Iceland (Road Trip via the Ring Road – A World of Its Own)

What triggered us to start and plan this road trip in less than 2 months after we came back from our New Zealand road trip? I guessed my travel buddies have also been infected by my travel bug.   

Well, seeing Aurora has been in my bucket list, and so are my travel buddies’; we did not manage to catch any Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) during our trip to New Zealand, as lady luck is not with us back then. After back from our New Zealand trip, a post shared online about the top 5 destinations to see Aurora inspired us to head north and then we started checking each of our schedule, planned our travel dates, decided to go Iceland and Norway which both are well within the arctic circle; all these happened over a dinner, impromptu seriously!

I did some quick research on the best time to see Aurora in the Arctic Circle regions which would be during the months between September and March. Hence, we decided to travel during March, when this month is drier and less extreme arctic winter.

Less extreme winter does not mean that it is not so cold;
thank goodness that the car comes with seats heater
and the accommodation we stayed have heaters too.
For outdoor, wear proper winter clothing and bring more heat packs please!

We embarked our journey to the Northern Europe to the land of Vikings and our chase of the Aurora Borealis a.k.a Northern Lights. It took us a total of 24 hours of flights, transiting from Singapore to London to Norway then finally arriving Iceland. The drive from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik city central is about 1 hour. As it is late evening, we decided to head straight to our accommodation followed by dinner before getting our first proper sleep and start our real exploration of Iceland the next morning.

While awaiting for our flight to Norway Oslo at London Heathrow Airport:
Morning caffeine and cocoa charging in-progress.....

Achievement of the day: Travelling to 3 different countries in 24 hours...

Breathing in the cold chill air outside Norway Oslo International Airport before we head to Iceland.

So exciting as we board Iceland Air.. Iceland here we come!!!
Lookout for Iceland Air very own in-flight Aurora display... 

Beautiful ice crystallised on the airplane window as we approach Iceland Keflavik Airport...

The easiest and most convenient way to travel around Iceland is by car. Self-driving gives you the flexibility to manage your time at your own pace and stop whenever you want to see the mesmerising views and snap away with your camera.

Our sturdy 4WD SUV that brought us around Iceland

Driving in Iceland has put us into another whole new level of challenge on our driving skills. Driving in Iceland is on the right hand side of the road (opposite of Singapore’s left hand side driving). This was the first for all of us to drive on the right hand side of the road. Iceland roads are often subjected to weather condition where roads may be closed due to bad weather, poor road condition or caught in the bad weather when it is not safe to drive.

Tips: Do check regularly on the Icelandic local weather forecasts (www.vedur.is) and road conditions (www.road.is) before heading out for the day, and stock up some food and water supplies in car in case you encounter severe weather condition and you cannot continue to drive till the weather turns better.   

Latest weather info posted at the car rental place.
How often we are "so lucky" to encounter heavy snowstorm and hurricane like windgusts?

The heavy snowstorm we encountered during our drive from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik city central.
Kudos to my travel buddy who drove that stressful tiring long day to brave through the snowstorm with safety in mind.  

I have put together a little video to recap of the road trip at Iceland (via the Ring Road). However, nothing can beat to experience this incredible beautiful place in person! 

Nevertheless, enjoy the video!!!

Look out for my upcoming posts on my journey to the land of Vikings and my chase of the Aurora Borealis a.k.a Northern Lights and get inspired by Iceland!!! 

Live today. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Just today.