Dettifoss, Goðafoss and great weather…

Yesterday I arrived in Seyðisfjörður, and after a cozy evening in that charming little town, this morning I continued my journey on the Ring Road towards Akureiry.

As it happened also the last days the weather today was very beautiful, with sun and temperature up to 12-13 degrees Celsius, but in the car the reflection if the sun was more powerful thus I was driving in just a t-shirt.

The segment of road to Egilsstaðir, and even further for some kilometers, was kind of average in offerings, with no very attractive views. However, alter a while I was pleasantly surprised to see an old shelter for sheep; the kind of building built up in the ground. Then we climb up the mountains and drove on top of them for many kilometers through a white carpet set by snow of the just recently gone Icelandic winter. The views were great and the traffic was not busy at all.

The first serious stop of the day was at the Dettifoss waterfall; from the Ring Road one should drive 25 more kilometers on an additional road, on a way that takes you right to the waterfall. However, at the end of the road is not exactly the waterfall; there is one more kilometer to walk through snow…at least at this time of the year there was a lot of snow, and for one like me unprepared for winter it might be a good idea to have an extra pair of shoes with you. The walk through the snow is worth it because the view is amazing, with a reach waterfall falling in a big canyon.

After Dettifoss, the next planned stop was the lagoon from Mytvan. It is not as big as the Blue Lagoon from the South, but apart from the size everything is there: color, smell, warm, pleasure…! For two persons with student cards, the renting of towels, bathrobe and entrance fee rose up to about 9000 ISK.

Although there is possible to eat at the lagoon, we decided to drive further and eat on the way. Not after long time we just saw a farm with a restaurant offering local food and so we stopped. I swear that the food there and the whole experience at the farm was exceptional. Beside the fact that there was possible to pet cows and sheep, the food included raw smoked lamb, artic char, geyser bread and cheese from made at that farm.

Full, we continued driving towards Akueiry. The last stop on the way was another great waterfall…I would say the greatest waterfall I have seen so far in Iceland and generally in the world; it is Goðafoss waterfall. The view of it and the great weather made us feel satisfied with the day so we just kept driving to Akureiry hoping for a good dinner and good rest. At a first impression, even though Akureiry is the second biggest city in Iceland, it has not impressed me yet; there is not much to do or to see.

However, I am really looking forward to tomorrow when I will go in a whale watching tour.

So, if everything goes right tomorrow night I will be able to write about the experience we had with the whales.

From Höfn to Seyðisfjörður

As planned from yesterday evening, today it has been the day to drive to Seyðisfjörður. The day started in the best possible way, with a lot of sun which gave us positive attitude and joy for the rest of the day.

As soon as we took the breakfast in Höfn, we went to the tourist information office to ask for suggestions about what to do around Höfn. However, we left from the information office with no so many options since the lady working there said she didn’t know much about the whole area, but she suggested we visit the glaciers in the direction to Vik, and do the one hour walk around Höfn’s coast; for more info about the attractions towards Seyðisfjörður she suggested we have to ask at info office in Djopivogur. We decided to do the walk, which proved to be refreshing with nice views.

After the walk we decided to go take off to our destination for today, Seyðisfjörður. We set the info in the GPS and there we drove. Although the route is neither very short but nor too long, just about 220 km, without detours, there are a lot of beautiful sights, that made us stop many times to take pictures or just to stare at the beautiful display of the nature.

The first stop we made in Djopivogur, a town in one of the stunning fjords on the southern coast of Iceland. There we went to the information office to ask about what can be done/seen from there up to Seyðisfjörður. There we got lots of booklets with info about the whole region. However, first we had lunch at a very nice restaurant inside a hotel called Hotel Framtid. The food is not the cheapest in the town but is very good and the place looks great. I highly recommend it.

We visited also the birds’ eggs expo but we were not impress. Yet, the whole town is very picturesque and worth a visit.

Then we decided to drive further, having in mind to stop also in the other towns from the other fjords on our way. Yet, the planned changed because the other town are very small and we didn’t see it was worth stopping; so the next and last stop was at the destination in Seyðisfjörður. Nevertheless we still stopped many times to take pictures.

On the way there were also two tunnels, and a unpleasant paved segment of the road (on the Ring Road) which is not possible to avoid; it has a length of few kilometers. Moreover, the last part of the trip, after exiting from the second tunnel, the road takes drivers up the mountains where at this time of the year is a lot of snow (not on the road though).

Furthermore the 25 km segment from Egilsstadir to Seyðisfjörður is a curved road up the mountain, after which is the down the mountain drive to the fjord. The view is amazing, though we caught a cloudy weather.

Seyðisfjörður is a small village but is has its charm. It is not much to do here but, a nice walk and very beautiful scenery justify such an choice. In Seyðisfjörður we are hosted at the old post house which is now transformed in accommodation under the name of  Hotel Snæfell.

Because we have already walk around all the village, we plan that tomorrow we are leaving early further towards the second biggest city of Iceland, Akureyri.

Lets sleep well and get ready for some more action waiting for us tomorrow.