Time to hit the road and keep exploring Iceland! We leave the Þakgil campsite in the morning and head east on the famous Ring Road. There are tons of amazing sights along the way, but we barely stop. First, it's raining almost nonstop. Second, we're aiming to reach the town of Egilsstaðir by evening, which is nearly a six-hour drive away.
Whenever the rain lets up, we look for a nice spot to take a short break. The first chance comes as we drive through vast lava fields covered in soft, fluffy moss. We find a parking area and a short walking trail winding through the mossy landscape.
Moss is all around me
Moss is one of the most distinctive features of the Icelandic landscape. There are many different types - covering stream banks, rocks, and mountain slopes. They blanket vast lava fields with a soft, velvety carpet.
The bright green moss appearing by the streams is one of the first signs of spring in Iceland (or rather summer, since we practically have only two seasons here). The photo above was taken in early May 2024.
Here, where we’ve stopped, we’re surrounded by cushion moss. The name fits perfectly - up close, it looks like thick, soft cushions.
It’s so tempting to hug it or at least give it a gentle touch. But even though moss is tough enough to survive Iceland’s harsh weather, it’s incredibly fragile. Walking on it or sitting down can easily destroy it, and it can take hundreds of years to grow back. Unfortunately, many tourists ignore designated paths and warning signs, trampling this beautiful, untouched nature just for a few photos.
It starts raining again, so we hop back in the car and keep going. Up ahead awaits Iceland’s largest glacier - Vatnajökull. It’s more than ten times bigger than the one covering the Katla volcano.
This area offers breathtaking views, and choosing just a few places to see would be nearly impossible. With attractions like glacier trekking and exploring ice caves, even a few days wouldn’t be enough - let alone just a few hours. That’s why we deliberately didn’t plan to explore this region, knowing we wouldn’t have enough time. But I believe there will be another chance.
Still, we stopped by Jökulsárlón Lake to take a short walk and stretch our legs.
Jökulsárlón and Diamond Beach in the rain
There are tons of dreamy photos and videos of this place online, but Iceland can be tough when it comes to weather. Even the most beautiful landscapes can lose some of their charm on days like that. You can’t really tell from the photos, but it was raining nonstop. Still, Iceland’s weather rarely gets me down - I just love it the way it is.
Jökulsárlón is a glacial lake where icebergs float on the water. On a clear day, you can also admire the glacier itself, but not that day.
The icebergs flow through a narrow channel from the lake to the ocean, where they are broken up by the waves into smaller pieces.
The ice fragments are then washed up onto the black sand, creating a scene that looks like a black satin box filled with diamonds. Hence the name - Diamond Beach. That day, there were only a few small ice chunks, so the effect was far from the dramatic shots you see in travel bloggers' photos. I wasn’t disappointed, though, because I’d seen the beach in its better version before ;) But again, it all comes down to how unrealistic expectations can often be the main source of disappointment.
After this short walk, we returned to the car, a bit soaked and frozen.
Never boring
The next few hours of driving east passed through a somewhat monotonous, rainy landscape, but it was far from boring.
We discovered a glimpse of modern art in a post-volcanic wasteland.
We peeked into the completely fogged-up entrance of the Múlagljúfur canyon.
For several minutes, we watched numerous flocks of mute swans resting along the ocean shore.
Finally, somewhat recklessly, we took a shortcut through the mountains, choosing the scenic yet challenging route no. 939. It was worth it! All the way I mentally noted down more places I’d love to spend more time exploring in the future.
In the evening, we happily arrived in Egilsstaðir. However, we didn’t stay at the campsite in the city center - it seemed too crowded and noisy to me. So, we drove to a campsite about 20 km away by a lake. We liked it so much that we ended up staying for two nights.
The next day was beautiful and made up for our rainy journey, but that’s a story for another time!
