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Ring road alternatives and extensions

Snæfellsnes

Westfjords

The Interior

South West Iceland

North East Iceland

There are different types of hotels, guesthouses and accommodation provided by private individuals.

One great place is the Northern-Lights Casa on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula.

It has been our pleasure to try out some restaurants for you.  Most were really worth it.

Going to restaurants is part of the experience of enjoying what a country has to offer.

We recommend a mixed approach by sometimes grabbing something to eat at a grocery store, to sample the Icelandic fast food and a mix of specialty restaurants and really fine dining, the latter being comparatively cheap compared to other countries fine dining.

Some restaurants we tried:

Nauthóll, Nauthólsvík, Reykjavik;  On several occasions we found the food too salty.  On our last occasion we noticed that some other diners barely touched their food and complained that it was not up to the same standard as before.  Maybe the main cook was off and the stand-in did not quite deliver.  We like the location embraced by nature and close to the recommended strand pool Nautholsvik.  👍👍

Múlakaffi, Hallarmúli, Reykjavík; Only open for lunch and only during the workweek.  If you would like to experience traditional Icelandic food and don't mind sitting and even sharing a table with workers, house builders, electricians, joiners, policemen and women in a non-frivolous atmosphere, then this is the place for lunch during the workweek.  The portions are fine with all you can eat side dishes.  So you will never go hungry and you will be assured that the traditional food is available and cooked the way it has been cooked for decades.  The workers would not have it any other way. 👍👍👍👍

Even better than Múlakaffi is Potturinn og Pannan, Brautarholt 22, Reykjavik.  Also serving workers for Lunch, but in a nicer atmosphere than Múlakaffi.  We tried the Friday buffet which featured all you can eat Icelandic lamb, fish and an other meat.  If you happen to be in Reykjavik on a Friday at noon, then this is your place if you are at all interested in the kind of food Icelanders would traditionally eat on a fine Sunday.  👍👍👍👍👍

Askur Brasserie, Sudurlandsbraut, Reykjavik; Speaking of Sundays, Askur offers something similar as Potturinn og Pannan, but a lot more expensive on Sunday evenings.  (The lunch variant on weekdays is comparatively priced to the other two restaurants above, though). This restaurant has been around for at least half a century.  Although very traditional, it offers some faster food that you might find at places like TGI Fridays, such as burratos and chicken wings via their a la carte menu. 👍👍👍👍

Ban-Thai, Laugavegur 130, Reykjavik; For some strange reason, we were reminded of the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld.  I think because the waitress (maybe she is also the owner) was very much straight to the point.  But that is perfectly alright.  Thinking about it, it is actually boring when waiters and waitresses are forced to not be themselves and are superfluous.  Our experience was a bit spoiled by some people vaping, who continued covertly after being told not to.   A through and through Seinfield experience, because the vaping incident reminded us of the real life character, the world famous theater vaper, US congress woman Lauren Boebert who in turn reminded us of the Seinfeld character Elaine.  👍👍👍

PHO Vietnamese, Sudurlandsbraut 8, Reykjavik;  We love Vietnamese food.  This one's food was not so special and the atmosphere was dull in comparison to the top Vietnamese restaurants we have experienced in Munich. 👍👍

Sai Thai Restaurant, Hamraborg, Kopavogur;  An OK low key restaurant.  👍👍👍

Austur-Indiafelagid, Hverfisgata 56, Reykjavik;  The best Indian we have ever been to anywhere, including Jaiur, Udaipur, Bangalore, Munich, Zurich, Freienbach and a Michelin starred restaurant in Greystones, Ireland!  Possibly because this restaurant has gone beyond the Indian style of overcooking everything. 👍👍👍👍👍

Restaurant Minilik, Fludir; An Ethopian restaurant. If you have the luxury of taking the golden circle at your own pace; that is if you have a car, then taking the small detour or enlarging the golden circle a little bit, to go to Fludir, is in our opnion well worth it.  We ordered the hugh pancake with a mixture of all their offerings and just absouloutly loved it.  The owners who work their themselves are such increadbly nice people.  Eating at an Ethopian restaurant in Iceland is something to write home about.  👍👍👍👍

Hotel Budir, Snaefellsnes;  A very fine restaurant set in beautiful nature.  See our next article.   👍👍👍👍👍

Vidvik, Snaefellsnes;  Yet another nice restaurant we are lucky to have in the Icelandic countryside.  This beautiful restaurant next to the Atlantic and Artic Ocean, we gather, is for sale in case you want to begin a new life in this magical mystical environment away from the stress of life elsewhere.   👍👍👍👍  

Guide.  A thumbs up means that a place is worth a try.  Five thumbs up means that we strongly recommend the place for the combined experience.  It is not just about how absolutely delicious the food is, but also about the location and what you might want to achieve by visiting the restaurant.  For example, to taste something that you would otherwise only be able to taste at a traditional Icelandic home; an Indian restaurant that is better then any other; a gourmet restaurant that is located in the middle of nowhere.  So even though Potturinn og Pannan receives the same number of thumbs up, they are in a totally different category than Hotel Budir.

• The Icelandic Hotdog.  The basic formula is virtually the same all over Iceland.  The main ingriedient is a yummy but rather straight forward sausage placed in a warm bread hot dog bun.  People can choose from fried or raw onion, mustard, ketchup  

In the south east May is good.   In winter you have the wonder of the Northern Lights.  In summer the Midnight Sun.   Many people mistakenly think May is too early with the logic that it will be warmer later in the summer.  But it will only be a bit warmer, so you are hardly going to be sunbathing anyway, plus there is a tendency to have more sunshine in the South West of Iceland in May than later.  However if you are driving up north it may not be green yet in May.  June is the month of the longest days.  But July and August are the most expensive.  All other months are great for the Northern Lights.

The Salmon is a fascinating species that traverse the big oceans to return to their rivers of birth to lay their eggs.  

If fishing is your thing and you can afford it fishing in the Icelandic rivers gives you a chance to bond with nature.

But you do not have to fish or play golf to venture out in the nature.  There are plenty of opportunities in Iceland.

Experience the crystal clear waters, the fresh air and the nature with less signs of people than elsewhere in the world.

There are many companies that specialize in hiking tours.  E.g. on top of Iceland's tallest mountain or the magical mythical Snaefellsjökull.  E.g. Go West Iceland.  If you would like to stay in the near, book the Northern Lights Casa

Ideal to ride especially for beginners, because of its height it is shorter to fall, shorter to mount and because it is used to carry Vikings it is a very strong horse.

It is among the shortest of all horses.  If it were any shorter it would be called a pony.

There are a lot of places in Iceland where you can book horse-riding tours.

Very few places outside the city have dedicated bike routes except for the Snaefellsbaer region on the Snaefellsnes peninsula.    Northern Lights Casa might be a good place to stay if you want to do some biking.  There are tarmaced routes to the next villiage and the next town otherwise you could ride on the main road for example the road that goes through the National Park.  Or you could take your mountain bike and ride on some other trails or some nearby F (mountain) roads.

Northern Lights Casa might be a good place to stay if you are seeking tranquility and like to walk by the sea clifs or drive out to the lighthouses to see if you can spot some whales.

The best place to watch birds in Iceland is the Northern-Lights.Casa.  The best time to view the Birds is actually the time of the Midnight Sun which is the worst time to view the Northern Lights.  But this is the time the migration birds are there for example the Artic Turn that is there from approximately mid May till mid August.

The Northern-Lights Casa has the practicality of a bird hide / birdwatching house but with the comfort of a extraordinary living room with bird nature views in two directions.  It is in fact in the middle of a bird nesting colony.  The number and variety of birds is amazing.    

Just as nice to walk on as white beaches.   In Iceland these beaches can be very long.   One of the most tranquil experience you can get.  You can often have a whole beach for yourself.

There are endless beaches to choose from.

On Snaefellsnes there are sand beaches at Skardsvik and Rif, rocky beaches such as Beruvik, the place of an abandoned settlement or the beach next to Irskabrunnur.  (The Irish Well - An ancient well possibly built by early Irish settlers.)  Some Irish monks are recorded as having settled in Iceland before the Vikings.  But due to their problems with reproduction they did not survive more than a generation at a time.  However Irish blood has survived because the Vikings brought with them women from Scotland and Ireland.  So Icelanders are in fact 50% Scottish and Irish.

F stands for Fjallvegur which is a designation for a tough mountain road.  Many car rentals do not allow you to take their rental cars irrespective of the type of vehicle on those roads.  But do not worry there are lots of other roads you can take.

Look for combination menus they can be great value for money.  

Are you there with a partner?

• order different dishes and share with one another

Compared to many other places in the world:

• Fast food is very expensive and only slightly cheaper than

• Gourmet restaurants which tend to be better value than elsewhere in the world

There is no place for homophobia in Iceland.   One of the main street, pictured here was painted in rainbow colors to welcome the homophobic US vice president Pence.

Hitchhiking used to be much more popular.

It is a great way to get around and a nice way to get to know people.

We would recommend to have enough layers of clothing and if it is approaching the night ask to be dropped off at a junction that is near a town or village, so that you have somewhere to go in case you are getting to cold.

Snæfellsnes is a great place to hike.  The mountains are comfortably high and pretty much accessible.  However do your research.  Have appropriate clothing and weather protection available, phones and spare electricity, and let someone know where you are going and when you expect to be back.

It is also fun and quite convenient to hike on the Reykjanes peninsula and even explore the site of the last volcanic eruption.  The same goes for the area around Thingvellir.

A nice hike is to the tall waterfall at the bottom of Hvalfjordur.  The waterfall is called Glymur.   Some distance above the waterfall you could cross the river and back down on the other side.

Iceland's interior and the East and West Fjords as well as Tröllaskagi may be a bit more challenging.

Generally eruptions in Iceland although very powerful are gentle in the way they tend to be non explosive.

Fortunately we are often free to explore these spectacles at our own risk.   Scientist try to give guidance to people and the authorities.

The last eruption was on Reykjanes in 2021 at a spot that had not erupted for 6000 years.   There were other eruptions on Reykjanes some 800 years ago.  Scientist believe that the area may witness more regular eruptions for the time being.

In 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption took place that was world famous because it disrupted flights between North America and Europe.

In the 17th century the eruption of Lakagígar brought so much ash into the Atmosphere that it affected the crops in Europe  and Alaska the following years and lead to the French revolution.  

A lot of volcanos have showed signs of life recently and might erupt in the coming years including, Grimsvotn, Askja, Herdubreid and Hekla.

The types of land species are much fewer than elsewhere.   But that is countered by an abundance of birds, some sea mammals and how wild the domestic animals live.

We think people are mislead when buying something labeled as bio.  We think it is more important that the animals from which products are made live a happy life.  The Icelandic sheep is free to roam the country during summer and are thus not held within fences like in most other pats of the world.

Stay at the Northern Lights Casa

Þingvellir is a nice place to visit for many reasons.

It is a beautiful place.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It is the first National Park created in Iceland.

It is the place where the European and American Tectonic plates meet.  There is a canyon you can walk through.  On the west side of the Canyon you are in America and on the east side you are in Europe.

It is the site of the oldest parliament in the world, established in the year 930.  Do not expect to see some clear monuments but rather just imagine how it would have been to ride to this place from all over Iceland, tent and discuss politics.  The site of the parliament is now marked by a flagpole.

Four hundred meters to the south used to be Hotel Valhöll (Valhalla), a hotel frequented by everyone and not least foreign dignitaries, Kings, Queens and presidents.  The hotel burned down on the 10 of July 2009 from a fire that originated in the kitchen vent.

Two hundred meters further south was the summer house of the Prime Minister of Iceland, he, his wife and grandchild were killed when the house burned down 10 July 1970.   The source of the fire is unknown.  

There is a beautiful waterfall called Oxarárfoss.  The waterfall was created by the Vikings by diverting the flow of the river towards the canyon.  Inside the canyon just above the bridge is a bulge in the river that was later used for executions of women, executions of men was by decapitation.  Iceland was among the first countries to cease death sentences in the year 1830.

On the other side of the river than the Parliament used to be are water filled canyons that are loved by divers.  The water is incredibly clear and blue.

Most people park by the viewpoint and walk down the Canyon.  For a more romantic experience we recommend you drive to the next parking lot if you are driving from Reykjavik and walk down a tranquil canyon to the waterfall and if you like beyond.

The lava of the valley is 9000 years old. The height of the valley has gone up and down, depending on the pressure of the magma below.  At the end of the last Ice Age about 14000 years ago more magma flowed under the country and especially underneath the volcanic plate boundaries, which caused the canyons to form.  During an earthquake in the year 1789 the whole valley fell by 60 cm.

Geysir is the first geyser that was given a name.

This is how a geyser works.  There is a hollow cavity underneath the geyser that fills up with hot water from below and the run off from the last eruption above.   The water is above 100 degrees but because of pressure it does not turn to steam but remains in a liquid (water) state until some water manages to escape from the cavity.  At that point the pressure drops triggering an action where the part of the liquid that is kept liquid only by the pressure takes on the gaseous form which requires 1600 times more space and hence the explosion. 

In Reykjavik next to Perlan  a man made natural replica of a geyser has been made using geothermal water. 

Something has changed so Geysir does not readily erupt.  Instead we witness its neighbor Strokkur erupting, a scene worth seeing.   Taking pictures of the water swelling and then bursting can be fun.

A very nice waterfall conveniently located a bit further than the Geysir area.  The Golden circle route gets its name from this waterfall.

A city that is bigger than its population.  Being the capital of a country in the middle of nowhere by necessity it has to offer more services than a typical city with the same population and catchment. 

It is a lovely city but the main attraction of Iceland is the nature and not the city.

If you are staying in Reykjavik and you ask at a concierge desk what to do, they most likely will recommend getting out of the city.

So think about whether you want to stay there in the first place.   

However if you intend to use tour buses for tours to discover the nature than Reykjavik is good as a lot of tours originate from Reykjavik.

Downtown Reykjavik is the location of nightlife, a lot of restaurants and souvenir shops.

The locals on the other hand tend to shop in malls such as Kringlan and Smáralind or in supermarkets like Hagkaup, Krónan and Bónus.

A geothermal power station was raised on the Reykjanes peninsula between Keflavik Airport and Reykjavik.  It is a geothermal power station that both generates electricity and supplies hot water directly to homes in the area, including Keflavík and Grindavík.  The water coming out of the boreholes is too rich in minerals to be pumped directly to homes therefore the hot water while it is really hot is used to heat cold water that can be pumped into the radiator systems of houses.  Once the water is no longer hot but just warm it was simply allowed to run into the lava next to the geothermal plant.  The water was expected to disappear directly into the porous lava rock, but because the water is so mineral rich a layer soon developed that held the water and a lagoon developed.   The lagoon was fenced of but soon people started to clime over the fence especially at night and enjoy sitting in the warm water and having a good time.  People with Psoriasis soon discovered that the water had some healing properties so they were the first to get a permission to build some rudimentary changing facilities.  Since then the site has constantly developed to become one of Iceland's main tourists attraction.   Over the years the experience has totally changed and has become much more commercial, but still very special.  In the early days the area where the water comes out of the geothermal plant was fanced of from the bathing area.  But one could still clime over and enjoy sitting and playing where crystal formation formed.   

What makes it so appealing.  The lake is a very special radiant blue, so even if you do not see the lagoon directly you see the blue radiate from the water.

The lagoon has a dirty little secret which you can not see because you can't see through the water.   Enjoy  

Most houses in Iceland are heated directly by geothermal energy.  Basically hot water from the ground that is pumped into the radiators of houses or if the hot water is too full of chemicals it is used to heat cold water that is used instead.  Even when cold water is used a little bit of sulfur is mixed with it to prevent oxidation of the pluming, so expect a little bit of a rotten egg smell from the hot water.

There are different glaciers to choose from including:

Snæfellsjökull

Langjökull

Sólheimajökull

Not far from Skogarfoss is Seljalandsfoss.   In the mountains above is Eyjafjallajökull the volcano that erupted in March 2010 spewing ash so high in the air that it disrupted atlantic flights at the time.  Flights to Iceland were though always possible.

It is nice to have the rock formations as a backdrop.  But is just one of a lot of black beaches in Iceland.  

The other beaches may be nicer for two reasons.

They may be less dangerous.  The incline of the see is quite steep on this beach so if a wave catches you that might be the end of the world.  

It is the most popular beach so you will loose out on the tranquility that you may experience elsewhere.

Close to this beach is Dyrholaey a semi-island with a door like hole going through it, a lighthouse and a view.

There used to be a geothermal run off lake from the geothermal powerplant where it was nice to go skinny dipping.  This has been replaced by Jarðböðin a commercial lagoon similar to the Blue Lagoon