Northwest Iceland Photo Gallery

Route

It's early morning and time to set off for a long day of driving. The first stop is to gas up in Akureyri.

Heading north along the coast, we followed the mountains the hugged the coast.

The road rose with the mountains and soon became slushy and a bit dangerous as we swerved around nerve-wrecking bends. We arrived in a snow-covered Ólafsfjörður on the other side of the mountains.

The GPS that came with the rental car was not so up-to-date. I recalled researching a tunnel that went through the mountains from here, but the GPS directions did not mention this. After a bit of visual searching, we found the tunnel, which greatly shortened the journey to Siglufjordhur.

This is a small port town with a beautiful mountain backdrop.

After lunch, we set off to round the coast, which saw more significant changes in the road conditions as we rose and descended along the mountains. At one point, we slowed to a crawl along snow-covered roads with the cliffs and ocean next door.

The difference is quite drastic. Once past the mountains, the landscape became lush and green again. Snow seemed to be a distant problem.

Farms lined along the road, where we had a close encounter with the Icelandic horse for the first time.

Our final stop of the day, amidst the setting light, was Hvítserkur. The rock formation evoked fairy tale fantasies of a dragon rising out of the cold, northern ocean.

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Route
It's early morning and time to set off for a long day of driving. The first stop is to gas up in Akureyri.


Heading north along the coast, we followed the mountains the hugged the coast.








The road rose with the mountains and soon became slushy and a bit dangerous as we swerved around nerve-wrecking bends. We arrived in a snow-covered Ólafsfjörður on the other side of the mountains.


The GPS that came with the rental car was not so up-to-date. I recalled researching a tunnel that went through the mountains from here, but the GPS directions did not mention this. After a bit of visual searching, we found the tunnel, which greatly shortened the journey to Siglufjordhur.







This is a small port town with a beautiful mountain backdrop.







After lunch, we set off to round the coast, which saw more significant changes in the road conditions as we rose and descended along the mountains. At one point, we slowed to a crawl along snow-covered roads with the cliffs and ocean next door.



The difference is quite drastic. Once past the mountains, the landscape became lush and green again. Snow seemed to be a distant problem.


Farms lined along the road, where we had a close encounter with the Icelandic horse for the first time.


Our final stop of the day, amidst the setting light, was Hvítserkur. The rock formation evoked fairy tale fantasies of a dragon rising out of the cold, northern ocean.