Note: This post (Driving in Iceland – Day 2) is from my daily journal on our DIY European vacation. You can find an overview of the trip here with links to all the published days. I am publishing each day consecutively so follow along and enjoy!

ARRIVAL IN REYKJAVIK

In the morning at about 8 AM on the plane, we ate a ham and cheese croissant, fruit, some cheese and crackers, and coffee. It was pretty good for airplane food! Then I checked email and got one from our old tour guide Yorick from Switzerland saying he was leaving from KEF soon. We thought we might miss him but it turned out we ended up meeting him which was great! He and I both wore our Seahawks hats which he liked.

After we caught up a bit we said goodbye to Yorick and went through customs and duty-free where we picked up two bottles of wine. Apparently, the duty-free shops are the cheapest Places to buy alcohol in Iceland. We then walked to the rental car place to get our rental car.

DRIVING IN ICELAND

We rented a Toyota Hillix diesel truck from Blue Car Rental to drive in Iceland, which is big but not very efficient in the cab space. It has room for five in the crew cab, but the second-row seating was very cramped, and the middle seat in the back was very tight on foot space. Luckily, Kaylee, our 12-year-old could fit OK. We left Blue and drove for a bit but Steph noticed that there was a sticker that said the truck could not go on F-roads, which are the secondary unpaved roads you find across Iceland. This made us think that our Toyota Hillix was not a 4×4. So we turned around and went back to Blue to ask them and they confirmed it was a 4×4. After that we left and took the route Yorick suggested in an email he sent about a nice drive south of Reykjavik.

BRIDGE AMERICA EUROPE

After leaving the airport we headed South to Grindavik via Hafnir. The coast road takes you past Bridge America Europe, a symbolic bridge extending across the two continental plates (the North American Plate and the European Plate) that intersect on Iceland, spanning a fissure from the North Atlantic ridge, which was quite fun. When we got to the bridge, the weather was chilly, so we got in our bags and put on our windbreakers and pants, hats and gloves. Then walked up a path to see the bridge. There was a group of elderly people there from Colorado College. We took pics and walked between the tectonic plates since Iceland is the only place in the world you can do this.

BRIMKETILL LAVA ROCK POOL

After we left the Bridge America Europe, we came upon a pull-off with a Point of Interest sign (looks like a four-leafed clover, or the command sign on a Mac computer), but could not tell what the sign referred to. We pulled in to see what it was about and discovered it was for the Brimketill lava rock pool.

The pool was formed by the waves eroding the basalt lava rock over time. The pool is also called Oddney’s Pool, after a legend of a troll who supposedly bathed there and was turned to stone when the sun rose. You can read more details in one of the pics.

GUNNAHVER STEAM VENTS

We then drove further down the road to some steam vents called Gunnahver. We drove down a one-lane road that turned into gravel before getting to the vents. The steam vents were boiling steam out of the ground, and when the wind was right, you could smell the sulfur. We walked up on the viewing platforms to get a good look and take some pics.

THE GHOST LEGEND OF GUNNA

The name Gunnahver comes from an old ghost legend going back to the 1700s of a woman (nicknamed Gunna) who failed to pay rent to a lawyer and as payment, he took her only possession, a cooking pot. This caused her to go mad and she died, only to come back as a ghost and seek revenge, killing the lawyer and his wife. After that, the whole peninsula became haunted and the people of the area sought advice from a local sorcerer, who gave them a ball of yarn to throw in the steam vents. It is said that people today can see her sometimes holding the end of the string of the ball of yarn chasing the ball around the vent.

DRIVING ON ICELAND HIGHWAYS 425/43

Even driving in Iceland on some of the more populated regions of iceland you can get the feeling that you are in a remote area. Iceland has a population of about 300,000 with about half of them living in Reykjavik. That means the other half are scattered across the rest of the island. Needless to say, when you get away from the cities there are plenty of opportunities to be alone. We were driving on Iceland roads 425 and 43 today and would drive for 10 or 15 minutes and not see another car. Also, there is little sign of life once you get away the road you are on.

I found it particularly interesting how thick the moss was growing on the lava rocks. It looked so thick and soft from the road.

Highway 425 ran along the coast so you could see the ocean in the distance. Driving in Iceland here the terrain was relatively flat with some occasional rock outcroppings.

Highway 43 cut North towards the interior and almost immediately started up into a hillier region.

This road was more rugged than highway 425, and driving in Iceland here, we passed some great lakes and occasional steam vents.

FIRST NIGHT IN REYKJAVIK

On the drive into Reykjavik the time zone differences started kicking in. The kids were asleep and Steph was fading fast. I was as well. Since it was after 3 PM we decided to check into the Iceland Apartments and crashed for a few hours. I got up at 8:30 PM and needed some food, and I knew the rest of the family did too. I wanted to let them sleep so I went out on my own in order to find something I knew everyone would like. A quick search on Google Maps revealed several locations of Dominos Pizza nearby. Who would have thought that Dominos Pizza would be so prominent in Iceland! I went out and bought two pizzas, bread sticks and two liter of Coke, then went back and woke up the family for dinner.

After dinner, it was after 10 pm, and I wasn’t sleepy, so I talked Steph and the girls into going out. We went shopping at Hagkaup (sort of like a mini Target) and bought cereal, milk and a few other things.

Then we left and decided to go to Hallgrimskirkja (the main Lutheran cathedral in Reykjavik). The church was very modern and neat. There was a statue of Leif Erickson in the front.

There was also a girl in a wedding dress in front of the church doing a photo shoot, at 10 PM! We took some pics and headed back to the hotel.

When we got back to the hotel it was midnight and it was still very light outside. It stays light about 22 hours of the day in June/July. Glad I brought my face mask!

Go to Day 3 – Touring Reykjavik

Go to Day 1 – Departure

LESSONS FROM THE DAY

1. In Iceland, buy your liquor at the airport – It is the cheapest place in the country to purchase it. All the locals come to the airport to buy it even.
2. Driving in Iceland is easy – All the roads are mainly two lanes and well marked. Renting a vehicle is really the only efficient way to see Iceland.
3. Confirm the capabilities of your vehicle before leaving the rental car company – In foreign countries, they offer cars and trucks that you may not be familiar with. Know what terrain you will be likely to travel and confirm your vehicle is suitable for those roads.
4. International Sign for Attractions – The four-leafed clover sign designating a side road attraction is used in Iceland and Northern Europe. They are worth stopping at, you never know what you might find!
5. Iceland is expensive – Go to local grocery stores and buy food instead of going out to save money.
6. Credit and debit cards are accepted everywhere – No need to do currency exchange in Iceland.