Couples trip to Iceland for the weekend… ON THE CHEAP!!!
John has been lucky enough to now head to Iceland on 3 separate occasions with school, Martina, however, has not been so lucky so in Jan 2019 they conceived a plan to head to Iceland for a short trip to the island. But I can hear you now…I would love to head to Iceland, it looks great but it costs so much. In fact, if you live in Europe a cheap weekend getaway to Iceland is easily done and although you won’t be able to explore all the wondrous sites it has to offer you can grab a few highlights and if you are lucky you might catch the northern lights all for approximately £300.
Firstly the flights. We flew with Easyjet from London Luton airport with this being the bulk of our costs for the weekend at £65 each return. The flight took off at 6 am Saturday morning (landing at 8 am) saving us a nights accommodation and returned at 8pm Sunday evening arriving at around 10.30pm, again saving us another night accommodation only having to find a bed for Saturday night. One of the down sides to teaching is that you can’t take Fridays or Mondays off (but we get great holidays 🙂 ) so weekend trips have to be short and it can still give us plenty of time to catch some highlights.
When we arrived it was still dark as in January the sun does not raise till after 9am but it had just started snowing. We jumped on the car hire shuttle bus that then dropped us off 10 minutes later at Alamo car Hire where we had pre-rented online a small mini car (studded wheels as standard) for just £68 . We were pleasantly surprised when in fact the car hire did not have minis and we were upgraded to a saloon with heated seats which is something Martina particularly enjoyed.
We had breakfast already (brought from home on the plane) and also had packed a lunch picnic so we jumped in the car and drove off into the snow as the sun came up and revealed Iceland winter moonscape scenery.
We firstly drove on the loop around the Reykjanes Peninsula. The road was not busy and we had also brought our own satnav with the maps downloaded so it was super easy to drive around. We just made sure we kept it slow and safe as the roads in Iceland are notoriously dangerous due to the winds, ice and by the fact if you come off the road you are hitting rocks or going off a cliff. Our first stop was the Bridge of Two Continents which is where you can walk on a bridge from the North American tectonic plate to the Eurasian plate and back again . You are also able to climb down into the rift created between the two and explore the area around which is pretty spectacular when you consider that the earth’s surface is being ripped apart by the tectonic processes taking place not that far under your feet. The bridge is just off the road and there is a little free car park and its then a short walk up the hill to the bridge.
We jumped back in the car and headed a further 10 minutes down the road to Gunnuhver hot spring and geothermal area which in the cold air creates a huge mass of steam with a raucous background noise of a jet engine as the earth spits out hot steam. If you hadn’t smelt it yet then you will definitely get your nostrils stung by the potent smell of the sulphurous egg that the earth creates. Don’t worry you get used to it quite quick and don’t realise it in the air after a few hours 🙂 Again there is parking but we had to drive a little further off the main road on a gravel road to get to the parking just next to the walk way that takes you round the area.
We continued our slow drive through the grey white landscape in awe of the towering volcanic features that protrude out of the ground. We headed along the south coast looking out into the rough seas of the north Atlantic. In an ideal world we would have liked to driven down to Vik and Reynisfjara Beach as it is spectacular but in the short time we had it can’t be done. We stopped at Brimketill lava rock pool which is basically a viewpoint over the cliffs in to the sea with the waves being so large that every so often we would get splashed by the huge swell that was pounding against the cliffs.
Our next stop was to (according to the National Geographic) one of the wonders of the world, The Blue Lagoon . We continued our drive east where the lagoon can be found just a few km north of the village of Grindavik. John has been fortunate enough to experience this 3 times with school, and he says “yer its ok but it is just a nice spa”. Maybe its a male thing but again this was not something that was in our budget for this trip so we had a quick look, took a few selfies and headed off north towards Reykjavik.
We continued back along the coastal road (427) for 23 km until we came a left turn for road 42 towards Reykjavik. This road firstly took us to the Seltún Geothermal Area. An active area of bubbling mud and hot springs, again there is a free car park and toilets and the boardwalk up through the active area is right there next to the car park.
The road then continues north past a spectacular lake called Kleifarvatn where the road hugs the western shoreline and the view is spectacular as you have the lake in the foreground and the beautiful volcanic mountains across the lake to the east. We had to make sure we took it easy here in the car as the road was icy and is gravel in places so it is easy to slip off and have a nasty accident. There is a perfect place to stop for a few photos and to take in the view.
It had been a long day but it was not over yet. We continued on the road towards Reykjavik arriving at our hostel in the early evening. Again hotels and accommodation are expensive in Iceland so we needed to be savvy with where we were staying to keep the costs down. We managed to find (on booking.com) a decent deal where we got a dbl room with a shared bathroom at the Central Guesthouse Reykjavik for £65. It was perfectly located in the center of town right next to the central lake Tjörnin. It was a nice room, but our stay was slightly spoiled by a group of other European tourists spending the night we assume drinking, slamming doors and then standing outside our room window smoking and shouting. That’s what you get sometimes when you stay at budget and if it had not been for that the place would have been perfect.
Another reason we chose this guest house was to not just save money on the room but also dinner as we had also packed two microwave meals from Sainsburys. It would have been lovely to have gone out and have dinner on the town but it would have seriously risen our costs and made the trip less affordable.
After an early dinner we headed out into Reykjavik, however we did not really go out for the sites (that was for another trip) but went to find an Icelandic swimming pool, or to everyone else outdoor hot tubs and pool. We took a 20 min walk and arrived at Vesturbæjarlaug pool and got our spa experience at a fraction of the price (1030 kr. £5.50) compared to the Blue Lagoon (6990 kr. £40). There are hot tubs of different temperatures, steam rooms and a pool all heated by the earth.
That night Martina was convinced we would see the northern lights (the forecast was showing a low chance), so we work up at 3am jumped in the car and drove down to the edge of Reykjavik airport were their was little light pollution. After waiting about an hour and about to give up a slight glimmer appeared on the horizon, not the spectacular lights we have all seen pictures of but the northern lights nonetheless… tick (kinda).
That morning we woke up early, had breakfast (packed croissants) and headed back on the road again, this time heading north with the aim of getting to Hraunfossar waterfalls and back again for our return flight. Again the journey and the road were picturesque with the snow covered fields and mountains standing out against the oranges and reds as the morning sun started to rise.
We took a little detour on the way as Martina had read about this great little church that overlooked a lake so we took a turn off the main highway and drove for about 30 minutes along an icy road till we arrived at the church called Hallgrímskirkja Saurbæ. One thing that strikes you when you are in Iceland is the wilderness and how unpopulated it is. Arriving at the church it was just us and the sunrise over the lake behind the church. It was a beautiful location and well worth the detour as we took out time taking in the view and and enjoying the tranquility and silence of the wilderness.
Back on the road we headed back where we came from and then north along the main road (1) we came across a strange and smelly sight. A traditional food in Iceland is dried fish and we passed quite a few areas were they were drying cod. The smell was pungent but it was quite interesting to walk around the racks of fish lined up and drying.
After about 2 hrs of slow driving we arrived at Hraunfossar. It is not your typical spectacular waterfall like the big hitters of southern iceland such as Skógafoss or Gullfoss but it is striking with is blue glacial melt water and well worth a visit in its own right. The water seems to come out of the cliff like a huge spring almost appearing from nowhere.
Just a short walk up from the viewing platforms for Hraunfossar is a second waterfall which is more like a gorge or series of rapids called Barnafoss. This waterfall is well known in Icelandic folk law including a story about two brothers who drowned at the falls and the curse put on the falls by the mother of these two boys. There is quite a cool boardwalk and series of bridges which you can follow around and over the falls, but we had to take care as the spray from the falls makes in incredibly slippery in the middle of winter.
Heading back on the road to Keflavík and our flight in the evening we again followed the coastal road and continued to have our mind blown by the rugged beauty of the Icelandic landscape. Every road you turn gives you a different view and it is a sight you can’t take your eyes off. As we headed back we took one last stop, as the sun set at Akranesviti lighthouse and Old Akranes Lighthouse. It was a perfect end to the short but very busy trip while we watched the sun slowly set into the cold atlantic ocean.
Family Russell-Smith Travel 