Iceland Route1 Roadtrip


· Iceland Route 1 Circumnavigation · 4 Days · 852 Miles · 



Day 1 ·  Keflavik Airport - Skjaldarvik · 264 Miles · 6hrs Driving


I sat in the pilot' seat on the plane - EEK! (Don't panic.. we were on the tarmac!!) · Collected our beast of a Nissan Pathfinder and tried to remember how to drive an Automatic · Drove through a 5km tunnel, 165m below sea level · Blue skies and service station hot dogs (nothing yummier than an Iceland Service Station hotdog!) And then two ‘EEEEEK, We’re gonna DIE’ moments as we rose up in to  the mountains and hit blizzards, zero visibility, and snow covered roads. Don't underestimate how quickly the weather can turn up here!
Iceland Route 1

Iceland Route 1

Day 2 · Skjaldarvik - Bragdavellir · 227 Miles · Estimated 5hrs Driving - (Took 10 hours..)


Woke up to more blizzards and closed roads · Dug car out of snow drift · 4WD up in to the mountains · Passing waterfalls and geisers · Tackling white outs, and narrow roads hidden by deep snow · Stopping to take a photo, and finding car door frozen solid · Getting to the last pass down through the mountains, and finding the road imapssable.. leading to a hairy ‘ok.. we really are done for’ dirt track descent · Finally arriving at our little log cabin 10 hours later..

Iceland Route 1
Iceland Route 1

Day 3 · Bragdavellir - Nupar · 161 Miles · 3hrs Driving


A bleary eyed drive along the coast · Snow covered mountains gradually turned to black volcanic sand beaches, and then round a corner to icebergs! · So many icebergs.. drifting their way out to sea, and then back on the tide · Met some curious seals · Then slowly and wearily would our way round to our resting point for the night.  
Iceland Route 1
Iceland Route 1
Iceland Route 1

Day 4 · Nupar - Keflavik Airport · 199 Miles · 4hrs Driving


The final day · A quick stop, and an 8km trek in a hailstorm, to visit the Solehimasandur Plane Wreck - the haunting site of a US Navy Douglas Super DC-3 aircraft, which was forced to make an emergency landing in 1973 · The final leg of the journey took us through mile after mile of black sand beaches and volcanic debris - the legacy of this beautiful island’s rumbling past. We finished with a lovely relaxing dip in The Blue Lagoon thermal spa, before a 6am flight home.
Solehimasandur Plane Wreck
Blue Lagoon

4 Days · 852 Miles · 

See more images from this trip and buy prints on my website www.sarahelvinphotography.co.uk

- my next trip will be a tour of The Faroe Islands -