Camping Iceland in 12 Days (Days 6 – 12)

Stunning scenery around every corner, friendly locals, and never-ending adventure…this is Camping Iceland part 2! The first blog was getting long so we split it into two parts. Before continuing, we just want to say…Iceland is a Beautiful Country!

Day 6 – just east of Diamond Beach to Egilsstaðir

Itinerary: East Fjords & Hengifoss

Today was a long and scenic drive along the eastern fjords. Wish we had several extra days just to slow the pace and enjoy the towns. The eastern coastline is beautiful!

Hengifoss is the third highest waterfall in Iceland at 420 feet. It does require a bit of an uphill hike and you’ll pass a few waterfalls along the way.

Day 7 – Egilsstaðir to Myvatn

Itinerary: Dettifoss, Námafjall Hverir, Grjótagjá & Myvatn Nature Baths

Dettifoss is another large and very powerful waterfall at 330 feet wide and has a 144 feet drop. Road 864 from the east is a 17 mile gravel road but fortunately it wasn’t a terribly bad road.

The Námafjall Geothermal Area, also known as Hverir, has lots of boiling mud pots and steaming fumaroles. The area reminds me of a small version of Yellowstone and the sulphur smells like egg.

Grjótagjá is a small cave near lake Mývatn and inside is a thermal hot spring. Due to its popularity, this is very easy to locate because they have signs and a parking lot. You park and walk 2 minutes and you are at the entrance. It’s a cool cave but because it’s easy to access there will be lots of people.

Myvatn Nature Bath is a man made lagoon with natural thermal water and minerals pumped into it. Myvatn Nature Bath gets a little over 100,000 annually and costs us $100 for two admissions. It is well worth it. We didn’t go to the Blue Lagoon but were told over 700,000 people visit it annually.

Our Campsite in Myvatn was right on the lake and was quiet and scenic.

Day 8 – Myvatn to Húsavík

Itinerary: Hverfjall Crater, Ásbyrgi Canyon, Vesturdalur Valley & Húsavík

Hverfjall Crater is 1,300 feet high and a little over 1/2 a mile in diameter. It isn’t a difficult climb to the top and the hike around the rim provides fantastic views of Myvatn.

Ásbyrgi Canyon is a horseshoe-shaped canyon. We read that Viking settlers believed this depression to be a hoof print of Sleipnir, Odin’s eight legged horse from Norse mythology.

Vesturdalur Valley is an adventure waiting to happen. There are lots of hiking trails and the one we chose was V-3, the Hljóðaklettar Circle, which is almost a 2 mile loop. The scenery is fantastic which huge rock formations, basalt rocks, caves and great views. There is also a long hike from here to Dettifoss if you have the time. We were told this is a great hike that passes many waterfalls on the way to Dettifoss. Check out the Area Map.

Húsavík is a scenic little town on the north coast offering lots of sightseeing tours.

Day 9 – Húsavík to Hvammstangi

Itinerary: Goðafoss & Hvammstangi

Goðafoss, waterfall or the Gods, isn’t as large as others but it is definitely an impressive waterfall. It is nearly 100 feet tall.

Drive toward Hvammstangi

Day 10 – Hvammstangi to Bjarteyjarsandur

Itinerary: Snaefellsnes Peninsula

Day 11 – Bjarteyjarsandur

Itinerary: Glymur Waterfall

Bjarteyjarsandur Farm is a working farm that offers camping and rooms in an old farmhouse. We happened to drive by and loved the view so we stopped by to camp. We decided to stay a second night in the farmhouse. This was a perfect place to end our vacation. We also got to enjoy the hot pot by the sea on a perfect clear night. Check out their website.

Day 12 – Bjarteyjarsandur to Keflavik

Itinerary: Reykjavík, Geothermal Footbath in Reykjavík & Explored Outside the Blue Lagoon

Geothermal Footbath – if you are in Reykjavík and have some free time you should find this footbath. It’s right on the ocean and overlooks the city and Mount Esja. It’s actually big enough for one person as we found out.

Blue Lagoon is 15 minutes from the Keflavik Airport and 45 minutes from Reykavik. We choose to soak in the Myvatn Nature Baths but wanted to go to the Blue Lagoon to see what we could see. Once you park, you can freely walk around the outside of the property and see lots of blue water flowing around the property. It is worth the walk but we couldn’t see inside the pay for pools.

Next Morning – Flight Home

Our trip is now over but what an incredible sightseeing trip it was. We meet such friendly and kind people, had some fun and interesting conversations, and experienced the beauty that is Iceland. As we fly back home, we realized we are really going to miss this place! Good news is we didn’t do everything on our list so we will visit again someday. And lastly, we just want to say…Wow is Iceland Beautiful!

Lessons Learned:

• Discount Grocery Bónus isn’t open before 10a – check their website for hours
• Gas – to purchase at a pump, your credit / debit card MUST have a PIN
• Gas – without a PIN, you can purchase a pre-paid gas card in the station and they are easy to use but are unfortunately not re-usable
• Speeding – don’t do it; speeding tickets are expensive and they use speed cameras; just follow the set limits and enjoy the view
• Sheep – they often stand on the sides of the road and sheep are fast; slow down and don’t hit them
• Rain Gear – carry it everywhere since rain can fall anytime
• Roads – we had a small 2 wheel drive car and normal and gravel roads were fine; unless you have a 4 wheel drive stay off the F roads

If you'd like to read part 1, please read Camping Iceland in 12 Days (Day 1 - 5)