Icelandic Museum Of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Cool little music museum just up the road from the airport that’s good for any hour or two, especially if it’s raining. https://goo.gl/maps/QtUCk6M7JRJ2
Gardur Light House
Nice light house right on the (second most) westerly tip of Iceland. Well there are two lighthouses actually. I should say at this point that if you don’t like lighthouses standing on the edges of epic coastlines, then Iceland may not be the country for you, or it may be that you find my future recommendations somewhat samey’. https://goo.gl/maps/CYyuRChjhDm
Bridge America-Europe
One of the places where you can see the two tectonic plates pulling apart, with a bridge between the two sides of Europe and America. Many amusing ‘holding up the bridge’ photos to be had. The other place to see the plates pulling apart (more spectacularly it has to be said) is when you visit Þingvellir on the Golden Circle tour (which you should also make sure you do). https://goo.gl/maps/VcLtnEWkmx82
Gunnuhver Geothermal Area
Bubbling sulphur and steam coming out of the ground, including an old house that has collapsed into the pit. Very cool. https://goo.gl/maps/X6HL7wrAQtA2
Reykjanesviti Coastline and Light House
Out beyond Gunnuhver and past Iceland’s oldest light house you get to some of the most epic coastline scenery I’ve ever seen. It’s quite a bumpy drive, but it’s well worth it. It gets windy, so as always in Iceland, be very careful on the cliff edges. There are often no ropes or safety barriers or anything like that in Iceland. https://goo.gl/maps/YoGmCSfrHB62
Grindavik
Nice fishing town on the south coast just up the road from the Blue Lagoon. Contains an amazing little cafe at the harbour called Bryggjan that serves the most amazing lobster soup I have ever eaten. It’s cheap and all you can eat too.
Bryggjan: https://goo.gl/maps/rwePe8yd1vT2
Hópsnesviti
Just around the bay from Grindavik is this graveyard of old rusted shipwrecks strewn across the rocks and yet another light house. It’s a good thing I like light houses. https://goo.gl/maps/AL118gQi1uT2
Seltún Geothermal Area
Another area of bubbling sulphur and steam. This one is on a few levels on the side of a hill. https://goo.gl/maps/ajzC3fHLW6v
Kleifarvatn
A beautiful lake just up the road from Seltún that worth exploring. See if you can find the big rock at the edge of the shore that looks like a head https://goo.gl/maps/JFVAeW5hSow
Inside The Volcano
Okay look, there’s no easy way to sugarcoat this, but this one is pretty expensive, However it is one of the most amazing things I have ever done. You hike for an hour or so over incredible lava field landscapes to get to a dead volcano. After a bowl of lamb soup you climb up to the top and are then lowered down on a platform (sounds scarier than it is) into the cavernous inside of the volcano, which uniquely managed to empty out thousands of years ago. Really incredible. (Only open from May to October). Sorry if I send this to you out of season and you really wanted to go, but hey, that just the start of your list of reasons to come back to Iceland again, right?
Stephen Caulfield 