’s not much fun to describe our last half day in Iceland. We didn’t see much and spent most of our time looking for presents. One bit of sightseeing we did was going up to the observation floor at the top of Hallgrimskirkja and take birds-eye view pictures of Reykjavik in each direction: north, south, east, west.

Then we did the final bit of shopping and drove back to the airport. This is where we finally closed our circular adventure: we actually arrived at the Keflavik airport from the opposite side of where we started driving on the first day. Our circumnavigation of Iceland’s Ring Road was finally complete.

I feel like I should finish my blog entries about Iceland with the summary of the trip, i.e. what we did, how we did it and what we would do differently next time. Basically, these are my tips and tricks for Iceland. It’s all based on our experience, so it is a subjective, personal opinion, and others may feel differently.

The Goal. I believe that setting the goal for a trip is a crucial step from which you should start your preparation and planning. Our goal was to have an adventure of traveling around Iceland. It translated into driving along the Ring Road plus a detour to Westfjords. The word “adventure” meant visiting as many sites as physically possible without great discomfort. We even came up with a motto for the trip: “It’s not a vacation, it’s an adventure.” Lame, I know, but it helped us set our priorities.

Research and Planning. A travel guide and Google Maps are good starting points. I created a map from MyMaps menu on my Google account and started to add points of interest to it. I tried to add only the places that were close to our travel route and included both main and off-the-beaten-path attractions. Google Maps also have photographs and street views that helped me visualize the places, find parking spots, research road conditions, etc. The Openstreet maps were very helpful as well, especially the Pocket Earth app that I bought for my iPad. It allows you to download offline maps, which is convenient when you don’t have Internet. For the off-the-beaten-path places, I think that traveler blogs and TripAdvisor’s Iceland forum are the most helpful resources. I found several beautiful spots that way.

Packing. Icelandair allows 2 check-in bags per person, so we decided to take the full advantage of it and take two suitcases each. Iceland weather is ever-changing and unpredictable, so we came prepared for all seasons. Here is our packing list:

• Rain jackets — 2 jackets for each of us. Yes, we really needed two jackets each. A couple of times our expensive waterproof North Face jackets became so wet that we needed to change them in the middle of the day.
• Waterproof pants — life savers. They can be worn over a regular pair of pants or over thermals. Keeps your legs dry and warm.
• Packable down jacket — sometimes it was quite cold and windy so we used to wear them under the rain jackets.
• Windproof jacket — again, some areas of Iceland are very windy, so it is a must.
• Fleece jacket — for when it is not raining.
• Hiking waterproof boots — 2 pairs each. I was so glad I had the second pair when I stepped into the mud on the very first day and had to wash my boots. It took them full two days to dry out completely.
• Lots of T-shirts — for layering and for the occasions when it’s warm. It did get pretty warm a few times during our trip, up to about 20C (68F).
• Light and fast-drying pants, i.e. hiking pants — jeans are not advised for Iceland weather because they become wet and cold fast and take a long time to dry.
• A couple of pairs of light sneakers or walking shoes — for when you are not on a trail.
• Bathing suit — Iceland has many geothermal bathing spots, both natural and man-made. We enjoyed relaxing in warm waters every time we got a chance.
• Mosquito head net — if you travel to Myvatn area in the summer, the nets are a must near the lake because of the swarms of midges around (thankfully, they don’t bite, but they do fly into your mouth, eyes, ears, hair, etc.).
• Sunglasses — both of our sunglasses were ruined by Iceland gravel roads. Even though we kept them protected in the cases, constant vibration rubbed them against the case and the glass got scratched.
• Sunscreen — it is quite sunny in Iceland, plus you can get a sunburn even when it is cloudy.
• Food — there are a lot of places to eat or buy groceries, but many times we did not have time for a food stop (during the stores’ working hours, that is). Our Lara bars that we brought from the States helped us many times.
• Photo gear — I strongly recommend taking two camera bodies for an Iceland trip, because if you lose one to moisture you will still have something else to shoot with. It is also very important to have protective covers for your cameras (the basic ones are very cheap and do the job). If you plan to use a tripod, make sure to use some weight to make it steady because Iceland wind gusts are very powerful. Bottom line — protect your gear!

Car Rental. On a road trip, your car is your home most of the time, so it is important to spend some time to research the car rental companies and their fleets to choose a car that suits your needs and satisfies your comfort level. There are some companies that offer older cars at much cheaper rates but, based on our tight schedule, we decided to go with a new car to minimize the probability of the car breaking down. We read TripAdviser Iceland forum entries about people’s experiences with car rental companies and finally chose Reykjavik RentACar. They are not very cheap (or expensive, for that matter), but they seem to be honest. Iceland weather and roads tend to ruin cars and often there is no one at the drop-off location, which means that it is important to go with a company that will not charge you for damage caused by someone else. Rental car insurance should be considered as well. Unlike in the US, in Iceland many roads are gravel and there is always a greater chance to get a damage from stones thrown from the wheels of another car. Almost every car rental company offers gravel protection. However, not all companies offer sand and ash protection insurance. This insurance is needed if you accidentally caught in a sand storm. The damage to the car may be very substantial, e.g. broken window shields or paint completely stripped from the car. These type of storms usually happen in the South and most often in May and September. We were traveling in mid-June but decided to take it anyway just for peace of mind. All in all, we got a 4-wheel-drive car for 12 days with gravel and sand and ash protections and paid $1800 total. The fact that the car was new had a couple of bonus consequences: it had a built-in GPS and heated front seats (maybe back seats, too, but we never had to check). Heated seats seemed like an unnecessary luxury at first, but after a couple of hikes under the Icelandic windy cold soaking drizzle we realized just how useful they could be.

Hotels and Guesthouses. All of the places where we stayed were very clean but relatively basic. Location was the single most important factor in selecting the lodging. The most important piece of advice I can give here is to make reservations at least five (5) months in advance if you want to have a choice of rooms (especially in the high season). Just for reference, here is the list of our accommodations:

• Day 1 — Frumskógar Guesthouse, Hveragerði
• Day 2 — Nónhamar Guesthouse, Hof in the Öræfi district
• Day 3 — Hafnarnes Guesthouse, Höfn
• Days 4-6 — Helluhraun 13 Guesthouse, Reykjahlið village, Myvatn region
• Day 7 — Hafnarstræti 81B, Akureyri Downtown Apartments
• Day 8 — Malarhorn Guesthouse, Drangsnes, Westfjords
• Day 9 — Sandafell Guesthouse, Þingeyri, Westfjords
• Day 10 — Breiðavík Hotel, Breiðavík, Westfjords
• Day 11 — Hotel Frón, Reykjavik

Well, there we are. This was our trip to Iceland. We saw a lot, but we have not even seen half of what Iceland offers. In particular, we never got too far inland, inside the Ring Road. So we want to come back there again in the future, for another trip. I feel like planning it already.