Iceland’s East Fjords: Vestrahorn to Stuðlagil

Route description

From Höfn drive east on route 1 for about 10 km and turn off towards Stokksnes. The land is private, and you pay a fee at the café before continuing on the gravel road to the black dunes below Vestrahorn. Back on route 1, the road runs through the Almannaskarð tunnel and along the Lón lagoon and the mountain coast towards Djúpivogur.

Djúpivogur is a quiet fishing village on a peninsula, with a row of large stone egg sculptures along the harbour front. From the head of Berufjörður, about 20 km beyond the village, road 939 over the Öxi pass cuts about 60 km off the coastal route to Egilsstaðir. It is a steep gravel road, open only in summer, and not suitable for caravans or large motorhomes, which should follow route 1 around the fjords.

At the bottom of the pass, follow the valley to Lake Lagarfljót and take road 931 along its western shore to the car park for Hengifoss. The walk up takes about an hour each way, past Litlanesfoss with its basalt columns. Then head north-west to Jökuldalur for Stuðlagil: the west side at Grund has a viewing platform, while the east side at Klaustursel requires a longer walk to the canyon floor.

Egilsstaðir is the main service town of East Iceland, with supermarkets, fuel and an airport. Road 93 then crosses the Fjarðarheiði pass, over 600 m high and sometimes closed by snow even in late spring, before dropping steeply to Seyðisfjörður. This small town has colourful wooden houses at the end of a long fjord, and the ferry from here sails to Denmark once a week.