Time to move on to the next part of the journey. Off to the northwest part of the country, and the little harbor city of Stykkisholmur! Got to love that small town feel.
But first, time to walk around Reykjavik and go visit some museums! Something to know about me, I am a history nerd and I LOVE going to museums. All kinds of museums. Of the sixteen countries I have been to at this point in time, only one country have I not visited a museum (New Zealand). When I was in Greece, I spent time in a museum pretty much every single day! The museum I ended up visiting was the National Museum of Iceland on the Reykjavik College Campus (front entrance pictured to the side). The museum covered the Icelandic history from roughly 900 A.D. to the present day. It was an informative museum, however it was a relatively small and short collection. I was also hoping for more time spent on the early history of Iceland, specifically the time of paganism and early settlement. Time of the Vikings and all of that! Most of the museum is focused on the arrival of Christianity from the kind of Norway and all the changes it brought to the island. Nothing wrong with this, it is a very common theme in European museums. I just like ancient history, so I probably would have been better going to the Natural History Museum of Iceland. Oh well, I learned some new things along the way! I spent about an hour at the museums walking around the various exhibits (once again relatively short period of time for me). I did spend ~16 USD for the excursion, which is pretty steep compared to other prices I have seen for museums across Europe. After that it was a walk to the Hallgrimskirkja – the famously giant church in the middle of Iceland’s shopping district. It was a unique structure, however I did not go in or really explore it too much. Kinda wish I had, to see how it compared to Norte Dame in Paris or to St. Patricks Cathedral in Dublin.
Once that was done, it was time to get back in the car (which I was slowly starting to hate a little more each day) and start driving…again…yay…
The drive to the city of Stykkishólmur takes roughly 2 1/2 hours from Reykjavik and, I am truly beginning to sound like a broken records here, the country and landscape is absolutely stunning. The first thirty minutes getting out of the capital has the snow capped mountains to your right and the vast ocean to your left, the best combination in the world! Ever been asked do you prefer the mountains or the beach? Well, this is the country for you if your answer to that question is “Both” or “Why choose?” At least that is how I like to answer that question, just be a tad indecisive. Eventually you hit a point where you have a stretch of plains where you can just focus on the road and whatever music you have blaring. Not too long after, though, you hit the mountains again and you can start your pulling over every five minutes exercise. Even cold weather won’t keep you from doing this, trust me.
Quick side note, I like to think I am as tough as the next person. However I am quickly finding out that trying to shoot photos in freezing temperatures is not a, lets just say, overly fun activity.
Navigation
Quick tips:
1) Really explore the northwest, there is nobody there and a lot of beautiful things to see
2) There is minimal light pollution, great spot to hunt for the Northern Lights
3) Windy area and cold with the sea breeze, pack and dress appropriately!
More information in the article.
Just imagine for a moment, you get out of your car and start adjusting your settings on your camera. Depending on what you are trying to do, this takes between 2 to 5 seconds. By the time 5 seconds has hit, your hands feel like they are in a bowl of ice. Your fingers are stiff, slowly a tingling sensation runs across them. The wind making it worse, blowing hard across your fingers, forcing the cold to sink into your hands. By the time you have taken two pictures, you look at your hands and they are bright red and you are unable to feel the buttons on your camera. Now that you have this feeling in your mind, imagine doing this for a dozen or so photos every five minutes for almost two hours.
Now do not get me wrong, this is an ABSOLUTELY worth it necessity to get stunning photos. All I would say is either look into good gloves that you can easily adjust a camera with (mine were light but not enough to adjust settings easily with), or prepare for the toll it takes.
HIGHLY recommend pulling over as often as you are able, just do so safely if you are not drive a 4×4 vehicle.
Once I arrived in Stykkishólmur, it was time to check into the hostel, which I talk about more below. After that, it was a really quick hike over to the harbor and up onto a hiking trail that overlooks the entire town. You can get some beautiful sunrise and sunset photos of the city and boats with the mountains in the background.
The next day started off really rough. I walked out to my rental car and found that somebody, bless their heart, had slammed their door into my passenger door. I could not believe it, or believe that the person had not left a note. All I could think about in that moment was the financial repercussions to come from this, even though I had car insurance on the rental.
Update on this: ended up having pay the total down payment on my rental car (~1,850 USD) but the insurance company – rental cover.com – paid me back within a week of returning home. Process went a lot smoother then I was expecting. Not paid or compensated to say this, just wanted to give you an idea of what I went through if you want to plan a trip here.
After I recovered from this initial blow, I took a drive away from Stykkishólmur toward the city of Grundarfjordur (say that five times fast, or even once) and the Kirkjufell Mountain. It is one of the most photographed places in Iceland and was, apparently, in the Game of Throne series. I could not tell you when, what season or the context since I do not watch the series. Unfortunately, you will not be able to hike or get close to the mountain, at least not a way that I could find without jumping a fence or two (I didn’t, despite what you are probably thinking right now). Across from the mountain is a beautiful waterfall and, thanks to the sub freezing temperatures, was partially frozen. This created some amazing photo opportunities, see some at the top of the post, and was luckily not packed with people.
Please go visit this place if you are in the country, and take your time time enjoying the views of the mountains and city nearby.
After all of this it was quick stop at a local liquor store to buy two different kind of Icelandic beers (shown in a lower section) and returning to my hostel for a few hours before going Northern Lights hunting!
Quick note: if you are traveling to Iceland ONLY to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), then I would highly recommend thinking of a different place to travel. There is never a guarantee you will see them (locals often call it Fishing for the Northern Lights instead of Hunting for the Northern Lights because you can sit for hours looking for the lights in dark places and never see anything. This is a natural phenomenon that does not adhere to a schedule) no matter the time of year, although winter is your best best. I have heard of people who have traveled to Iceland several times and never seen them. Nature has to align several factors perfectly for you to see them: atmospheric action, clear skies, minimal light pollution from the moon and others key factors. You should go to Iceland to see the stunning natural beauty and to take a relaxing, safe vacation. Seeing the northern lights should be like icing on the cake of your trip. I apologize if this sound harsh, however I just want you to be aware of this prior to booking a trip to the Land of Fire and Ice.
As I have mentioned in other posts, I do not enjoy driving in Iceland at night as it is just way too dark for me to see anything. I have to drive with brights on, which seems to be a common practice. However, on this night I broke that rule. Looking at an Auroras website, I noticed there was a significant amount of solar activity and the chances of sighting the lights was 50%! That was the highest since I had been in country, the average chance on my trip was probably 20%. Since Stykkishólmur is pretty much in the middle of nowhere with very minimal light pollution, I went out fishing for the lights. At this point I have been in country for a week with no sightings, I honestly began to question whether I was going to see them at all. However, thirty minutes from the hostel into the mountains I started to see multiple colors dance across the sky (I do not have a picture of this as I was driving and could not pull over safely). I found a safe place a few minutes later and started taking photos and watching the show (for setting suggestions click here to my post specifically about the Northern Lights). Unfortunately there was a lot of cloud cover that night so I only got to watch for 10-15 minutes before the clouds covered the Auroras. I still got a few clean pictures and some pictures with the clouds lighting up green because of how bright the lights were that night!
Even though it can be difficult to find the lights, it is still a worthy bucket list item because it is surreal to watch the lights dance. Icing on the cake of my trip.
Accommodation
I stayed at the Harbour Hostel Stykkishólmur. It is on the main road near the harbor so it is really hard to miss, especially in a town this small. It is not far from the Bonus grocery store and a couple of nearby restaurants. There are not a lot of options from this perspective during the down season, as a heads up. This is a small town and in the winter, a sleepy small town. I had originally booked a 12 person room, but got put into a two person room and was the only person in that room for the extent of my stay. In fact, my first night I was one of four people total in the hostel. My second night I was one of three. Like I said, sleepy town which was a really nice break at this point in my trip, hotel isolation at hostel prices! The room was nice, warm and cozy. Plenty of facilities available and two main hangout areas, one upstairs and one downstairs. The kitchen is downstairs and not a bad size, but not a lot of appliances. Staff was friendly but was never actually around while I was there, which was kinda weird but during a slow season understandable.
Overall, a good hostel with clean facilities and a friendly staff.
2 night stay – ~56 USD
Food
I cooked my own meals both days so I cannot attest to the restaurant scene in this small town. I wanted to try this local pizza place but they were closed so stuck with my own food. I did try a couple of beers that were interesting.
First beer I tried was the Einstok White Ale, which is usually referred to as their best beer in their lineup. Not my typical kind of beer but I thought I would give it a shot. It is a lighter beer with tastes of fruit, specifically orange, and spices. It is really smooth and easy to drink, 5.2 ABV. I would highly recommend for all beer drinkers, even my fellow darker beer enthusiasts!
Second beer I tried was the NR. 13 Myrkvi Porter from the Borg Brugghus brewing company. As the names says, it is a porter that is dark in color and smells of chocolate and coffee. The taste was not quite what I was expecting, with an initial taste of chocolate, coffee and a kind of toffee flavor, but the aftertaste was just weird for me. A heavier beer with a 6% ABV. Overall, I was not as impressed with this beer, but I would still recommend giving it a try and let me know your thoughts on it!
