Otherworldly landscapes of Iceland

The land of ice and fire has gotten unprecedented attention in recent times, in no small part owing to the global phenomena that is Game of Thrones. The raw, visceral landscapes that viewers associate with Westeros (especially the North) are not visual effects but real places found on this tiny nordic island of 300,000 inhabitants. It’s no surprise then the annual footfall of tourists has surpassed 2 million in 2019. I sincerely hope that people treat the fragile landscape of Iceland with care, so that others in the future can continue to be awestruck just as we were, when we did a road trip around the isle in July ‘19.

There are many blog posts about ring road itineraries for Iceland, and I used a fair few of them to plan my trip. With the explosion in tourists, you won’t find it hard to find the main attractions that merit a visit. If you have time though, I would recommend skipping the golden circle (which is overrun with tourists) and go onto the ring road. Once you cross Jökulsárlón going counter-clockwise, the crowds thin considerably, and you will go hours before seeing another car even in peak season. 

We spent 9 days driving around Iceland and the experience is like no other. This blog will focus on some of the most memorable scenery we saw along the way. Some of them might be familiar places, while others are off the beaten track. Let us know in the comments if you’ve visited Iceland and what the highlights of your trip were!

Bruarfoss

Loosely translated it means the blue waterfall, and it is one of the harder falls to get to. It is a 2.5-3 hour round trip hike from the main road, and the area around the falls have private residences so the route to get to the falls keeps changing as residents don’t want too many tourists around. So please be respectful of that when hiking to the falls. You hike upstream the river that flows from the fall and the dazzling blue color of the river gives you some clue as to what to expect at the end. The falls are not as tall or powerful as some as the other more popular ones, but the gaudy contrast of bright azure blue with the surrounding rocks is unforgettable. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Wild Icelandic horses in nature

As you drive along the ring road and head towards the less populated areas, you will definitely be greeted by herds of majestic icelandic horses. They are shorter than normal horses, similar in size to a pony and have two additional gaits, the most famous being the tölt (a comfortable and ground covering gait). They come in a wide variety of colors and have short necks and stylish thick mane. Since they have no natural predators, they are not spooked by people, indeed when we stopped to take pictures, they kept posing like they were models!

Jökulsárlón

Jökulsárlón is a large glacial lake on the east coast of Iceland, and is usually the last “touristy” spot when you drive the ring road counter-clockwise for Reykjavik. Icebergs are something that you associate with seeing on cruises in Antarctica or Alaska, and suddenly viewing these majestic sculptures with their myriad colors while driving up the coast is something that will take your breath away. I’ve always maintained that Iceland packs in so much diversity in such a small landmass, and Jökulsárlón is further proof of it. Like so many other places in Iceland, it takes on completely different avatars depending on the season. I am waiting to make another trip in the winter so I can explore the ice caves of the Vatnajökull glacier which feeds into the lake. The nearby diamond beach where sparkly ice chunks wash up on the black sand beach is another otherworldly place! Iceland takes whatever is the norm of geological features you know and turns it on their head, who would have thought you would see ice washed up on the shores of a beach! As with most places, it’s hard to describe the majesty of this place, so I’ve tried to capture some of the beauty through the pictures below.

Puffins at Borgarfjörður Eystri

Perched on the north-east tip of the island, about an hour and half drive from Egilsstadir, Borgarfjörður Eystri is a fjord which offers some of the best places to observe puffins in their natural environment. The drive to the fjord from Egilsstadir was our most memorable driving experience of the whole trip. About halfway through, the road is no longer paved, and we were hit with a rolling fog so thick we couldn’t see 1 meter in front of us. It was an unreal experience, driving through the fog at a snail’s pace while everyone else in the car kept their eyes peeled for any approaching vehicle. But the drive was so worth it. Firstly the namesake town, which has just 100 residents, had one of the best turf houses we saw on the entire trip. About a 5 minute drive past the town, you come to a small island on the coast which in peak season has more than ten thousand puffins nesting there. It is one of the best locations worldwide to watch these clown-like birds at close range. I spent way too much time and took way too many pictures of these adorable birds, with their colorful beaks and comical style of walking. This was a detour which was totally worth the time and effort!

Turf houses 

These pretty houses are perhaps the best example of how to truly live in nature’s lap. Turf houses take advantage of the superior isolation that turf with grass provides in comparison to houses made solely of wood and stone. We saw many of these while driving on the ring road, the best examples being Laufás and Glaumbær in North Iceland. But the town where we went puffin watching had a great turf house as well! Keep your eyes peeled while on the road and you are sure to spot more!

Kirkjufell

If there is one picture that is synonymous with Iceland it has to be of this place, the majestic ‘Church Mountain’, which is a distinctly shaped peak found on the north shore of Iceland’s Snæfellsnes Peninsula. We loved the place so much that we came back twice to capture its beauty in different light later in the day! What I found unique is that depending on where you view it, the peak looks vividly different!

Sunset from behind Seljalandfoss

I’ll end this list with a waterfall, just as I started with one. It is apt since Iceland has some of the most majestic waterfalls I’ve seen (the Pacific NW gives it tough competition, but that’s for another blog). Seljalandsfoss is one of the most accessible falls in the country, and from a distance is not that remarkable. But it is one of the few falls you can walk behind and specifically watching the sunset from behind the fall is what makes this place truly astonishing. Would strongly recommend planning your trip that you reach this place a little before sunset, trust me you will not be disappointed!

By no means is this list exhaustive, we saw so much more on our road trip that we cannot wait to go back. From interesting churches, majestic landscapes, a quirky capital city to the magnificent waterfalls, Iceland has so much to offer!

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