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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The Winter Outback: A Christmas Feast At Úlfljótsvatn
Tucked away in a lake-strewn tract of land between Route One South and the Golden Circle lies a rural municipality known as Grímsnes og Grafningshreppur. In the summer, it’s easily accessible from Reykjavík by a network of little-used back roads that pass…
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Dalvík Town Guide: Hiking, Heli-skiing & Bathing In Beer
Tucked away in a picturesque bay on the west side of Eyjafjörður, Dalvík is surprisingly lively for a 1400-strong municipality. The town’s surrounding attractions are accessible all year round, but it’s especially beautiful during autumn, when rich reds and burnt oranges dot…
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Kaspars Bekeris’s Perfect Day In Reykjavík: Cake, Drag, Dancing
Reykjavík-based photographer Kaspars Bekeris has worked as a TV reporter and a writer in various media for more than ten years. He started making documentary photographs to accompany his own stories, and for the last nine months has become known for his…
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Allie Doersch’s Perfect Day in Reykjavík: Tea, Stick ‘n’ Pokes, Mario Kart
Allie Doersch is an artist, and the raging punk frontwoman of the band Tófa. She shared with us her perfect day, which starts with cats and ends with schadenfreude. First thing It‘s Saturday. After my cats, Mjágústa and Voffi Pizza Kistján, wake…
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The Old School: A Getaway In Þingvellir And Laugarvatn
Autumn is possibly the shortest season in Iceland, but it’s also one of the most beautiful. As we drive north out of Reykjavík and turn off Route One towards the small town of Laugarvatn, the afternoon sunlight catches the yellow and copper…
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The Countryside Cavalry: Horseback Riding Through Lava Fields
You’re never too old to yell “HORSES!” when you spot them from a car in the countryside. For me, it’s one thing to admire Icelandic horses from afar. Riding them, however, is a whole different story. I’ve never been on a horse…
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Colm O’Herlihy’s Perfect Day In Reykjavík
Colm O’Herlihy is an Irishman living in Iceland, working as the manager of two top labels, Bedroom Community & Mengi Records. He’s often to be seen buzzing around downtown, typing away in the bars, venues and cafés of 101. Here he shares…
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Land’s End: The Villages, Cliffs & Windswept Islands Of Skagafjörður
We’re just north of Bifröst when the night falls hard. After a blustery three hour road trip up the western coast of Iceland, the richly coloured autumn landscape is plunged into an eerie, enveloping darkness. Without the comfort of highway lamps, distant…
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Hveragerði Town Guide: Local Beer & Geothermal Bathing
Hveragerði is the first town people pass through when they drive south from Reykjavík towards the natural wonders of the country’s southern coast. Thousands of people trundle through every day, but few venture beyond the roadside gas stations and long terraces of…
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Reykjahlíð Town Guide: Nature Hikes, Plane Rides And Cows
Tucked away on the shores of Lake Mývatn lies the tiny village of Reykjahlíð, an unassuming, no-frills place that’s home to only 300 inhabitants. It has a sleepy charm that requires you to slow down, take a few deep breaths, and just…
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Jóhanna Guðrún’s Perfect Day In Reykjavík
Jóhanna Guðrún is an Icelandic pop singer best known for her iconic 2008 Eurovision song ‘Is It True?’ To learn more about her, we sat down with the Hafnarfjörður resident to talk about her perfect day. If you relate to the musician,…
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Another World: The Bizarre, Beautiful Landscapes Of Lake Mývatn
It’s raining as myself and my road trip partner set off on our six hour jaunt to Mývatn, in northern Iceland. It’s a dreamy area, punctuated by steamy hot springs, caves, and brusque lava fields, which sprawl around the shore of one…
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Into The Smoky Valley: An Autumn Hike To Reykjadalur
The bus to Hveragerði rumbles to life in Mjódd bus station, gliding out into the sparse mid-afternoon traffic and cruising quickly through the outskirts of Reykjavík. The tree-lined streets quickly give way to red craters and wide lava plains, their mossy crags…
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Over Blue Ice: A Day Spent Hiking And Climbing On Sólheimajökull Glacier
Gripping my axes tightly, I kick the ice as hard as I can, until the spike on my boot finally pierces the wall. I do the same with my other foot, but it skims the surface and I lose my balance, dangling…
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Of Black Sands And Fiery Glaciers: Getting Lost In Skaftafell
For all the beautiful waterfalls and breathtaking landscapes Iceland has to offer, sometimes driving through flat wastes of sand and grass doesn’t make for the most exciting of road trips. As we sit in the car and wait to reach our hotel…
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Óli Dóri’s Perfect Day In Reykjavík
Óli Dóri is a Grapevine music columnist a downtown DJ. He’s operations manager at Bíó Paradís and a host of the Straumur radio show on x97. Read his Straumur columns here. First thing in the morning? I wake up around 9:30, and…
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Hafnarfjörður Town Guide: Herbs, Huldfólk And Home Cooking
Although it’s attached to the Greater Reykjavík area, the seaside town Hafnarfjörður is a separate municipality from Iceland’s capital, with a personality all its own. Hafnarfjörður has a small-town feeling that’s long gone from Reykjavík’s puffin shop-infested central strip—with bakeries, independent shops,…
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Sturla Viðar Jakobsson’s Perfect Day In Reykjavík
Sturla Viðar Jakobsson is the leader of infamous black metal band Svartidauði. Here’s his perfect Reykjavík day. First thing in the morning? On my perfect day, I don’t get up because I have long since evolved past the biological need for sleep.…
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Pitch Black: Caving In A Lava Tube
The Raufarhólshellir lava tube, located in south Iceland, has colourful pitted walls and is rich with jagged, iridescent, glimmering rocks. One of the largest lava caves in Iceland, Raufarhólshellir is the among the most popular caves to visit, mainly due to its…
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Benjamin Hardman: Iceland Behind The Shutter
Young, talented photographers are taking the Icelandic tourism industry by storm with a series of individualised workshops that take travellers to the most uncontaminated spots in the land. Icelanders are slowly getting used to the idea of temporarily sharing their country with…
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Heimaey Town Guide: Fine Dining And A Living Landscape
Vestmannaeyjar—or the Westman Islands—are one of Iceland’s most dramatic spots. Accessible daily by plane or ferry, this tiny volcanic archipelago of eleven islands—and some smaller islets—is home to just one town, located on the main island of Heimaey. The twin volcanoes of…
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Alone In The Wild: A Highland Getaway At Kerlingarfjöll
The journey to the highlands mountain resort of Kerlingarfjöll starts early, on a grey and rain-spattered late summer morning. At the crowded BSÍ bus terminal, travellers yawn as they wait in line, their waterproof rucksacks lined up neatly beside them. As usual,…
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Weed, Hunting & Suicidal Ptarmigans: Hitchhiking In The Northeast Is Crazy
I used to hitchhike around Iceland fairly frequently. I’ve circled the Ring Road by thumb three times, and have traveled to various destinations this way. None of the trips I have taken can, or likely will ever, compare to what I experienced…