Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

Jökulsárlón

Southeast

Icebergs calved from Breiðamerkurjökull — an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull — drift through Jökulsárlón before passing to the sea through a short channel beside Route 1. The lagoon formed around 1934 as the glacier retreated and has grown roughly fourfold since the 1970s; it now covers about 25 square kilometres and reaches 284 metres at its deepest point, making it Iceland's deepest lake. The bergs show blue-white and ash-black (from volcanic layers in the ice), and seals are year-round residents, often draped over floating ice. Boat tours — amphibious vehicles or smaller zodiacs — run in summer among the bergs. Across the road, Diamond Beach is a short walk where wave-tumbled ice catches the light on black sand. The lagoon appeared in two James Bond films and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Free to visit from the shore, open at any hour. Morning and evening light is better and the crowds thinner. It's roughly five hours from Reykjavík; most Ring Road drivers stop here.

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