Iceland – on the way to Borgarnes

Summarize:ChatGPT Perplexity Claude Gemini Grok Google AI

We had that day reserved for a trip on the Ring Road to Borgarnes, which meant we had more than 300 kilometers to drive, plus a few downhills. The day was spent mostly in the car, but it was not without scenic views as befits Iceland.

Compared to the previous days, these ones did not surprise us (or maybe it was again a matter of weather?), although the sunset in Borgarnes made up for everything :)

Supposedly a vacation, supposedly a vacation, and a person has to wake up at 7 a.m. to pack up and move on. No, we are not complaining, such are the charms of traveling when you want to see as much as possible :) And getting up in the morning is a pleasure, because Iceland, in addition to the “white nights” that make it easy to get up, also offers beautiful views!

We drove from Akureyri on Route 1 (how else) west to Borgarnes. Initially the road led through a valley and it was cloudy most of the time. This did not stop us from stopping every now and then for photos ;)

Table of contents

Seals in Iceland

Along the way, we couldn’t miss a drive down to the Vatnsnes Peninsula – one of the most popular seal sites in Iceland. Taking Route 1 in a westerly direction, turn off onto Route 711 and 717.

The road is not paved, but you can easily reach it with a small car. After the village of Osar, just as we were beginning to lose hope, we saw a tourist information post with a restroom on the left.

Unfortunately, we didn’t see any seals or even a road to them anywhere around. The kind gentleman in the office informed us that in order to see them we had to walk down through several farms. So, we walked along the muddy, slippery paths among the livestock every now and then, stopping at the next gate and wondering how to open it.

Unfortunately, the weather still did not spoil us….

But in fact, it was probably the only way, and none of the hosts chased us along the way. As we approached the shore, we saw plenty of seals resting on the shore on the other side.

Several were also splashing in the water. Sweet laziness :)

When we got back to Road 1 we headed toward Borgarnes through a very lovely valley.

We also had to “vacuum” our vehicle a bit after driving along a dirt road ;) However, thanks to the station washers, this was not a problem.

Visit to Borgarnes

Borgarnes has a population of about 2,000. That’s quite a lot for Iceland. On the main road is an important transportation hub with several gas stations, supermarkets and pubs.

The town itself is not large, however, and the biggest attraction is the local Settlement Center.

Walking through the streets, you can see how Icelanders live outside the capital – as in any village there is a church and a municipal swimming pool.

We had the opportunity to use the pool: there are hot water pools (36-40 degrees), one cooler (swimming) pool, an indoor pool for children, a slide and a sauna.

If someone had ever told me that I would be swimming in an outdoor pool at an air temperature of 4 degrees, I would have laughed at them, but in Iceland the perspective changes :)

Towards evening we went for a walk, during which we hit a beautiful show: