A flipper slap

A flipper slap, Húsavík, Iceland · Video

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Waterfalls, fjords and the aurora, with a stopover in Copenhagen · May 2025 · 49 photos

Early May, halfway between winter and summer: snow still lies on the mountains and plateaus, the rivers are swollen with meltwater, and the nights have grown short. The way to Iceland passes through Copenhagen, by Kastellet, the 17th-century star-shaped fortress. Next to it stands St. Alban’s, a 19th-century Anglican church.

Kastellet

The church reflected in the water at the foot of the grassy ramparts, and the bridge that crosses the moat.

St. Alban’s Church, Copenhagen, Denmark
Kastellet, Copenhagen, Denmark

In Iceland, the route circles the island clockwise. The road passes Borgarnes and heads into the Snæfellsnes peninsula. Near Grundarfjörður rises Kirkjufell, the 463 m mountain, and a little farther east, Grundarfoss. In the evening, at Hraunfossar, water seeps out from under a lava field straight into the Hvítá river.

Borgarnes

The fjord, smooth as a mirror, below mountains with peaks still white and a clear May sky.

Borgarnes, Iceland

The road to Snæfellsnes

The straight road across the dry plain, with a range of snowy mountains on the horizon.

The road to Snæfellsnes, Borgarbyggð, Iceland

Kirkjufell

The mountain’s sharp cone under an evening sky, with the Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall stepping down at its foot.

Kirkjufell, Grundarfjörður, Iceland
Kirkjufell, Grundarfjörður, Iceland
Kirkjufellsfoss, Grundarfjörður, Iceland

Grundarfoss

A tall ribbon of water drops off a plateau patched with snow, below the mountains of the peninsula’s north coast.

Grundarfoss, Grundarfjörður, Iceland

Hraunfossar

Dozens of white threads spill between the rocks into the turquoise water, under clouds lit by the sunset.

Hraunfossar, Reykholt, Iceland
Hraunfossar, Reykholt, Iceland
Hraunfossar, Reykholt, Iceland

The route crosses the Westfjords, by Dynjandi, the largest waterfall in the region, and along the Önundarfjörður fjord. Farther on, the north brings its big waterfalls: first Reykjafoss, near Varmahlíð, then Goðafoss, the “waterfall of the gods,” on the Skjálfandafljót river. Tradition holds that the pagan idols were thrown in here after Iceland adopted Christianity, around the year 1000. Dettifoss, on the Jökulsá á Fjöllum river, falls about 44 m. In the evening, the road passes Námafjall on its way to Lake Mývatn.

Dynjandi

The water spreads like a veil over broad steps of basalt, between patches of snow.

Dynjandi, Arnarfjörður, Iceland
Dynjandi, Arnarfjörður, Iceland

Önundarfjörður

Still water under a gray sky, with a white house on the shore and mountains streaked with snow.

Önundarfjörður, Flateyri, Iceland

Reykjafoss

The river drops in steps into a basalt canyon, white with foam, with snowy mountains in the distance.

Reykjafoss, Varmahlíð, Iceland
Reykjafoss, Varmahlíð, Iceland

Goðafoss

The wide, horseshoe-shaped fall, and farther downstream Geitafoss, between banks of lava.

Goðafoss, Iceland
Goðafoss, Iceland
Geitafoss, Goðafoss, Iceland

Dettifoss

A gray torrent of glacial water beside a rock ledge still coated in ice.

Dettifoss, Jökulsárgljúfur, Iceland
Dettifoss, Jökulsárgljúfur, Iceland

Námafjall

Fumaroles steaming out of mineral-stained ground below the mountain’s rust-colored slope.

Námafjall, Mývatn, Iceland

Mývatn

A dirt track across the copper-colored plain, under clouds lit by the sunset and a horizon still white.

Mývatn, Iceland

In the morning, a boat trip from Húsavík out into Skjálfandi Bay, where humpback whales come to feed in spring and summer. From here, the Ring Road, Route 1, crosses the northeastern plateau toward the east of the island. There come the Stuðlagil canyon, the Rjúkandi waterfall and, at the end, Hengifoss, about 128 m high.

Skjálfandi Bay

Humpback whales in the bay: blows, arching backs, white flippers waving and tails raised as they dive, then the wooden boat Náttfari and the wake back toward Húsavík.

The whale's tail, Húsavík, Iceland
The tail above the water, Húsavík, Iceland
The tail in the bay, Húsavík, Iceland
Two humpback whales, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
The tail as it dives, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
Skjálfandi Bay, Húsavík, Iceland
Dorsal fin and tail, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
The whale's back, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
Skjálfandi Bay, Húsavík, Iceland
Both flippers raised, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
Two whales at the surface, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
A flipper slap, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
The white flipper, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
Flippers waving, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
Slapping the water, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
A raised flipper, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
The blow, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
Blow, back and tail, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
Two whales together, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
Skjálfandi Bay, Húsavík, Iceland
Skjálfandi Bay, Húsavík, Iceland
The boat Náttfari, Húsavík, Iceland
Distant blows, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
On deck, Húsavík, Iceland
A humpback's back, Húsavík, Iceland
The whale dives, Húsavík, Iceland
The tail up close, Húsavík, Iceland · Video
The wake toward Húsavík, Húsavík, Iceland

The Ring Road

Asphalt between snowfields and hills still white.

The Ring Road, Múlaþing, Iceland

Stuðlagil

The blue-green Jökla river runs between walls of basalt columns, below slopes of dry grass.

Stuðlagil, Jökuldalur, Iceland

Rjúkandi

The water comes down a basalt slope in two tiers, with a slender ribbon beside it, close to the road.

Rjúkandi, Jökuldalur, Iceland
Rjúkandi, Jökuldalur, Iceland

Hengifoss

A ribbon of water drops between layers of basalt separated by red bands of clay, at the end of a trail along the stream.

Hengifoss, Fljótsdalur, Iceland
Hengifoss, Fljótsdalur, Iceland

In the south, the waterfalls pour off the old sea cliffs: first Seljalandsfoss, then Skógafoss, on the Skógá river, 60 m high and about 25 m wide. In Reykjavík, at night, the sky lights up with the northern lights. Farther on, the road reaches Þingvellir, in the rift where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates pull apart. Here the Alþingi assembly met in the open air from the year 930, and the national park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004. In the afternoon, the journey ends in the geothermal valley of Reykjadalur.