“He has succeeded in launching the Sacred Aquarius, the student has surpassed the master. What is left for me now? Happy that I have created the man who has acquired absolute zero, I am a nothing who has not even been allowed to live up to his pupil […]. It is strange how the ambitions of a lifetime seem meaningless to me in front of this man who is what I fought for. In front of me I see the pupil who has come where I never have, I have no reason now to be a golden knight, I will leave the domain of cold energies to Crystal. He is worthy of it, far more worthy than I am. Was it really necessary for this man to come and make me realize the futility of my existence?”
Saint Seya, Crystal Epilogue
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Itinerary in pills
- Morning: Fjadrarglijufur canyon, Skaftafell, Svinafellsjökull
- Afternoon: Trekking on Vatnajökull, Fjallsarlon, Jökulsarlon
- Conclusions
Introduction
I remember a lifetime ago when cartoons were on another level and I hoped to master cold energies like Aquarius, my favorite among the Golden Knights. As time went on, I gave up magical powers and even became chilly, but I retained that ability to marvel at the charms of ice and snowy landscapes that I had as a child.
You will understand well, then, that my adventure in Iceland could never have lacked a stop on the glaciers, especially given the presence of, among others, Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Europe (in volumetric terms, it ranks second in extent after Austfonna, in Svalbard). Several glaciers are located on Icelandic territory, however, for reasons of easy accessibility, in most cases travelers opt to visit the expanses of the slopes of Vatnajökull in the south of the country, which one comes across along the Ring Road.
That’s what my wife and I did as well, planning a day immersed in snow as part of our overall itinerary. In this article, I tell you “only” about the experience of that single day, which as you will see was quite challenging, but truly unforgettable.
Itinerary in pills
The itinerary described below was developed on a day in August, the month chosen for the trip to take advantage of the many hours of daylight available. Without this advantage, it would not have been possible to fit into a single day all the stops I will detail. However, the summer months do not allow us to visit the Ice Caves, which we therefore had to skip. Visiting the Ice Caves during warmer periods has in fact been permanently banned as a result of an accident that occurred recently, during which the collapse inside a cave caused the death of one person (actually perhaps it would be more correct to say that the cause of the accident was human recklessness, but I avoid further comments).
Below is a summary table of the major points of interest we touched on, distributed equally between morning and afternoon.
| Day time | visited places | km done | travel time | map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| morning | Fjadrarglijufur canyon, Skaftafell, Svartifoss, Svinafellsjökull | 145 | 1h50m | From Vik to Skaftafell |
| afternoon | Vatnajökull, Fjallsarlon, Jökulsarlon, Diamond beach, Höfn | 137 | 1h50m | From Skaftafell to Höfn |
For our on-the-road trip, we rented a 4×4 car so that we could travel the F-roads (rough inland roads closed in winter), but the itinerary described in this article could also be done with a regular hatchback.
Morning: Fjadrarglijufur canyon, Skaftafell, Svinafellsjökull
Our day begins in Vik, a small town in which we had spent the night before. Our trip to Iceland had in fact begun two days earlier, arriving in Vik from Reykjavik via the Golden Circle.
After refueling, we begin our stops at the Fjadrarglijufur canyon, a crazy place that has increased its notoriety thanks to the Game of Thrones series. The canyon is less than an hour from Vik. Having paid ISK 1,000 (about €6.50) for parking, we begin our tour of the canyon, for which we spend around an hour. The first viewpoints are easily reached from the parking lot, but to see the really breathtaking ones you have to walk a short path, slightly steep but absolutely doable. The whole trail is a succession of spots where you cannot stop being enchanted. The most beautiful spot is definitely at the end of the trail; it is really worth it.
Leaving the canyon parking lot, we continue our adventure by heading to Skaftafell National Park, where we plan several activities. The first of these is to visit the Svartifoss waterfall, which is reached from the parking lot (cost again ISK 1,000, equivalent to about €6.50) by an approximately 45-minute round trip. This is a very fascinating waterfall from my point of view because of the basalt columns that surround it, but not a very large one. Including photos, you can consider an hour in total for the visit. The path to the waterfall is a bit uphill for the first part, but very doable. Just be careful if you are accompanied (or have been preceded) by rain, the ground is a bit slippery.
The second activity we do around the park is to visit Svinafellsjökull Glacier, a truly magical place that can be reached in about ten minutes by car from the Skaftafell Glacier National Park parking lot. To get there, of course, you have to leave the parking lot, but once you pay, you can get in and out an unlimited number of times during the day without having to spend any more money (this applies in general, not just to Skaftafell Park).
The Svinafellsjökull glacier is not to be climbed, but it is really worth the effort to get to its feet via the very short flat path accessible from the parking lot (free in this case). The whole thing can be done in less than an hour. Mysteriously, this gem is averagely absent from tourist itineraries; in fact, we are completely alone, and given the beauty of the place, as well as its easy accessibility, it seems really incredible to me. We return to Skaftafell Park around lunchtime, so we take the opportunity to refresh ourselves.
Afternoon: Trekking on Vatnajökull, Fjallsarlon, Jökulsarlon
The third activity planned from Skaftafell is the Vatnajökull glacier excursion, for which we rely on a local agency (it is not possible to do it independently for safety reasons). There are several, we chose Arctic Adventure, for reasons of cost and basic excursion length, 4 hours instead of 3 as with all other agencies. The 4-hour excursion is the easiest, but there are of course different types, from easy to more extreme, obviously more expensive. The basic excursion generally costs about 90€ (equivalent among all agencies), we manage to pay only 64€ each, thanks to close monitoring of the websites of the various agencies before leaving, through which I came across a time of discounts on online bookings. The reservation was made a couple of days before departure and for a set time, but in general if there are vacancies in other slots one can ask to be moved. The cost also includes equipment rental. It is important to have good hiking shoes to fit crampons, if you fail the agency allows you to rent shoes as well (the cost in this case is separate). The 4-hour hike also includes the round-trip bus ride to the glacier, some paperwork for insurance and various explanations. The basic hike itself takes a couple of hours. The hike is as beautiful as it is extremely touristy, but that was expected. The glacier however is truly spectacular, not surprisingly Christopher Nolan filmed a few scenes of the movie Interstellar there (using by the way the same crampons we had on our feet!). There’s more than enough time for a few shots, a sample of which I’ll skewer below.
At the end of the visit, we drive about 40 minutes to Fjallsarlon, one of the ice lagoons in the area, which we visit as an appetizer to Jökulsarlon, the better-known one, which awaits us for the grand finale.
Fjallsarlon is small but very beautiful, plus it is uncrowded, so we are pretty much alone. It is possible to reach the lagoon with the icebergs by walking a trail in a few minutes. The scenery is really stunning, plus the sunset is approaching, which makes everything even more beautiful.
We stay in Fjallsarlon less than an hour, just enough time for a few photos, partly because there it is quite windy. We then proceed to the final stop, the Jökulsarlon lagoon, which extends to Diamond beach. The lagoon is full of icebergs, which move through the water flowing down to the beach, which is contiguous to the lagoon. The spectacle seen here is truly indescribable.
This is the last leg of the day, which we close with the last hour or so on the road, necessary to get all the way to Höfn, the town where we booked our lodging. It was a busy day; in addition to the various stops, it was also the road itself that provided us with an unusual spectacle. Below are a few summary shots of the drive from Vik to Höfn.
Conclusions
The glacier area was one of the most beautiful and unforgettable parts of our trip to Iceland. In contrast to the rest of the trip, we did all the described stops with good weather, apart from a few small drops that accompanied us during the trek on Vatnajökull. A summer day is enough to visit everything quite worthily, considering also that many things around are inaccessible. Having to choose the podium of attractions that impressed me the most, I would say:
- Gold medal to Jökulsarlon, the iceberg spectacle is really worth the ticket price
- Silver medal to Svinafellsjökull, a truly unmissable gem, not very popular despite its easy accessibility from Skaftafell Park
- Bronze medal to Fjadrarglijufur canyon, it really feels like being on the set of a science fiction movie
I didn’t like the Vatnajokull trek very much, a bit too touristy for my taste. Not that it is not worth doing anyway, but going back I think I would opt for something longer, or shorter (in terms of time) for the same amount of area tramped. Unfortunately, it is not possible to venture out independently, and in this case the philosophy of the Slovenian I met in Danakil applies.
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