Iceland (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Fran Parnell [202]
There are several comfy places to stay in the area. The modern guest house at Keldunes ( 465 2275; keldunes@isl.is; sb Ikr3000, s/d incl breakfast Ikr7900/13,900; ) has a great kitchen and TV lounge, a hot pot, varnished wooden floors, and large balconies for birdwatching. It’s about 12km west of Ásbyrgi. Nearby, Skúlagarður ( 465 2280; skulagardur@simnet.is; sb Ikr2500, s/d incl breakfast Ikr6500/9300), a former boarding school, has a slew of bright functional rooms; and Hóll ( 465 2270; hrunda@ismennt.is; sb/d Ikr2800/13,500), a mere 7.5km from Ásbyrgi, is a farmstead with four simple rooms. Horse riding is available for Ikr3500 per hour.
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JÖKULSÁRGLJÚFUR (VATNAJÖKULL NATIONAL PARK – NORTH)
In 2008 the Vatnajökull National Park – Europe’s largest protected reserve – was formed when Jökulsárgljúfur merged with Skaftafell to the south. The idea was to protect the Vatnajökull glacier and all of its glacial run-off under one super-sized preserve. The Jökulsárgljúfur portion protects a unique subglacial eruptive ridge and a 30km gorge carved out by the formidable Jökulsá á Fjöllum (Iceland’s second-longest river), which starts in the Vatnajökull ice cap and flows almost 200km to the Arctic Ocean at Öxarfjörður. Jökulhlaups (flooding from volcanic eruptions beneath the ice cap) formed the canyon and have carved out a chasm that averages 100m deep and 500m wide.
A wonderful two-day hike (see the boxed text) weaves along the canyon, taking in all of the major sights en route. If you’re not so keen on hiking, the big attractions, such as the waterfalls at the southern end of the park and horseshoe-shaped Ásbyrgi canyon at the northern end, are accessible by road in a leisurely day.
Orientation
Vatnajökull National Park’s northern section can be roughly divided into three parts. The region’s main information bureau is near the northern entry at Ásbyrgi, a verdant, forested plain enclosed by vertical canyon walls. Vesturdalur’s caves and fascinating geological anomalies make up Jökulsárgljúfur’s middle section. The mighty falls of Dettifoss anchor the park’s southern entrance.
Information
The main tourist information point for Vatnajökull National Park (North) is the new visitor centre at Gljúfrastofa–Ásbyrgi ( 470 7100; www.vatnajokulsthjodgardur.is; 9am-9pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat mid-Jun–mid-Aug, 10am-4pm May–mid-Jun & mid-Aug–Sep). The ranger station at Vesturdalur is open from 9am to 7pm. Recent budget cuts threaten to reduce opening hours in the near future. The park wardens have created several excellent maps of the region. The park map (Ikr350) is a useful 1:50,000 plan that ranks the local hikes by difficulty. The ubiquitous Útivist & afþreying maps are extremely handy as well – #3 zooms in on the Ásbyrgi–Dettifoss route.
Tours
Regular bus service to Ásbyrgi and Dettifoss makes it easy to tackle the canyon on your own. However, a tour can be a useful option if you’re in a hurry and don’t have private transport. Several companies offer tours of Jökulsárgljúfur from Mývatn, Akureyri (Click here) and Húsavík.
Sleeping & Eating
Camping inside the park boundaries is strictly limited to the official campsites at Ásbyrgi, Vesturdalur and Dettifoss. The campsite at Ásbyrgi (Ikr850 per person) has washing facilities including well-maintained showers that cost Ikr300 (six x Ikr50 coins) for five minutes of water. Coins are available at the information centre. Vesturdalur’s campsite (Ikr850 per person), near the helpful ranger station, has no electric power or hot water – well-kept toilets are the only luxury here. The free campsite at Detifoss only has two freshwater canisters; the limited water supply means that the grounds are strictly reserved for hikers doing the popular two-day hike.
Farmhouse accommodation is available in Kelduhverfi (Click here); otherwise,