To say that my recent 9 night / 10 day Iceland photography road trip with my girlfriend Kirsten Alana was epic might be an understatement. I had very high expectations of the country, and it lived up to every single one of them. It was so magical, but yet so familiar at the same time. There were many parts that felt like we could have been driving in the highlands of Scotland and stretches along the coast of Route 1 that felt like the Pacific Coast Highway in California. But make no mistake – Iceland is truly unique and should be visited even if you’ve been to either one of those places.
We flew into KEF Airport and spent our first night in Reykjavík (about 45 minutes from the airport) before setting out for our road trip. After landing, the very first item on our agenda (aside from picking up our 4×4 rental car) was to visit the Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa. Although it was probably the most touristy thing we could have done during our trip, we thought it was an excellent way to unwind and relax after a lengthy delay at the airport & flight. I had surprised Kirsten by purchasing the Luxury visitor passes, and the perks that came along with it proved that it was well worth the money! I highly recommend it to anyone who is visiting and can afford it.
Of course no road trip around Iceland can be done without primarily traveling along Route 1 (the Ring Road), but we did take a lot of side roads to visit smaller villages & towns along the way. Our intention at times was to go off the beaten path and get lost a bit.
Our general itinerary went something like this:
Day 1 > KEF to Reykjavík Day 2 > Reykjavík to Vík | Day 3 > Vík to Höfn | Day 4 > Höfn to Fáskrúðsfjörður | Day 5 > Fáskrúðsfjörður to Siglufjörður | Day 6 > Siglufjörður to Saelingsdal | Day 7 > Saelingsdal to Látrabjarg to Stykkishólmur via the Ferry Baldur | Day 8 > Stykkishólmur to Reykjavík | Day 9: Reykjavík Day 10: Reykjavík
Admittedly the last few days of our trip was a bit of a mess. We didn’t quite have the specific agenda that we did within the first several days, and where we settled for those nights, with the exception of our last few days in Reykjavík, was left up to chance. Regardless, it was an amazing experience nonetheless and I’d go back in a heartbeat.
Along our travels, I absolutely loved seeing the endless amount of farmland with sheep grazing, the wild Icelandic horses, the houses and dwellings being dwarfed by the epic landscape (you can see a little photography project I put together of them on Instagram) and of course the epic waterfalls. If you’re thinking of going to Iceland – stop THINKING and GO. I hope some of the images I captured along our trip will inspire you to do the same. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
