Our final Day, with Snaefellsnes and Reykjavik on our schedule! Unfortunately, the sunshine of our first 5 days did not return, and the final day started like the previous day had ended: cloudy and rainy. But 5 sunny days out of 7 is probably already more than you can ask for. After all, we’re close to the Artic Cycle and not in the Sahara.
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| Destination | Iceland, road no.54 from Grundarfjordur to Arnarstapi, road no. 54 and Ring Road to Reykjavik |
| Where I stayed / Recommendations | We stayed at a room booked at “Rooftop Apartment” (via booking.com), Brautarholt, Reykjavik -and this turned out to be the nicest accomodation during our entire Iceland circle! A brand-new, nice, spacious apartment for up to 4 persons, ensuite modern and shiny bathroom, central location, no breakfast, but only 90 Euros per night! I almost could not believe it. |
| Restaurants | Restaurant “Reykjavik Kitchen”: very good food, a bit off the beaten tourist track, but close to the , nice staff |
| Things to do and see | Snaefellsnes peninsula: hinking in Snaefellsnes National Park; coastal walk between Arnarstapi and Hellnar Reykjavik: Hallgrimskirkja Church, Harpa Concert Hall, Laugarvegur |
| Recommendations in a nutshell | The Snaefellsns peninsula is certainly nice – without rain and clouds. And Reykjavik is so small, that a day is enough to see it (almost) all. |
Snaefellsnes
Our final day started like the previous day had ended: cloudy and rainy. We got a last glimpse at Kirkjufell, my favorite Icelandic Mountain:
Unfortunately, the bad weather ruined our travel plan of the day, as we had intended to try an “F road” (F stands probably for four wheel drive) no. 570, passing the Snaefellsjökul glacier. However, looking at the sky, it became pretty clear that we would not see anything. We decided to go straight to the south coast of Snaefellsnes and try the highly recommended coastal walk between Arnarstapi and Hellnar.
The Arnarstapi Coast
Well, the weather did not really improve during the drive, and when we arrived at Arnarstapi, it was still raining, combined with a gusty wind. Thus, we just went down the short walk to the cliffs and back.
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As the view in both directions (to the east as well as to the west) looked the same (sad and grey)…
We decided to go straight to Reykjavik, where we arrived around noon.
Reykjavik – cute little Capital
Fortunately, we could get into our booked apartment right away and had the entire afternoon for sightseeing in the Icelandic capital. Starting with a nice coffee at a nice coffee shop called “Reykjavik Roasters” – they have several coffee shops all over Reykjavik:
Our first aim (after having enjoyed a great coffee) was the famous
Hallgrimskirkja
This Church is not really old, but quite special. Nordic-“sober” on the outside, but light and friendly inside.
The design is supposed to reflect the Icelandic nature: Guðjón Samúelsson (1887-1950), architect of the Hallgrimskirkja, got inspired by the famous Svartifoss waterfall. So, the central part of the facade reflects the watefall, the adjacent wings represent the basalt colums richt and left to Svartifoss.
Being one of the major tourist attractions in Reykjavik and a preferred picture motive…
…it was pretty crowded, and more so because of a nice organ concert:
Laugarvegur – the city’s shopping mile
Afterwards, we walked through the small roads around Laugarvegur street…
…tried delicious sweets like this one called “Kanilsnuda” (a sweet cinnamon roll)…
…passed the house of the Icelandic Prime Minister:
…and visited the famous
Harpa Concert Hall
Where we took hundreds of pictures of the magnificent hall:
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And some more pictures of Reykjavik
From there, it’s just a stone’s throw to the old harbour,
and back to Laugarvegur.
Passing cute colorful houses…
…and areas that have everything: innovative facades, cute old houses and the average ugly backyard…
To tell the truth: Reykjavik is not exactly a “Metropole”, but rather a small city with a certain “provincial touch” (in a positive sense!):
Good Gastro Scene
However, there’s no lack of nice cafes, bars and restaurants! Finally we had a very nice dinner at a small restaurant off the tourist track called “Reykjavik Kitchen”:
After dinner, we visited the Hlemmur Square market close by, a place highly frequented by the natives (despite exorbitantly high prices…).
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And that’s it – the next morning started with a very early drive to Keflavik airport (our flight back home was scheduled for around 7:30), the drop-off of our rental car at 6:00, and a final surprise at the airport: there are about 8-10 flights scheduled for this early morning departure, and the airport hall and particularly the Iceland Air counters were completely packed:
It took us 45 minutes to drop our baggage, and 30 minutes for the security check. So, if you flight should start between 6:30 and 8:00 a.m.: get there EARLY!!
Greetings from Harpa Concert Hall, Reykjavik!
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*According to a German Court decision, all texts containing links to commercial pages (e.g. links to Tripadvisor, Airline, hotel or restaurant websites) have to be identified as “commercial” (in German “Anzeige”). As my texts do contain links like that, I therefore identify each post and page containing a link as “Anzeige”. However (and referring to the “About Me” page) I would like to point out that I do NOT post any sponsored content in my texts; I pay for all my trips myself.
