Our Ring Road Trip to East Iceland continues with another sunny day. Unfortunately, since the long-distance traveled and the number of places we visited during Day 2, we didn’t have time to see a couple of places. However, since our accommodation for Day 2 was close to these missed places, we decided to start Day 3 by visiting them after early morning breakfast.

Day 3 itinerary:

1. (09:00) Diamond Beach
2. (09:45) Jökulsárlón
3. (15:00) Egilsstaðir
4. (17:00) Hengifoss
5. (20:30) Accommodation: Litlabjarg Guesthouse

In this itinerary, we skipped some places because we didn’t have time. But if you have more time, you can visit Gufufoss, Seyðisfjörður, Stuðlagil Canyon, and Vök Baths.

*All the prices shown in this post are from August 2020.

Diamond Beach

• Free parking.
• WC at Jökulsárlón.
• Food is available at Jökulsárlón.
• Time spend there: 30-45 minutes.

Diamond Beach is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland, and for excellent reasons.

The name derives from a large number of icebergs of various sizes that are scattered on the beach. The black sand (of volcanic origin) helps to accentuate the contrast with the ice blocks. On the shore, the ice blocks come from the icebergs of the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon.

This spot is perfect for photographers and nature lovers. So, don’t forget your camera! It is frequent to see seals from the shore since the beach it’s their home.

If you are lucky during winter, it’s possible to see the northern lights from the beach. The forecast can be checked at vedur.is, or you could ask at your accommodation.

Jökulsárlón

• Free parking.
• WC.
• Food available: Jökulsárlón Café.
• Time spend there: 1 hour (2 hours if you go for one of the tours).

Jökulsárlón is an enormous lagoon filled with giant ice blocks that have broken free from Breiðamerkurjökull glacier. With the floating icebergs, this place is a magnificent scenario to take pictures. Because of its beauty, this lagoon is one of the most famed and visited attractions in Iceland.

If you like, you can take a boat tour (for adults 5900 ISK/40 EUR/46 USD*) on the lagoon and sail among the massive icebergs!

Egilsstaðir

• Free parking.
• WC.
• Food is available.
• Time spend there: 1-2 hours.

Around 4 hours drive from Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, you can find Egilsstaðir, the largest town in East Iceland and the main center for service, transportation, and administration. It is, therefore, an ideal place to refresh and rest for those who are traveling around Ring Road. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to walk the town, but we stopped in Egilsstaðir to stretch our legs, fill the car tank, and have lunch at Skálinn Diner. In fact, this was the only restaurant we had planned to stop and eat in.

You can found more information about Egilsstaðir at this link.

They are two main routes to reach Egilsstaðir. The shortest one requires a 4x4W car and can be a bit challenging for new drivers.

Hengifoss

• Free parking.
• WC.
• Not food available.
• Time spend there: 2.5-3.5 hours.

Hengifoss is one of the most known landmarks in East Iceland. It is a beautiful waterfall with a high of 128.5 meters. 

The hike to Hengifoss starts from the parking lot, where you enter directly into the trail. The walk is a gradual climb uphill, approximately 2.5 km long (each way) and about one hour (if you are well-trained). Because it is a bit difficult some benches have been put up to rest and enjoy the view.

After about 1.2 km along the trail, you will reach Litlanesfoss waterfall. Unfortunately, Litlanesfoss is not visible from the road like Hengifoss is.

From Egilsstaðir town, two roads lead to the parking lot (approximately 35 km long on both). We took route 931 towards Hallormsstaður Forest. Continuing in the same direction, after crossing the bridge, the parking lot for Hengifoss will be on your left by the T-junction.

At Hengifoss, we were surprised when we saw a small box with a notebook and a pen inside. We wrote that we were there and left our mark inside that notebook.

Some of the links on this post contains affiliate links. If you click through and purchase something we may receive payment. Although all these recommendations are based on our personal experience.

For the night, we chose a guesthouse not so far from the Hengifoss waterfall (one hour driving). This accommodation is located at Hrafnabjorg, and includes:

• Parking included.
• Shared: kitchen, tables, chairs, bar, refrigerator, microwave, heat boiler, freezer and dishwasher.
• Shared garden and BBQ facilities.
• Free wifi connection.
• Two shared showers and bathrooms.
• Our experience: We paid 79 euros for a room for 4 people, which we found comfortable and with everything we needed for the night. We also had a private terrace (in the picture below, the one on the right). The guest house has 5 rooms, and all of them were full that night, but this wasn’t a problem for us. We didn’t feel cramped at all there.