17 days in the wilds of Iceland
We have already made two previous trips to Iceland over the past 10 years. For our third trip, we decided to explore the West Fjords and spend more time in the Highlands for a few days, as we love this region, before returning via the south.
The initial plan was to go for 15 days, but to also enjoy a bit of the south, we eventually added 2 more days to our original itinerary, making it a 17-day road trip for 2024, from July 28th to August 13th.
- The first part, about a week, in the West Fjords
- The second in the Highlands
- The third, a few days, on the southern coast
Here is a rough outline of the route we took. The idea was not to spend too much time at tourist sites, as we are already familiar with most of them.
As for transportation, we departed from Geneva via Icelandair and chose an Old Model Duster 4x4 from Blue Car Rental to save some money. On this route, we planned to cross a few rivers, none of which are known to be particularly challenging. Here are some of the tracks we took: F208, F210, F235, F225...
For our first visit to Þórsmörk, we played it safe and opted for a bus tour via Reykjavik Excursion from Hella. (Spoiler alert: given the river's flow, we made the right choice...)
Arriving in Iceland
The weather is rather nice upon our arrival in Iceland, with a temperature of 12°C, which is a welcome change from the 36°C heatwave in Geneva! The Icelandair flight was on time, and once we retrieved our luggage, we picked up our vehicle from BCR, just 200 meters from the airport exit.
The last time we visited, there was quite a queue to pick up a vehicle at Blue Car Rental. That's all changed today, and with their pre-check-in system, we got the Duster in less than five minutes. Very convenient! We then headed to Reykjavik and our guesthouse located not far from Laugavegur, in the heart of the 101 district.
Once we dropped off our luggage, we headed to the old port for a walk in the capital and strolled along the famous Austurstræti and Laugavegur streets to find a restaurant. We stopped at Svarta Kaffið, a great spot where they serve traditional soups in bread at a very reasonable price for Iceland. They were delicious, so we highly recommend this restaurant!
After a drink at the American Bar on Austurstræti, we headed to bed, as a long day of driving awaited us tomorrow, heading towards the Vestfirðir.
