East Iceland

Day 8: Mývatn to Fáskrúðsfjörður

After being rewarded with good weather and a clear night in Mývatn, the next day turned out to be somewhat miserable. However, Iceland still has some amazing sights in the rain. We noticed how the water pooled on top of the mountains and started to overflow. This created hundreds of small waterfalls in the fjords.

The stretch between Myvatn and the Eastfjords is very quiet and barren. There really wasn't another town until Egilsstaðir so that's where we filled up on gas and replenished our supplies. From there, we went off the ring road to reach some of the small fishing villages. We ended up at Fáskrúðsfjörður for the night, a village with a strong French history. Our hotel is a restored former hospital for French fisherman between 1903 and 1935. 

Eat & Stay

Fosshotel Eastfjords

North Iceland

Day 6: Heydalur to Laugarbakki

After our detour to the Westfjords, we returned to the ring road in the north of Iceland. We spent the night in Laugarbakki as it is conveniently located between the Westfjords and Myvatn. Hvammstangi, located on the Vatnsnes peninsula, is the largest town in the area with a population of 580 and is another good place to spend a night. We decided to drive to the end of the peninsula to a remote restaurant to have dinner. We highly recommend the seafood soup and skyr cheesecake. 

Eat

Geitafell

Stay

Hotel Laugarbakki

Day 7: Laugarbakki to Mývatn

The north of Iceland is very different from the rest of the country given its unique landscapes and Mývatn is a great base to explore it all. Some of the popular attractions are:

Godafoss Waterfall
Lake Mývatn
Mývatn Nature Baths
Viti Crater
Krafla Power Station
Hverfjall Cone

One of the most exciting things about the north for us was the weather had started to improve which meant we had an opportunity to see the northern lights. It had been raining the last few days but the skies were supposed to be clear on our night in Mývatn. As soon as the skies were dark, we drove a few kilometres from the hotel in order to escape any light pollution and saw the northern lights dancing above us. 

Eat & Stay

Fosshotel Mývatn