Remember the icy climax of Die Another Day? James Bond speeds across a frozen lagoon filled with icebergs, fighting off the baddies and saving the world. Welcome to Jökulsárlón, Iceland. A real-life glacial lagoon. You can reach it in about 5 hours from Reykjavik.
I was sold on Jökulsárlón even before hearing about the volcanoes, glaciers and waterfalls on the way!Words couldn’t possibly do Iceland’s south coast justice, so instead here are some pictures…
I was sold on Jökulsárlón even before hearing about the volcanoes, glaciers and waterfalls on the way!Words couldn’t possibly do Iceland’s south coast justice, so instead here are some pictures…
 |
| Setting out: my brother Michael and I just outside Reykjavik. |
 |
| The ring road is like this the entire way around the South Coast. It’s like driving through Middle Earth. |
 |
| Eyjafjallajökull – the volcano that cause continental mayhem a few years back by erupting. |
 |
| Seljalandsfoss – water tumbling 60m over what used to be the Icelandic coastline. |
 |
| Just 20 minutes up the road, the spray of Skógafoss creates a rainbow in the midday sun. |
 |
| A glacier snaking down from Vatnajökull, the largest icecap in Europe. |
 |
| First glimpse of Jökulsárlón Glacial Lagoon. |
 |
| The icebergs of Jökulsárlón. The ice is 1,000 years old (and tastes delicious). |
 |
| 50 shades of blue. |
 |
| We feasted on Arctic char after leaving Jökulsárlón. In the morning we awoke to this glorious sunrise, which took over an hour because of the angle of the Autumn sun. |
 |
| Sunrise turns the icecaps pink (as seen from our hotel window). |
 |
| We returned to Jökulsárlón at about 8am, to discover over a dozen seals playing in the lagoon. |
 |
| One last goodbye to Jökulsárlón – one of the most indescribable and memorable places I’ve ever been. |
 |
| The weather packed in on the drive home, but we didn’t care. We still stopped to see these traditional Icelandic huts on the way. |
Nice scenery. At first, when I saw the first photo and didn’t see the text I though it was the Antarctic. Didn’t know Iceland is some beautiful. I’ll go to Jökulsárlón one day, but unfortunately I didn’t see this James Bond movie ;-(
Thanks, I’m so glad you liked it! I felt like we were in Antarctica a lot of the time. It was truly mindblowing!