Day 7

After spending 6 nights near Sellfoss it was time to move along the Ring-road to our next destination – Jokulsarlon. We really struggled to find accommodation in the area but found a small hotel on Booking.com called Skyrhusid Hi-Hostel which was just 15 minutes from the lagoon. We were going to stay for 2 nights so that we could visit the lagoon and also go on a glacier hike on the Svinafellsjokull Glacier.

It was a four hour drive so we decided to take our time and do lots of stops on route.

Sólheimajökull Glacier

Our first stop was the Sólheimajökull Glacier. We parked in the car-park and then it was a short walk along a gravel path to see the glacier. It was the first glacier we had ever seen and you could watch bits of the glacier which had broken off float down the river. We were surprised how muddy it was – I think we expected it to be white!

Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach

We then made our way towards Vik and stopped off at Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach.

^{The beach}

At one end of the beach was an open cave full of Basalt Columns. We had never seen them before and thought the only place they existed were in Ireland at Giant’s Causeway.

At the top of the cliff there were so many puffins flying between the rocks. They were really cute and just seemed to be very busy flying around!

Eldhraun Lava Field

We then came across the Eldhraun Lava Field. This was just a quick pull in off the side of the road but there was a marked trail that we followed taking us through a lava field. We were only there for about 15 minutes but nice to have a quick walk!

Fjaðrárgljúfur

We then found Fjaðrárgljúfur which was the most beautiful river canyon we had seen. We were able to walk along the top and look down the canyon and then we went to see the river.

^{Fjaðrárgljúfur}

Jokulsarlon Iceberg Lagoon

We were now only 1.5 hours away from the lagoon and the sun was shining so we decided to get there incase the clouds came in. When we arrived there was still a blue sky so we were able to get some lovely pictures. Tom spent ages throwing rocks at icebergs whilst Izzy balanced as many stones as she could on an iceberg to see if it would sink!

^{Having too much fun playing with icebergs!}

^{The iceberg lagoon looking beautiful}

After half an hour or so it was time to head to the hotel and find somewhere to eat. Considering it was a hostel the hotel was really nice – although they did not serve any food. However, there was a restaurant next door which served traditional Icelandic food so we ventured there. The food was lovely but it was really expensive. We did note other people staying at the hotel had brought their own food and were heating it up in the kitchen – which probably would have been a good idea!

^{Our tea at the Hali Country Restaurant}

Day 8 – Glacier Hike

I had booked a 2 hour Blue Ice experience of the Svinafellsjokull Glacier and we needed to meet at the Visitor Centre at 9.45am. When we arrived we were given crampons and ice axes which Tom & Izzy thought was really cool! We were then taken on a short drive out to the glacier where we would begin our hike.

We were told not to step in any puddles as they could be quite deep – Izzy then put her ice axe into a puddle and it was deeper than the length of the ice axe! We were given quite a bit of time to explore so Tom & Izzy were chipping away at the glacier with their axes. We were also given glacier mud to put on our faces – apparently you could buy it in shops.

We really enjoyed the tour and it was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

Fjallsárlón Iceberg Lagoon

We were using the Lonely Planet Guide to find places to visit and read that there was another iceberg lagoon – Fjallsárlón – which was smaller than Jokulsarlon so we stopped off after the tour.

At Fjallsárlón we were so much closer to the glacier entering the water but the water was not as blue as at Jokulsarlon.

Diamond Beach

We returned briefly to Jokulsarlon where we watched a seal play in the water. We then moved to the otherside of the road where the lagoon runs into the sea and watched the icebergs get washed up onto the sand.

Tom and Izzy both chose an iceberg to stand on to see how long it took to melt!

^{Diamond Beach}

Day 9

We needed to make our way to the North of Iceland so to break up the travel time we had booked an Airbnb near Egilsstadir for the night. It meant we could work our way round the ring-road slowly – stopping off at places on route.

We started by heading to Hofn where there was a lovely harbour and the water was so still. We then stopped off at Hvalnes Beach. It was quite a long walk from the car to the water as there was a massive sand bar to cross. It was another black sand beach and there was a lighthouse at the end which we didn’t walk to.

^{Hofn harbour and Hvalnes Beach}

As we started working our way north and driving into the hills the road started to become more of a track. Also the cloud came in and we couldn’t really see and more than 20 meters in front! Although it wasn’t for long and when we reached the other side of the mountains we were back into full sun and blue skies.

We found our Airbnb which was a little cabin on a farm so the kids made friends with the farm dog and we were next to a field full of horses.

^{Our AirBnb for the night}