Iceland: Eastfjords & a Magical Campground

After all the excitement of seeing the northern lights from our campground in Höfn, we slept well and took off on our long drive north. We had not decided on our next campground for that night, and we didn’t really have a plan for the day. We did go ahead and book an Airbnb for two nights in Akureyri starting the following night so we knew we’d only have one more night on the road before having access to a washer/dryer, real bathroom, bed, and kitchen.

When you travel north, you can elect to drive straight on the Ring Road, which is mostly in-land, or you can choose to drive up and down the Eastfjords along the ocean. We chose the Eastfjords so that we could take in more of the country and get a feel for each region. We were not in a hurry, and we let the day unfold as it would.

The drive consisted of gorgeous views from our camper van, a few stops to admire the scenery, and a short hike here and there. We traveled through Djúpivogur, Breiðdalsvík, Fáskrúðsfjörður, Reyðarfjörður, Seydisfjordur, and Egilsstaðir. These are all very small towns nestled along the ocean.

A lot of travel stories about Iceland feature the southern part of the country where all the tourist sights are packed closer together and tourist buses shuttle in and out of Reykjavík. As you drive north, you unravel from the hustle and bustle of the south and get a glimpse of everyday life. The largest concentration of Iceland’s population lives in Reykjavík. The convenience of a larger city and all its amenities appeals to residents, especially when winter sets in and travel between cities becomes much more difficult.

The sleepy small towns of the Eastfjords each have their own personality. Most of them are small fishing villages, and they do not take long to visit and walk through. Getting to them takes some time, but the views are well worth it.

We parked our camper van in Reyðarfjörður, opened the door, and ate lunch by the sea. It is one of the larger villages with a population of 1,300 to 1,400. The blue sky almost perfectly matched the blue water. We had some of the best weather for our trip!

Our longest drive between villages occurred between Reyðarfjörður and Seydisfjordur. We had gorgeous bright blue skies for most of our drive, but as we climbed the mountain going toward Seydisfjordur a light rain settled upon us. It did not sprinkle for long. The lunar landscape of this road surpassed anything we had seen so far. We even wondered if we were going in the right direction! The rock structures surrounded us, and since we were in the camper van, I failed to take pictures! I’m kicking myself about that one!

During that portion of the drive, Graham started getting a migraine so once we reached Seydisfjordur, he took his migraine medication. With the barometric pressure changes and altitude changes along with running and going and eating and sleeping differently, he was bound to get a headache at some point. We elected to take a short hike to a waterfall in Seydisfjordur and continue our journey north.

We still had not chosen our campground destination. We planned to stop in Egilsstaðir and regroup. Egilsstaðir is the big city of the Eastfjords with a population between 2,000 and 2,500. Fortunately for us, after we fueled up in Egilsstaðir, we discovered a cute diner called Skalinn Diner. While writing this post, I discovered that it is permanently closed! What a heartbreaker! That place was tasty! We both picked more typical ice cream flavors and loved every bite. We watched teenagers congregating at the diner after school, and except for their attire, it could have been a scene out of the 1950s.

After looking at the campsite options on our Happy Campers map, I suggested that we try Möðrudalur, Iceland’s highest-altitude working farm that features campsites, a restaurant, a church, and guest houses, including turf homes. Guests can hike their trails, visit with their animals, and meet for tours to the Askja volcano and other sights in the area.

We didn’t know it then, but we were missing Studlagil Canyon outside of Egilsstaðir. Between the long drive and Graham’s headache, I doubt either one of us would have been up for it. We had been pushing hard since we arrived, and we were eager to reach our campsite and enjoy the evening. If we return to Iceland, we’ll definitely try to see Studlagil Canyon.

Along the Ring Road before our turn for Möðrudalur, we saw a beautiful waterfall, several sheep, and a small parking lot. In the spirit of adventure, we pulled over to check out the scene. It might be hard to believe, but you actually get numb to so many waterfalls, but the sheep sweetened the deal!

The road to Möðrudalur was ROUGH. A gravel road with lots of potholes worn smooth in areas but mostly one pothole after another. The entire camper van rocked and shuddered. We could hear our stuff in the back rattling and rolling. I wondered several times if we should even have the camper van on that road. We were not allowed to take it on F-Roads that require 4×4 vehicles, but I never imagined a gravel road could be so rough. I almost begged for us to turn back, but I was curious about this strange campground in the middle of nowhere.

As we drove into the campground, I could not believe my eyes. Were we in Middle Earth? Was this the Shire? That beaten-up road led to a place straight out of a fantasy book! Once again, Iceland showed us her wonders, and we were amazed!

We checked in at the main building where the restaurant is located. They told us that we could pay to eat a buffet breakfast the next morning. What an amazing perk! We walked through the grounds. With the little church, it felt like its own tiny village. We noticed a big truck with Montana license plates and an onX Offroad wrap and wondered what that was. A dog and goat ran around the parking lot greeting visitors. We selected a campsite looking out across a field and within a decent walk to the bathrooms and showers. The showers accepted coins for allotted amounts of time, and we took showers before getting ready for dinner. We wanted a restaurant meal for sure!

Fjallakaffi, the restaurant/cafe at Möðrudalur, features local dishes such as lamb soup, moss soup, lamb chops/fillet/etc, and arctic char in a cozy atmosphere. If you are lucky like we were, they’ll have reindeer hunted in the wild by the owner. It is illegal to farm reindeer in Iceland so any reindeer on a menu are wild. I knew that other countries were having issues with reindeer herds contracting wasting disease which is caused by prions (similar to bovine spongiform encephalopathy/BSE/”mad cow” which is called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans). I did a quick search on Google and determined that the illness had not been identified in Icelandic reindeer. Graham ordered the reindeer. I ordered the arctic char, and I also got the moss soup. The moss soup consists of lichen in sweetened milk. It almost tasted like dessert! While I found the arctic char to be good, I envied Graham’s reindeer steak. As we usually do, we shared bites of each other’s meals. We didn’t know it then, but that tender, flavorful reindeer steak would go down as the best thing we would eat in Iceland and the best steak of any kind we’ve ever had.

The onX Offroad crew sat at a long table behind us. They brought with them camera equipment and so much excitement. We didn’t know if they were filming a documentary or what, but we later discovered that they make an application for offroading on trails for dirt bikes, ATVs, etc. We think they were either coming from or going to Askja. For a moment, I regretted booking our Airbnb in Akureyri in advance as we could have arranged for a tour of Askja ourselves, but I reminded myself that we cannot see everything in two weeks.

After dinner, we wandered around the grounds and marveled at how cute and cozy everything looked. Although hygge is a Danish term, all Scandinavian countries nail the concept of coziness. They are known for it. We took pictures under the bright moon and hoped for another opportunity to see the northern lights. We had gorgeous unobstructed sky all around us.

Of course, when I got up in the middle of the night, we were encased in thick fog with temperatures hovering around 30-degrees. It was my first time seeing frost in Iceland. We did not have a chance of seeing the northern lights. I could tell the short September autumn would soon be giving way to winter.

The next morning we packed up our things and headed back to the restaurant for the breakfast buffet. We got to sample all sorts pastries, eggs, bacon, sausage, cheeses, fruits, veggies, and more. Everybody talked to each other, and you could hear people mapping out their days. We saw the onX Offroad vehicle again and wondered what adventures they would be enjoying.

After we ate, we walked around the grounds one last time. This time we got some photos in daylight.

Möðrudalur provided us with a night of magic and hygge after a long drive. We would have loved to have stayed, but we wanted to hit some more sights, including Mývatn Nature Baths, Grjotagja Cave (featured in Game of Thrones!), and yes, some more waterfalls.