Day five can be completely summed up with one single word: driving. I really wanted to stay at the city of Akureyri and explore the northeast part of the country. There were a lot of hiking trails I wanted to go trek across, a lot of land to picture and discover. Unfortunately, for me, a huge snowstorm was about to hit that part of the country. Now, just for reference, I am from Colorado where we can get hit with snow at any point from October to May. I have learned to drive in the snow, in fact I have A TON of fun driving in the snow! Manual cars can be a blast in the snow, especially when there is nobody else around. Another reason to learn to drive a manual, trust me! However, in the tiny car I was in, I did not think it would hold up against 5 to 14 inches of snow that was expected to pound the north, and the journey would end up taking longer then getting ahead of it. So, I took off on the 9 hour drive toward the capital, Reykjavik.
Now, I decided to drive the northern route for two reasons. The first, is I had already driven across the southern part of the island, and this was my opportunity to see the north. Second reason is that I did not want to drive down a mountain on a gravel road with snow and ice, can you really blame me though? So, I woke up at 6 a.m. and had my car loaded and ready to go by 7 a.m. Twas time to take off on a journey…a long, long nine hour journey.
First three and a half hours is to get to Akureyri from Egilsstadir. I had already driven most of this route the day before when I went to go hike around Godafoss. However, I did take a detour near Akureyri, let me explain. When you are driving to Akureyri, there is a tunnel that most people take because it shortens the drive by 10-15 minutes. However, the tunnel also costs ~12 USD to use and you have to pay the toll either 3 hours before or 3 hours after using it. If you do not, then the cost increases. OR, you can take a detour that adds 10-15 minutes on your drive, but you get two benefits: see some beautiful country and save some money. Honestly, I am cheap so that was the primary reason that I chose the detour. However, being cheap paid off in SPADES for me, because the country north of Akureyri reminds me a lot of the Scottish highlands, just beautiful. My honest recommendation, take the detour, unless you have an absolute deadline you are having to meet.
Once I got to Akureyri, I pulled over to check out some of the local sites and to stretch my legs. It is amazing how tight and cramp you get sitting in a car…Anyway, I was really wanting to go to a local brewery that is home to one of the most famous beers in Iceland, the Einstok Olgerd Brewery. Unfortunately, they were not open when I was passing through so maybe for a future visit. As I enjoy particular alcohols, specifically beer and whiskey, I always recommend going to the local breweries and distilleries to give the local craft a chance. After this quick stop, it was back in the car for the remaining five hours of the trip. There is a lot of beautiful country to look at and when the wind is not attempting to take a lot of pictures, the weather was a little nasty. So I just drove and drove and drove some more, while blaring my country music and trying to pass the time.
Navigation
Quick tips:
1) Break up long drives: pull over, breath the fresh air and stretch your legs.
2) Go to the museums while in Reykjavik. Learn about the history and the culture, will improve your experience while in country.
3) Wake up every morning and go watch the sunrise over the mountains.
More information in the article.
Upon arrival to the capital, I pulled up to my hostel (Galaxy Pod Hostel which I will discuss at the bottom of this post) and laid down for a few minutes. I went exploring that night and found something to eat before passing out nice and early. Not every day on vacation has to be a midnight party night!
The next morning was just more being lazy and recuperating from the past couple of days of adventures. I eventually left to go to the grocery store, went and visited the Sun Voyager sculpture and get an overall feel for the city that is the home of ~1/3 the population. Ultimately the weather kept me indoors for much of the day, something about freezing temperatures tends to do that. All in all, a long two days with not a ton of excitement to them.
NOTE on the Sun Voyager Sculpture, and I cannot believe I need to say this, but be respectful and DO NOT climb all over it. Look at it, enjoy its beauty and take a picture with the beautiful Icelandic mountains in the background. Do not ruin the structure or other people’s pictures because you think that it looks like fun to climb on. If I can resist, you can too.
Accommodation
Galaxy Pod Hostel – this place is so freaking cool. I have never stayed in a pod before, however I would bet money that if more places started doing this, at hostel prices, they would be able to compete even more with hotels. The pod is pretty roomy, it fit my two bags and all my other stuff with plenty of room to stretch out. There is a lot of lighting and each pod has its own TV (which is awesome if you don’t have a Netflix or Amazon account). The door, when closed, cuts off most sound from the outside and it locks from the inside as well. Each pod also has a little safe to keep valuables (passport, wallet, jewelry, etc).
The hostel itself was fine as well, however there were not many people staying there at the time. The hostel does have a virtual reality room, and it is free for guests so if you are into that kind of thing. Hostel also has their own bar and a breakfast for a fee of ~1,100 ISK (~9 USD). For this price you could grab a coffee and pasty at a nearby shop which might be more filling. Kitchen is on the smaller side so during the tourist heavy months I would image cooking during certain times of the day would be challenging. In slower months you should not have any issues. Parking is available on site for free and the hostel is on the third floor of the building.
One thing to be prepared for is the smell of Reykjavik water while bathing. It has a sulfur smell due to the fact that water is pulled from Volcanic aquifers, so it takes a minute to adjust when showering. You won’t smell any different after a shower, but it is an…interesting smell.
Galaxy Pod Hostel
Overall, a good hostel with clean facilities and a friendly staff.
2 night stay – ~84 USD
Food
First night I was in the capital I went to a place called Reykjavik Chips. Now, just in case you do not know, chips are fries. I, honestly, thought this was a Fish & Chips place, clearly I did not look too much into this or really question my own thought process. I showed up, got a Medium thing of Chips and a milkshake. (I will never care how cold it is somewhere, I will always get ice cream!). Total cost was ~25 USD, yeah I know. I liked the vibe and the place overall, however I would highly recommend going here as a snack or as a substitute for lunch. Not quite filling but can tide you over. Also, if you are by yourself, do yourself a favor and order a SMALL. I ordered a medium based on reviews that I had seen and I ate maybe half the bag…food for thought (Had to do it once!).
Other then that I cooked my own food and ate at the hostel to try and cut back on the total budget since I decided to go on a couple of Northern Light tours in the hopes of having better luck.
