Iceland · The southeast
Jokulsarlon is the moment Iceland stops feeling like a place and starts feeling like another planet. Here the edge of Europe’s largest ice cap calves into a deep lagoon, and great blue and white icebergs drift slowly across the water before slipping out to sea.
Across the road lies Diamond Beach, where stranded chunks of ancient ice glitter on jet-black sand, lit up by the low northern sun. Behind the lagoon rises Breidamerkurjokull, the glacier that feeds it, and nearby Skaftafell and the wider Vatnajokull park open the door to ice caves and glacier walks in winter.
It sits far out on the southeast coast, roughly five hours from Reykjavik, so we usually pair it with the South Coast over a couple of unhurried days. A boat among the icebergs, an evening at Diamond Beach, and a night beneath a sky full of stars make the long drive more than worth it.
