How we Cover Iceland Ring Road in 7 Days – Itinerary (Day 3 & 4)

Yesterday, we were still thinking if we should book the Whale Watching Tour at Husavik. And was actually glad we did not. Because it was raining and weather was gloomy the entire day.

We called up the agency and was told tour was cancelled off because of bad weather.

Usually tour agency will give a credit for 2 years if tour was cancelled or no whales/dolphins was seen.

But imagine that you have to go all the way to Husavik just for the whale watching. Good decision!

Day 3 - Lake Myvatn To Egilsstaðir

Today, we will be exploring the North of Iceland. And because we did not have the watch watching, we went to the Myvatn Nature Bath for a soak instead.

The first waterfall for the day and the 3rd for the trip. This waterfall is near to the carpark and looks gorgeous. 

And since we have the extra time, we headed for Myvatn for a soak. Weather was still cloudy and cold. Was like 8 degrees!

Entrance to Myvatn was half the price of Blue Lagoon. Facilities were not so commercial or sophisticated. We were given a locker coin and paid for the towel at 700isk. Entrance fee was 4300isk per adult.

The changing room is also not as big as Blue Lagoon. And of course, there are lesser guest compared to Blue Lagoon.

There are actually 2 pools in Myvatn, the further one has lesser guests but the pool is less warm. That is probably the reason why there are lesser people. And the pool has unblocked view and that is also why we are feeling the chills at our ears.

The only good thing is the crowd is relatively lesser, but the pool is also smaller.

While driving on Route 1 towards, Dettifoss waterfall, we came across this interesting place just 10mins away from Myvatn Nature Bath. It was not in our itinerary planning but the whole place looks fascinating and smelly of course.

The Namafjall geothermal field is located in Northeast Iceland, on the east side of Lake Myvatn.

At this area, also known as Hverir, you may see many solfataras and boiling mud pots, surrounded by sulfur crystals of many different colours. The area is quite smelly but something one gets used to after a while. The soil in the area has little growth and is sour due to erosion and the sulfur from the atmosphere. Indeed, the old rock-covered boreholes in the area give off a lot of hot steam, so we advise caution.

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Dettifoss is one of the waterfall that I wanted to see very much. Because it is the most powerful waterfall in Iceland and in Europe.

This waterfall is slightly off Route 1, and there is like 1km of walking distance from the carpark to the actual site of the waterfall.

And it was raining at that time when we visited the waterfall. But still, the sight is so magnificent.

And also, there is toilet at the carpark area! At least we get to relieve ourselves before the drive to our stay.

Dettifoss is a waterfall in Vatnajökull National Park in Northeast Iceland, and is reputed to be the most powerful waterfall in Europe. The water comes from the nearby Vatnajökull glacier, whose sediment-rich runoff colors the water a greyish white. The superlative of "most powerful" comes from its water flow times its fall distance. The water of the wide Jökulsá á Fjöllum river falls for more than 44 metres, causing a massive, crashing spray.

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Stay: Airbnb - Little Yellow Cottage

The 2nd airbnb that we did not get to meet the host. But it was all good, because we checked in at 8pm and it was a keybox check in. Very convenient and easy.

But because the cottage was situated in the middle of nowhere.

This is place is good for 4 people, but they allow up to 5 guests. They have a very spacious sofa bed for the 5th guest.

The not so good thing is the limited hot water storage. Because they rely on electric heater, so the hot water is limited. 

After our fantastic Grilled Lamb Chop, we bought ourselves the Pork Chop to grill. Interestingly, the prices of the lamb chop varies in different supermarkets.

Day 4 - Egilsstaðir to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

Today is another long drive to cover the distance so that the day after is shorter. Initially, we gotten ourselves a stay at Hotel Smyrlabjörg. But that also means that we have to visit Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and drive back to the hotel which is 30 mins away.

And the hotels around this region is the most expensive. In fact, we found an Airbnb Farm stay, and this is the most expensive accommodation we had for the entire trip.

Along Route 1: Route 939

While driving from Egilsstaðir to Hofn, many will encounter a cross road. Which is to choose Route 1 which is longer, but less gravel or Route 939.

We chose Route 939, because the GPS says so.

But actually this route surprised us with superb scenery. If you have watched the land before time, it looks exactly like it. With the mountains and the greens surrounding it.

Go: Hvalnes Nature Reserve Beach

The weather turns sunny just before we connected at the Route 1, and before reaching Hofn, we stopped by a beach to check out.

And this place is even better than the famous Black sand beach! I guess the weather also plays a part.

Go: Höfn

We planned a stop at Höfn, because it seems like a bigger town around the region. And also for our dinner ingredient top ups. 

What is nice about this town is, you get to see the views of Vatnajökull, the largest ice glacier in Europe.

Höfn or Höfn í Hornafirði (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈhœpn i ˈhɔrtna fɪrðɪ]) is an Icelandic fishing town in the southeastern part of the country. It lies near Hornafjörður fjord.
The town, the second largest in the southeastern part of Iceland, offers scenic views of Vatnajökull (the largest ice cap in Europe by volume). The community was formerly known as Hornafjarðarbær between 1994 and 1998.

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This is the main highlight of the day. The Iceberg lagoon! It is an obvious iceberg area that you cannot miss because of the bridge.

When we were there, there were already several people. And you can also take the boat tours going near to the iceberg itself.

Because we reached pretty late, the boat tours seem to be closing. Nevertheless, we still explored the area of the lagoon.

Those were literally iceberg breaking off and floating out towards the sea or the shore. You can pick the ice from the shore and even lick them. But they are contains several black particles.

Very beautiful sight and there are also seals hanging around the lagoon if you are lucky enough to spot them.

After you are done, you can head to the opposite area, nearer to the sea where you get to see even more and bigger iceberg washed onshore.

See: Fjallsárlón Glacial Lagoon

Fjallsárlón Glacial Lagoon is another glacier lagoon 5 minutes away from Jökulsárlón. It is a smaller lagoon as compared to Jökulsárlón. So if you have been to Jökulsárlón, this place is optional. Of course, the view here is also slightly different.

But somehow, this place is very windy. 

Stay: Farmstay Airbnb 

I guess because we book the stay 3-4 weeks before, thus we have limited accommodation options.

Still we manged to get an awesome stay for the 4 of us. Although, 2 of us need to sleep on the sofa bed. But still it is pretty comfortable.

To top it up, we had curry chicken for dinner! Singapore Style With French Baguette!

The owner told us he have 300 over sheeps, a few horses etc. Too bad, the weather was not so good. If not, we could have get close to the sheeps.