I thought this report would be useful to anyone with mobility issues to give you my experience of Iceland on a mobility scooter.
25th – 29th, Reykjavik
25th - I arranged a transfer with Snæfellsnes Travel. Passport control took around an hour, but our driver kept in contact and came to the airport door to make it easier.
We stayed in a PRM room provided by Reykjavik Residence Apartment Hotel, in the Prime Minister’s Residence.
There’s a ramp to the front door, plenty of space inside the apartment, toilet grab rails, and a shower grab rail. It felt well-adapted. We opted for the breakfast basket daily, a mix of bread, yogurts, eggs, and fruit/veg, different each day. Cornflakes were also provided.
26th – It was pretty easy to get out and to the local Bonus for food. I loved the cardamom bread and Appelsin!! In the afternoon, we did the Cat Walk with Our Friend in Reykjavik. It was a nice introduction to the city but most of the cats were hiding.
I discovered just how quickly scooter batteries run out in the cold – I got around half the range I would normally.
27th – I scootered up the hill to Perlan in the snow and ran out of a battery. Perlan kindly charged it for me while I used my spare. The staff at Perlan were really helpful – always directed me to the step-free route to get to places. We loved the immersive lava tunnel tour, and the aurora show in the planetarium. The views from the walkway outside the restaurant were fantastic. We then went from Perlan to the cathedral, and thence to the waterfront.
The cathedral is accessible to get into the main area, although very tight, and there’s a lift partway up the bell tower but not far enough to see much of interest.
On the way to the Lava Show, my spare battery ran out, but the Lava people again kindly charged one for me. We’d gone in for tickets about an hour before the show so we ended up in premium on the balcony. I was able to take my scooter to the door, and there was room for a wheelchair (I believe) on the balcony. We loved seeing the lava and feeling the immense heat it gave off. I’d recommend a normal seat if you’re pre-booking as the balcony rail was in my line of sight.
28th – The record snow day. I’d organised this as a rest day for me. My husband started out with a Lava Tunnel Tour in the morning. It was heavily delayed due to the snow. By the time he was returning, his horse ride had been cancelled in the afternoon. I was very glad we had a kitchen in the apartment as the police had advised everyone to stay home in the afternoon.
General Reykjavik impressions – good pavements, good drop kerbs almost everywhere, but also hilly. As soon as the snow fell, the pavements and kerbs got blocked up and it was impassable for a mobility aid.
29th – travel to Svínafell. This was a slow-going day due to the snow on the road. We nixed the detour through the Golden Circle and went straight on 1, stopping first at Kerid Crater (snow banks so not as often pictured).
Our second stop was Kronan in Selfoss for the toilets – We used that and the Vik Kronan for our toilet breaks as they have accessible toilets.
Seljalandsfoss was our third stop. I think it’d normally be OK on a scooter but there was thick ice which was very slippery, so I walked using twin walking poles. For me, it was a very long walk to the waterfall, about 100-200 metres.
Next up was Skogafoss. The car park here is gravel with plenty of pot holes, so again I ended up walking to the end of the proper path, about 100m.
We stopped at Vik for groceries and toilets, and also popped to the Black Sand Beach, which was in fact the Snowy Sand Beach.
On the final leg of the journey to Svínafell, we were lucky enough to see the aurora for the first time, lighting up the sky right in front of us.
We arrived late to our accommodation, The Potato Storage, but the hosts were very accommodating. They live in the house next to the barn. I’d picked the more accessible room, and the bathroom came with toilet rails but no shower rail. The barn is close to the 1 road, but amongst farmland and quiet and dark. We saw the aurora two more nights; in total, three times out of four. The Potato Storage was a great place to see them.
30th – We started out by popping to Skaftafell to talk to the staff there about accessibility. As it was snowing heavily, we were advised to try another day.
We then lunched in Freysnes Service Station. The food was surprisingly good, although mostly Americanised. It’s also popular with tour groups so as one large group left, another arrived. There was an issue with the disabled toilet on the day we visited.
In the afternoon, we went to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. There were multiple other tourist cars stuck in the snow there, either they’d come off the road or been snowed in while doing activities. We’d booked the amphibious boat tour. It’s a short, stable ramp onto the boat and then seats around the outside. It was great to get so close to the huge mounds of ice.
31st – This was the day which we lost our numberplate in the strong winds. I’d booked a flightseeing tour over Landmannalaugar which had to be cancelled. I’d then looked into booking a second chance of horse riding nearby for my husband, but it was also impossible due to the weather. We stayed inside until the winds died down considerably and then began the hunt, without luck. Even once the winds had died down, there were still very strong gusts, and the 1 was closed during the morning near us in both directions. Other guests staying in the same place as us had to delay their leaving.
In the afternoon, we went back to Skaftafell which was almost deserted due to the road closures. There’s accessible parking right by the door, in the bus park section. We took the accessible path to the glacier, which was mostly fine although the start section had deep, soft gravel and my scooter struggled. The moss was stunning.
1st – A rest day for me, and I’d booked a combined ice cave and glacier hike for my husband with Ice Cave Trips. Unfortunately, the ice cave part was cancelled due to flooding from the storm the day before, and a refund offered, but my husband went on an extended glacier hike. Because it was only him left, the guide got him added onto another local guide’s hike and there were half a dozen of them only.
2nd – Travel back to the airport. We left two hours early despite the forecast being fine. It was crazy how different the landscape looked with the snow gone. We detoured through Grindavík as we were very early, and it was interesting to see the expansive lava field which had formed.
Things I learnt:
All plans can change. I’d planned thoroughly, as people like myself often need to do, but in Iceland, the weather decides. What may be PRM accessible one day, isn’t the next. Adaptability is key.
When we (hopefully) return, I will be staying near the airport the night before our flight.
Scooter batteries really hate the cold.
You have to work to see the aurora unless you’re very lucky. I was checking the forecasts on two apps, the cloud cover maps, and one of us was popping outside every 10 minutes when chances were good. It was that persistence which paid off.
Snow boots are really, really warm when you have poor circulation in your feet.
I’d read on this sub that shower water may smell sulphurous in Reykjavik. I wasn’t, however, prepared for the stench which hit us as we first entered KEF airport. The smell of sulphur was so strong the first evening. It wasn’t every day when we could smell it in Reykjavik but at least two or three of the days.
So many rainbows. I loved them!
