15 Best Things to do in the East Fjords of Iceland

Gorgeous waterfalls, fairytale towns, crazy landscapes, and a misty atmosphere: Welcome to the East Fjords of Iceland! The East Fjords is one of those fantastic places you end up staying longer than intended. Spend your days spotting hidden caves, relaxing in thermal baths, or discovering places out of the beaten track. Discover the best things to do in the East Fjords of Iceland!

Things to do in the East Fjords of Iceland

There are lots of things to do in the East Fjords of Iceland. In fact, I stayed there for 2 weeks in a volunteering camp and it turned out to be one of my favorite places in Iceland.

1. Detifoss’s secret viewpoint

Detifoss is a must for every Iceland itinerary, nevertheless, few people make it to the other side. If you have an all-clearance car, I highly recommend you take this bumpy road to this alternative viewpoint. Here you’ll find a black beach and a more secluded viewpoint of Detifoss’ waterfall. We had the place all for ourselves and it was worth it to escape the crowds.

2. Visiting Eskifjordur town

Eskifjordur was probably the nicest town I’ve ever seen.  Maybe because I lived there for 2 weeks during my volunteering job, but the town really has lots of hidden gems and a real local vibe. I recommend you walk around, speak with locals and try to spot a fox that lives in the town.

3. Search for natural rocks in Viti Crater

Viti crater is not a hidden treasure, lots of people already know about the place. Nevertheless, they may not know that it stores amazingly beautiful gems. Just walk around and try to find one to admire the beauty of the minerals.

4. Myvatn Natural Baths at night

Myvatn Natural Baths (also called Green Lagoon) is not out of the common Iceland itinerary. Nevertheless, we loved to get there at sunset and stay until closure. Staying there at night was magic and we had the place all to ourselves!

5. Drive the loneliest roads in Iceland

The road to Eskifjordur is one of the loneliest roads in Eskifjordur, and we found out that is also a very photogenic one. We loved that feeling of meditating in the middle of nowhere! Don’t you feel like this Icelandic landscape looks like we’re on the moon?

6. Discover the hot shower in Krafla Volcano

Going to Krafla volcano, you’ll spot a crazy hot shower in the middle of nowhere. It deserves a quick stop. If you’re camping, it could be also a cool place to camp with a hot shower for free!

7. Egilsstadir enchanted lake

Another cool thing to do in the East Fjords is to spend the day surrounding the whole Egilsstadir lake. Be careful though, as locals told us that we were crazy going into the forest surrounding the lake, as there’s a monster inhabiting those lands. In fact, we visited the lake by hitch-hikong, and everyone we met around the journey told us they truly believe in this story and they would never let their children approach this lake alone. In the forest, we found this little shelter that could work for a night out (well, if you’re not too afraid of).

8. Hengifoss Red Waterfall

Hengifoss is one of the highest waterfall in Iceland about 128 meters high. The waterfall falls down a high canyon that is decorated with red stripes in the cliffs, those stripes are actually red layers of clay between the basaltic layers. I must say that the rocks are not that red, but it’s a cool hike!

9. Secret cave near Eskifjordur

Discover an old mine called Helgustaðanáma. If you adventure yourself within the cave, you’ll find spar beautiful rocks and a hidden little waterfall.

10. Little forest oasis near Myvatn

Between all these volcanos, this little forest truly seems out of a fairy tale.

11. Go hitch-hiking

We loved visiting the area hitch-hiking! Locals are really nice and Iceland is super safe. It’s also a great option to visit Iceland on a budget.

12. Spot foxes and whales

There’s a little fox in Eskifjordur, will you find it? Some of my colleagues also saw whales and dolphins just sitting in the living room!

13. Hiking Eskifjordur’s mountain

This mountain is amazing and really worth to visit if you like hiking.

14. Visit the haunted old school of Eskifjordur

The house was the old school of the town so it was old enough to need some renovation. That’s why some of us started to give a new face to this place! Nevertheless, locals told us a story about a ghost inhabiting the house, it’s said that a worker died time ago while working in the school, and that it was the reason it’s not a school anymore.

15. Volunteering in Eskifjordur

After my trip with the caravan around Iceland, I stayed in a work camp in Eskifjordur, in the east fjords of Iceland. Some years ago, Iceland was about to lose a large part of its fertile ground because of volcanic erosion. That’s why they imported strong plants from Alaska. Some of them started to grow insatiably and now there’s an invasion of these plants not only in the volcano areas but also on the coast, destroying local flora.

Iceland has just 300.000 habitants, that’s why volunteers from around the world are powering this kind of volunteering, in order to preserve the authenticity of the Icelandic landscape. The house was pretty big to provide accommodation to 20 or 25 volunteers. People from around the world living together is probably the main thing for makes this experience truly worthwhile.

Different cultures, different ways to see the world, different ways of living, of eating, and different ways of thinking. Some Banksy influence in our English friend!

One day, a polish guy we met lent us his car, so we used it to go to the Myvatn lake. Those are some of my nicest photos, not only for the moments they capture but also for the smiles and glances on their faces.

Did you like the post? Pin it and share it with others!