Winter Memories
of Iceland
Epic photos of the land of fire and ice
by Jan Erik Waider
It has been almost six months now since I returned home from a Winter Wonderland called Iceland but all the pictures and stories in my head feel as if it were yesterday.
I would like to share some of these memories with you and since pictures speak louder than words, I am leaving you with a commented version of my most favorite shots from my eight exciting weeks on Iceland during December 2015 and January 2015.
It has been one of my most memorable trips so far and to anticipate the conclusion: I can recommend it to anyone who loves Nordic countries and the unpredictable and unique weather the same way I do. You can find more photos on Behance, Instagram and on my website.
The good thing about Winter in Iceland: You don’t have to get up early in the morning for the sunrise. This photo was taken at around 11am on the beginning of the scenic mountain road between Egilsstaðir and Reyðarfjörður.
There is something special about these mountains… Every time I pass through the small town Stöðvarfjörður I have to stop and take some photos. This time I was really lucky with the water being absolutely calm like a mirror.
The black sand beach at the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon is one of the most famous and also most unique places in Iceland. You can easily spend a day watching the waves crashing into the chunks of ice which sometimes are the size of a small car. At some point you will get wet feet, since the 21st or 22nd wave will be a little bit more powerful than expected. :-)
The nights are long in the middle of Winter. But when the sun finally rises, the bright colors make up for the short days. I have never seen so many different shades of orange, yellow and purple …Sadly, not every morning looks like this — a lot of them are simply grey and dark and the sun never really shows.
The Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon is undoubtedly one of the most unique places in Iceland and always worth the trip from Reykjavík, since it never looks the same. It feels like a small version of Greenland with all the icebergs floating in the lake and seeing it for the first time is something I will never forget.
The light changes a lot and the lagoon has become something like a photographer’s playground and I also took the most photos here and spend a total of three days at my favorite Guesthouse nearby without getting bored a minute.
I really love the design of the bridge. The Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon wouldn’t be the same without it. This photo was taken right after a heavy snow shower — the color of the sky was a beautiful mix of grey and orange.
“The minimalism of winter”
There is usually not the same amount of snow all over the island: The South is (usually) milder while the fjords in the North and the West get more snow.
The Icelandic Winter is relatively mild for its latitude (Reykjavík: 64° 09' N and 21° 57' W)— it’s the wind that makes the air feel a lot colder and the wind is kind of omnipresent.
Despite the fact that I knocked over my tripod and broke my camera — visiting a glacier cave was a once in a lifetime experience! The glacier tours are quite expensive, but I don’t regret it at all and the groups are usually very small.
The colors and the texture of the ice is simply stunning and even on a grey day it gets really intense. Just don’t explore these caves on your own, since it can get really dangerous for unexperienced visitors and the entrance is usually far from the main road.
Rent a good 4x4 car with studded tires and study the weather report and road conditions every time you hit the road. Important: When an Icelander tells you not to drive, they REALLY mean you should not drive and watch the weather from the inside.
Skógafoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland and you can see a single or double rainbow on sunny days, due to the amount of spray. But even without a rainbow — it’s something even more special in Winter. The ice around the waterfalls looks like some kind of frosting and the icicles can get really huge!
For me, the electrical power lines you see all over the island are part of the Icelandic landscape and I don’t try to hide them. Actually, I did a special photo series only about them.
I was surprised about the number of tourists and busses on the Golden Circle during Winter. It seemed like 98% of all tourists were on the Golden Circle and only 2% shared the rest of the island (which was great!).
Iceland is not really famous for its trees, since the Vikings cut almost all trees down for firewood and building material back in the days and the sheep prevented the trees from growing back.
This is why I simply had to stop the care and take some photos in this small “forest” near the Seljalandsfoss waterfall. I don’t know if these are actual trees — but there is a real forest near Egilsstaðir, which the Icelanders are really proud of.
I have been to Iceland six times — but I have never made it to the Westman Islands. This was about to change and I enjoyed one of the coziest Christmas holidays in my entire life in a beautiful hostel on these islands, which have a really thrilling past due to its volcanic activity.
Reynisdrangar and its black sand beach is one of my favorite beaches on Iceland — in Summer and in Winter. The basalt rocks are simply surreal and I can watch the strong waves for hours. The nearby town Vík í Mýrdal with its beautiful small church is also worth a visit and you can see the rocks from there, too.
“If wind is the only thing I hear and deserted landscapes extend to the distant horizon, it’s then I can feel the uniqueness of the North.”
The Blue Lagoon has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland and it’s really nice after spending a day outside in the cold. It’s a geothermal spa, located in the middle of a lava field on the Reykjanes Peninsula. It’s also close to the Keflavík International Airport and lots of people visit this place during a stopover.
The Blue Lagoon can get really crowded during Summer and sometimes a little too crowded… Winter is the best time to visit the Blue Lagoon and with a little luck, you may experience the Northern Lights, too. My favorite geothermal spa is in the Mývatn area up North: The Mývatn Nature Baths. It’s a lot smaller but also a lot cozier and quieter.
Sometimes, the lack of color makes a landscape interesting. Usually color is not something Iceland is short of …
There are many abandoned buildings all around Iceland, since farming is really difficult and most people move to the bigger towns or to the capital. A lot of these buildings have been left behind for a long time and often there is almost nothing left besides the walls.
There is a project called “Eyðibýli á Íslandi” that tries to map all of these locations and publish them in a series of books with maps and detailed photos. I was also very fascinated by this topic and created a small photo series with my favorite locations.
You can find a lot of beautiful beaches all around the Snæfellsnes peninsula. This one is called Skardsvìk and it is located near the small town Hellissandur.
Snæfellsnes is my favorite location on Iceland. It has almost everything Iceland has to offer on a small peninsula — from a glacier over unique basalt rock formations to rough coast lines. It’s usually not too crowded with tourists (especially not in Winter) and only a 2-hour drive from Reykjavik.
The roads around the Snæfellsjökull glacier can get really dangerous during winter due to heavy wind and sometimes a lot of snow. No place to be with a small city car. The Snæfellsjökull glacier lies on top of an old volcano and it became famous after Jules Verne described it as the starting point of Journey to the Center of the Earth.
This is a good shot of the typical Icelandic Winter weather. But I still managed to get out of the car (always open the door against the wind!) and walked around on the beach with its beautiful black rocks. The Kolgrafafjördur Fjord is a good place to watch out for orcas, since they swim under a bridge to enter the fjord to feed.
For almost an hour I was the only visitor at Goðafoss — the “Waterfall of the Gods.” It was something you definitely won’t experience during high season in Summer. The waterfall is beautiful in Summer but I prefer this Winter Edition, since the colors are more intense and the ice looks like sculptures.
Take care around the edges, since you never know what’s under the snow. Yes, I once again knocked over my tripod — but this time, the camera survived.
This photo was taken through the plane window on the flight from Akureyri to the Holuhraun eruption site north of the Vatnajökull ice cap. The light was really beautiful on that day and there was absolutely no trace of humans down there. This is the wild version of Iceland.
It’s true what they say, Iceland is the “Land of Fire and Ice”
I can hardly find any words to describe this magical flight over the Holuhraun eruption site. Simply breathtaking.
We got really close with the small and very old Cessna plane (that lost a wheel during landing). So close, in fact, that we were able to see the lava bubbles and red rivers flowing through the black lava fields. It was surreal and beautiful at the same time. The eruption began on 31 August 2014 and came to an end on February 27, 2015. It produced a lava field of more than 85 km² with an average thickness of 10–14m.
I spent a couple of days in the Mývatn area and the weather was really wild on most of the days — the wind was simply too strong to leave the Guesthouse. But on the last day, I was rewarded with calm weather and some of the most beautiful light I have ever seen. The landscape seemed somehow surreal and the contrast was fascinating.
Iceland has five major geothermal power plants which produce almost a quarter of the nation’s energy. The Krafla Power Station in the Mývatn area is one of them and it’s really worth a visit. I really love the contrast between modern industrial architecture and the (almost) untouched nature.
No, there was no explosion or a plane crash — this is the geothermal area Hverir during sunset, easily accessible right next to the ring road. I always like to stop at this place (despite the strong sulphur smell), since the bubbling puddles and boiling springs always seem to have changed a lot.
I was really lucky to experience the Northern Lights on the day of my arrival and even more lucky to experience them again on the day of my departure.
The ferry left from Seyðisfjörður to Hirtshals, Denmark, with a short stop on the Faroe Islands. The total trip takes almost 3 days and there is no official ferry schedule in Winter — so you need to bring a little bit of patience and flexibility along, but it’s an adventure worth taking (as long as sea sickness doesn’t concern you). The crew was really amazing and very helpful in every situation and the price for a ferry ticket is really inexpensive during off-season.
A lot of hotels and hostels are closed during winter, but there are plenty of Guesthouses which are open all-year all around on the island. I had no trouble finding a place at short notice (via booking.com) and stayed at over 40 different locations. Thankfully, it was almost always at a very reasonable price. But keep in mind when you travel alone: You will be the only guest at a lot of places. So bring a good collection of books and good music. But luckily, WiFi was working at almost every place and a lot of places have some crazy fast optical fiber connection.
Thanks or “Takk fyrir”
Find more photos:
behance.net/northlandscapes
www.northlandscapes.com
instagram.com/northlandscapes/
N O R T H L A N D S C A P E S
Jan Erik Waider
mail@northlandscapes.com
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