Iceland travel guide

If the crowds at Jökulsárlón Lake are too much for you to handle, then fret not – only 10 km to the west is another, virtually undiscovered glacial lake. Smaller but just as beautiful, Fjallsárlón is a real gem. The smaller size means that the glacier – in this case Fjallsjökull – looks much larger than at Jökulsárlón, and the nearby mountains create a beautiful frame for the lake. Boat tours on the lake are the ideal way to experience this natural phenomenon, which is located only a kilometer off the Ring Road. Perhaps the best way to view Fjallsárlón is not as an alternative to Jökulsárlón, but as a great addition to it. After all, there is little sense in traveling this far and visiting only one of them.

Somewhat misleading, the main attraction at Geysir is not actually Geysir, but Strokkur. Both are of course geysers, derived from the Old Norse 'geysa', meaning 'to gush'. While Geysir is very irregular and much smaller than it once was, Strokkur erupts like somewhat unreliable clockwork (every 4-8 minutes or so) to an impressive height of almost 20 m. And there is no way to adequately describe how cool it is to see a geyser erupt from just a few metres away. It’s worth walking around the Geysir area for different views of the erupting Strokkur and bubbling, boiling water in various other holes and crevices. Geysir is one of the busiest tourist sites in Iceland, and part of the Golden Circle tourist route, so expect big crowds throughout summer. Visiting during the light summer nights is a great alternative for anyone wishing to experience this wonder of nature without the throngs of other visitors, although you would have to do without the souvenir shops and restaurants. Crowds or not, though, this is one attraction you simply cannot miss!

When you travel to Iceland, you should definitely also take advantage of walking on one of the many glaciers that you see when you drive around the varied landscape. It may be risky to walk on them alone, so it is recommended to take a glacier guide who can steer clear of known glacier cracks and the like. It is also a good idea to take the right equipment - i.e. crampons and ice ax. But it is an exciting and different feeling to walk on pure ice and see the black lava ash that has coloured the huge ice formations several hundred years ago - and "blue ice" in between the cracks, where the ice melts.

Does going deep inside a volcano sound a bit crazy? Well, the volcano in question – Thrihnukagigur – hasn’t erupted for over 4000 years ago, and odds are pretty good that it will stay dormant for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, this is a unique and absolutely mind-blowing experience – the feeling of being lowered down 120m on an open elevator (of the kind used to clean windows on skyskrapers) is quite intense, to say the least. The magma chamber is large and colourful, and walking around inside it feels more than a little bit surreal. The elevator set-up has only been present since 2012, when a National Geographic film crew needed to find a way to access the chamber. The volcano is within easy reach of Reykjavik, although obvious safety issues means you can’t visit it independently, and is an excellent choice for a half-day trip from the capital. But the trip does involve a one hour walk each way, and it can (given the usual Icelandic weather) be windy, wet and muddy.

Goðafoss, or waterfall of the gods, is one of Iceland’s most spectacular, and one of the easiest to access (being located only a few hundred metres from the Ring Road). Located between Akureyri and Lake Myvatn, Goðafoss has a fascinating history. It was here that, in the year 999 or 1000 CE, the lawspeaker Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði (good luck pronouncing that!), after making Christianity the official religion of Iceland, threw his statues of the old Norse gods. The falls are not particularly big (12 m high and 30 m wide), but they are very beautiful. It is possible to get right up to the edge of the falls on either side of the river, and you can visit any time of the day or night. Since it receives countless busloads of tourists every day, visiting at night is your best bet for a more peaceful, and perhaps a more holistic, experience.

Although Grjótagjá could be lumped in with Lake Mývatn, being located no more than a kilometre away from its shores, it is spectacular enough to deserve its own entry. An underground geothermal pool, contained in a cave with only two small openings large enough to enter – carefully, as there are plenty of places to bump your head. Once inside, make your way into the far right corner for a magical view of the mirror-like surface, steam rising from the water and meeting the light as it enters through the openings to the side. Grjótagjá won’t take very long to visit, but is a very special place to see.

The beautiful Golden Falls are different from most other waterfalls in Iceland, consisting of a two-step plunge into a narrow crevice. From the distance it simply looks as though the water is swallowed up by the ground. However, a closer inspection will reveal that it "only" falls 32 meters into the crevice. The wateralls are a part of the Golden Circle - Iceland’s most popular tourist trail, which also include Geysir and Pingvellir - and can be very busy during high season. There are several viewing platforms, and to properly appreciate the majesty of Gullfoss it is worth going to all of them as well as following the path down to the water.

The Eastfjords boast a huge array of hikes, from short hill-climbs to multi-day expeditions. Many of these are straight-forward enough to do without a guide, although the ever-changing weather conditions in Iceland mean that it is necessary to be properly prepared if venturing out of sight of settlements or major roads: compass, maps, clothing and food. One of the most popular summer hikes in the region is the four-day Borgarfjörður to Seyðisfjörður hike, which takes in some of the best views in the Eastfjords without forcing you to carry a tent – there are huts and farm stays along the way. You won’t find the kind of extreme isolation and solitude that the Westfjords’ Hornstrandir can offer here, nor the other-worldly landscapes of Laugavegurinn, but it is nonetheless beautiful hiking country, especially if the sun makes an appearance.

When driving around Iceland, you come across many horse stables / riding centers, where it is possible to rent horses for both day trips and multi day trips. Of course, you ride on Icelandic horses while in Iceland, and there are plenty of rides for both beginners and experts. There are many actual horse trails on Iceland, and horseback riding is also a nice alternative way to get around in the vast landscape and across the many rivers, which are difficult to cross on foot and in ordinary passenger cars.

Húsavík was the first place in Iceland to be settled by the Norse when the Swedish Viking Garðar Svavarsson arrived in the year 870 CE. As recently as a few decades ago, there was nothing of any interest here for tourism. These days, however, visitors flock here by the thousand for a chance to see the largest animals on our planet. Húsavík is now Iceland's whale watching capital, as the bay is a popular spot for humpbacks and giant blue whales in summer. Another popular destination is Puffin Island, which can often be visited as part of a whale watching trip. The town itself (which has about two and a half thousand inhabitants - a veritable metropolis by Icelandic standards) is actually very pleasant, set on the shore surrounded by snow-capped mountains. There is a whale watching museum, a beautiful wooden church and a number of water-side cafes and restaurants. But whales, not wooden buildings, is undoubtedly why most people come here - and whales there are aplenty.