Reykjavík · Iceland

Grábrók rest area · Borgarfjörður

Free rest area on Route 1 at the Grábrók craters in Borgarfjörður, 75 minutes north of Reykjavík: dark, open, and on the way to North Iceland.

See tonight's live score and best time to go for Grábrók rest area in Aurora Atlas

View towards Road 1 from Stóra-Grábrók stairway
“View towards Road 1 from Stóra-Grábrók stairway” by Alexander Grebenkov, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

Why it works for the aurora

View
North-east up the Norðurárdalur valley; low lava and hills to the north..
Darkness
Dark sky, grade 1 on a scale from 0 (darkest) to 5. Little artificial light; a good place for faint aurora and the Milky Way.
Aurora
Near the edge of the auroral oval: aurora on most active nights, low in the northern sky on quiet ones.

Getting there

Distance
About 90 km by road from Reykjavík (estimate), roughly 1 h 44 by car.
Parking
Free rest area.
Coordinates
64.7715, -21.5312 · Open in OpenStreetMap

Before you go

Do not climb the crater in snow and ice at night.

Dress for standing still in the cold, bring a head torch with a red light, and park only where parking is allowed. A forecast is guidance, not a promise: check the road and weather warnings for Iceland before a night drive. See our winter safety note.

Spot information from openstreetmap.org.