Foreword.

Last year we came back from Iceland with a feeling that it’s not yet finished, that one day we will come back for more. So we did. This year we  took it serious - we rented a 4x4 to hit the highlands and it’s been a completely different trip from the previous one.

Driving gravel roads nonstop for hours, crossing rivers, sleeping in a cold rooftop tent, soaking in hot rivers. Although it wasn’t our first time in Iceland we were were awed most of the time.

We had a few landmarks in mind what we wanted to see, with the help and paper maps of our car owner we did as much as we could in these 7 days.

The Roads.

Roads in Iceland can be split into four categories. A large portion of the road system is made up of gravel roads. Some of them called F roads, F stands for “fjall”, which means “mountain” in Icelandic. Some has three digits - they are secondary roads and usually gravel roads as well. Four digit roads are privately owned roads. So if you are leaving Iceland’s ring road, most likely you will end up in gravel road. Certain F-roads will require a higher clearance vehicle, because of river crossings, majority of car rentals renting smaller 4x4’s, like Renault Duster or similar, which is not enough for some river crossings. For example, if you are planning on going into Thórsmörk (which you should!), and you want to get to the other side of the Krossá River, which is extremely deep, then you will need modified jeep. In some cases, the vehicle should have a waterproofed engine and a snorkel, which our car didn’t have, and unfortunately we couldn’t reach Maelifell, because one river crossing was too deep and wide for us.

 Main landmarks we visited was in roads - 32, 26, 35, F26, F225, F261, F210, F206, F208, F232. 

Rusty Mountains.

Kerlingarfjöll is a group of small geothermically active and rust-colored mountains capped with snow. Boiling water erupting from the ground, steam coming out of the deep holes in the mountains, and a strong sulphur smell are just a few things you can expect to find here. It was snowing earlier that day, so all mountains were freshly frosted. Bring proper hiking shoes, as the ground is primarily clay, and is very slippery when moist. Roam around as much as time allows you to as each path gives a different vantage point over this amazing natural marvel.

Midway stopover.

If you’ve made it all the way to Kerlingarfjöll, we have to recommend that you stay over at Hveravellir. It’s basically a midway stop if you’re traversing the island through it’s centre. It’s never warm here, so be prepared to spend a cold night (it got to +2 at night for us). But there’s a VERY hot spring in the campus which is hot enough for you to be ok to get dressed at these kinds of temperatures. Also take a minute to have a look at the smoking fumaroles and hot springs nearby. 

Thor’s valley.

Thórsmörk stands for Thor’s valley in Icelandic. The valley is unnaturally lush with green. We didn’t look into why it’s become so green and rich in vegetation, but we assume that it must have something to do with the nearby glaciers. We spent the night in the camp and spend the most of the next day hiking. We managed to finish 2 trails that the camp administrator was kind enough to recommend. The views were to put it mildly - spectacular and worth the calories spent. There are multiple daily buses that run from Reykjavik, so even a car is not compulsory enjoy this crazy pretty place.

Fjallabak.

Landmannalaugar is a fairy land located in the Fjallabak Nature Reserve. It’s quite challenging to get to, as due to heavy traffic, the road becomes quite busted and the corrugated texture becomes unbearable at times. We managed to average around 30-40km/h. But once you’re there - man oh man. This was probably the most surprising place of our trip and we will definitely come back as we didn’t account to spend a day hiking there, but it’s a definite must. The rusty canvas carries on for mile after mile. And at the end of every day, a hot spring river awaits as a reward to soothe those tired legs.

A stop not to miss.

On the way to or back (depending on how you arrived to Ladmannalaugar, is a very picturesque valley named Sigöldugljufur. Water permeates to rock faces and literally comes out from under your feet. We can only imagine how crazy it looks in spring when everything is melting away and water is overflowing.

‘Just another waterfall’.

On the way back to refuel on N1, we stopped by Axlafoss waterfall. It wasn’t the biggest, or highest we’ve seen, but it had a very picturesque look to it as its carved a fairly deep valley. Would recommend if nearby.

Land of lakes.

Veiðivötn is a crazy looking area filled with freshwater lakes. (Yep, you can even fish around here) We didn’t get into the range, as we had our sights set on Skyggnisvatn lake for its ethereal color and size. But once we came here, we had fully underestimated the size of the crater, I took my drone out 2km, and it still get across the lake and neither did it get to the top of it. The thing is massive. The river joining next to it are surreal in their mixing colors. The place is otherworldly. 

Rooftop camping.

This time our accomodation was on top of a trusty Hyundai Teracan. The rooftop tent was solid enough to not let the elements in, but it was definitely not as comfortable as the heated camper van we had on our last trip. The transition from driving to eating to sleeping required some adjustment, but hey, we knew that you have to pay a price to see stuff off the beaten track. We’d repeat this in a heartbeat.

Driving with common sense.

Driving in the highlands is not for the faint hearted as it involves quite a few river crossings, endless washboard gravel roads, sketchy steep ups and downs. The river crossings are infamous though for the lives they’ve taken. The issue with rivers in Iceland is that they change year to year and even the locals don’t always know what’s underneath all the gushing water. Some crossing are of course minor, but some are outright deadly. So please, use common sense when approaching any given river and tread lightly.

Iceland is a treasure trove of natural wonders, so get out there - we know we will again and again.