- Address: south of the city of Akranes, Iceland;
- Dimensions: length - 30 km, width - 5 km.
Not far from the capital of Iceland, the city of Reykjavik and in close proximity to the town of Akranes is one of the many magnificent natural attractions of the island country - the Gulf of Kitov.
It was named that way, because it was here that the Icelanders had previously slaughtered whales. Today, fishing from this part of the island was abandoned, but the name preserved its name. Let's note that the Icelanders are one of the few in the world who did not support the moratorium on slaughter of whales and cetaceans and conduct it for commercial purposes.
Description of the Gulf
The length of the bay is 30 kilometers, and the width is about five kilometers. The surrounding mountains, smoothly descending to the water, are not covered by forests, but still form an attractive, truly Icelandic landscape. Especially colorful, local species, look in the warm season, when a part of the slopes in different places cover small lawns of green juicy grass.
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On the mountain slopes, flowing murmuring streams, many streams, with surprisingly clear water. Also, not far from the bay, its channel was laid by the beautiful northern river Laxá í Kjós, loved not only by lovers of beautiful landscapes and photographers, but also to fishermen coming here for salmon.
A special and unsurpassed atmosphere is due to the small but rather colorful farms standing at a distance from each other with colorful, brightest roofs.
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On the left bank of the Whale Bay, a charming church with a difficult-to-pronounce, like many Icelandic words, was erected Hallgrímskirkja í Saurbæ á Hvalfjarðarströnd. Next to the church, a house for the abbot was built, there is a parking lot, so that the travelers had a place to leave the car while they were praying.
It is interesting that the church is almost always open, even if the abbot himself came out. Therefore, anyone can visit it, but when leaving the cult structure, it is necessary to adhere to a number of rules prescribed here.
Roads under and along the bay
The Bay of Whale is in some way unique, because under it is laid the underwater road - the length of the tunnel is more than six kilometers, and the greatest depth, which falls the tunnel under the water - 160 meters. The tunnel connects Akranes and Reykjavik .
Earlier, when there was no tunnel, we had to drive along the shores of the bay, which is quite a long time. Today the time on the way has significantly decreased.
There is also one more positive moment - silence and tranquility reign around the bay, there are rarely cars on the road. Therefore, the scenery will be admired in silence, completely immersed in the enchanting Icelandic nature!
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How to get there?
The bay is only 40 kilometers from the capital of Iceland Reykjavik. Therefore, the best option - to rent a car (in Iceland with this type of service there are no problems) and go to the miracle of nature yourself, breaking the distance in about 40 minutes.
Although, it is worth noting that in order to completely travel around the Whaling Bay through the tunnel and the surrounding land road, after making a kind of circle, and return to the city, it will be necessary to overcome more than 120 kilometers. The journey will take about two hours. Add here numerous stops in different places, allowing you to better appreciate the beauty of the bay and make fabulous shots. Therefore, plan that your self-guided tour will take at least 5 hours, or even more.
On the surrounding bay road there is one café (the rest was closed after the construction of the tunnel), in which one can get a snack.