Often squeezed into an overnight stop on a self-drive tour of Iceland's Ring Road, the East makes a superb short break destination in its own right. With five days to lavish on the little-visited Austurland region, you can not only dawdle through the breathtaking East Fjords, but also spend time hiking in the mountains of Borgarfjörður Eystri and exploring the waterfalls, canyons and dormant volcanoes of the island's rugged interior.
East Iceland's main hub, the modern town of Egilsstaðir lies in a broad valley near the northern tip of Lagarfljót. Rumours of a serpent-like monster, known as the Wyrm, have been floating around this glacial lake since 1345, but the 740-hectare birchwood of Hallormsstaðaskógur seems just as fanciful as you drive along the lake's southern shore.
While forests are a rarity in Iceland, waterfalls appear around every corner. One of the country's tallest, 128m Hengifoss plunges over humbug striped cliffs of black basalt and red clay at the threshold of the Highlands. Delve deeper into the interior and you'll discover more cascades at Laugarfell, as well as hot springs and the 1,833m trekking peak of Snæfell, King of the Mountains. A short distance from the new hydroelectric dam at Kárahnjúkar, the Jökla River has gouged out the 200m-deep, 8km-long Hafrahvammagljúfur canyon. When the dam was commissioned, river levels dropped, revealing extraordinary basalt columns in Stuðlagil canyon, further downstream.
Esta historia es de la edición November/December 2021 de Wanderlust Travel Magazine.
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Esta historia es de la edición November/December 2021 de Wanderlust Travel Magazine.
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Vermont, USA
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From historic ski lodges to rustic backcountry cabins and a mock-Scottish castle, we pick the stays in Canada's Rocky Mountains that make the most of their setting
A new dawn for the Garifuna community
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On the edge of history
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Tigers burning bright
As India celebrates 50 years of its Project Tiger conservation scheme, we visit the reserves of Madhya Pradesh to see how its success has impacted a tiger population that once looked in danger of disappearing
SEASON'S GREETINGS
From fiery fall foliage to art fairs and harvest festivals, opens up a wealth of across the USA and Canada autumn experiences
Waking a sleeping GIANT
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The rebirth of old JEDDAH
As efforts to restore Al-Balad, Jeddah's historical district, take hold, we get an exclusive peek at how art and culture are taking centre stage
Star-studded escapes
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