Driving Through the Eastfjords of Iceland

Driving Through the Eastfjords of Iceland

The Ring Road between Höfn and Lake Mývatn is 420 kilometres, a drive that most travellers hammer out in a single exhausted day. That is a mistake. The Eastfjords are not a transit corridor. They are a serrated coastline of fjords, reindeer herds, and near zero crowds, and the version you get from a windscreen at 90 kilometres an hour is worthless. The coastal Route 1 from Höfn to Egilsstaðir takes 3 hours 30 minutes to 4 hours in dry summer conditions, no tunnels, no drama. But the stops that break that drive into a meaningful Eastfjords experience are not on the main road. You have to leave Route 1.

Start With The Vestrahorn Mirror

Here is the sequence from Höfn north: the Vestrahorn reflection at sunrise, a decision at the Stuðlagil Canyon turnoff, the gravel climb to Borgarfjörður Eystri for the mainland's most accessible puffin colony, and Seyðisfjörður's rainbow road as a mandatory overnight.

Start in Höfn. Do not leave at 10:00. Leave at 06:30 and drive the 20 minutes west to Vestrahorn. The entry fee is paid at the Viking Café. The reason for the early start: the black sand beach in front of the mountain becomes a mirror at low light, and by 09:00 the wind picks up and the reflection vanishes. The mountain itself is a sawtooth ridge of gabbro, and it photographs best when the sun hits it from the east. Spend 45 minutes here. Then drive back through Höfn and head north on Route 1.

The Stuðlagil Canyon Decision

At the bridge over Jökulsá á Dal you face the Stuðlagil Canyon decision. The canyon is a basalt column gorge on the east side of the river. There are two access options. The east side hike: park at the farm Klaustursel and walk 3 kilometres to the viewpoint. This gives you the classic angle with the turquoise water. The west side viewing platform: park at the marked lot off the side road and walk a short distance. This is shorter, easier, and less crowded, but you look at the columns from across the river. Take the east side if you have 90 minutes and reasonable fitness. Skip it entirely if rain has made the trail muddy; the path is unmarked and a slip on wet basalt sends you into the river.

North of Stuðlagil you reach the intersection with Route 94. This is where most drivers stay on Route 1 and miss the point.

Borgarfjörður Eystri and the Puffins

Turn left onto Route 94 and drive 70 kilometres to Borgarfjörður Eystri. The road climbs over the Vatnsskarð mountain pass at 450 metres. It is paved until the pass and gravel on the descent. Drive time round trip from the Route 1 turnoff is 1 hour 40 minutes. That is the single best time investment you can make in East Iceland. The payoff is Hafnarhólmi, a small harbour where roughly 10,000 puffin pairs nest from mid April to mid August. The birds sit on the grass in the open, not on cliff faces 200 metres away. You walk right past them on the path. Arrive before 11:00 or after 17:00 when the tour boats are gone and the birds are on the grass instead of at sea. Bring a telephoto lens but you will not need it; a phone camera at 2x zoom works.

Borgarfjörður Eystri also holds Stórurð, a boulder field of giant rounded stones scattered like marbles across a plateau. The hike starts from the village and takes 3 to 4 hours return. It is a genuine effort. Skip it if your itinerary is tight. The puffins are the reason to come here, not the rocks.

Seyðisfjörður the Rainbow Road and the Overnight

Back on Route 1, continue to Egilsstaðir. Do not stop. Egilsstaðir has 2,632 people, a Bónus supermarket, fuel stations, and a regional hospital. It is a functional resupply town, not a destination. Fill your tank, buy food for dinner, and drive the 27 kilometres east on Route 93 to Seyðisfjörður.

Cross The Pass To The Rainbow

Route 93 crosses a mountain pass at 600 metres. In summer it is a smooth paved road with switchbacks on the descent. The reward is Seyðisfjarðarkirkja, a pale blue church at the end of Austurvegur, the street painted in rainbow colours. The rainbow is community maintained and repainted every summer. It runs the full length of the street uphill toward the church. Photograph it in late evening when low sun lights the colours.

Sleep In The Fjord

Seyðisfjörður is the correct place to spend the night. The ferry port connects to the Smyril Line to Denmark and the Faroe Islands, so the town has proper infrastructure: hotels, guesthouses, a campsite, a swimming pool, and restaurants that stay open past 20:00. The fjord is narrow and steep walled. Weather changes fast. A clear evening can become fog by midnight. Walk the harbour after dinner. You will hear the water lapping against docked boats and nothing else.

Reindeer Sightings as a Genuine Probability

Reindeer in Iceland are not a myth. They are real, they are only in the east, and their population sits at roughly 7,000 animals. You will see them on the mountain slopes above Route 1 between Höfn and Egilsstaðir, especially around the Almannaskarð pass and the flanks of the Snæfell massif. They are most visible in late afternoon when they descend to graze near the road. Drive slowly through sections where the road runs through valley floors. Do not stop in the middle of the lane. Pull completely off onto gravel if you want to photograph them. A reindeer at 200 metres with a 200mm lens gives a better picture than a blur at 50 metres taken through a car window.

Why You Need More Than One Morning Here

The typical 7-day Ring Road itinerary allocates one afternoon and one morning to East Iceland. That is barely enough to drive the coastal Route 1, sleep in Egilsstaðir, and leave. Redesign your itinerary. Give this region a full day plus two nights. Arrive from Höfn in the early afternoon. Visit Stuðlagil on arrival. Sleep in Seyðisfjörður. The next morning drive to Borgarfjörður Eystri for the puffins. Return to Egilsstaðir for a late lunch and fuel, then head north toward Mývatn in the late afternoon. That schedule costs you nothing in total but it transforms the experience from a blur of asphalt into a sequence of deliberate stops.

The Honest Caveat

The Eastfjords are not for everyone. If you need a structured itinerary with indoor attractions, if you dislike driving on gravel, if you want a restaurant open past 21:00, if you find 4 hours of daylight in December oppressive, this region will frustrate you. The weather on the mountain passes changes without warning. A sunny morning on Route 93 can become a whiteout at the summit by midday. The roads are quiet because most travellers skip them. That is the point. You come here to be alone with the reindeer and the fjords and the wind, not because someone promised you a checkbox holiday. If that sounds good, slow down. Take the detours. Stay the night.