Maybe it’s because To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf is one of my favourite books. Grottá, at the far west end of Reykjavík just cures your restless soul. Everytime again.

My friends had warned me: Reykjavík had changed as it is being flooded with tourists. I had laughed: ‘During Iceland Airwaves the city is always full of foreigners.’ But they were right. This wasn’t my Reykjavík anymore.

I started feeling unhappy and restless, so I chose an old cure to blow the cobwebs away: a walk next to the ocean. All the way up to Grottá, one of my favourite spots in greater Reykjavík.

Continues below pictures

The beach

Grottá sits at the most western end of Seltjarnarnes, a town in the greater Reykjavík area. There is a lovely coastal path that leads you to the lavastrewn beach with its lovely lighthouse. You can only reach it when it’s low tide. Between May and July it is closed because the birds are nesting there.