Iceland in January 3: On the Road to Grundarfjörður

We left early the next morning because we had our longest drive. It was cold, but not snowing and the roads looked pretty good. The route goes past Reykjavik and the up the coast, through a tunnel and on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. 

Snæfellsnes Peninsula

As we passed Hveragerði, the road starts to climb. Scott and I had last driven this in summer, I didn’t even recall that there is a summit to go over on route 1 (called Suðurlandsvegur in that area). As we climbed, it started to snow. Then, we encountered blowing snow. Then, we could see nothing except the fabulous yellow reflective road markers that guide your way along the entire ring road. 

We slowed and slowed, ultimately going 10 km/h with flashers on, often driving through snow drifts up to a foot deep. When we could see, we saw several cars spun out off the road. There was no way to stop because Iceland doesn’t really have shoulders on most of its roads and, if it did, you wouldn’t be able to see them anyway. It was the scariest driving I have ever done. What had we gotten ourselves into? What a way to start a long drive. And, what a way to validate our decision to not drive in the West Fjords!

But, we survived. I was impressed with the way our little Ford Kuga handled. I was thankful for Caty’s encouragement and extra eyes. I was really thankful for the yellow road reflectors. And, I was very happy when we descended into Reykjavik and the weather was OK. Fortunately, that was our worst driving experience of the entire trip. The rest of the drive that day was overcast and windy with occasional snow, but the roads were good. 

The route includes a four-mile-long tunnel under Hvalfjörður. 

Photo: Wikimapia

Along the route, there was very little civilization after Reykjavik. Just mountains, snow, wind and fields full of Icelandic horses.

Once we actually reached the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, we had to take a road across the peninsula through the mountains. It was quite snowy and, thus, a bit daunting, but it turned out to be fine. 

Stark landscape

Photo: Caty Stevens

Along the route, we encountered more Icelandic horses, monuments to Icelandic sagas (ancient stories about the founding fathers of the country), interesting signs and what we thought was an accident, but was actually just a small tour van stopped on the road so the passengers could get out and take pictures. 

It happens frequently in Iceland: there are no shoulders on the road, the scenery is gorgeous and traffic is sparse. 

You just stop and photograph. Other cars can go around you.

As we neared our destination – Grundarfjörður – the wind picked up and it started to pour. 

It went from gloomy to rainy; Photo: Caty Stevens

We had the address of our guesthouse, but GPS couldn’t find it. So, we called for directions. The man who answered seemed flustered and told us “he’d be right there.” Odd. 

So, we waited by Láki Tours (more on that later) for about 20 minutes. A woman in an SUV drove by, then came back and told us there was a problem with our room (a small double in a house with a bath shared with other guests), that they were putting us up on “the other side of the village” and we should follow her. 

She drove (rather rapidly) through the icy town and quite a bit farther than we anticipated, finally pulling up at a modern house that sat by itself along the highway. She told us it was all ours (no other guests). 

It was a three-bedroom house with a bath, kitchen, laundry and garage! The decor was a mixture of racecars and a little bit of Christmas.

That blue suit is a child's racecar driver outfit

Score!!! 

The woman seemed concerned that we might be upset about the change. 

NOT!!

She also said we could stay longer if we wanted, but we had already pre-paid for the other guesthouse. The house was great. But, it wasn’t ready for guests yet, so we had to go hang in town until they could make the beds and clean up.

Much better than a room and shared bath

We had lunch in the only restaurant in town (the Ru-Ben – great pizza and burgers), drove around a bit and bought some groceries. We were able to cook our own dinner that night.

Láki's boat

The reason we went to Grundarfjörður was to see Orcas, which feed on herring there in the winter (although they have only been coming there for a few years). 

We had booked two whale watches with Láki Tours, which we had been following on Facebook for months (and seeing great things!). 

Last year, they saw tons and tons of Orcas.  

This year, they hadn’t seen any since Jan. 3 and they had had to cancel many trips for weather. We were a little concerned. 

The day before we arrived, they didn’t see any on the tour, but a small pod had been spotted at the nearby Kolgrafafjörður, which has a long causeway-style bridge that the tour boat cannot go under. We had passed the bridge on our way into town and hadn’t seen any. 

Photo: Caty Stevens

Grundarfjörður is also the site of Kirkjufell, a triangle-shaped mountain that is one of the most photographed spots in Iceland. 

Kirkjufell

We hoped we would have aurora to photograph against the mountain. But, even though it cleared that night, we had no aurora (and we checked all night long). It’s a shame because our front drive faced due north (that's view out the front door).

Incredible!

Trip date: January 16-27, 2015