Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.06.2016, Qupperneq 63

Coffee in
Hafnarfjörður
Instead of taking Route 1 south,
take a right onto Route 40 as you
leave Reykjavík and head for Haf-
narfjörður. This charming seaside
town is often mistaken as within
Reykjavík’s city limits, as it’s the
first place you hit on the Flybus,
but it’s actually a municipality of
its own. Take a walk around the
seaside old town and the park
(which has some quite tall trees
by Icelandic standards) and grab
a coffee at the cosy Pallet coffee
house, which has recently relocat-
ed to Strandgata, making way for a
second coffee option—a new book
cafe, Norðurbakkinn.
Take a walk
at Kleifarvatn
Next, follow Ásbraut until you
reach Route 42. After passing
through some picturesque moun-
tains, you’ll come to Kleifarvatn—
a large, eerily still lake. For some
time, this lake was slowly drain-
ing away after an earthquake, tak-
ing the fish with it—but recently,
it has stabilised, and people are
fishing in the lake once more. It’s
surrounded by cool rock forma-
tions, and you can walk the black
beach that used to be the lake’s
bottom.
Explore the Krýsuvík
geothermal area
You’ll now start to see plumes of
steam appearing on the horizon.
These come from the Krýsuvík
geothermal area, which is part of
the mid-Atlantic ridge that makes
Iceland such a turbulent volcanic
country. Seltún is a famous little
geothermal park where you can
follow a zigzagging wooden path
over the pungent, boiling mud
pots, and there are hiking trails
to other tucked-away hot pools in
the area.
Visit the beautiful
Strandarkirkja
At the end of the road, turn right
onto Route 427. You’ll start to see
some rolling, golden beaches that
are well known as Iceland’s best
stretch of coast for surfing. After a
while, a steeple will appear on the
horizon—this is Strandarkirkja,
a beautifully preserved wooden
church that’s said to bestow some
kind of special god-magick onto
those who offer a donation.
Stop for cake
at Þorlákshöfn
This little town is mostly famous
as one of two ferry ports for on-
ward travel to the Westman Is-
lands. But it’s also home to a café
called Hendur í höfn—the perfect
place to break from the trip, put
your feet up and get some hot soup
and coffee, and try the fancy cake
selection for which Hendur í höfn
is best known.
Walk around
Eyrarbakki and have
dinner at Rauða Húsið
Eyrarbakki is, perhaps unfairly,
best known for being the site of
Iceland’s biggest prison. But it’s
also one of the oldest villages in
the country. The sea front has a
scenic pathway, and there’s a local
history museum, but the star of
Eyrarbakki is Rauða Húsið (“The
Red House”)—an immaculate
restaurant that would be worth
the trip alone. It’s pretty popular,
so you might want to book in ad-
vance.
Finish by visiting
the Raufarholshellir
lava cave
On the way back, turn right onto
route 38 and continue onto route
39 to reach Raufarholshellir, one
of Iceland’s most impressive caves.
It’s relatively accessible, but dark
and slippery, so good shoes and a
torch are essential. It’s a perfect
ending to the day and when you
emerge it’s just a half-hour drive
back to Reykjavík.
SHARE: gpv.is/southwest
Road Trip
12 Hours In The
Southwest
Words JOHN ROGERS Photos ART BICNICK
64 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 7 — 2016TRAVEL
On The Road:
Solheimajökull
Words JOHN ROGERS Photo ART BICNICK
If you drive the South Coast, or any
part of Iceland, you’ll see a lot of
intriguing signs pointing inland
from the Ring Road. Sites of par-
ticular interest are indicated by
a kind of swirly square insignia.
Part of the fun of an Icelandic road
trip is taking a few unplanned
turns, just to see what lies just
around the next corner or over the
next hill. Sometimes, it might be
a canyon (if the place name ends
in “gjá”), or some seaside cliffs
(“bjarg”), or a waterfall (“foss”).
But if it’s sign for something
ending with “jökull,” it’s glacier-
related. Whatever you do, don’t
skip the turn for Soheimajökull,
between Skógar and Vík. After a
short, newly paved road (fine for a
normal rental car) and a ten-min-
ute walk, you’ll see the vast, blue,
cracked ice-fall tumbling from the
heights of Eyjafjallajökull down
to ground level. (Note: don’t go
farther than a few steps onto the
ice without a guide—as well as be-
ing beautiful, glaciers can be very
dangerous. For that, think about
booking a glacier walk with a pro-
vider such as Arctic Adventures:
arcticadventures.is.)