East Fjords: The Road Less Travelled

The East Fjords is Iceland's most undervisited region and, for many repeat Iceland travellers, their favourite. The Ring Road in the east winds through a succession of deep fjords, crossing mountain passes and descending through valleys that have changed little since the first settlers arrived. There are no crowds at the major viewpoints because the East Fjords has no single must-see attraction that appears on every itinerary. What it has instead is accumulative: the quality of light on the fjord water, the reindeer visible from the road in autumn, the rainbow streets of Seydisfjordur, and a genuine feeling of arriving somewhere that tourists have not yet processed into a commodity.

Seydisfjordur

Seydisfjordur is the East Fjords' most visited and most distinctive town — a 19th-century Norwegian fishing and trading settlement at the head of a long fjord, accessible via Iceland's most dramatic mountain pass road (the 13km Fjardarheidi pass over 600 metres). The town is known for its rainbow street (Regnbogagatan) leading to the blue church, its arts and music community concentrated around the LungA art academy, and the ferry terminal — the Norröna ferry connects Seydisfjordur to the Faroe Islands and Denmark, making it Iceland's most cinematic arrival point for those who prefer to travel by sea.

Hofn

Hofn is the main service town of the southeastern coast, 80km west of the East Fjords proper on the Ring Road. The town's langoustine (hummar) fishing industry is internationally known — the Humarhöfnin restaurant and the annual Lobster Festival in June make Hofn a food destination in its own right. Hofn also provides the best affordable accommodation base for Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon (80km west).

Petra's Stone Collection

At Stöðvarfjörður, midway along the East Fjords coast, Petra Sveinsdottir spent 66 years collecting minerals, rocks and crystals from the surrounding mountains. The collection — now a museum in and around her house — is one of Iceland's most idiosyncratic and extraordinary attractions: rooms, garden walls, and outdoor terraces completely covered in zeolites, agates, jasper and hundreds of other minerals in quantities that approach the surreal.

Driving the East Fjords

The Ring Road through the East Fjords is one of Iceland's most demanding driving sections — not because of road quality, but because of the constant temptation to stop. Every bend around a fjord head reveals a new mountain reflection in the water; every pass provides a panoramic view of the fjord system below. Allow significantly more time than the distance calculation suggests: the 200km from Hofn to Egilsstaðir takes 4 to 5 hours with the stops that the landscape demands. The driving is primarily on paved road with occasional gravel sections on the shorter fjord-head detours. In winter, several mountain passes on the route are susceptible to closure — check road.is and allow flexibility in the east fjords section of any winter Ring Road plan.

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