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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A Quick Trip Back In Time
The Settlement Exhibition recaps the history of Reykjavík It’s no secret to any visitor to Reykjavík who has ever solicited my advice that I love the Settlement Exhibition. I’ve taken visiting family and friends there, and pop in regularly with my Reykjavík…
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When The Road Calls Again
Chasing spring through the winding roads of Hvalfjörður Oh, that first sunny day after weeks of grey skies and gloom. The one where the sky turns a crisp, cloudless blue, the sun finally breaks through, and the whole world feels just a…
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The Joy Of The Tölt
Experiencing the Icelandic horse in a uniquely Icelandic landscape The sky was up for the occasion when my companions and I headed due east in early November, leaving the familiarity of Miðbær behind in favour of the steaming hillsides of Hveragerði. An…
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A First-Timer’s Journey To The Faroe Islands
Weird, windy and wonderful — the Faroes are perfect for exploring without a plan No matter how hard you try not to compare a country you’re visiting to what you already know, it’s inevitable that comparisons creep up. When I spontaneously ended…
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Touching Moss: Easy Day-Tripping From Reykjavík
Shake off your Airwaves hangover with a day trip that avoids the crowds Whenever Iceland Airwaves blows into town, it’s a certainty that people from all over the world will be riding that same breeze. It’s always an interesting time of year…
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Scraping Tradition: Skrapt Festival Celebrates Underground
My plane makes a swift turn and the clouds part, offering a first glimpse of the unknown land. A rough ocean stretches below, with islands scattered across its surface — tiny, rugged, dramatic peaks covered in emerald green despite the date on…
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Adventure And Bird Conservation On (Not) Björk Island
The study of seabirds takes a team of researchers to the loneliest house in the world While puffins are practically the symbol of Vestmannaeyjar, petrels (a small species of sea birds in the same family as the larger albatross) are much more…
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A Do-Over Decades In The Making: A Music Writer Treks The Laugavegur Trail
The Laugavegur trail is so good I tackled it twice The noises were unlike anything I had heard before. An inhuman blend of wailing and whimpering, growling and grunting, mixed in with some incoherent yelps and trumpeting farts — the kind of…
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The Old Ways: A Road Trip Along The Historied Southwest Coast
When people talk about road tripping along the south coast, they’re most often referring to a certain dramatic stretch of Route One. You probably know which one. It starts at the slender torrent of Seljalandsfoss, and from there it’s a solid 300km of…
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Don’t Go To The Volcano, Because You Might Die
It has escaped no one’s attention that yet another eruption is taking place on the Reykjanes peninsula. Just like the other four eruptions this year, this one is closed to visitors. I’ll say this again: The area has been closed off by…
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A Day Trip To Hveragerði, Southwest Iceland’s Garden Oasis
The road to Hveragerði is like a miniature tour of Iceland’s topography. Passing the broken red rocks of the Rauðhólar craters that mark the edge of Greater Reykjavík, the route streaks through some low pine woods dotted with cabins, emerging onto a…
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Three Little Reindeer: Visiting East Iceland’s Magical Reindeer Park
The thing I really loved about believing in Santa Claus was the idea that reindeer would land on our roof. It didn’t matter that our fireplace was non-functional and hidden behind furniture, when my mom would rattle those jingle bells at midnight,…
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Lesser Known Falls: A Short Hike To Helgufoss
The valley of Mosfellsdalur is a 20 kilometre stretch of rolling farmland that sits just beyond the edge of Reykjavík. Many visitors pass through it each day without stopping, bound for more crowded, well-known sites like Þingvellir or the Golden Circle. But…
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Home On The Rangá: Friðrik Pálsson’s Oasis Of Countryside Luxury
Hotel Rangá is one of southern Iceland’s travel institutions. Located in the southwest near the small town of Hella, it opened in 1999, and has developed a reputation for luxurious countryside stays on the shores of the Rangá river. The hotel sits…
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The Good’Ol Golden Circle: Taking another spin on the classic travel route
Whether you live in Iceland, you’ve visited Iceland before, or you’re simply Googled “Iceland” in anticipation of one day travelling here, the probability is high that you’ve heard of the Golden Circle. The circuitous route just a stone’s throw from the capital…
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The Miniature Mountain: Hiking Up Úlfarsfell
The number 15 bus roars away and I’m suddenly alone. To the north, Mount Esja rears up over the choppy ocean waves, still streaked with snow just a month from midsummer. Closer, it’s a less romantic view: a car park, a strip…
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The Stuff That Powers Iceland
An educational visit to a power plant is just what you need “What’s that smoke?” is a common question pondered aloud by many a visitor to Iceland. White clouds emanating from otherwise barren expanses of lava stone and moss are eye-catching to…
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Driving Down A Road To Nowhere
Taking the high road to a curious backwater of the Reykjanes peninsula Reykjanesbraut is one of the most well-travelled roads in Iceland. It’s a straight shot that slices through the windblown stretch of lava between greater Reykjavík and the international airport in…
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A Place To Play And Learn
Chronicles of Earth at Kópavogur’s Natural History Museum is hands-on and exciting Over the past few years, articles in the Grapevine and elsewhere have drawn attention to how criminally-overlooked Hamraborg is. This area of Kópavogur, which boasts the Gerðarsafn art museum, Salurinn…
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Round And Round We Go
The Reykjavík Wheel has arrived and we have thoughts It was back in 2017 that the idea of a ferris wheel being constructed in Reykjavík was first floating around. At that time, London-based Icelandic designer Marta Jonsson proposed that a massive ferris…
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Charged For Adventure
“Hey, Tesla, take me to the Westfjords.” There are two types of people — those who love camping and those who don’t. Thinking about these polar opposites, I always recall a New Girl episode where Schmidt exclaims, “Camping?” to which Winston adds,…
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Chasing Birds In The Snow
In Flateyri, birdwatching is done a bit differently It’s Easter break and I see photos of friends around the world wearing dresses and enjoying picnics. But here in this tiny village in the Westfjords, this March day feels like being trapped in…
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Walking Through A Phallic Wonderland
It’s all about the dicks at Iceland’s weirdest and wildest museum How does one measure distances in different places around the world? In some places, it’s as simple as kilometres or miles. Or maybe by minutes, or proximity to landmarks or by…