Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Skaftafell. The departure point for the Ingólfshöfði tour is just west of the agency (sign-
posted), 2km off the Ring Road.
Confirm tour times via the website, where you can also book tickets (prebooking recom-
mended).
Breiðamerkursandur
The easternmost part of the large sandar, Breiðamerkursandur is one of the main breeding
grounds for Iceland's great skuas. Thanks to rising numbers of these ground-nesting birds,
there's also a growing population of Arctic foxes. Historically, Breiðamerkursandur also
figures in
Njál's Saga,
which ends with Kári Sölmundarson arriving in this idyllic spot to
'live happily ever after' - which has to be some kind of miracle in a saga.
The sandur is backed by a sweeping panorama of glacier-capped mountains, some of
which are fronted by deep lagoons.
Kvíárjökull glacier
snakes down to the Kvíá river and
is easily accessible from the Ring Road - look for the sign for Kvíármýrarkambur just
west of the bridge over the river. Leave your car in the small car park and follow the path
into the scenic valley.
The 742m-high
Breiðamerkurfjall
was once a nunatak enclosed by Breiðamerkurjökull
and Fjallsjökull, but the glaciers have since retreated and freed it.
A small sign off the Ring Road indicates Fjallsárlón, and gives access to two glacial la-
goons with a diminutive river flowing between them. Take the left fork for
Fjallsárlón
,
where icebergs calve from Fjallsjökull, or right for a lengthier track to
Breiðárlón
, another
outlet of Breiðamerkurjökull (also the source of Jökulsárlón). The road to Breiðárlón is
very rough going.
Fjallsárlón Glacial Lagoon Boat Tours
BOAT TOUR
( 666 8006;
www.fjallsarlon.is
;adult/child Ikr5500/3000; 10am-5pm mid-May-mid-Sep)
It's a bumpy kilometre from the Ring Road to the parking area for Fjallsárlón - and it's
here that a new company has set up, offering 45-minute zodiac boat trips among these la-
goon icebergs (as an alternative to the cruises at busy Jökulsárlón, 10km further east and
directly on the Ring Road).
Fjallsárlón is neither as large nor as dramatic as Jökulsárlón, but it is more isolated and
therefore considerably less crowded, which has its own appeal. The walking trail to the
boat's departure point at the lagoon shore is more intrepid. And there is also an intimacy to
