Travel
From speeding over black sand beaches to walking behind waterfalls, descending into volcanoes, hiking on glaciers or driving across the wild Highlands: read about our Iceland travels within.
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Poetry, Swims & Sunsets: Ragnheiður Harpa’s Perfect Day in Reykjavík
Ragnheiður Harpa is an artist, musician and poet. She was recently published in an Icelandic-language book with four other poets that has gained notable attention. The book is called “Ég er fagnaðarsöngur,” or “I am a song of celebration,” in English. Here’s…
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Into Dust: A Road Trip To The Infamous Kárahnjúkar Dam
Iceland’s wild Highland interior is a mysterious place. For a large part of the year it’s completely off limits unless you have a snowmobile, a specially modified Jeep, or some cross-country skis, plus a lifetime of experience and a sense of adventure.…
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Art, Fischer, Dancing, & Atlas The Dog: Lilja Birgisdóttir’s Perfect Day In Reykjavík
Lilja Birgisdóttir is an Icelandic artist, which means an all around “þúsundþjalasmiður” (“jack of all trades”). She’s part of the Kling & Bang gallery, and a photographer, designer, choir member and, more recently, a store owner at Fischer. Here’s how she’d spend…
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Alice in Beerland: An Adventure At The Icelandic Beer Baths
When word got out that a new beer spa had opened in the North of Iceland, people had very strong opinions about it. We mostly had questions. Do you get drunk if you lie in it long enough? Does it have any…
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Town Guide: The Tranquil Coastal Sanctuary Of Hellnar
The little village of Hellnar used to be a major port of call and the busiest centre of fishing in Snæfellsnes. While it is less industrious nowadays, it has since grown into a mecca of peaceful picturesque beauty. With perhaps the best…
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The Big Earth: Exploring The Giant Stones Of Stórurð
“Stórurð” is a tricky word to translate. The “Stór” part is easy enough, meaning “big.” “Urð,” at first glance, seems to mean “earth”—but that’s the similar-sounding “jörð.” It turns out that “urð” is a word specific to Icelandic, with no direct translation.…
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Two Minutes At Glymur, One Of Iceland’s Highest Waterfalls
Glymur Canyon, Iceland’s own little slice of Mordor, used to be fairly inaccessible. However, the west side has at long last been opened for tourists again, meaning you can come experience the magic for yourself. Until you do, enjoy two minutes of…
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One Day In The Þórsmörk Dimension: A Wild Valley Behind Eyjafjallajökull
Living in Reykjavík, it’s quite easy to get caught up in the routine of city life, and forget that this town is just a tiny dot on a coast of an island that’s full of monumental nature. Iceland’s vast and beautiful wilderness…
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A Road Trip To The Weird & Wonderful Samúel Jónsson Museum
It’s a surprising sight, after driving the snowed-in mountain passes and grey, rocky coastline of the southern Westfjords, to round a tight corner on an obscure coastal dirt road and see a vast pink sand beach sprawling towards the horizon. Violent blue…
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Town Guide: Amazing Nature In Tálknafjörður, A Peaceful Westfjords Hideaway
The tiny town of Tálknafjörður sits tucked away in the fjord of the same name, just off Route 63. It’s an extremely peaceful place, where the steely ocean is surrounded by towering and distinctively Westfjordian flat-topped mountains. The fjord is dotted with…
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Perfect Day: Motorcycles, Vaping And Contemporary Art With Erling T.V. Klingenberg
Erling T.V. Klingenberg is a visual artist, motorcyclist and a founding member of the Kling & Bang gallery and art collective. Visit Kling & Bang in The Marshall House at Grandagarður 20. First thing The best thing for starting the day is…
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The North Iceland Pentathlon: Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads
In 1871, the famed poet and socialist William Morris decided to leave London behind for what the English then considered simply ‘the edge of the map.’ Morris and a few comrades packed their bags, caught a train, and set out for Iceland.…
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Town Guide: Ostapizza And Waterfalls In Kirkjubaejarklaustur
Tucked away from the shores of the south coast, the tiny village of Kirkjubaejarklaustur rests beneath a rocky belt of flat mountains, surrounded by flourishing trees and a handful of farms. Although it’s located on the Ring Road, Kirkjubaejarklaustur has never quite gained the status of…
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Perfect Day: Squats, Death Drops, Gains & Glamour With Deff Starr
Neville J. Ingley is better known as Deff Starr, one of the most prolific queens of Reykjavík’s thriving drag scene. Here’s how he’d spend a perfect day in Reykjavík. For breakfast I usually start my morning with a cigarette and sitting on…
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Another Iceland: Spring Snowstorms In The Wild Westfjords
Around 200 kilometres from Reykjavík, somewhere near Kleifar on Route 60, the rolling landscape of western Iceland starts to change. After speeding through the hopeful springtime farmland of Borgarfjörður and Hvammsfjörður and over the Gilsfjörður land bridge, the green-tinged land fades into…
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Down To Middle Earth: Exhilaration & Relaxation At Midgard Base Camp
Off a newly demarcated dirt road—literally off the beaten path—one finds themselves at a curious location that combines the sheer idyllic beauty of the southern countryside with rural industrial grit. Set inside a former mechanics warehouse and garage, Midgard Adventures and Base…
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Bakkagerði Town Guide: Mountain Views & An Elf City In Borgarfjörður Eystri
Borgarfjörður Eystri is home to Bakkagerði, the remote town of around 100 people that’s well-known for it’s hiking routes and beautiful nature. The road there is a dramatic and precipitous drive over an unpaved mountain pass that loops around some sheer cliffs…
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Selma Reynisdóttir’s Perfect Day In Reykjavík
Selma Reynisdóttir is a dancer and a member of the REAL Dance Collective. Here’s how she’d spend her perfect day in Reykjavík. First thing I have the best roomie in the history of roomies (the award-winning Kristlín Dís Ólafsdóttir). So the first…
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Grey Stone And The Red Peninsula: Hiking In Northeast Iceland
Route 85 turns suddenly from tarmac to gravel somewhere around Þórshöfn. We trundle over the dusty track that connects the northeastern corner of Iceland with the Ring Road, which we left some 140 kilometres ago. To the east, the Langsnes peninsula rolls…
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A Snæfellsnes Road Trip From The Sea To The Sky
Snæfellsnes is oft called the “Iceland in miniature,” a name that refers to the fact that a day trip there affords visitors most of the natural phenomena that Iceland is famous for. There are black sand beaches, geothermal hot pools, a glacier,…
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Swimming, Songwriting, Snacking: Unnsteinn Manuel’s Perfect Day In Reykjavík
Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson is a musician and TV personality who rose to fame as the frontman of Retro Stefson. He was also a judge on the Icelandic version of ‘The Voice.’ Here’s how he’d spend his perfect day in Reykjavík. First thing…
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Town Guide: Arts, Crafts & Organic Produce In Egilsstaðir
Iceland’s eastern capital of Egilsstaðir is an administrative and travel hub for the area, situated directly on Route One. There’s a domestic airport that’s a convenient and often picturesque one-hour flight from Reykjavík, and the town also sits right on the shore…
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Memoirs Of A Spring Breaker, Or How To Catch Feelings For Reykjavík
Spring has come to Reykjavík, and with it spring breakers: a seasonal phenomenon as invasive as lupine and ineluctable as allergies. When I came here on my own university holiday, I planned to follow the Iceland-lite itinerary that most of us spring…