Here are some updates from Iceland during the month of May. Lots of seasonal changes as the weather warms up!
Let us know if we missed anything! Oh, and we’ll be heading to Iceland from July 15 – August 8, so let us know if you want us to check something out. Or to meet up and say hi!
The Westman Islands ferry trip is now shorter
First, the Landeyjahöfn port re-opened for the season on May 2nd. When this port is closed over the winter, the ferry ride to the Westman Islands (from the port Þorlákshöfn) is a very long 2 hours and 45 minutes. With Landeyjahöfn open, it’s a (usually) pleasant 35 minutes. This headline says it all: Islanders Delighted as Harbor Opens.
(The picture at the top of the post shows the beautiful harbor area of Heimaey on the Westman Islands.)
Interestingly, though maybe only to me, is that this is a very late opening for Landeyjahöfn. Last year, it opened at the beginning of March. Sand has to be pumped out of the port before it can be used. (Fun fact: höfn at the end of Landeyjahöfn means port. Note that Þorlákshöfn also ends with höfn!)
Two things to note. First is that the Landeyjahöfn can still close for short periods if the weather is poor. Keep an eye on waves; more details are on my guest post about the Westman Islands here. Or keep an eye on the ferry’s operator’s Facebook page for the latest information.
Second, I really like the Westman Islands, and recommend you try to build it in to your summer trip. The ferry has limited capacity, and keeps the crowds lower than other parts of Iceland. And the somewhat recent volcano eruption in 1973 adds a rich history to the island.
F roads started opening in May
Several mountain, or F roads, opened in May. These are “roads” (many are more like dirt tracks, some with serious river crossings) that are not maintained during the winter, and so they are not driveable until the snow melts and the mud dries. See more about F roads in Iceland here. In general, I recommend people avoid F roads unless you do some careful planning!
The F road to Landmannalaugar, F 208, opened around May 24th. This is the earliest F208 has opened in the last 5 years; from 2014-2018, it opened in June or early July.
Picture of F road F26 taken by Ilya Sverdlov, used under a Creative Commons license. I wasn’t kidding about the dirt track!
Hallgrímskirkja elevator reopens
Taking the elevator to the top of Hallgrímskirkja (“Hallgrím’s church”) is a very popular activity for tourists, and for good reason; the views of Reykjavik are stunning:
One downside was that the wait to get up there could be 10 or more minutes, since there was only one slow elevator. Worse (at least in my opinion), the wait could be just as long to get back down! Here’s a picture from a few years ago of the outside of the church, with a line of people outside the door waiting for the elevator. Okay, the elevator is right inside the door, but still.
Hopefully pictures like that are a thing of the past, as a brand new elevator has just been completed! It opened on May 28th. ” ‘This one is faster and goes 60 percent faster up and down,’ Sigríður Hjálmarsdóttir, manager of the church, tells mbl.is.” The church charges for access to the elevator, and this seems like a great way of putting some of that money to work.
Fjaðrárgljúfur reopened
Fjaðrárgljúfur is a canyon in south Iceland. (The suffix “gljúfur” means canyon.) Two important things you should know. First, it’s beautiful:
Second, because Fjaðrárgljúfur has become very popular, paths are getting muddy and Iceland has closed the area quite a bit. Justin Bieber may or may not be to blame for this.
It seems likely that the canyon will be closed most spring seasons, and reopening almost like an F road, once the mud has dried. Fjaðrárgljúfur closed this year on February 27th, and is just about to reopen, if it hasn’t already.
[Update June 1st: Fjaðrárgljúfur has officially reopened!]
Reykjavik’s Laundromat Café has reopened
The very popular Laundromat Café closed in February 2018, and has just reopened. You can eat there, and yes, you can do your laundry there. And, at least before it closed, there was a nice kids play area in the basement, next to the washing machines. Don’t let that nearly empty room picture below fool you though: This is a very popular place. In my opinion, nobody goes there anymore because it’s too crowded, but maybe things will be better now.
Google Maps adds Speed Limits
Google just announced that Google Maps will now show speed limits and speed camera in 40 countries, including Iceland. I’m excited to see how this works, but remember not to trust this 100%. Sometimes the database has the wrong speed limit! We’ll try it out this summer and let you know how it works.
That’s it. Thanks for reading! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions. Consider signing up for our email list to get occasional e-mails similar to this post!
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