Hosting you since 1937 Self Drive 5 days Golden Circle Haukadalur 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 Golden Circle A few favourites from the trip ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Golden Circle Self Drive 3 Day 1: Arrival Pick-up your rental car and explore Reykjanes Peninsula Please see your Iceland Travel Itinerary for details about your overnight stay 3 pon your arrival in Iceland you’ll find your Reykjavík 1 Keflavík 4 Urental car help desk in the arrival hall at Hveragerði Keflavik Airport. The desk is open every day from 5:00 am – 5:00 pm and again from 9:00 2 pm-1:00 am. The staff will advise you where to Vík find your vehicle. If you are arriving early enough in the day, the beginning of your trip you continue on we recommend driving along the southern road number no. 43 until you find your way to coast of the Reykjanes peninsula and you Grindavik. Take a left onto road no. 427 and might want to start your journey with a soak in explore the southern coastline on your way to the Blue Lagoon. Follow road no. 41 towards Hveragerdi. Reykjavik until you find road no. 43, leading Follow this winding road along the south towards Grindavik. Before you reach shoreline, past stand-alone houses, lava rock Mt Þorbjorn you make a right turn to the Blue formations, and endless sea views. Take a quick Lagoon area. To make it easier you can just detour on road no. 42 to Krysuvik Geothermal follow the steam clouds rising into the air. At Area and Kleifarvatn Lake, which are a part of the Blue Lagoon you can soothe away the jet the Reykjanes fissure zone. lag and relax in the milky waters of the Lagoon Continue your journey on road no. 427 until and perhaps enjoy a glass of the famous Blue you reach road no. 38 which will take you to Lagoon cocktail while you let the algae mask the charming village of Hveragerdi. The village bring out the skin’s inner glow! is one of the few sites in the world located Kindly note that the Blue lagoon is very directly on top of a geothermal area and popular all year round and therefore you should because of its many greenhouses heated by book ahead. hot water from nearby springs it is often called If you don´t plan on visiting the lagoon at the flower village. 4 Self Drive Golden Circle Instead of a classic volcano cone, Hekla is part Day 2: of a rather squat series of ridges, although this is South Coast usually hidden behind a thick bank of clouds that earned Hekla its menacing name, which means Thundering Waterfalls, Cliffs & Sea Stacks, Black the hooded one. Soon after the settlement Sand Beaches of the South Shore, Puffin Colony period, in 1104, Hekla showed that it was a pres- ➠➠Approximate driving distance: ence to be feared as it erupted without warning 190 km / 118 miles and devastated 20 farms in the Þjórsárdalur Valley. Indeed so notorious was the volcano´s Please see your Iceland Travel Itinerary for reputation that in the Middle Ages people in details about your overnight stay Europe believed it to be the gateway to hell. The rom Hveragerði you will continue your trip volcanic eruptions from Hekla are spectacular Fon road no. 1 to Selfoss. as the mountain is 1,493 m (4897 ft) high and You can take a detour to Stokkseyri, where towers over the lowlands of the south. you can find an interesting museum, called This beautiful region is the setting for the the Ghost Centre or Draugasetrið, tel. 483 greatest and most dramatic of the Icelandic 1202, displaying all of the most well-known family sagas, Njal´s Saga is set. You have the ghosts in Iceland. The entrance is located on opportunity to visit the Saga Centre in Hvols­ the south side of the building by the harbour. völlur where you can learn more about the The museum is not recommended for children sagas, tel. 487 8781. younger then 12 years old. The museum is open Rising ahead of you now is the cone shaped June-August from 13:00-18:00. Eyjafjallajökull glacier and volcano, 1666 m Keep on your journey on road no. 1 through (5465 ft), that erupted so memorably in 2010. the fertile farmlands of the south, towards the On a clear day you can see the Westman east through the small villages of Hella and Islands to your right. Hvolsvöllur, where trade and services are the There is a ferry to the Westman Islands, sail- main occupations. You will have frequent views ing from the nearby Landeyjarsandur harbour. of mountains, including the majestic Mt. Hekla. Therefore it is easy to take a detour to this archi- Mt. Hekla is without a doubt Iceland’s most pelago of