Egilsstadir
Egilsstadir is the biggest town in East Iceland and its only hub, on the Lagarfljót where the Ring Road meets the fjord roads, two hours from Mývatn and three from Höfn. One night, the bridge between the north and the south-east, with Stuðlagil's columns, Hengifoss and the floating Vök Baths within forty-five minutes.
Egilsstadir in a nutshell
Egilsstadir: what to expect
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Egilsstadir is the necessary night of the crossing, and the hinterland is the point. Stuðlagil's basalt-column canyon on the Jökla is the east's icon since the river dropped and uncovered it, the Vök Baths float geothermal pools on Urriðavatn with a swim-up tea bar, Hengifoss drops 128 metres in its red-striped gorge on a five-kilometre round trip past Litlanesfoss's columns, Seyðisfjörður's rainbow street and blue church sit half an hour over the pass, Hallormsstaðaskógur is Iceland's largest forest, and the puffins at Borgarfjörður eystri are the safest close viewing in the country. Most travellers give Egilsstadir 1 night on Stippl.
Egilsstadir is a leg rather than a destination, and the numbers say so more plainly than anywhere else. Only 0.1% of the trips it appears on start here, of everyone who plans it on Stippl, and 1.0% end here, the lowest bookend share the country records, while 76.4% of stops are a single night and the strongest lift in the Icelandic layer points here from Akureyri, because the east is the bridge between the north and the south-east.
Sleep by the lake, provision at the east's only real supermarkets, choose the coastal Route 1 around the fjords over the inland shortcut, and give the forty-five-minute ring of canyon, falls and baths a full afternoon. Skip the town as a postcard, since that role belongs to Seyðisfjörður over the pass, and skip the independent winter, because the east's roads close first and open last.
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Download the appWho Egilsstadir is for
Ring drivers by necessity
The measured audience: both neighbours lifted more than threefold on Stippl, and Egilsstadir is the bridge night between the north and the south-east.
Canyon and waterfall hikers
Stuðlagil and Hengifoss are the east's two marquee walks, and the town is their base within forty-five minutes.
Quiet-seekers
The least-visited quarter of the ring: reindeer country, empty roads and the fjords beyond, with the town as the last full supermarket.
One-night crossers
76.4% of Stippl stops here are a single night, the bed between Mývatn and Höfn on the long way round.
Iceland-only loopers
79.2% of Egilsstadir trips on Stippl stay inside Iceland, the highest share of any named stop, because nobody reaches the east on a multi-country trip.
Ferry travellers
The Seyðisfjörður ferry from Denmark lands half an hour over the pass, and the town is the first supermarket and the first junction on the way in.
Maybe not for you: town-experience travellers, because Egilsstadir is a service crossroads rather than a postcard and Seyðisfjörður over the pass holds that role; and winter independents, since the east's roads close first, open last and December is a sliver of the plans.
The best time to visit Egilsstadir
Summer
June to August
The east at its warmest, often the warmest corner of the country, the canyon and the falls dry underfoot, the puffins on the boardwalks and August the busiest month on Stippl.
September
The shoulder
The forest turning, the reindeer coming down, the aurora back over the lake and the pass still open, with the town's few rooms easier to find.
Winter
October to April
The region's roads closing first and opening last, the pass to Seyðisfjörður shut in storms, and the airport as the reliable door.
Puffin season
mid-April to mid-August
The boardwalked colony at Borgarfjörður eystri an hour north-east, the safest close viewing in Iceland, on a road that is paved now.
- Most travellers give Egilsstadir 1 night on Stippl, and 76.4% of stops are a single night. The canyon or the falls in the afternoon, the baths in the evening, and the fjord road south in the morning.
- Only 8.1% of Egilsstadir plans on Stippl are made inside a fortnight, and 27.2% half a year out. The east is reached on the loop, the loop is booked as a chain, and the town has few rooms.
- August is the busiest month on Stippl, and the east is the warmest corner then. The canyon and the falls are at their driest, and the puffins are still on the cliffs until the middle of the month.
- Stuðlagil has two banks. The west side for the ten-minute viewpoint, the east side by the farm road for the classic shot down in the columns, and the map app sends drivers to the wrong one.
- The Seyðisfjörður pass is real mountain road. Hairpins, weather closures and ice into spring, so road.is is checked before committing, especially with the ferry to catch.
- Reindeer are on the road. Dawn and dusk on the fjord stretches are when the herds cross, an east-specific hazard that nowhere else on the ring has, and slow is the whole fix.
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Things to do in Egilsstadir
Stuðlagil
The basalt-column canyon on the Jökla, the east's icon since the river dropped, with the east-bank hike for the classic frame down in the columns.
The Vök Baths
Floating geothermal pools on Urriðavatn just north of town, with the swim-up tea bar and late hours in summer.
Hengifoss
The 128-metre fall in its red-striped gorge, a five-kilometre round trip past the columns of Litlanesfoss on the way up.
Seyðisfjörður
Over the pass: the rainbow street, the blue church, the sound sculpture and the ferry-day buzz, half a day or a night.
Hallormsstaðaskógur
Iceland's largest forest along the lake, with trails and lake beaches among actual trees, a phrase the country uses with pride.
The puffins at Borgarfjörður eystri
The boardwalked colony at Hafnarhólmi from mid-April to mid-August, the safest close viewing in Iceland, an hour north-east.
The areas of Egilsstadir
The town centre
The crossroads
The shops, the fuel, the tour desks and the supermarkets on one strip, everything the east sells, where the Ring Road meets the fjord roads. For practical stops.
Everything the east sells on one strip, but a crossroads rather than a place.
The Lagarfljót shore
The lakeside
The hotels along the wyrm's water, calm beds over the monster's lake with the forest across it and the town a walk away. For sleepers.
Calm beds over the lake, though the town's few restaurants are a walk.
Fellabær
The twin across the bridge
The west-bank hamlet five minutes out, with cottages and guesthouses at gentler prices and the canyon road beginning behind it. For budgets.
Cottages at gentler prices five minutes out, and a bridge to cross for dinner.
Urriðavatn and the Vök side
The baths' lake
The lake just north of town with the floating pools, the tea bar and the late summer hours, the evening's answer after the canyon. For soakers.
The floating pools and the late hours, and nothing else out there.
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Where to stay in Egilsstadir
The lakeside heritage house is the town's classic, named twice as the best bed in it, the hotels along the Lagarfljót shore are the calm option, and the cottages in Fellabær across the bridge are the gentler prices. Most travellers give Egilsstadir 1 night on Stippl, and the second is usually spent over the pass in Seyðisfjörður.
The town centre
Hotels and guesthouses on the strip, €110 to €240 a night.
The Lagarfljót shore
The lakeside heritage house and the lake hotels, €130 to €260 a night.
Fellabær
Cottages and guesthouses across the bridge, €90 to €180 a night.
Urriðavatn and the Vök side
No rooms at the baths; the town is five minutes back, €110 to €240 a night.
What to eat in Egilsstadir
Reindeer, the east's own meat
Fjord-landed fish
Pizza, taproom-style
The road lunch
Dessert, forest-berry season
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Egilsstadir customs and what not to do
The wyrm is heritage
Sightings of the Lagarfljót serpent are on record since the fourteenth century, the locals tell it deadpan, and the visitor plays along.
Reindeer are the east's alone
The wild herds live only in these hills, so road caution doubles as wildlife watching at dawn and dusk.
Seyðisfjörður's art is working
Studios and the LungA school rather than decoration, so the village is browsed as a guest rather than an audience.
The forest is a point of pride
Iceland's largest forest is a phrase the country uses with self-aware pride, and the locals walk it.
The pool rule holds
The naked pre-soak shower with soap applies at the Vök Baths and the town pool as everywhere in Iceland.
The town is the front desk
Egilsstadir provisions the whole east, and the locals know the visitors come for the ring around it rather than the strip.
Do
- Take the coastal Route 1 around the fjords rather than the shortcut
- Walk the east bank of Stuðlagil for the classic shot
- Finish the day in the Vök Baths
- Fill the tank and the shopping bag here before the fjords
- Check the pass forecast before Seyðisfjörður
Don't
- Trust the map app to the right bank of Stuðlagil
- Drive the fjord stretches fast at dusk
- Expect a postcard town; that is over the pass
- Take the pass in a storm with the ferry to catch
- Skip the east on a loop with the days to spare
What an Egilsstadir trip costs
Camping
€43–80
The town site, kitchen cooking and the free canyon.
Guesthouse and Vök
€170–260
A lakeside double, the baths and fuel for the fjords.
Comfort
€280+
The lake hotel, a fjord day and the buffet dinner.
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Fun facts about Egilsstadir
Wild reindeer roam only East Iceland, around Egilsstadir. The herds never spread past the highlands, and the road signs are the only ones in the country.
The Lagarfljót wyrm at Egilsstadir has sightings in the annals since 1345. Iceland's oldest monster file, and a 2012 video that made world news.
Hallormsstaðaskógur beside Egilsstadir is the country's largest forest. A phrase Iceland uses with self-aware pride, and the lake beaches are among actual trees.
Stuðlagil near Egilsstadir was effectively unknown before 2019. A hydro dam lowered the river and uncovered the columns, and the canyon became the east's icon in a single summer.
Seyðisfjörður, over the pass from Egilsstadir, had Iceland's first electricity. Wired by herring money in 1913, before the capital had a single street light.
Only 0.1% of Stippl trips through Egilsstadir start there. The lowest bookend share the country records, because the east is the bridge and not the door.
Local tips for Egilsstadir
Coast or shortcut is the choice
Route 1 around the fjords for the scenery and the inland cut for speed, and the guides pick the scenery every time.
Stuðlagil needs the right bank
West side for the easy viewpoint, east side via the farm road for the classic column-level shot, app parking at both, and the map app sends you wrong.
The pass is mountain road
Hairpins, weather closures and ice into spring on the way to Seyðisfjörður, so road.is before committing, especially with the ferry to catch.
The east-bank path wants sense
Riverside rock, spray and a canyon lip with no rails at Stuðlagil, so the footwear is the boots and the edge is left alone.
Reindeer on the road
An east-specific hazard at dawn and dusk on the fjord stretches, and slow is the fix.
One night, mid-crossing
76.4% of Stippl stops here are a single night and only 8.1% of plans are made inside a fortnight, because the east is booked with the whole loop.
Egilsstadir questions, answered
A bed, honestly, and that is fine: the town is the east's front desk and the worth is the forty-five-minute ring around it, the canyon, the falls, the forest and the baths. Most travellers give Egilsstadir 1 night on Stippl and 76.4% of stops are a single night, the bridge between Mývatn and Höfn.
The west bank for the ten-minute viewpoint from the car park; the east bank via the Klaustursel farm road for the classic shot down in the columns, an hour-plus round trip on riverside rock with no rails. Shoulder-season water levels show the most column, and the map app sends drivers to the wrong side unless the bank is named.
Yes, as the only floating pools in the country and the east's answer to the lagoons: calmer than Mývatn's baths, with the swim-up tea bar as the signature and late hours in summer. Put them into Stippl as the evening after the canyon, then ask people who have done both in subreddits like r/VisitingIceland whether Vök or the Earth Lagoon won.
Half a day covers the village, the rainbow street and the blue church; the overnight is for the atmosphere and the ferry-eve buzz. Check the pass forecast either way, because the road over is real mountain road with hairpins and ice into spring, and 79.2% of Egilsstadir trips on Stippl stay inside Iceland whichever they choose.
The short itineraries do, driving Mývatn to Höfn in a day, and only 0.1% of the trips through Egilsstadir start here, of everyone who plans it on Stippl, because the east is a leg rather than a door. What the shortcut skips is the ring's quietest quarter and its two best walks.
The Lagarfljót wyrm: serpent sightings recorded since the fourteenth century, a video that made world news, and a town that enjoys not quite denying it. The locals tell it deadpan over the lake, and the calm beds on the shore look out over the water in question.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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