In this third blog post about my Iceland trip, I will list the places I liked most and that I think you must see while you are in Iceland. In this post, I will concentrate on Reykjavík and Western Iceland because there is a lot to see. I’ll probably miss some great places so if I missed your favourite place, let me know in the comments!
Must see in Reykjavík
A capital city where rush hour is like an off hour in any other town (and I’m from Switzerland where there isn’t that much traffic).
Reykjavík isn’t big and very laid back, you can explore the town centre in a couple of hours. I participated in an excellent walking tour from iHeartReykjavik which took two hours and our guide managed to tell us a lot about the city without it feeling too “stuffy”. She also showed us some of the hidden gems the city has to offer, and she brought us to the amazing street art that is all over the city.
The Harpa concert hall is an amazing building architecturally, and a lot of events are taking place there so make sure to check it out. It’s also a great place to get out of the cold and rain if the weather is too “Icelandic”.
Route 550 Kaldidalur
From Reykjavík I decided to go North, to what is officially called Western Iceland and the Westfjords but as I was looking forward to trying out my four-wheel drive car I decided to make a detour via route 550. Route 550 is the “starter version” of the Icelandic roads, not even an F-road (if you want to know more about F-roads and my opinion on renting cars in Iceland check out this blog post about my trip). You are allowed to drive this road with a two-wheel drive car, but depending on the weather conditions I wouldn’t attempt it without four-wheel drive. I had some heavy rain and was very happy that my car handled the slippery track well.
Must see in Western Iceland
In western Iceland, you’re getting away from the “big” city villages get sparser. The scenery is great, and it’s very hard not to stop the car every couple of minutes to take some pictures.
I stayed at Grundarfjörður which has a great view to Kirkjufell mountain.
Kirkjufell
You should also stop at Kirkjufellsfoss, the waterfalls just on the other side of the road from the mountain.
Snæfellsjökull National Park
The Snæfellsjökull National Park is on the western tip of the peninsula and dominated by the Snæfellsjökull glacier. You can book trips and hikes up on the glacier but the day I was there the weather up on the glacier was quite terrible.
There are many great walks in this area along the coast and exploring the smaller craters. If you want to go up towards the glacier and get an overview of the area you can drive up a track, that doesn’t have a name as far as I know, so here is the map where it gets off the main road.
Stykkishólmur
Stykkishólmur is a great little town with charming houses and a small port protected by a big hill. From here you can take a ferry to the island of Flatey and Brjanslaekur in the Westfjords.
Flatey is a tiny islet with a small adorable village and is probably a must see, but I missed it. It’s on my list for my next trip to Iceland.
I’ll probably stop here with my list of must see for Western Iceland. In the next post, I’ll list the places in the remote Westfjords.
Don’t hesitate to let me know if I forgot something on my list.
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