Winter Iceland Trip for Landscape Photography
Last month I got to take my first international landscape photography trip! I visited the infamous and photogenic Iceland with a friend of mine and I can say that it definitely exceeded expectations. The views and photos were surreal, the food was amazing, and the entire experience will last a lifetime! I’m already planning my next trip back in the summer to photograph the highlands which are not reachable in the winter.
This guide covers my trip to Iceland in the Winter and I highlight some of the best places and tips for landscape photography in the country.
Flights To Iceland
We booked our flights to Iceland about 8 months in advance and a direct roundtrip from Denver, Colorado was only about $750 total. Overall, flights from the U.S. to Iceland are very reasonable especially in colder months and the offseason. My experience with Icelandair was a positive one and I would put it as one of my new favorite airlines due to the comfort, yes even in economy, and the service.
Getting Around Iceland
There are a few ways to travel around Iceland but if you want to see it all and have flexibility on where and when you see places then renting a vehicle is the best move by far! We saw so many big tourist buses and I couldn’t stop thinking how much it would have sucked to be stuck on an agenda with little flexibility to drive to different locations especially needing extra time for photography with my camera and drone. We rented a van from Cozy Campers and there were some initially discount and customer service issues but overall it was a positive experience and a great deal! The van cost around $1,200 USD for 5 nights and included full insurance and a few extra amenities! The 4x4 in the winter conditions was super helpful and needed and the heater kept us warm during the super chilly nights!
Arriving in Iceland
We landed around 6am in Iceland and it was still pitch black out. The lack of light and the time zone change was a bit disorienting but at the same time it was just incredible and a trip to be in another country! Customs at the Iceland airport went by quickly and we caught a free shuttle that was provided by the camper van company to the city of Reykjavik. Unless you have a rental car or company picking you up at the airport, you will need to get a ride from the airport to Reykjavik. The drive was about 50 minutes long and we got lucky and saw a volcano erupting in the distance as we drove by!
Exploring Reykjavík
The shuttle took us to the BSI Bus Terminal and we dropped our bags off there for a small fee. It was a very short walk (less than 1mi) to the city center. We walked around the city just wandering for a bit. The different colored buildings and architecture was very cool and does offer a great place to do some city or street photography if that is your thing! We were super hungry from the long flight and drive so we were scouring the city for food! A few places were closed since it was still very early but we stumbled across and amazing smell that we literally couldn’t resist. The smell of fresh baked goods and pastries in the window at Baka Baka were some of the best I’ve ever had! They had some amazing food and coffee and we even stopped by again a few days later on our way out of town! Overall the city was really amazing and had some great places but we had to get on our way to sightsee and photograph the incredible landscapes!
Day 1 - Kleifarvatn and Valahnúkamöl
We started our trip heading South to Kleifarvatn which is one of the bigger lakes in Iceland. It was incredible to first see the water and lava like ground all around with mountains and hills nearby. It was incredibly cold and windy though and this was true for most of the trip so definitely pack accordingly! A lot of roads were closed due to the recent volcano eruption and we used road.is, which is updated many times a day, to track what was open and what wasn’t. We had to backtrack on our drive a little but we eventually made our way to Valahnúkamöl. This was an epic spot on the coast that offered towering views of cliffs and jagged rocks against the ocean. There was also some really awesome dark lava rock on the ground in the area and a lighthouse which all made for some amazing photographs. We wanted to visit the Blue Lagoon this night but it was closed due to the volcano eruption so we continued on the road. In the winter months it gets dark around 4-5pm in Iceland so we spent the later hours of the day driving to our next destination which was Brúarfoss Waterfall.
Seeing and Photographing The Northern Lights in Iceland
One of the main reasons we visited Iceland was to see and to photograph the Northern Lights! Due to the long dark nights and days in the winter it is the best time of the year to go see the Northern Lights. I used an app called My Aurora Forecast to track things such as the strength of the Northern Lights and the amount of cloud coverage. The app wasn’t perfect but it did update frequently and provide a good baseline. I had been keeping an eye on the forecast and knew that this night we might get to see some and as I was sitting in the warmth of the van the next thing I knew the lights were dancing above us! I hurried to grab my camera and rushed down towards the Waterfall to capture some photographs. The moment and the photos were both amazing, but I will admit this was probably the coldest I’ve ever been in my life even with a lot of gear!
Day 2 - Brúarfoss, Geysir, Seljalandsfoss, and Kvernufoss
We woke up the next morning for a crisp but beautiful sunrise at Brúarfoss. I got some awesome photos the night before but couldn’t see how blue the waterfall really was, it was incredible! I took some awesome photos of the waterfall and then we hit the road to head to Geysir. It was just a short 30 minute drive to the Geysir. The Geysir was pretty packed even for early in the morning but it was still a really cool experience. We parked and made the short walk over to the Geysir which erupts every 5-10 minutes or so. It was really cool just standing around waiting and then randomly having the water shoot up out of the ground! There was also a pretty good gift shop and an amazing bakery at the visitor center at the Geysir. Next we continued down the road towards the South part of the Iceland and Ring Road. We made our next stop at Seljalandsfoss which was a huge waterfall! It was a short walk from the parking area. My favorite part about Seljalandsfoss was the large river system that was right by it. I flew my drone around and got some cool classic Iceland River texture photographs. It was starting to get dark so we drove on over to Kvernufoss to get some shots before daylight was gone. Kvernufoss was easily my favorite waterfall of the trip! We had some Crampons that were only $20 online, and used these to hike on top of the ice and get behind the waterfall. We definitely wouldn’t have been able to hike on the ice without the crampons so if you are visiting in Winter I would recommend bringing a pair. We also used them to hike on a glacier the next day. Anyways, being behind the waterfall was surreal, so close to hear and feel the massive waterfall in front of me was awesome! I got some really unique photos of the waterfall and its silhouette with the purple sky. It was also warm and peaceful in the cave behind the waterfall.
The Northern Lights and The Solheimasandur Plane Wreck
On night 2 we drove to the parking area for the Solheimasandur Plane Wreck. This was one of the top places I wanted to visit on this trip. We were considering a sunrise hike to photograph the plane with some cool sky colors so we parked the van in the parking area. While we hung out and made dinner I kept an eye on the My Aurora Tracker App and noticed some Northern Lights forecasted for the night. I kept checking outside every 15 minutes or so and eventually say a big streak of Northern Lights in the distance. It was incredibly cold and windy but photographing the Northern lights at the plane wreck was a bucket list thing for me to do so we decided to brave the weather and hike out in the dark. It is about a 2 mile hike each way to the plane and it was below freezing outside with brutal winds. The hike wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience and there were some clouds coming in over the sky. We eventually made it to the plane and it took about 45 minutes. Unfortunately the clouds had covered some of the Northern Lights and they hadn’t come very far south. I did still capture some amazing astrophotography images and got a little bit of Northern Lights in some photos.
Day 3 - Skógafoss, Sólheimajökull Glacier, and The Yoda Cave
We started off day 3 by heading to the infamous Skógafoss Waterfall. It was really crowded even early in the morning but I was still able to manage some cool pictures without any people in it. This waterfall was definitely cool but out of all the ones we saw on the trip it wasn’t near the top of the list. Next, we headed to Sólheimajökull Glacier and I didn’t really know what we were about to get into. We wanted to see an ice cave on our trip but didn’t book a tour and figured we could wing it or book one last minute but it wound up not mattering. We once again used our trusty crampons and hiked out onto the Glacier! We joked about the many tour groups around us also hiking on the glacier because those tours were $200+ and we got our gear for just $20! I felt very comfortable and safe hiking on the ice with the crampons and wasn’t worried about falling or slipping at all! We wandered around a bit and then noticed a canyon or hole in the ground that was easy to get to. We headed down into the canyon and found a secret Ice slot canyon type of feature! It made for some awesome photographs and was just super cool to have it all to ourselves as well! After hiking around a little more on the glacier we eventually headed back to the van. We had a little bit of a drive ahead and it was starting to get dark and snow quite a bit. We headed through the town of Vik and turned off at a dirt road shortly past it to go to The Yoda Cave. As we were driving along a big rock feature all of a sudden there was Yoda! This was another one of my favorite places I saw on the trip as it was just super weird but cool to have Yoda perfectly etched into this rock and a cave. The blizzard snow conditions also made for some really cool photographs of the Yoda Cave. We drove on as it got dark and headed about another hour and a half to Fjaðrárgljúfur.
Day 4 - Fjaðrárgljúfur and Svartifoss
On day 4 we woke up at Fjaðrárgljúfur after a massive snowstorm the night before. We made a short drive from where we had slept in the van to the parking area. We then made the short but tiring hike through the snow to the lookout point of the canyon. I’ve seen a lot of amazing pictures of Fjaðrárgljúfur with the green colorful canyon walls but it was special to get to see and photograph it totally covered in snow! After our morning stop we continued to drive for about another hour and a half or so to Svartifoss. There was a cool little village that we parked at and then we made the hike to the waterfall. It was about a 2 mile hike each way and there was a ton of elevation gain! It was also super windy, almost windy enough to knock me over! Svartifoss was another highlight of the trip! The waterfall was half frozen but still strongly flowing and there were a ton of cool columns and icicles hanging around the waterfall. The fall and the columns made for some amazing wide angle and close up photographs. We wanted to continue our day and trip around the East side of Iceland and head to Diamond Beach and Vestrahorn, however the snow conditions and amount of time we had left in Iceland didn’t allow us to see either. I would add them to any Iceland trip though if you have the time and ability to see them! We wound up driving on night 4 for about 4 hours all the way back around the country of Iceland to the West side just above Reykjavik.
Day 5 - Búðir, Lóndrangar, and Kirkjufell
We woke up at the famous black Búðir church that is common in many pictures. This was a great place to shoot sunrise and since we were there early we were able to beat the tour buses. It had been cloudy and snowy the past 4 days we had been in Iceland but this day there were just a few clouds in the sky and we realized another perk of visiting Iceland in the Winter is that the sunrise and sunset last the entire day! This provided some amazing lighting and conditions for photographs all day long! We then drove around the western peninsula and into the small town of Arnarstapi. The town was a really cool place and had some awesome coastal views! We then drove to Lóndrangar which provided more great views of the ocean and some cool rock features along the coast. There were numerous amazing pull offs and view points along the western peninsula such as Saxhóll Crater. I was able to get some great photos and drone shots on this part of the island with the great lighting conditions. We finally headed to the infamous Kirkjufell Mountain which is one of the most photographed views in Iceland and featured in Game of Thrones! I wandered a bit down from the main viewpoint to try and find a unique perspective of this highly photographed feature and was able to get some really great shots of the frozen water in the foreground and Kirkjufell mountain in the background. As the sun set we headed on through the nearby town of Grundarfjörður and back toward Reykjavík.
We got back to Reykjavík in the evening and sought out some local food. Thanks to Google we stumbled upon a really cool and unique food court, Pósthús Food Hall & Bar. We grabbed a Reindeer burger and fish and chips at Finsen Matur & Vín. The Reindeer burger was one of the best things I’ve eaten in a while and the fish and chips were solid too! I would’ve eaten every meal of the trip here if I could have, and my friend agreed as well! We then hunted down one of my favorite foods in the world, gelato. We stopped at Gaeta Gelato, and had the best gelato I can remember having in over a decade! It was a blessing and a curse because returning to the U.S. and having gelato that is good just doesn’t compare… After experiencing some great Iceland food we settled in for the night and prepped to return the van the next day.
Day 6 - Reykjavic and The Return Home
We returned the van early in the morning at Cozy Campers and the process was easy and seamless. We then went back to the BSI Bus Terminal and did what we did on the first day. We dropped off our bags and explored the city of Reykjavík for a few hours. We went back to the incredible Baka Baka Bakery because we knew we needed to have their food and pastries again and they were just as good as the first time! We wandered around the city a little more then headed back to catch our bus to the airport. I was sad to be leaving such a great place for photography, food, and experiences but grateful to have gotten to visited Iceland. The weather was incredibly windy and rain was coming down as we were supposed to leave so our flight was delayed about an hour but I guess that is pretty normal there and they took off with no issues anyways and we made it back home safely.
