I went to Iceland with my family for a 13-day self-driving trip in 2023 November. Here’s our itinerary and my review of each of the spots we went to.

Day 1 Arrival and Northern Light

We arrived in Iceland today and went for a northern light cruise tour.

Arrival

The arrival procedure in Keflavik airport is minimal, just pick up your baggage and go, no need to have your passport checked at all.

We picked up our rental car Kia Sportage in Blue Car Rental, a 10-min walk away from the airport. We didn’t do an online check-in but the check-in process was still very fast. Finished it in 5 minutes and picked up the car ourselves, which was parked right beside the building. There were a couple of tiny holes around the license plate but the staff said those won’t be counted as damages (which turned out to be true). It’s still recommended to take some photos and videos of the damages first though to prevent any dispute.

During the 1-hour drive to our hotel, I got my first impression of Iceland, which was a really barren land. You could only see rocks and dirt. Reykjavik, the capital, was really just a small city without those beautiful European-style streets as well. Kind of like Taiwan to be honest, which was not a compliment. There were a lot of roundabouts though, and they took a long while to be accustomed to.

Northern Light Cruise ⭐️⭐️⭐️

We booked with Viator, but the tour is operated by Elding Whale Watching, so you can probably just book it with them directly. We drove to the parking space beside the tiny Elding Whale Watching ticket office. The check-in counter is located between the harbor and the boat, and the whole process is smooth.

The tour started at 9:00 pm and ended at 11:00 pm. For the first half an hour you can barely see any trace of aurora with your own eye, but with my Sony A6400 with 3.2s of exposure and an ISO of 1600+, it can be seen. Later on, the aurora went on a full berserk mode (relatively, and you can finally see the green northern lights with your own eyes from time to time. And to my surprise, you can get some nice photos with your phone as well

We were fortunate enough to be able to see some medium-strong auroras but it’s really not worth the effort. The lights you see with your own eyes are nothing like those you capture with your camera. It’s so dim. You’ll probably not notice them at all if you don’t look for them particularly.

Oddsson Hotel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

We stayed in this hotel for 3 days and it’s a perfect stay in the capital of Iceland.

The room including the bathroom is very nice. What surprised me was the completeness of the kitchen. There is a full set of kitchen and dining utensils including a stove, a pan, some knives, and tableware.

I also like the elegance of the self-check-in method. A few days before your stay, a message containing the room number, the code, and some additional information will be sent to you. When you arrive, all you need to do is drive to the garage, enter the code to get in a couple of doors and reach your room.

There are a couple of restaurants and a supermarket in walking distance as well.

The breakfast was very good, the most complete breakfast I had in the whole Iceland trip in fact. There are a couple of waffle machines for you to use aside from the English breakfast offerings.

My favorite hotel on this Iceland trip.

Meals

• breakfast: Emirates
• lunch: Emirates
• dinner: Chicken Hamburger & Rice @ Haninn Suðurlandsbraut ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Day 2 Volcano

We explored the Fagradalsfjall volcano area today.

Blue Lagoon

As regular tourists, we planned to visit Blue Lagoon. Blue Car sent me a soon-to-be volcano eruption around the area a day before, but I did not see any definitive news about it, only that a tour company suspended its tour to Blue Lagoon.

When we arrived at Blue Lagoon at noon, a staff was blocking the entrance. Turned out Blue Lagoon decided to close in the morning due to a large number of earthquakes at midnight. I checked my email and they did send me the notice at 7am. I really need to maintain the habit of checking email every morning even during traveling.

The staff told us about a short path around the area. Since there were no other things to do, we walked into the path, and it was beautiful. There’s a blue shallow lake there with white smoke on the surface and white salt on the beach. Really peculiar.

Fagradalsfjall Volcano ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Went to the volcano near Blue Lagoon despite the threat of eruption, and it turned out to be the best decision ever because the area including Grindavik, a nearby town, was closed and evacuated two days after.

Due to limited time, we only walked to the closest viewpoint, Natthagi, to see the lava of the 2021 eruption. The view along the path was breathtaking. If Broken Earth ever has a film or TV adaption, it should absolutely be shot there. The viewpoint itself was pretty underwhelming tho, just a plain of black rocks there.

On the return path, we noticed white smoke coming out from the lava, which added so much to the vibe because we all knew about the threat of volcano eruption. Super epic.

9/10. Love the feeling of wondering in the badlands.

Salatbarinn ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐⭐

We went to a buffet called Salatbarinn near our hotel for dinner. It’s close to 3000 ISK for each person, which is actually very cheap in Iceland for such a wonderful meal like this. I didn’t know that the price was considered low in Iceland at that time and I was wondering why there were so many families with kids and solo-diners there. Many people went there for take-outs only as well.

It might not have the variety of buffets in Taiwan but it was enough, and the food quality was good.

Meals

• breakfast: awesome breakfast at Oddsson Hotel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• lunch: breads @ Netto ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• dinner: buffet @ Salatbarinn ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Day 3 Langjokull Snowmobile

We explored a bit of the Golden Circle and joined a snowmobile tour today.

Golden Circle Roadtrip - Autumn

The roadtrip to Gulfoss is beautiful. Different from the barren dirt lands between Keflavik and Reykjavik, it’s a narrow road inside a huge grass field with many sheep around. Kind of like the scenery of some parts of Tibet really.

When we were returning from Gulfoss to Reykjavik at night, we spotted a peculiar scene: orange clouds deep in the horizon when it was already 6:30, about 2 hours after sunset.

As we drove, the orange clouds became closer and closer. We also saw other orange clouds in other directions, confirming it was not caused by the sun. Finally, we drove right below the orange clouds and saw this.

Apparently, it’s the reflection of the bright greenhouses in the clouds. Such an alien view.

Langjokull Snowmobile ⭐️⭐️⭐️

We booked with Troll, but the tour is operated by Mountaineers of Iceland. The journey started from a 40-min ride on a huge jeep-bus from Gulfoss parking to the base camp of Mountaineers of Iceland, where we put on the equipment, and finally to the Langjokull glacier itself.

The glacier was nothing like what I’d imagined. It was just some dirty snowy land really, not ice. There was a clear separation line between the brown and white lands, which looked really bizarre.

There were two routes available, one for a manmade ice cave and another for something that I didn’t understand. There were a lot of snowmobiles there, more than us, so everyone could ride one themself if they wanted.

It’s a bit underwhelming tbh. The average speed is 15-25 kmh, on an icy road, not snow, so it’s not particularly exciting to ride. You use your thumb for the acceleration. and your thumb becomes a bit sore after a while.

The road was narrow so the group was required to be in a line, making bottlenecks a huge problem. Though the speed was not high, there were bound to be some people who were not capable of keeping up the pace, thus diminishing the utility of those behind.

The man-made ice cave was just a deep (horizontally) rectangular cave, dug by a machine. You could see ice on the wall. That’s all. Really a very forced “attraction” if it can be counted as one.

Not bad but would not recommend it, especially when taking the high price into account. Not a highlight of this trip, and definitely not a one-of-a-lifetime experience.

Meals

• breakfast: awesome breakfast @ Oddsson Hotel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• lunch: simple ham & cheese croissant @ Gullfoss - Panorama Restaurant ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• dinner: simple toast @ Gullfoss - Panorama Restaurant ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Day 4 Golden Circle

We explored the Golden Circle and drove to the Mýrdalsjökull glacier area today.

Golden Circle Roadtrip - Winter

Same road with only one day apart, but two entirely different views. It rained at night in Reykjavik, and apparently it snowed in the Golden Circle area.

The green or black mountains and the golden grass fields yesterday suddenly became all white.

Lögberg, Thingvellir National Park ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When we got down it was snowing.

We walked through the famous fissure between two tectonic plates (North American and Eurasian) and the gravel path in the icy river area below.

A great place for walking with a peaceful vibe.

Geysir ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

You can go up in the hills and have an overview of the area, which is pretty cool, but the real show is obviously the geyser of course.

From time to time there will be a huge spike of water rushing up into the air from the ground, but it’s unpredictable. so there are always a lot of people surrounding the main geyser.

Gulfoss ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It’s only a short walk from the parking lot, and the waterfall looked pretty nice.

Kerid Crater ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Got there when it was already very dark, so there’s not much to see really. The lake looked pretty lame in the darkness.

Still went to the bottom and took some photos, and the majority of the lake is now ice apparently. No good scenery but the experience itself is nice.

Beautiful sky.

Would rate it a 6/10, but it would probably be a 7.5/10 in daytime.

Seljalandsfoss - Night ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

On our night drive to Guesthouse Rauðafell, we spot an anomaly in the middle of nowhere - a huge object de luz standing in the dark. I followed the car in front of me and turned to the fork leading to the object, and turned out it was Seljalandsfoss, the waterfall I was planning to visit the next day. The path leading to the fall and the fall itself are all illuminated, and it was a rather peculiar feeling visiting the scene. I won’t say the night version of this waterfall is a must-visit in Iceland, but since it’s just right beside the ring road, if you happen to be around this location at night, just stop by it.

Guesthouse Rauðafell ⭐️⭐️

Not sure how Guesthouse Rauðafell is the worst hotel we’ve stayed at on this Iceland trip. Not sure how it got an 8.9 with 1000+ reviews on booking.com.

It was on a fork from the main road, and the road was very bad, very bumpy. The guesthouse is just a 2-floor house with 7 rooms, 1 kitchen, and 2 bathrooms.

The bathroom is shared, and there’s only an undetachable shower head with a small water flow. There’s a table but it’s the typical very small barely usable kind of hotel table. Since our room is on the second floor, there are slopes in the ceiling, so it is not possible to sit on the end of the bed and lean against the wall. The bed also sinks down a lot

It was just a really unusable and uncomfortable room overall.

The raw space is sufficient tho. There’s a huge space in the middle that is way too excessive and redundant.

The breakfast was pretty simplistic. The owner only gave you 2 pieces of toast with some cucumbers, ham, and cheese, with some pancakes she cooked.

The redeeming quality of this guesthouse is the shared kitchen and dining room. We microwaved the pizza we took from Kaffi Krús and used the milk in the fridge at night. The view in the morning from the window of a big grass field was also very good. There were even horses and dogs wandering around. I had some fun playing fetch with the dog.

Meals

• breakfast: awesome breakfast at Oddsson Hotel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• lunch: Salmon Dish 3280 ISK @ Geysir’s restaurant ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• dinner: Chicken Alfredo Pasta 3990 ISK @ Kaffi Krús in Selfoss ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Day 5 Southern Iceland

We explored the southern part of Iceland today, including two waterfalls and a glacier. It was a chill but wonderful day with a lot of incredible spots.

Seljalandsfoss - Day ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (9/10) spot, one of my fav spots of this Iceland trip. There’s a trail for you to go around the waterfall, and the water will fucking blow on you. Amazing feeling.

Turns out it’s pretty nice to play with water even in winter Iceland. The view is also majestic from the bottom, a totally different kind of feeling than the night version we saw the night before.

At night it actually looks more incredible from far out because of the anomaly aspect, seeing a huge bright thing in the middle of nowhere, but you can only realistically walk on the around-the-fall trail in the daytime and experience the true quality of the fall.

Skógafoss ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ spot. Climb up the hill and you can see the waterfall from the top, or even go down to the river.

The hiking trail is actually very long. It could totally be a multi-day trip.

You can also go to the bottom of the waterfall and feel the water blowing on you was really amazing, just like Seljalandsfoss. You can’t go to the back of the fall though.

Sólheimajökull ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sólheimajökull is a child glacier of Mýrdalsjökull.

There’s a parking lot within walkable distance to the glacier: 800m to the 觀景台 and another 500m down on the beach to the actual glacier.

The walk to the glacier on the black sand beach is really cool. You can see cracks of clear ice in the river.

Dyrhólaey Lighthouse

We drove up to the lighthouse when the sun was already set, and we saw an Asian woman fighting with the door of her car. After 3 seconds of wrestling, the woman lost and the wind pushed her away with the door. Really insane.

Witnessing such an incredible wind, we didn’t get out of our car.

Meals

• breakfast: tasteless simple breakfast @ Guesthouse Rauðafell ⭐⭐
• lunch: Fish Brandade 3700 ISK @ Skogafoss Bistro Bar ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• dinner: Arctic Charr 4490 ISK @ Halldórskaffi ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Day 6 Fjaðrárgljúfur

We drove from the southmost point of Iceland to the Vatnajökull glacier area today.

Víkurfjara Black Sand Beach ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This black sand beach is not the famous and deadly Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach that Game of Thrones shot in, but the one a few kilometers away, just beside the town of Vik.

This beach may not have killed five people in the past decade, but the winds and waves here were still incredibly strong. You can also see the cool rocks in Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach far away. We actually came here just after the sunset the day before and the shades of the peculiar rock formation looked like a base of the dark one in some random high fantasy.

The wave under the strong wind and the morning sun looked amazing as well.

Fjaðrárgljúfur ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Amazing place. Amazing view under the sun. Got a ton of incredible shots here.

Guesthouse Nýpugarðar ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It was a long gravel road before finally reaching the guesthouse located in the middle of nowhere, and it was not a disappointment. It has a reception, shockingly, unlike Guesthouse Rauðafell, and we live in a cabin of our own!

It even offers dinner, which is very nice because it’s really in the middle of nowhere and would be very inconvenient to have to the nearest town (like half an hour) only to have dinner.

The staff were the real highlight. All of them were so fricking nice and friendly and helpful it’s absurd.

The small bathroom and sink, the simple breakfast, and the super weak wifi connection in the cabin are what prevent it from being a 5-star experience, aside from the long gravel road leading to it.

Meals

• breakfast: tasteless simple breakfast @ Guesthouse Rauðafell ⭐⭐
• lunch: Tagliatelle 3200 ISK @ Systrakaffi ⭐⭐⭐
• dinner: Lamb from our farm @ Guesthouse Nýpugarðar ⭐⭐

Day 7 Vatnajökull

We explored the Vatnajökull glacier area today.

Jökulsárlón ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It was actually a bit underwhelming, just a couple of huge icebergs in an ordinary lake. Wish we had spent less time here and more time in Diamond Beach.

Diamond Beach ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Diamond Beach was really really cool. From far away on the road I had no idea what the attraction was about, but then I drove near to the parking and I saw those icebergs on the beach. There were so many of them! It’s crazy. Almost like a manmade attraction.

Vatnajökull Glacier Hike ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

We booked with Arctic Adventures for this tour.

It was an amazing experience. Walking on the glacier, a place where there’s nothing but ice and water, is really really cool.

Spent half an hour wearing equipment, 20 minutes on the ride to the glacier, 2.5hr walking, and 20 minutes on the ride back.

Before embarking, the guide checked our shoes and only 2 out of 13 people’s shoes were sufficient for glacier hiking. The rest of us were asked to rent the hiking boots for a harder bottom and better ankle support, which is 1500 ISK.

The ride to the glacier was insane. The bus was not a super jeep as we sat on in Langjokull snowmobile tour but more like an ordinary tour bus, but the road to the glacier was the most bumpy road I’d ever been on, full of ups and downs. Many of the slopes really were really really steep.

After climbing up a dirt hill, we wore our crampons. It’s really really important to have your crampons tightly tied on your shoes, otherwise you might slip and fall easily.

We hiked to the ice cave first. The ice cave was very special. The upper half of the cave was of blue ice and the lower cave was of black ice for some reason, and you could see the intersection of the black and the blue from the bottom, which looked really cool.

And then we started to go on an adventure (Children of Ruin reference) toward the top of the glacier. We only walked for some distance to some scenic points among the small ice hills on the glacier and took some pictures (which took a pretty long time) and then we headed back.

The crunchy feel of walking on the ice with crampons was really interesting.

Meals

• breakfast: simple continental breakfast @ Guesthouse Nýpugarðar ⭐⭐⭐
• lunch: Fish & Potatoes & Vegetable 3200 ISK @ Saatvik Restaurant ⭐⭐
• dinner: Fish of the Day 3900 ISK @ Guesthouse Nýpugarðar ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Day 8 Stokksnes

We drove from the Vatnajökull glacier area to Egilsstadir today.

Stokksnes ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

1000 ISK per person to go into the area consisting of 3 viewpoints, a Viking village, the black sand beach, and the lighthouse. The ticket is sold at a cafe, and you need to scan the QR code for the gate to open so that your car can get in. You can lie about how many of you are and still get in without any problem though.

The lighthouse wasn’t very special, just some regular rocky beach, but taking a walk there was nice.

The black sand beach was the main scenic spot. There was a wetland with thin water on top of it between the peninsula and the Vestrahorn mountain. The mountain is referred by Taiwanese media outlets as 蝙蝠山, and the 濕地 area is 天空之境. It was really really picturesque under the sun.

Unfortunately, my focus was all on the big Korean professional photography group on the beach. They had a bus, and each of them carried a camera and a drone, really incredible.

Here’s one Korean photographing himself with a drone.

The Viking village was another treat. It’s some distance away from the parking, but the views along the way are gorgeous as usual so it’s fine. The village felt really authentic. There is a boat outside of the village and many 茅草木屋 inside it. Looks nice and beautiful. You can’t enter those buildings tho. According to the explanation board, it’s a long abandon Viking village.

The Stokksnes area is a really good package for a morning or an afternoon. We stayed in the area for almost 3 hours.

Langoustine in Pakkhús Restaurant, Hofn ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The town Hofn is famous for its langoustine (some kind of lobster), so we went to Pakkhús Restaurant in the town for lunch. I ordered lobster soup because it’s only 2990 ISK while the main lobster course is 8990, and it’s pretty modest. I did try a bit of the lobster course my dad ordered and it was really good.

I won’t say the 8990 ISK langoustine course is worth the price but if you’re not on a budget, try it.

Night Drive to Egilsstaðir

It was a 3-hour drive from Hofn to Egilsstaðir, where our next stay, Ormurinn Cottages, was located.

I compared the navigation of the built-in GPS of Kia Sportage and Google Maps, and there was a drastic 1hr difference. Turned out the GPS pointed you to drive a gravel road as a shortcut while Google Maps claimed that road was closed and wanted you to drive all along the ring road, which follows the shore.

When we got there it didn’t appear to be blocked, but since it was a gravel road, we decided not to go with that route but with the longer but easier and safer ring road as what google maps suggested.

My dad handled the later part of the journey and had been driving at full speed, overtaking cars left and right on the narrow ring road, at night

For most of the journey, it was scary but still kind of safe, no real danger. But within the last 50 km where there was snow on the off roads visible even at night, he was doing a dangerous overtake with hard accelerations and turns, and when he was doing hard brakes after overtaking the car, our car drifted for 3 times before finally stabilizing. Apparently, it was an icy road.

Almost lost my fcking life there not even kidding. What could go wrong? And that was the last time I let him handle a long drive. I may or may not be a better driver than him technically but I’m definitely a hundred times more responsible (and I’m over the speed limit most of the time so I’m not too safe of a driver even).

When we arrived at a restaurant in Egilsstaðir after the long and dangerous night drive, I found the parking lot to be icy af as well. I could barely walk without slipping!

Dinner at Lyng Restaurant ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The restaurant is in a nice hotel called Hérað - Berjaya Iceland Hotels. The reception area is very comfy. It’s a 3-star hotel that is 4000-5000 ISK per double room which is not expensive at all.

I ordered Fish of the Day, 4400 ISK, and it’s something like 鱸魚, pretty good.

Ormurinn Cottages ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

We stayed at Ormurinn Cottages for tonight, which was a cute independent cottage with a balcony and a grass yard.

The key was in a password-locked box tied to a retractable cable, and we had some problems unlocking the door. The door just wouldn’t fcking open. I called the number mentioned in the booking.com DM and the owner only said to rotate the key to the right, pull it out, press the door handle down, and finally pull the door strongly, which was not something particularly useful, but it did work for some reason. The next morning, when we were about to leave, we couldn’t lock the door properly. After spending some time researching, I found out that the door needs to be locked or unlocked in a particular way.

The house isn’t very big but it has everything. A double bed and a double sofa bed, stoves, kitchen utensils, a big table, shelves, wifi, etc.

There was no breakfast included but since there was a kitchen you could just buy food from supermarkets and cook yourself a breakfast. Note that there were no dining utensils like forks or spoons, so you better use your own, or, your hands.

The view outside is amazing as well.

Meals

• breakfast: simple continental breakfast @ Guesthouse Nýpugarðar ⭐⭐⭐
• lunch: Langoustine Soup 2990 ISK @ Pakkhús Restaurant ⭐⭐⭐
• dinner: Fish of the Day 4400 ISK @ Lyng Restaurant ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Day 9 Snow Drive

We didn’t go to any particular tourism spots today but only drove from Egilsstaðir to Lake Mývatn, officially entering north Iceland.

Morning

We had a nice breakfast we made ourselves in Ormurinn Cottages with the amazing lakeside view.

When we were about to leave, we found the car covered with ice. We spent a while spilling hot water and using the windscreen wiper to remove 95% ice on the windshield.

We left Egilsstaðir at noon, and then started to head for the Lake Mývatn area.

Snow Drive

The roads in between were all either icy or snowy. After a short while from departure, we climbed up to a plateau and it’s full of snow. There was nothing but snow on the plateau actually, and the views were amazing.

Mývatn

We arrived at Sel - Hótel Mývatn at about 3 pm and had lunch there. I love that there was free coffee and tea there, including honey and milk. They even offered free chocolates on the coffee and tea table, making it a very proper afternoon tea.

We walked along the lakeside path around Skútustaðagígar for a while in the dusk after our late lunch. Since it was already very dark, there was not much to see, but we could see that the lake was frozen and even had snow covered on it.

We returned to the hotel and played pool and darts in the lobby until 9pm, and then had a late dinner.

Sel - Hótel Mývatn ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

We stayed for two nights here.

It was a very solid hotel with many facilities and a very large room (for 4). However, the door lock was very old and difficult to open at times.

The breakfast was good as well. It actually offered the most variety out of all the hotels we’d stayed in Iceland. What impressed me the most was that there were two bowls of boiled egg, one wrote “4 minutes egg” and another “9 minutes egg”. Amazing. Unfortunately, it did not offer peanut butter, so Oddsson Hotel’s breakfast was still the best IMO.

Meals

• breakfast: homemade breakfast @ Ormurinn Cottages
• lunch: Beef Lasagna 3700 ISK @ Sel - Hótel Mývatn ⭐⭐⭐
• dinner: pizza @ Sel - Hótel Mývatn ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Day 10 Mývatn

We explored the Lake Mývatn surrounding area today, which is part of the Diamond Circle.

Hverir ⭐⭐⭐⭐

We tried going to Krafla (a volcano caldera lake) but the road to the peak was closed and it would be a 1.8 km hike from the blockage and time did not permit, so we just gave up on it and headed to Hverir.

Hverir was a bit like Geysir except that there was no water, only gas, and it smelled so f-ing bad. It was much worse than your regular volcanic sulfur smell. Not sure if it contains other kinds of substances or if it’s just a more concentrated sulfur gas.

The scenery was pretty cool tho.

The parking fee was a staggering 1200 ISK. There’s a license plate camera so there’s no escape.

Selfoss (waterfall)

The road leading there was completely icy and snowy.

I actually planned on visiting Dettifoss initially, but unfortunately the path leading to there was blocked, not sure why. So we went for the other path leading to Selfoss, which is the same name as Selfoss the town where we had dinner on Day 4.

The path stopped at a distance from the waterfall but everyone crossed the blocking rope and went near to the waterfall. The area near the waterfall was really cool. Many ponds of water had a thin layer of ice at the surface and plants with beautiful crystalized ice on them were everywhere.

The fall itself was modest tho.

The views on the return trip were mesmerizing. A conflict between the blue sky and the orange-yellow sun on top of the snowy terrain with yellow reflections on the snow. Simply amazing. Really wish I could stop and take some photos of the view.

Myvatn Natural Bath ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

There were two pools and one pool that was not yet in operation (would be in 2025 it said).

When I first got into the water I was a bit disappointed because of how cold (warm) it is. Since the air was still cold and windy my head and ears were freezing. I soon went to the second pool because the view was there, but the water was even more cold. Sometimes there would be a flow of hot water tho, kind of inconsistent, unlike the positional temperature in Taiwan’s hot springs. I had no idea where the source of the water was as well.

The water was blue, which looked pretty cool, but I was really unsatisfied with the temperature of the water.

When the night came we went back to the 1st pool and it was noticeably warmer. There were some elegant lights surrounding the pool so the overall vibe was actually better in the night, albeit you couldn’t see the gorgeous view and the blue water.

The 1st pool had much more facilities such as spas, a bar, and some sitting areas.

When I felt like leaving, we found out that there was a hot pool and steam bath. The hot pool was 41 degrees (while the regular pool is 36-40 per the website), which felt much more like the hot springs in Taiwan. It was a small rectangle pool but cozy.

There was no light in the steam bath, probably to let you enjoy the views from the window or something. It was not very hot and there was a minimal amount of steam tho. It’s more like a warm 烤箱. However, for some reason, I felt uncomfortable after only a short while.

I went back to the hot pool for the last stint and left at the 3-hour mark.

Meals

• breakfast: awesome breakfast @ Sel - Hótel Mývatn ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• lunch: sandwich 800 ISK @ Krambúðin Reykjahlíð ⭐⭐⭐
• dinner: Pan Fried Trout 4990 ISK @ Sel - Hótel Mývatn ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Day 11 Diamond Circle

We already explored a bit of the Diamond Circle yesterday, and today we continued exploring it while driving from Mývatn to Sauðárkrókur, the western part of north Iceland.

Hverfjall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

We have been worshipping this majestic and spectacular volcano since the day we came to Mývatn, and to no one’s surprise, it was a tourist spot as well. We drove a snowy forest path which looked really like a skiing piste to the parking lot, and started climbing.

The road to the top was very slippery because it was covered with ice. Thankfully there was either snow or exposed black sand/rock for the most part, which provided sufficient friction. A pair of good hiking shoes is definitely needed for this hike in winter, however.

There was nothing inside the volcano hole (caldera) to my surprise. It was just a big hole. Nothing particularly interesting to see on the top really, apart from the panoramic view of the Mývatn region. But tbh the Mývatn really looks pretty plain in the winter. I’m sure an azure lake Mývatn surrounded by green fields under the bright sun would look more spectacular.

The most amazing view is still the volcano from afar.

Grjótagjá ⭐️⭐️⭐

It’s just some blue water deep in a shallow cave. It’s super dark tho, so with bare eye it just looks like some dark water. Only with your camera does the water look blue.

Not much to see.

The actual reward of this detour was the sheep blockage on the snowy piste-like road on our way there.

To my disappointment, those sheep did walk away when I walked near them.

Goðafoss ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

It was an amazing area with a big fall and a few small falls. The waterfall under the sun really looked majestic. I got a lot of amazing shots there.

The walking path is pretty long surprisingly as the trail connects both sides of the waterfall with a bridge.

I had the sandwich I bought in a supermarket in Mývatn as lunch while wandering around. I really like the vibe of the general area of the waterfall.

From afar you can see steam coming out from the waterfall, almost like a hot spring.

Akureyri

We stopped by the Olis in Akureyi, the biggest city in north Iceland, for fueling the gas, and it had such a great vibe. It’s located in a huge fjord and has a peaceful and cozy atmosphere. I would probably choose either Reykjavik or Akureyri if I were to live in Iceland.

It was a shame that it was only a short stop. I didn’t choose to stay a night here because of the distance management. It was too close to the Mývatn area, meaning if we stayed here we would probably have to drive like 4 hours to the next accommodation.

The fuel price there was dirt cheap compared to other places in Iceland (while still being insanely more expensive than other countries) as well, about 15 ISK cheaper per liter.

Arctic Hotels - Hótel Tindastóll ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

We stayed for a night in this hotel, located in Sauðárkrókur, a fishing town in Northern Iceland.

Hótel Tindastóll, the oldest hotel in Iceland, has an amazing classical continental European style inner decoration. Here you finally feel like you’re in Europe.

Hotel Tindastoll is the oldest hotel in Iceland, dating back to 1884. The building came in parts from Norway and it was assembled as a storehouse in Hofsos between 1820 and 1829, moved later on to Grafarós in 1833 and finally shipped over the fjord and reassembled at its present location in Sauðárkrókur.

The room, though atmospheric, is pretty dim.

The cafeteria was also vibey and full of classical decorations, but the breakfast was such a disappointment. Just a really simple continental breakfast.

Dinner @ Sauðárkrókur

There were only 2 or 3 restaurants in the whole fishing town, all located near the hotel. We went to Hard Wok Cafe, and it was a weird fusion of … everything.

The decorations felt American, but the name was Asian, and there were all kinds of foods on the menu.

There was even this stupid pun involving Liverpool and a wok.

I ordered Fish and Chips and it was super salty, as in North Iceland’s fashion.

Meals

• breakfast: awesome breakfast @ Sel - Hótel Mývatn ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• lunch: sandwich 800 ISK @ Krambúðin Reykjahlíð ⭐⭐⭐
• dinner: Fish and Chips 3490 ISK @ Hard Wok Cafe ⭐⭐⭐

Day 12 Western Iceland

We drove from Sauðárkrókur to Borgarnes today, while stopping by some of the famous spots.

Kolugljúfur Canyon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was a very long gravel road (10km) leading to the canyon. I really really hate gravel roads, so bumpy at a low speed and you’ll be in a constant fear of big rocks jumping up and leaving a hole on your car.

The canyon was actually, again, a waterfall. Nothing too special really, except that a significant part of the waterfall was frozen, but under the sun it looked mesmerizing as well.

You can walk down there, and again, there is a bunch of frozen plants, which still looked amazing as hell.

N1, Staður

Originally we only stopped by to pee and add water to the washer fluid tank, but then I saw the big cafeteria and felt like we should eat there, because there was nowhere else to eat within 50km.

The N1 store consisted of a cafeteria and a shop, the biggest gas station store I’ve ever seen in Iceland, but still not quite the size of Taiwan’s 休息站 (service area).

It was mostly fried stuff there, and it was very average, but having a big space with big seats to rest and eat was really nice.

Washer Fluid

The washer fluid ran out today so under my dad’s guidance I opened the hood and poured in some water from the toilet. For the first few times, it did spit out water normally but then the window immediately became kind of dirty and unclear, and the more I sprayed the “dirtier” the window became. Weirdly, after a short while, the window became clear again, but when I tried to spray out the washer fluid again, nothing came out. Dad suspected that the water leaked out, so he told me to stop and then added hot water inside, but still nothing came out.

We then had a hypothesis. The washer fluid is anti-freeze, but the water isn’t. When the water jetted out to the window, it became ice immediately, both on the window and in the tubes, thus making the window unclear as well as stuck in the tube, stopping the water from coming out (if it hadn’t become ice already). Since it was still in northwest Iceland where the temperature was below the freezing point, we would have to wait until we got to a warmer climate to know if our hypothesis was correct.

We then continued the day without a working washer fluid and an increasingly dirty window, and it really was dangerous when driving in high speed without a clear front window.

The next day, we went to Reykjavik, and the washer fluid could finally be sprayed out normally, confirming the hypothesis. It was really a lesson for someone living in the subtropics where the temperature was almost always over 10°C.

I then sprayed out all the water before returning the car and pretended nothing had happened. (I did tell Blue Car Rental the washer fluid ran out and they were unapologetic which irritated me a bit, like there was no way it was full tank when I got the car, not even half most probably)

Glanni Waterfall ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Very generic. The almost darkened sky did not help. It was only a short drive from the main road and a short walk from the parking, so, not complaining.

Blómasetrið Homestay ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cozy little cafe and shop on the ground level and a cozy little apartment with 4 rooms, a living room, and a kitchen on the 2nd floor.

The living room was really wholesome with lots of family-style decorations like a bunch of photos. It was probably really the home of the owner before they moved out and rented it out.

Dinner

We had dinner at Englendingavík, a restaurant in a hotel near our stay, and we had a conclusion: all the foods in the northern part of Iceland are excessively salty.

Meals

• breakfast: simple continental breakfast @ Hótel Tindastóll ⭐⭐️
• lunch: Vínarsnitsel 2895 ISK @ N1, Staður ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• dinner: Fish of the Day 4700 ISK @ Englendingavík ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Day 13 Last Day in Iceland

Today, we visited the famous Svarta Kaffið, explored a bit of Reykjavik’s city center today, and finally stayed the night near Keflavik Airport.

Svarta Kaffið ⭐️⭐️⭐️

After making our own breakfast in the kitchen and walking around the shore of Borgarnes for a while, we headed straight to Reykjavik for the famous Svarta Kaffið.

It was a tourist trap. It was kind of laughable how the restaurant was operated. There were only two meals, a meat bread soup and a vegetarian bread soup, and although they offered drinks, there was no menu and the servers just spelled out all the drinks they got, and then even got some variety of wines so if a customer said that they want white wine the server would proceed to spell out all kinds of white wine they got, really really stupid. The servers didn’t have the best altitude either.

The bread soup itself was nothing special. The soup was not bad, but average, and weird people would be able to swallow all the bread since it was like a full-sized toast.

We went there when it was like 2pm so it wasn’t very crowded, but since it was a famous (hyped) spot it would probably be at proper lunch/dinner time, and I would strongly advise against going there at peak time because it would be 100% not worth it.

Hallgrimskirkja

We wandered around a bit in the city center of the capital and went to the famous church.

It looked pretty cool, and the inside was very spacious as well. Finally feel like being in Europe.

There were also tickets for going up the tower, and it would probably be interesting to do so, but we didn’t have the time unfortunately.

Returning the Car

We drove about 2500km on the whole trip.

We first dropped off our luggage at the airport hotel, then drove to Blue Car Rental for return.

The return process was pretty smooth, just drove to the queue in front of Blue Car Rental, told the staff inside, and the staff would go to the car, went around it to inspect, and then drove it away to other places. Simple as that.

We spent the rest of the night staying in the hotel and slept early since it was a 7pm flight the next day.

This ended our 13-day trip in Iceland.

Meals

• homemade breakfast @ Blómasetrið Homestay
• bread soup @ Svarta Kaffið ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• home-cooked instant noodles @ Aurora Hotel