The Ultimate Guide to Location Scouting in Iceland

If you regularly watch films and TV shows like Game of Thrones, you are probably familiar with the sights and sounds of the Nordic country of Iceland. The country has become one of the favourite destinations for film producers and directors. It is of great value for them to shoot their films in this country, as the rich natural scenery gives a new feeling every time it appears on screen. If you have been there before, you probably know the ideal locations. If you are filming in Iceland for the first time, finding locations can be a bit of a challenge.

Different Types of Locations

The advantage you have with Iceland is that you can choose from a variety of options depending on the requirements of your film. You have forests and mountains, lakes and hot water springs (geysers) and so on. You can include the animals of Iceland and the old farmhouses if these are needed for the film. The capital Reykjavik itself offers many locations that are ideal for shooting scenes with an urban flavour. The big advantage is that many of these locations are not far from each other. This means you can save on logistics costs when moving your troops and equipment from one location to another.

A Round-up of the Most Popular Locations

There are at least two dozen places in Iceland that have already been featured in films and series. So you do not have to go looking for film locations in Iceland again. The black sand beaches are very popular. You have probably already seen them in the film Rogue One (Star Wars). It’s called Mýrdalssandur beach.

Þingvellir National Park is another favourite filming location that you will see a lot of in Game of Thrones. A large part of the series was filmed in Iceland and other locations in the country are also featured. You can watch videos about the various Icelandic filming locations in GoT, which show how the country played an important role in creating the setting. This applies to several seasons of this internationally popular series.

If you take the capital Reykjavík, the town hall is often used as a backdrop for a hotel reception. In the hall there is a 3D map of the country. The city pond Tjörnin and the Harpa concert and conference hall are also used as filming locations. The city hall can be seen in the Netflix series Black Mirror. You can add the two lakes Kleifarvatn and Grænavatn to the list.

Those who go location-hunting in Iceland will not miss some beautiful places in the south-east of the country. Here you will find the Máfabót and Svínafellsjökull glaciers. These are not far from each other and are often seen on the big screen. Both glaciers appear in the film Interstellar. If you visit Svínafellsjökull glacier, you may be able to experience first-hand what it feels like to be on a foreign land!

If you come across waterfalls in films, you might see the Skógafoss waterfall in Iceland. This is located on the south coast of Iceland.

Several James Bond films have also shot scenes in Iceland. A View to Kill and Die Another Day are two of them.

The list is indeed long. The bottom line is that there are no difficulties for anyone when it comes to finding a location in Iceland. There is a wealth of possibilities here.

Local support is also available in the form of agencies that can help with location scouting, crew accommodation, logistical arrangements and so on.

Swapp Agency is a local company on anything in Iceland and you can seek their help.