On a crisp winter’s day midway through February a friend and I decided to take a little road trip through the countryside surrounding the little village I live in here on Iceland. Hvolsvöllur (pronounced: kvols-vert-lur; meaning “Hillfield” in English), is a tiny town of just over 900 inhabitants situated on the South coast of Iceland. It’s claim to fame is a large N1 petrol station next to the Route 1, which passes through the town bringing with it hundreds upon hundreds of tourists on a daily basis. Most of these tourists will never leave the main road and will instead be shuttled along the South coast to many of the more famous attractions down the road.
We used this knowledge to our advantage, and rather than following the crowds, we took a left at the petrol station and headed down Route 261 into the countryside and the outlying farmlands. A lot of these farms are host to the Icelandic horse, but you do find quite a few sheep farms along the way and the odd cow farm too. We made our way along the road passing many of the aforementioned farms, we also passed one of the rare Icelandic forests, until we finally reached our destination: Thorsteinn’s Grove.
Thorsteinn’s Grove – named after a famous Icelandic poet – is a park that was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth. It’s a beautiful, secluded little park just off the 261 with a picturesque waterfall and stream running through the centre of the grove. Near the waterfall is a tiny cave that is easily climbed into, which has a spectacular vista over the surrounding farms and fields. This is one of the hidden places in Iceland that is virtually untouched by the swarms of tourists visiting the island – great news for us on this day as we had an unspoiled view of the grove and the volcanoes dotted along the horizon. We were able to blaze our own trail through the grove in knee-deep snow and up to the waterfall so that we could admire the colossal icicles that had formed in and around the outflow of water off the cliff.
Afterwards we headed back on the 261 and drove to the forest we passed by earlier on in the day and took a stroll through the woods. Having now lived here for nearly a year, I have to say that I do certainly miss seeing forests and trees on a regular basis. So getting the opportunity to visit a large forest (by Icelandic standards) and walk around in perfect winter conditions is really something to be treasured. Again this place is virtually unknown to the vast majority of tourists visiting the island, allowing us to roam the forest undisturbed. We hiked up through the forest until we reached the crest of a hill where we decided to stop and take a rest because trudging through nearly waist-deep snow is truly tiring work. Fortunately for us the sun was out and we could lay in the sun for a while and soak up that much needed vitamin D. When the chill set in from our comfy snow seats we quickly returned to the car and went on our merry way back to Hvolsvöllur to warm up.
It’s not often that one experiences weather like this in Iceland, so when it’s good out it’s really good to get out and make the most of it!
If you are ever interested in purchasing a high-res copy of any of my pictures please do not hesitate to ask! I’m here to help. It’s also worth mentioning that if you are ever in Iceland just drop me a message here or over on my Instagram page and I’d be more than happy to take you out to explore some of the places I’ve featured in this post as well as those featured here and here!
My Nordic Life 
Hey Josh. Wow what fab photos and a great read too. Very interested to visit those places you mentioned when we get there. Really impressive writing too!
Interesting area, like the grove and the magical forest 🌲✨ frozen waterfalls are pretty too 🌬❄️ Can’t wait to visit!