Iceland 2026 – The West
Day 11 – Stykkishólmur to Hellnar
By Wednesday we were making our way to the Snæfellsnes peninsula north of Reykjavik. It was absolutely the coldest, windiest, rainiest point of our trip. We ended up missing a few things due to the weather, but still saw a lot of interesting sights. The Snæfellsjökull glacier was not visible due to the weather.
Kirkjufell + Kirkjufellsfoss – the waterfall/mountain combo. The mountain was the filming location for Arrowhead Mountain in Game of Thrones. Again, people disobeying signs and rules.
Berserkjahraun Lava Field, Olafsvik, and some murals in Hellissandur.
Djúpalónssandur Black Beach
Lóndrangar – this was after we’d stopped at our hotel and I didn’t bring my camera. My dear husband took us back to get it. I got some dream photos of razorbills, murres, etc.
Day 12 – Hellnar to Reykjavik
On Thursday., we left Hellnar and drove back to Reykjavik. Along the way we stopped at Ytri-Tunga Seal Beach (where it was very windy), the famous black church in Buðir, and the Eldborg Crater. We didn’t do any hikes because the weather was awful! But we still got to see almost everything we had planned, even if some of it was just from the car.
We had one last night in Reykjavik, where we finally got a hot dog from the famous stand there. The line was two long when we were here the first time. Honestly, it was not any better than the gas station ones, but it checked a box. Interestingly, their tables have built-in hot dog holders. And the birds nearby are waiting for any crumbs to be dropped.
Day 13 – Reykjavik to Orlando (home!)
The last day, we slept in and had breakfast downstairs, then used our Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotel voucher for some really tasty donuts for later in the day. I had read that the Keflavik airport can be crazy for departures, so we wanted to get there by noon, even though our flight wasn’t until 4:45pm local time.
Along the way to the airport, I saw a White-tailed Eagle, which was really amazing. I think I had seen another one earlier in the trip, but I wasn’t sure; this clinched it. We also drove out to Garður Lighthouse for one more sight before we hit the airport.
We arrived at KEF, where I waited curbside while Pete returned the car. We were so early that we couldn’t check in yet, and had to wait in the lobby for about 45 minutes. We finally were able to check in and drop our bags, grab a couple of gifts from the duty free shop, and make our way to the lounge. The Saga lounge is the only lounge at KEF, and it doesn’t support Priority Pass. We had flown first class, though, which came with access. What a great lounge! It wasn’t crowded (likely due to not supporting Priority Pass, of course) and had self-pour liquor and delicious food. I was determined to take advantage of that, and I definitely did.
My favorite thing to eat from their buffet was the curried herring! pete wouldn’t even try it, but it was so good. I ended up full and relaxed before getting on the plane for an 8-hour direct flight, where we sat behind a man who watched The Big Bang Theory and Friends reruns and laughed so loudly the entire cabin was staring at him. It was cute at first, but got old after about an hour…leaving us with 7 more hours to be annoyed with him.