Keen to escape London’s wintery drizzle, the Fella and I packed our bags for a long weekend in Iceland. We hired a car and mixed self-catering with hotels to try to keep costs down.
The first stop was Borgarnes, 90 minutes north-west of Reykjavik. An administrative centre en route to the Snæfellsnes peninsula, Borgarnes is surrounded by jagged peaks and fjords of packed ice. The town itself is small but has a good supermarket (vital for self-caterers) and the rather lovely Settlement Centre. As well as exhibitions charting the colonisation of Iceland, the Centre explores the life of the Viking Egill Skallagrímsson, one of Iceland’s first poets. It also has an excellent restaurant. Try the plokkfiskur; a traditional dish of fish whipped in to creamy mashed potato. It’s delicious and warming, and it goes down a treat with a bottle of Gæðingur stout from Iceland’s north.
Photo: © The Fella
Where we stayed: Bjarg, a cosy self-catering cottage by the water on the outskirts of Borganes. That night we stood on the ice next to the fjord and watched the northern lights play over the nearby mountains. You’ve the option to pop to the farmhouse next door for breakfast, which I would recommend – tasty and great value.
What we paid: €94 for two people, including breakfast (€47 each)
Next morning we drove north through Grábrókarhraun‘s jaw-dropping lava floes to the extinct volcano Grábrók. It’s an easy half-hour climb to the wind-cracked peak, with great views over the 3,000-year-old lava field.
East of Grábrók are the side-by-side waterfalls of Barnafoss and Hraunfossar, just below the Langjökull glacier. Although they can’t compete with the mighty Gullfoss in terms of size, their sheer beauty makes them well worth a visit. At Hraunfossar the water seems to pour directly from the heart of a broad lava sweep, hollowing its way through tiny gaps in the rock. Just upstream, Barnafoss is even more dramatic, with the brilliant blue glacial river churning itself milky white as it thunders under rock arches. In summer there’s a small coffee kiosk nearby but out of season you’ll need to take your own provisions.
Photo: © The Fella
Turning south from the waterfalls, we made our way to our hotel at Nejsvellir in the Þingvellir National Park. The drive through the national park is stunning and one of the main draws of the hotel is that it’s the middle of nowhere – so you do need to eat there. Thankfully the food is extremely good and the atmosphere unstuffy despite the steep prices. Staff let you know when the northern lights have appeared so you can head outside to gawp. The hotel bar is well-stocked and stylish, with floor-to-ceiling windows to help you keep an eye on the sky.
Where we stayed: the Ion Adventure Hotel. From the outside the hotel is a bond-villain-style lair and inside it’s pure Nordic luxe. This was our big splurge and we thought it was well worth it, although I hear some others have had a few niggles. In the middle of the night we stood on the snowy terrace in the silence, miles from anywhere, and gazed up at an incomprehensible number of stars and the magical aurora borealis.
What we paid: €215 for two people, including breakfast (€170.50 each)
From the hotel it’s very easy to make your way round Iceland’s Golden Circle of attractions in single day – Gullfoss waterfall, the Geysir and Strokkur hot springs, and the continental rift valley beside the Alþingi, the site of Iceland’s parliament from the 10th to the 18th century. These are all well worth seeing, but can feel a little overcrowded after a few days spent in less touristy areas.
Driving in to Reykjavik from Þingvellir is another astonishing sequence of sights, only added to by a brief stop at a bonkers petrol station and coffee shop that’s completely given over to football memorabilia. Our table was laminated with posters of Stoke City players.
In Reykjavik we stayed in a little self-catering complex that was clean, quiet and had everything we needed. Handily it’s only a couple of roads away from the main street, although Reykjavik is so small you can easily walk everywhere. Other blogs have covered Reykjavik in great detail so I’ll just suggest you try the tiny Rwandan Kigali Kaffi coffee shop and leave it at that.
Where we stayed: we stayed in Apartment 1 (the studio) in the Grettisborg Apartments
What we paid: €91 for two people (€45.50 each)
As a last treat before leaving, we spent a few hours at the Blue Lagoon. This is the one experience I wouldn’t necessarily recommend. It’s expensive, busy and crammed full of people, although having a bar you can swim up to is pretty nifty.
For the final night we stayed near the Blue Lagoon and the airport, in Keflavik. Used to people keeping odd hours, the scrupulously clean Hotel Berg has a guest kitchen that’s constantly re-stocked so you can make a simple meal in the middle of the night if you need to. It also offers a hearty breakfast (at more normal breakfasting hours) and free transport to the airport on the day of your departure. We planned to get an early night in our big comfy bed but the northern lights were taking over the sky. Instead we passed our final hours in Iceland on the seashore, transfixed by the billowing curtains of green and yellow above us.
Where we stayed: Hotel Berg
What we paid: €89 for two people, including breakfast and airport transfer (€44.50 each)
Gonerby 