Black Beach in South Iceland [Part 7]

After two days in the north of the country it was time to head down south, where the ring road reaches the Atlantic ocean again, and wonderful sights await. There are a lot of natural wonders in the south of Iceland. They would have been enough for a 10-day-trip alone! So we had to cram a lot of stuff into 2 days, which was a challenge. One of the most prominent and common sights along the coastline are black beaches. The first one that we came across was Stokksnes beach. In this post I will show you what we saw there.

This is only a part of our big travel series to Iceland

To view the other parts click here

Here is the drive through Iceland covered in this post:

Dusk on the Lagarfljót river

After our last day in the North of Iceland, we spent the night in Egilsstadir, which is located on the Lagarfljót river. I woke up before the rest of my friends on the morning of our road trip to take some pictures of the landscape in front of our apartment. A light fog bank was floating above the water. The colors and sights were out of this world. It goes without saying that it was freezing cold outside.

Driving South

There is one bit of warning at the point for the future drivers. If you take the Ring Road, Route 1, from Egilsstadir to Höfn, the paved road will without much warning turn into a gravel road full of holes. It becomes a bit scary, especially if you rented your car and didn't get insurance for those types of damages. The drive on the gravel road lasts for about 30 minutes and in the end you reach the sights down below.

A Coffee Break in Djúpivogur

Djúpivogur is a small town and municipality located on a peninsula in the Austurland in eastern Iceland, near the island of Papey and on the fjord Berufjörður. We stopped there after the exhausting drive on the gravel road to get some coffee in the Vid Voginn coffee house. The island of Papey is especially loved by bird watchers and regular tours from Djúpivogur will get you there.

Stokksnes

About 7km east of the turn-off to Höfn, just before the Ring Road enters a tunnel through the Almannaskarð pass, a signposted road heads south to Stokksnes. After 4.5km, in a wild setting under moodily Gothic Vestrahorn mountain, you’ll find a cool little outpost: the Viking Cafe, where coffee, waffles and cake are served.

One of the first settlements in Iceland were found in this area. Vestrahorn is a 454 meter high mountain overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and part of the headland of Stokksnes. The shore features stunning lava dunes, that are constantly being shaped by the natural forces of water and wind. The site is very popular among fellow photographers, because the scene changes constantly. The sun, fog, waves and those black dunes perform a truly dramatic view. Wet sand mirrors reflections of the mountainous range above, providing an enigmatic site.

Heading into the Viking Village Film Set

The farm-owner runs the cafe, and he charges visitors kr800 to explore his incredible property, including a photogenic Viking village film set and miles of black-sand beaches, where seals laze and the backdrop of Vestrahorn creates superb photos. Note that the film set (built in 2009 by Icelandic film director Baltasar Kormakúr) may finally see action soon, when Baltasar directs Vikings, a long-gestating film project he started writing more than a decade ago. The set will hopefully remain in place after its film duties are done.

After a fun day of road tripping it was time to get to our accommodation for the day. The next morning would ring in the last day of our road trip, as we would eventually arrive in Rejkjavik, where we spent two more days. It's not much longer until the big finale of the Iceland travel series.

End of Part Seven

To be continued...

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