The drive out here was heart-stopping in a variety of ways. After Egilsstadir we turned off onto route 93 and started climbing, at a 10 -12% grade up and over the mountain. The road twisted, turned, contorted itself into knots and was, as is standard here, liberally dotted with sheep. They most enjoy holding the crest of the road right smack into a hair-pin turn we find. All around us on the way to the “pass” (is it really a pass if you are at the summit?) were verdant fields of wildflowers, rocky outcrops, snow capped peaks and spectacular waterfalls. At the summit there were enormous lakes withlittle islands of un-melted pack ice from the winter. The sky was blue, rendering these pools unimaginably exquisite.
The road down into the town was more of the same breathtaking lovliness, but somehow even more so because of the glimpses you caught of the fjord. There are no pictures of all this unfortunately; the road was gorgeous, but the steepness of the grade, sharpness of the turns and general sheep-filledness of it all wouldn’t allow me to move a muscle.
Seydisfjordur itself was beyond charming. We wandered the whole town enjoying glorious views from every angle. The homes are Norwegian style (many from kits from Norway), painted in rich colors and nestled into the fresh green hillsides. Except for the church, which was a heavenly powder blue with snowy trim. It was completely Mayberry, Iceland.
Next morning we were up and out early for the huge drive to Skaftafell, the Southern Unit of Vatnajokull National Park. This drive was also magnificent. The drive up and over the mountain “pass” included the additional excitement of snow – yes, snow on June 30.
The drive featured other, more welcome excitements such as reindeer, a lagoon of other-worldy beauty filled with thousands of swans, and more general-purpose Icelandic coastal gorgeous. We also saw lots of volcanic gorgeous, including some lovely rhyolite mountains. Some of the mountain driving was extra thrilling as it was clear from the giant rubble piles and crushed avalanche barriers that rockslides are fairly common.
The road down into the town was more of the same breathtaking lovliness, but somehow even more so because of the glimpses you caught of the fjord. There are no pictures of all this unfortunately; the road was gorgeous, but the steepness of the grade, sharpness of the turns and general sheep-filledness of it all wouldn’t allow me to move a muscle.
Seydisfjordur itself was beyond charming. We wandered the whole town enjoying glorious views from every angle. The homes are Norwegian style (many from kits from Norway), painted in rich colors and nestled into the fresh green hillsides. Except for the church, which was a heavenly powder blue with snowy trim. It was completely Mayberry, Iceland. 
The drive featured other, more welcome excitements such as reindeer, a lagoon of other-worldy beauty filled with thousands of swans, and more general-purpose Icelandic coastal gorgeous. We also saw lots of volcanic gorgeous, including some lovely rhyolite mountains. Some of the mountain driving was extra thrilling as it was clear from the giant rubble piles and crushed avalanche barriers that rockslides are fairly common.
We stopped in Hofn, an exquisitely situated town at the tip of a fjord across from Vatnajokull. There are incredible views of at least three of the glaciers to be had from their harbor. We also discovered chocolate dipped kleina – which are perhaps the best thing ever. We had finished our first by the time we got to the car and immediately went back into the bakery to buy the rest.
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