Southern Iceland Glaciers

We stayed one night in Höfn, known for its langoustines, proximity to Vatnajökull National Park, and stunning views of Europe’s largest glacier.

Höfn — actually the town seemed like a thriving metropolis after all the tiny seaside towns we’d been going through. I had a very expensive dish of langoustines and we met a Chicago couple at the next table

This was the view from town out to the sea and of course in don’t have photos of the town

The most famous glacier lagoons are part of the Vatnajökull ice cap. We visited three glacier areas, each better than the last.

First we stopped at Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, which is the most famous though was my least favorite. Maybe we weren’t there at the best time. Though we did see seals!

Famously the ice looks blue at certain times of day which makes it cooler

There were a lot of seals but I could never get a good photo. His little head is on the center of this photo but really hard to see

“Diamond beach” though we didn’to have the good luck to see a lot of ice on the black sand beach

The next day we headed to Fjallsárlón lagoon (“lon” is actually Icelandic for lagoon so I guess I’m being repetitive). It’s smaller but we saw more icebergs from closer up and the parking was even free!! (Oh I haven’t talked about that but the parking was like $10 everywhere no matter how long you stayed).

I swear that looks like a heart carved into the mountainside but I guess it’s a total coincidence

Some kind of rescue training was going on (there were two people in red wetsuits practicing something?)

Yes it was windy again though we’re both getting tan (perhaps starting in the very sunny Scotland)

Fjallsárlón had great and easy areas to walk around to get close to the ice

Cute to have a picnic table in there but I’m not sure what the caging is for unless they put up a canvas in severe weather

Finally we stopped at Svínafellsjökull, an outlet glacier known for its dramatic ice formations, accessibility, and use as a filming location for Interstellar, Batman Begins, and Game of Thrones. Of course one isn’t supposed to walk on the ice without a guide but everyone was so we went on a bit. Luca went further as I started freaking out about waking on pure ice.