Day 1
Getting to Reykjavík and prepping for the road trip

Getting from the airport to Reykjavík

From Keflavik airport, a bus service called the Flybus takes you to the BSI bus station in Reykjavík. If you book the slightly more expensive Flybus+ option, you will be taken to the BSI bus station where drivers will guide you to minivans which will take you to the hotel doorstep. Check their website to see if your hotel is on the list. It is a long, comprehensive list covering almost all hotels in Reykjavík.

Getting road-trip ready

Day 1 was all about getting the practicalities straight. We got a Siminn sim card with a data plan. We headed to the local tourist information office in the city centre to collect maps, accommodation guides (Áning, Icelandic Farm Holiday, campsites) and brochures of tours that interested us.

By noon we got our car. It took a while to figure out navigation and get used to the car. Then it was time to get some groceries and head out of Reykjavík. We took the ring road from Reykjavík but instead of taking the tunnel to Akranes, we turned right and took the 47. Our first stop was to be the hike to Glymur waterfall, located at the head of the Hvalfjörður fjord. But the weather had other plans for us.

The first taste of Icelandic weather

We soon learnt from the locals, that this was the worst day of summer with gushing winds and heavy rain. It was also the strongest wind we had experienced in our lives. Our eardrums hurt after we foolishly tried to brave the wind for a walk. We decided to spend the rest of the day indoors in the warm and toasty lounging area of our campsite and watched the trees and lamp posts sway with the wind.

There is a very apt Icelandic word which has no english equivalent. It is called “Gluggaveður”. When the weather looks nice through your window but when you step out, it is very uncomfortable and unpleasant, it is called Gluggaveður. Literally translated it would mean something like “window weather”.