East Iceland Things to Do

East Iceland is rather desolate, but the scenery is unbelievable. When driving in this area of the Iceland, make sure that you have a full tank of gas and stop at any bathroom you come across.  We took a recommendation to divert slightly from the Ring Road and take the beautiful drive along the fjords.  The landscapes were beautiful and reminded me of my the scenery between Bergen to Flam that I saw in Norway ages ago on my post-bar trip.  We found an amazing picnic lunch spot, saw hovering birds and passed through tunnels. Our night in Eskifjörður was a pleasant surprise.  Both of us thought we had booked in Egilsstaðir, but it was really Eskifjörður, which we loved.  Here our favorite East Iceland things to do:

#1:  Travel the Ring Road in East Iceland

The Ring Road follows the coast for most of the stretch between Höfn and Djúpivogur, and the ocean views are amazing.  We stopped for a lunch at a picnic bench on the Atlantic at this most amazing vista.  I wish I would have noted the GPS coordinates because it was one of the highlights of our trip. We were the only people there

• Kid Moment:  We stopped several times for the boys to skip rocks, and my daughter started a rock collection.

My daughter’s love of rocks began in East Iceland

There is always an adventure around the next curve in Iceland.  We pulled off the Ring Road to get a closer look at one of the many waterfalls and found this narrow bridge that my husband was desperate to traverse to test the capabilities of our Suburu Forrester.  I absolutely refused to allow him to make the attempt.

We saw these beautiful hovering birds and realized that they were looking for food.

#2:  Djúpivogur Iceland

Djúpivogur is a small fishing village on the Berufjörður fjord. The information center is especially helpful with a wide selection of maps. Eggin í Gleðivík is a sculpture of 34 eggs representing local birds located on the waterfront. We drove by on our way out of town and missed the opportunity to take a picture, but it is a beautiful harbor.

#3:  Eskifjörður Iceland

Eskifjörður is a fishing village with about 1,000 residents along the Reyðarfjörður fjord. Across the fjord is the stunning Holmatindur mountain, which seems to rise out of the water. For Eskifjörður accommodation, we recommend Hotel Apartments. Our comfortable one bedroom apartment included a full kitchen and laundry room with its own washer and dryer, which we took full advantage of after a few wet and muddy days.

Holmatindur mountain

#4:  Helgustaðanama Crystal Mine

Helgustaðanama Crystal Mine is a spar crystal mine along the shore east of Eskifjörður. You follow the trail up the hill to the mine. Our kids were dazzled by the crystals, which you cannot take with you.   The weather was perfect for a hike the evening we were there, but rain was predicted in the morning.  The benefit of 24 hours of daylight is that we were able to take advantage of the weather and headed to the mine at about 9 pm.  When we returned after 11 pm, we noticed so many people (including young children) outdoors roaming around that it appeared to be the middle of the day.

The friends’ team hiking to the spar crystal mine

The spar crystal mine

#5:  Eskifjordur Swimming Pool

The Eskifjordur pool is a geothermal pool with excellent water slides. Despite exceptionally cold and rainy weather, we had the pool to ourselves when we visited mid-morning and enjoyed it thoroughly. Our host was kind enough to call to to confirm open times.  We were not permitted to take pictures of the pool area.

East Iceland may be a rather desolate area of the country, and we did not run into many other tourists.  However, we are glad we traveled the entire Ring Road and didn’t miss out on this amazing region – a hidden gem of Iceland.

Continue to Iceland Part VIII – North Iceland.  Interested in finding out more about Iceland with kids?  Join our Facebook group We Go To Iceland With Kids, which is a forum to ask questions and share ideas about family travel to Iceland.  Also, be sure to check out our listing of all Iceland posts.

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