Driving the Ring Road around Iceland - Day One Reykjavik to Grundarfjordur

August 22, 2024

Driving the Ring Road around Iceland - Day One Reykjavik to Grundarfjordur

The Ring Road around Iceland is one of the best ways to see as much of the island as possible. Experts say you should take 2 weeks to complete the loop but we only had 5 days. So 5 days it would be! We arrived via Iceland Air at Keflavik Airport (about 45 minutes from Reykjavik) at 6am on a non stop flight from Denver. After retrieving our luggage and a stop at the duty free store (Iceland is a notoriously expensive country and a top tip is to buy any alcohol at the duty free store at the airport) we grabbed our rental car and hit the road. Here's Day One of our visit to West Iceland and the Snaefellsnes Peninsula!

Borgarnes

The town of Borgarnes is known as the Gateway to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. Located in West Iceland, the Ring Road leads straight through Borgarnes and we thought it would be a great place to stop for our first meal. It was a bit of an odd start for our first stop in Iceland - Borgarnes seemed to be a bit quirky which is representative of the quirkiness of the whole country I think - and we couldn't find much open or anyone around to ask. We finally stopped at a restaurant and went inside only to find it wasn't open. But the employee pointed us in the direction of a cafe and once we found it, we found all the people. It was quite crowded and after eating there we knew why - the food was quite good and so was the dessert.

Bogarnes is also known for housing The Settlement Center, a museum detailing the settling of Iceland. But no boring history museum here - there are multi media, interactive exhibits to learn about how Iceland was settled and one of its most famous residents, Egill Skallagrimmson. I would have liked to visit and learn more about Icelands history, but, alas, this museum was not open either. So it was on to the next stop!

Gerduberg Cliffs

Gerduberg Cliffs are a natural marvel located in West Iceland. They are a row of perfectly shaped basalt columns that run along a cliff that's about one kilometer long. The columns are about 20 to 40 feet high - they're quite impressive. Some compare the cliffs to a fortress.

We arrived here fairly late in the day and there were a few people here but not even close to crowded. The problem, once we got out of the car to walk up to the cliffs, were the midges. Those small, pesky flies were everywhere! So we didn't spend a lot of time here. I think if the evening had been bug free we might've gone up to the top for the views. But it wasn't meant to be.

When we were leaving we saw a small church in the distance. We drove down the lane and took some photos (from inside the car because, well...midges) It was such a cute little church and we seemed in the middle of nowhere - I was wondering how far people must drive to go to church here. Or were there houses nearby that we just weren't seeing? I still don't know.

Bjarnafoss Waterfall

While not as large or as powerful as most of the waterfalls that we saw, Bjarnafoss has quite a few things going for it. You can see the waterfall from the road so you won't miss it, the parking is free, and you can spend as much, or as little, time as you'd like. We chose to walk the path to the bottom of the waterfall and feel the spray but you could also walk the path to the top for fantastic views.

This gentlemen must've been on a long biking trip

Black Church of Budir

Located just down the road from the waterfall, the Black Church of Budir is a small wooden church that dates back to 1703 and is one of the famous black churches of Iceland - there are only 3. (They are painted black to protect them from the harsh weather) It's one of the most photographed churches in Iceland - and I can see why.

The Cemetery

It's in what used to be one of the main towns of the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, Budir, but is now just the church and a hotel. It was built in 1703 but ordered to be demolished by the Danish king ruling Iceland in 1816. It was rebuilt in 1848 and is still fully operational. It is now owned by the National Museum of Iceland is a very popular spot for weddings.

Gatklettur, Sea Arch

The rugged coastline of West Iceland has many rugged rock formations. The story of us finding Gatklettur, the Sea Arch, is kind of a funny one. We had read about it and thought we knew where to find it. So we found a parking spot and started walking along a path between the towns of Arnastapi and Hellnar that would lead us there. And we completely walked by it! Luckily, one of us said "Oh, there it is!" Or we would maybe have missed it altogether. You just never know.

This sea arch is a circular arch with a unique window carved into it. Formed by a barrage of waves, the arch will eventually collapse after being battered by waves and weather leaving sea stacks.

This is walking on top of the sea arch

Snaefellsjokull National Park

Named after Snaefellsjokull glacier and volcano, this national park is one of three in Iceland. Found on the tip of the peninsula, Snaefellsjokull is called Iceland in Miniature as it seems to have all the landscapes of Iceland within it.

The main feature is the glacier/volcano and the lava fields around it. Seen from Reykjavik at times, you can go on glacier hiking tours here or snowcat tours. This national park also encompasses coastline - which is what we explored - and caves that you can explore on a 50 minute lava cave tour. It's an incredibly diverse park and you could spend days here - I'm sure people do - and though we were only here for the day, I feel like we saw a good bit of its diversity.

Grundafjordur

The town of Grundafjordur was our stop for the night. With an approximate population of 872, it's pretty tiny which made it quite funny that we couldn't find our accomodations. After driving around for a bit, we asked at what looked like a hotel - it wasn't - and a man inside told us to try down the lane. And we finally found it. Our stay was to be in a guesthouse apartment - one bed, one bath and very spacious unit - with a shared kitchen. The cherry on top of this lodging was the view right out of our window of Kirkjufell. (In English, Church Mountain) Famous as a backdrop in Game of Thrones, it's probably Grundafjordurs main Claim to Fame.

The guest house didn't have a lot of curb appeal but was a great stay

Having checked in our next order of business was food! There weren't many restaurants in Grundafjordur and some were closing as early as 7. We managed to find one still open, Kaffi 59, so that was our choice. It was a good dinner with young servers who tried to help us with our Icelandic - I don't think they were too impressed! And then it was time to get to bed after a long day of driving and sightseeing.