Day 3 was an EPIC day!! We had a traditional Icelandic breakfast at our hotel. Yogurts, breads, cheeses, waffles, meats, granola, oatmeal- very typical to a US breakfast. We then drove to Fjadrarljufur Canyon, which was absolutely incredible. Justin Bieber recorded his video, “I’ll Show You” at the canyon in 2015. Since then, over a million visitors have come to the fragile canyon. It is a natural wonder that was not meant to be populated, so they have had to rope it off to visitors. It was still amazing to see it. I completely understand not being able to hike the area. The moss could be ruined by so many people who don’t follow the rules to stay off of it.
About an hour down the road, our next stop was just by chance that we pulled off on a side road near Skaftafell. It led us to a glacier (unfortunately we don’t know the name of it) where we got out and actually walked around the whole area. It was beautiful. The glaciers are a beautiful blue. It was massive and looked to go on forever.
We found a great little place along the side of the road before the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon where we stopped to use the restroom and grab a lunch. They had the most delicious ham and cheese baguette sandwiches and pastries. We got our coffee fix for the road and headed to the Jokulsarlon area and Diamond Beach. Diamond beach is a strip of black sand located by the glacier lagoon. Here, the icebergs which fill the lagoon wash up on the shore and seriously look like sparkling diamonds of all sizes, especially because they stand in stark contrast to the black sand. We walked the foggy beach for at least 3/4 of a mile.
Across the street from Diamond Beach is Jokulsarlon Lagoon. It’s still blue waters are filled with icebergs from the surrounding glacier. These icebergs are massive, and the pictures just don’t do them justice.
We made our way to Hofn for dinner that evening. We ate at Pakkhus, and it was absolutely delicious. It had a beautiful view overlooking the harbor. After dinner, we drove back to the west about 20 miles to the Hoffelll Hot Pots to relax a bit before making our drive to our cabin in Djupivogur. The hot pots are in the middle of no where surrounded by mountains. Truly a unique experience for all of us.
We are not quite sure of the significance of the red chair along the side of the Ring Road in, but it made for a fun instagram photo, so why not??
It was late by the time we got to the Bragdavellir Cottage, but we all slept like babies.
