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  >  Destinations  >  Iceland  >  Iceland Road Trip: Husavik and Dettifoss Waterfalls

We started our day by driving to the charming fishing village of Husavik. It is a commercial center for the large agricultural area, and many fish, meat and dairy products are processed here for the country.

We almost considered skipping the trip to Husavik because it added time to our drive, but we were very glad we didn’t. While there isn’t much in the town aside from the church, whale museum and whale watching tours, it is cute and charming (…given that it was August. As they have three weeks of solid darkness in the winter, I am sure that is a different experience).

As it was a sunny day was well, we decided to go for a whale watching tour. Three hours felt like a long trip, but we managed to see some dolphins, one humpback and two minke whales while at sea,

as well as some puffins. Plus it was cool that we were so close the arctic circle.

Following the trip, it was time for lunch. While there was a nice little restaurant (Gamli Baukur) on the harbour, we were short of time, so we opted for the fish and chips shack, which turned out good – it was fresh, local cod.

We continued our drive along the coastline of the Tjörnes peninsula, which had stunning views, before arriving at our next stop Ásbyrgi Canyon – a horse shoe shaped gorge with its impressive rock walls and abundant vegetation. From there, we continued south to the mighty Dettifoss and Selfoss waterfalls.

Dettifoss Falls are 100 meters wide and fall 45 meters into Jökulsárgljúfur canyon, making

them one of the most powerful waterfalls in Europe. Just about 1.4km further down the path, there is Selfoss. While it only falls 10 meters, these are just as spectacular, and may be more given the

width of the falls. We spent several hours here, but it still wasn’t enough – these falls are stunning and turned out to be the best I’ve seen in Iceland (which says a lot, given how many waterfalls we saw throughout the trip)

Following our visit, we continued back to the ring road to head east. The road makes it’s way along the lunar lunar landscape of the Möðrudalur highlands (it’s no wonder Neil Armstrong trained here) until you reach the fertile valley of Hérað where the village of Egilsstadir lies. The variation in terrain is hard to believe until you experience it.