Arctic Iceland
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Hosting you since 1937 Self Drive 11 days Arctic Iceland Lón by Svínafellsjökull Welcome to Iceland! To make your stay in Iceland more enjoyable, we would like to draw your attention to the following: △ This booklet contains a standard itinerary. If you have Sat Nav added nights, please note that the itinerary has not been customized to show such amendments. △ This itinerary is a guideline for your travel in Iceland. The Speed Limit route may vary according to your overnight stay and road conditions, especially during April/May and September/ October. Seat Belts △ Even with the long daylight, you will not be able to visit every nook and cranny nor enjoy all the fun things sug- gested. Please choose between the sites mentioned Road Map depending on your interest as time limits your possibilities. △ The kilometer/mile distance per day is not precise. The distance may vary depending on the location of your Bin the Litter accommodation and the detours you take each day. △ On your accommodation itinerary you will find a detailed address list, describing how to reach your accommoda- One Lane Bridge tions. The accommodation itinerary also has a reference number, which is valid as your voucher. Official hotel check-in time is 14:00-18:00. If you arrive any later, it’s Watch out for Animals courteous to notify the hotel. △ Breakfast is always included during your stay, but no other meals. Many of the rural hotels and guesthouses offer a Gravel Roads nice dinner at a reasonable price. 2 Self Drive Arctic Iceland A few favourites from the trip ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Arctic Iceland Self Drive 3 Day 1: 6 Arrival Akureyri 7 Pick-up your rental car and explore Reykjanes 8 Mývatn 4-5 Peninsula Stykkishólmur Egilsstaðir ➠➠Approximate driving distance: 9 104 km / 64 miles Please see your Iceland Travel Itinerary for Reykjavík 10 Höfn details about your overnight stay Keflavík Kirkjubæjarklaustur 1 2 3 pon your arrival in Iceland you’ll find your Hveragerði Urental car help desk in the arrival hall at Keflavik Airport. The desk is open every day Vík from 5:00am – 5:00pm and again from 9:00pm- If you are not relaxing in the lagoon at the 1:00am. The staff will advise you where to find beginning of your trip you continue on road no. your vehicle. 43 until you find your way to Grindavik. Take a If you are arriving early enough in the day left onto road no. 427 and explore the southern we recommend driving along the southern coastline on your way to Hveragerdi. coast of the Reykjanes peninsula. Start your Follow this winding road along the journey with a soak in the Blue Lagoon. Follow shoreline, past stand-alone houses, lava rock road no. 41 towards Reykjavik until you find formations, and endless sea views. Take a quick road no. 43, leading south towards Grindavik. detour on road no. 42 to Krysuvik Geothermal Before you reach Mt Þorbjorn you make a Area and Kleifarvatn Lake, which are a part of right turn to the Blue Lagoon area. To make it the Reykjanes fissure zone. easier you can just follow the steam rising up Continue on your journey on road no. 427 through the air! At the Blue Lagoon you can until you reach road no. 38 which will take wash of the jet lag and relax in the milky waters you to the charming village of Hveragerdi. of the Lagoon and perhaps enjoy a glass of the The village is one of the few sites in the world famous Blue Lagoon cocktail while you let the located directly on top of a geothermal area algae mask bring out the skin’s inner glow! and because of its many greenhouses heated by Kindly note that the Blue lagoon is very hot water from nearby springs it is often called popular year around and therefore you should the flower village. book ahead. 4 Self Drive Arctic Iceland was in 2004 inscribed upon the List of UNESCO Day 2: World Heritage concerning the Protection of Þingvellir, Gullfoss, Skálholt, Þjórsárdalur, the World Cultural. Hella While in Þingvellir you should visit: National Park with Geological Wonders (UNESCO), Exploding Geysers, Massive Waterfall. Hekla Volcano Lögberg (The Law Rock), the law speaker, the ➠➠Approximate driving distance: president of Lögrétta (the Low Council) stood 300 km / 186 miles there, facing the gathering below to recite the laws during the period when the old Alþingi Please see your Iceland Travel Itinerary for was held at Þingvellir. details about your overnight stay oday you’ll drive east out of Hveragerdi Neðrivellir where Lögrétta was, the most Tand drive along road no. 1 and road no. 36 important institution of the ancient parlia- to Þingvellir National Park. ment, the Alþingi, where the “goðar”, the local Þingvellir National Park is of great eco- chieftains, and bishops gathered to debate, logical, geological and historical interest. The pass new law and amend old ones. These two park itself is situated in a stunning volcanic sites are on the eastern side of the Almannagjá landscape of mountains and lava flows, on the gorge. border of Iceland’s largest lake. Surrounding the lake are impressive faults and gorges that Drekkingarhylur (Drowningpool) in Öxará are considered among the finest examples River, where women found guilty of adultery of the results of tectonic movements in the were drowned. world. It is the area where the tectonic plates for Europe and America meet, and one can Öxarárfoss waterfall, a beautiful waterfall in literally see the ridge between the continents. the Öxará River, which falls thunderously over a This is also the former site of the oldest parlia- steep slope at the edge of the Almannagjá rift. ment in the world, Alþingi. It was founded in Þingvellir in 930 and there most of the greatest Þingvallakirkja Church, from 1859, situated moments of Icelandic history took place over on the spot where one of the first churches in a period of 750 years. In the 18th century a Iceland was built around 1016, shortly after the major earthquake