Iceland was on my bucketlist for this year (2023), and last April, we made it happen. Iceland is a big volcanic island located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the north Atlantic Ocean. Dubbed as the land of ice and fire due to its natural terrains of mixed volcanoes and glaciers, the Scandinavian country is one of the most expensive places to visit. On Day 1, we flew to Keflavik with Icelandair, picked up our rental car from Hertz at the airport, and briefly explored the capital city of Reykjavik.

Here’s our entire route for the roadtrip in Iceland in spring, c/o Google Maps:

We decided to try Icelandair’s Saga premium or 1st class that time, so we were pretty hyped. We got entry to the lounge at Oslo Airport (although I still prefer SAS lounge) which offers free snacks and drinks, amazing legroom in the cabin, and good food throughout the flight. There was also entertainment on the screen, but we prefered playing Trivia together on the phone, or watching our own downloaded movies/shows. Funny, our plane has a name. It’s Eldborg, after a volcano in Iceland, and it means “the fire castle”. All in all, we were pleased with the flight and the cabin crew!

There’s a 2-hour difference in the time zone between Norway and Iceland, so we left at noon time, and arrived at around 3pm. I love taking photos from the plane window. It’s just cool to watch clouds hanging in the sky. And Iceland is now the westernmost place I’ve been. Eventhough it was mid-April, Norway was still covered in ice and snow (Pic 1 below). Meanwhile, Iceland (specifically the southern coast) had more clear grounds, without much vegetation, as seen from the sky.

It was our first time to rent a car whilst travelling. We chose Hertz, as it’s a well-established rental company and we just wanted to avoid any hassle, as it was our first time. The car was a Mazda 3 Skyactiv, which was lower and smaller than our Nissan. But I guess, it was more hitech. This type of car is not allowed on Icelandic highlands, which we did not plan to visit at that time because, well, those roads were still closed due to ice and snow. We used this site to check the roads during the trip: https://www.road.is/. Driving in Iceland on Day 1 was a breeze:

We stayed in Midgardur by Center Hotels, which is perfectly situated in the city center of Reykjavik. We found a free public parking space across the road (free parking on weekends), and checked in before exploring the city.

Our afternoon walk involved visiting a city icon first and foremost, the Hallgrímskirkja, a parish church and national sanctuary with a height of 74.5 meters. It was named after the author of Hymns of the Passion, clergyman Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614-1674). Afterwards, we followed the adjacent street which was teeming with tourists. Farther down the road was the Rainbow street (Regnbogagatan). It was a symbol for joy and support for diversity, originally displayed in connection to the Reykjavik Pride celebration.

Moving on, we walked towards the coast. Harpa Concert Hall & Conference Center is a popular meet-up spot for tours and public transportation. Interestingly, the name Harpa was decided through a public contest, where 1200 people participated. According to https://www.harpa.is/en/history, Harpa is an old Icelandic word which can mean: 1) early spring, 2) a month in the old Nordic calendar, or 3) the harp.

We, then, followed the coast towards the Sun Voyager statue, another famous icon, made by the artist Jon Gunnar Arnason (1931-1981). It’s made of steel and resembles a Viking ship, although it was originally intended to symbolize a dreamboat and an ode to the sun.

Being in Reykjavik and capturing some of its known icons was like a dream. Seeing them in person was much better than looking at them through other people’s pictures and/or postcards.

For dinner, we had some delicious fastfood. Lol. 😛 And I captured one of the nice (censored) grafitti in the city.

This was Day 1 of our 1-week roadtrip in Iceland. Excited to share what we did and saw on Day 2. 🙂

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ALL PHOTOS AND VIDEOS ON THIS BLOG ENTRY ARE MINE. 🙂 Cheers!