Day 7: LAGUNA GLACIAR JÖKULSÁRLÓN - LAGUNA GLACIAR FJALLSÁRLÓN - EASTERN FIORDOS: DJÚPIVOGUR - BERUFJÖRÐUR - EGILSSTAÐIR - SEYÐISFJÖRÐUR
This morning the alarm clock rang at 6.30 in the morning and the first thing we have done has been to look out the window, from where we have seen that a radiant sun awaits us outside. We cannot complain and we will continue to cross our fingers for the time we are having on this trip to Iceland for free and more today that we will enter the Eastern Iceland Fjords.
The other day a boy we met doing trekking through the Mýrdalsjökull Glacier told us that his Icelandic friends had told him that they had not had sun all year long until August 15, just the first day we arrived in Iceland, so that we can only cross our fingers to hold on.
And with this sunny day that we have and being so close, we are unable to not return to the place that our heart stole yesterday and that we have only 10 minutes from here: Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and Fjallsárlón.
On top of today we don't have breakfast included in our accommodation, the Gerði in Suðursveit, so we have the perfect excuse to do it in the best enclave in the world.
So we load the rental car in Iceland and in 10 minutes we are having breakfast in front of one of the most impressive places in the world.
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
In the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
We cannot say anything other than that we have once again enjoyed one of the most wonderful places we have ever been. For 2 hours and a half we have been enjoying a blue sky reflecting on ice floes.
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
Before leaving we took the opportunity to have breakfast in the cafeteria of the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon a cake, a donut and two coffees, which we filled a couple of times, for 1900 ISK.
After breakfast we approached Fjallsárlón, where yesterday the wind was blowing with a lot of intensity despite the sun and we wanted to spend a few minutes before going to the Eastern Iceland Fjords.
Fjallsárlón Glacier Lagoon
It's 10.30 in the morning when we put our GPS back on track, this time to Djúpivogur, a fisherman's settlement in the bay of Berufjörður, a place that has several very well-maintained buildings, where we arrive after 1 noon later of traveling about 130 kilometers enjoying incredible landscapes that, we have to say, continue to amaze us even though we have already been here for a few days and look where you look are still impressive.
Iceland roads on the way to Djúpivogur
On the way we make a small stop on the N1 of Hofn to refuel and so be quiet for a few more days, since in Iceland, despite the fact that there are many gas stations, sometimes enough kilometers pass until you find one.
Here we want to make a small paragraph on the gas stations in Iceland.
In most Icelandic gas stations, at least the N1s that we have been using, the process for filling the tank is a bit different from that of Spanish gas stations.
Book the best rated Spanish and English tours and excursions in Iceland by travelers:
- South coast and waterfalls in Iceland
- South coast waterfalls and glacial lake in 2 days
- Snowmobile adventure in southern Iceland
- Quad tour on the south coast of Iceland
- Tour of the Game of Thrones stages- Many more excursions and tours here
First you have to enter the credit card, mark the pin, choose the amount you want to fill out (do not worry if you do not reach that amount they will return the money on the same credit card you have placed) and finally you can fill in ( You do not have to choose if you want gasoline or diesel in this step, it is done directly by taking the dispenser you want)
Another thing to keep in mind is the famous free coffee in Iceland They talk about in many forums. We didn't see it anywhere (??), so we had to pay at all, including gas stations. After the trip we interpret that what is free is to refill the glass, but the first time you have to pay 🙂
More practical information to prepare your trip to Iceland
- 10 essential tips for traveling to Iceland
- 50 things to see and do in Iceland
After this brief stop we continue towards Djúpivogur the gateway to the East Fjords of Iceland.
We arrived at 13.20 noon after touring an incredible landscape. We park the car right at the entrance where there is a large supermarket and take the opportunity to stretch our legs after a good morning of the car.
Views from the Djúpivogur car park
Djúpivogur is small enough to cover it in 1 hour or less, so before eating we decided to take a tour of the main points such as Langabúð warehouse, located in the port and now a cafeteria and a unique museum.
The Langabúð warehouse in Djúpivogur
After a walk around this small town we enter Vid Voginn, a fast food and grocery store, where we ask for a menu of fish and chips and another hamburger with drink and soup for 4490 ISK
With this we recharge the batteries after a morning of sublime landscapes and end with a desktop in front of a couple of coffees for 600 ISK.
After lunch we return to the streets of Djúpivogur, passing through several wooden buildings, the craft shop and the port, which are the most significant points of Djúpivogur the gateway to the East Fjords of Iceland.
Port of Djúpivogur the gateway to the East Fjords of Iceland
It's almost 3 in the afternoon when we decide that it is time to go back to the car and get on our way to Egilsstaðir, the place where we will stay tonight, although before we stopped at the Djupivogur supermarket to buy bread and something for breakfast tomorrow, We have scheduled one of the most special tours of this trip through Iceland: we will meet the Viti !!
Highway 1 borders the first of Eastern Iceland Fjords that we see, the Berufjörður, which leaves us with incredible views.
Eastern Iceland Fjords
Of course, be careful because despite being Highway 1 there are unpaved sections.
We could have taken a road that would have saved us some good kilometers and it is inland, but counting that we have a fabulous day of sun, we prefer to do an hour more by car and thus enjoy the beauty of the landscapes.
Eastern Iceland Fjords
When we arrive in Breiddalsvik we have the option to continue touring the Eastern Iceland Fjords on Highway 96 or continue on Highway 1 that will take us directly to Egilsstaðir.
With the hours that we have today by car, we decide that it is better to take this last option and more counting that we still have to reach the hotel and go to Seyðisfjörður, another of the small towns Eastern fjords of Iceland, we really want to meet.
Stop on one of the roads of the Eastern Fjords of Iceland
We arrived in Egilsstaðir at 17.15 after touring one of the most beautiful sections of the road we have ever made, surrounded by small waterfalls that are happening every few meters and a green that splashes the mountains leaving us a landscape that we will never forget.
We check in at Lyngás Guesthouse, we leave our bags and at the moment we connect to the hotel wifi we get a tweet of We Travel Together telling us that there is an alert for the eruption of the Bárdarbunga volcano in Iceland and that there have been more than 1000 earthquakes in the last days.
We had not heard anything, but now we have the fly behind the ear and more knowing that tomorrow we have scheduled the Tour to Askja, but although we are looking for more information online and social networks, at this time there is not much more information about the that we already have, so seeing what time it is, we decided to continue with today's planning.
At 17.45 we set off towards Seyðisfjörður, following the road from Egilsstaðir that leaves us with incredible views of what we are leaving behind.
Views of Egilsstaðir on the way to Seyðisfjörður
Before reaching Seyðisfjörður we see on the right a viewpoint from which we have incredible views of this small town where we meet a boy who comes walking from there, through the mountain and has stopped here to play the guitar. Do you think there could be something better than this? It is very clear that no ...
Seyðisfjörður views
We reach Seyðisfjörður from Egilsstaðir in 20 minutes after enjoying stunning landscapes and the first thing we do after parking the car is to go to its famous blue church.
Seyðisfjörður blue church
From here we go through this charming town of wooden houses, which today is celebrating a party that we cannot guess, but which we believe has gathered the whole town around a barbecue.
Seyðisfjörður views
Seyðisfjörður
We are in Seyðisfjörður almost an hour and after 7 pm we decide that it is time to return to Egilsstaðir on the same road that we arrived a while ago and have dinner there.
We stop at a restaurant in front of our guesthouse, next to the gas station and see that everything is fast food, so we decided to have an impromptu picnic in the room and not waste much time, that tomorrow we have to get up early to go to Askja.
But more to reach the room and connect the laptop we get a message from Saga Travel, the agency with which we hired this tour. We cancel the trip to Askja tomorrow because of the risk of eruption of Bárðarbunga, a volcano under the Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Iceland and they tell us to call us to try to program something else since they don't have our phone number and can't call us.
What a face we just had, but that does not imply that in a matter of 5 minutes we have turned around tomorrow's planning, telling that we have the excursion to see whales in Húsavík the day after tomorrow, we have decided that we are going to Grimsey, a tiny island in the Icelandic Arctic which we set aside in trip planning due to lack of time.
Ferries to Grimsey only depart on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and recommend booking in the summer, so we don't think about it much and send an email.
While we wait for your response and have dinner we receive a message from Saga Travel, this time to apologize for everything that is happening but confirming that tomorrow we can access Askja but by another road, so they activate the tour again.
We have been very lucky since this was one of the visits we most wanted to make on this trip to Iceland and we already assumed that it had escaped our hands.
With a smile in our mouth we go to bed that tomorrow we have to get up early, we have stayed at 7.45 in Mývatn and from Egilsstaðir we have 2 hours of car ahead.
Day 8: EGILSSTAÐIR - MÝVATN - ASKJA EXCURSION - LAUGAR
