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  >  Destinations  >  Iceland  >  Iceland Road Trip: Vatnajökull Glacier Hike, Waterfalls, and a wrecked Airplane!

We started our day in Skaftafell National Park to hike the Vatnajökull glacier. After a short walk along a winding path, we arrived at the tongue of the glacier, and learned how to use crampons. It was then time for some walking on the glacier itself! We spent half a day on the glacier, exploring the various ice formations and navigating around and even in some of the crevasses. It was stunning and an amazing experience.

We continued through Kirkjubaejarklaustur village, the Eldhraun lava field and the Mýrdalssandur plain, seeing numerous waterfalls along the way.

We made a small detour to see the US Navy’s DC-3 airplane wreckage from the crash back on November 24, 1973. The aircraft was forced to land on Sólheimasandur’s black sand beach after experiencing some severe icing.

Fortunately, everyone survived, but the airplane’s fuselage was abandoned and is now crumbling on the beach, making it something out of a sci-fi movie and therefore a tourist attraction!

Once back on the main road, we continued with Iceland’s more natural attractions, and stopped at

Skógarfoss waterfall – climb the staircase to really feel the power, and Seljalandsfoss waterfall – a waterfall that you can actually walk behind!

We ended up day at Hotel Ranga, and enjoyed dinner in the hotel as well.