Southwest Iceland
And travel home
July 7, 2026
We left Akureyri and headed west and south on the Ring Road. For a long part of the drive today, we traveled among the least populated areas we have seen in the country. There were even vast stretches without sheep or horses, both of which are prevalent in the Icelandic countryside.
We travelled through river valleys lined with waterfalls. After about three and a half hours driving plus a short gas/coffee stop, we reached the town of Borgarnes, which is home to the well-regarded Settlement Museum.
People have been living in this area since early settlement times, though the first permanent settlement was on the south coast where we saw puffins last week at Ingólfshöfði. The museum was presented via an audio tour in two sections, each lasting about thirty minutes. The first traced the history of the first sixty years of settlement of the island (873-930 AD), including the founding families and their farms. It also discussed the navigation feats performed by the Norwegian/Viking sailors that allowed them to discover and populate Iceland. The settlement period lasted until 930, during which time the island was populated mostly by Norse immigrants and Celtic slaves. Note, there was no native population to displace.
The museum said it is possible that the population of the island in 930 was over 30,000 people, which we found amazing. However, we will learn tomorrow how the population grew and then shrank several different times over the centuries due to volcanic eruptions, famine, plague and other disasters, so we assume this figure was accurate.
Photography was not allowed in the museum.
After having lunch and spending about an hour in the museum, the rain had started to subside, so we drove forty minutes to our last waterfalls of the trip, Barnafoss and Hraunfossar. Again the bugs were bad so we did not linger. Here are photos of Hraunfossar.
From the falls, we went to investigate an attraction listed in our guidebook and upon inspection decided to skip it, so we drove to our hotel in a small town, Varmaland. While driving around this area, we noted there were several agricultural green houses and many geothermal features, including steaming ponds visible in many places.
Iceland is a very expensive country, and camping is popular. We saw tent camping, despite the cold, camper vans and large campers (although not large by US size). There were also these vehicles, a hybrid of tent and vehicle. The attachment to the roof pops up and creates a tent above the car. We were glad to have warm hotels on our travels, but see the appeal for younger travelers.
Tomorrow is our last day in Iceland, and we decided to cut back on the large drive we had originally planned and instead spend most of our time in and near the capital and the town of Keflavik, where the airport is located.
July 8, 2026
We left our hotel and drove about an hour and a half to Reyjkavik where we visited the National Museum of Iceland. The museum chronicles the history of the nation from the first settlement in 873 to the present. It was a good companion to the Settlement Museum we visited yesterday, which explained the how and why of settlement. This museum chronicled the development of the nation, including the periods of its rule by Norway and Denmark.
The museum houses a large collection of archeological items from the earliest days. It also answered a question we had asked ourselves rhetorically, that is when did Iceland convert from Norse pagan religion to Christianity. The answer is 1000 AD.
The museum also explained Iceland’s struggle for independence from Denmark which occurred completely in 1944, after D-Day. The meaning of the national flag was also explained, blue for the sky, white for the ice and red for volcanic lava. Finally, we learned that Iceland’s swimming pool culture has been inscribed on the UNESCO list. The museum is well done and worth a visit.
Two exhibits from the museum, the photo on right showing a carving on a whale bone.
We then drove about forty minutes to the town of Keflavik, which is where the international airport is located. We had lunch at a local restaurant and then drove south along the coast of the Reykjanes Peninsula, one of the most geothermally active parts of Iceland. It is the location of many geothermal plants. We stopped first at the Bridge between the Continents. This site is a rare spot on land where two continental plates (in this case the North American and Eurasian) come together.
After that, we drove to the Reykjanes lighthouse and walked for a bit with a view of the coast and waves. We then drove north through areas where the three most recent local eruptions occurred, the last being July 2025. Road signs say stopping is prohibited, and we could view the lava flows of the recent eruptions. The extent of the lava is amazing, and in several places the old roads were enveloped (you see pavement just disappear under the lava), and the government has rerouted roads since.
This is a large geothermal plant near the lighthouse.
Below are the lighthouse a a coastal view.
Our last stop of the day was the world famous Blue Lagoon. This geothermal spa features huge lava edged pools with milky light blue warm water. This experience was not quite as relaxing as the Forest Lagoon because of its size and popularity, but it was still worthwhile because it was a truly unique experience. We enjoyed the signature drink, the non-alcoholic blueberry smoothie.
Here is the map of the route from Akureyri to Keflavik, and the places we visited in the southwest of the country.
July 9, 2026
We drove about 5 minutes to the airport (KEF) where we turned in our rental vehicle, having driven a total of 2,745 km (1,705 miles) in our circumnavigation of Iceland. We had fears about the delays at passport control due to the new European EES procedures (the airline having warned of such), and allowed extra time, but we breezed through and had time for breakfast and relaxation in the lounge before our 10:40 am flight. However, the airport was not the most well organized—our gate’s destination sign changed three or four times. Many passengers proceeded down the bridge despite the fact that the sign still said “Detroit.” That was the correct decision. We were also surprised that an airport in this climate uses bus gates where passengers walk up stairs outside to board the aircraft.
Our flight to Portland (PDX) lasted about 8 hours, and our 3 hour connection for our flight home turned into almost four hours due to delays at SFO. We finally walked through our front door about 15.75 hours after our flight took off from KEF.
This shows our routing home, a total distance of 4,288 miles, 3,738 from KEF to PDX, short for a European flight but still long. We had a view of Mt. Hood, other Oregon Cascade peaks and Mt. Shasta on the last leg of the flight.
To sum up, this map shows our entire route on the ring road around the island.
We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Iceland, finding its history and landscape fascinating. The people were nice, the roads good with little traffic, and the food good for the most part (although we never tried the infamous fermented shark or the popular Icelandic hotdogs). Plus, we loved seeing so many puffins!
