Your Iceland itinerary: 5 trip ideas to explore the country
21.07.2023 - 08:44
/ roughguides.com
Iceland is a world unto itself. From black beaches and glacial lagoons to Martian landscapes and science-fiction-worthy geothermal craters, it runs the gamut from the reassuringly familiar to the barely believable.
There are national parks, gushing waterfalls and snow-crested peaks, and yet it's as close to lunar topography as Europe gets. This is a frozen landscape with a midnight sun. A country that appears manageable on the map, but one that's home to a lifetime of out-your-comfort-zone adventures.
To make the most of your time, you'll need a car to see the best of what's on offer. Here are five road trip itineraries packed with once-in-a-lifetime wildlife and wonder.
The proverbial craft beer bars and New Nordic restaurants of Reykjavík are quite at odds with the city's unnatural surroundings. Start on the tried-and-tested Golden Circle route through the southern uplands to Thingvellir National Park, known for its UNESCO-listed nexus of tectonic and volcanic rift valleys and lava fields. Here you can suit up and swim between continents, snorkelling or diving the aquavit-clear waters of Silfra Gorge, an otherworldly crag splitting Europe and America.
Cut farther east to Geysir, an extraordinary kettle rush of boiling water and vapour that often reaches 70m, then continue 10km along Route 35 to Gulfoss Falls. A three-tiered dogleg in the Hvítá river, it's an astonishing cascade in a country renowned for hyperreal waterfalls.
En route back to the capital, park-up at the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal wonderland of bubbling pools located on a lava field in Grindavík on the Reykjanes Peninsula. Don't expect it to be quiet – it's only a 15-minute drive from Keflavik International Airport.
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Iceland is blanketed in a vast cloak of rock and ice, and while it's beautiful to admire the geological drama from the comfort of a car, it's even better to go and play in. On the southern coast, immerse yourself on an adrenaline-packed glacier walk with Icelandic Mountain Guides in Vatnajökull National Park, home to the largest ice sheet in Europe. If movie moments come to mind, you're on the money: it's got cinematic pedigree with Game of Thrones, Batman Begins, The Fantastic Four and Interstellar all filmed here.
Heading around the southeast coast, the IMAX-sized Svínafellsjökull glacier crowds out the windscreen before it leads to Jökulsárlón. A 300m-deep glacial lagoon met head-on by a snaking ice tongue, it dwarves imaginative winter fantasies: up against it, the ice palace from Frozen seems little more than a snow globe. Film fans may also recognise it from two James Bond films (both A View to a