Iceland Day 4

 Nov 5, 2025

Hotel: Hotel Magma, Kirkjubaejarklaustur

At midnight, Natalie went outside and saw the aurora in spite of the clouds and the bright moon. The wind had died, and it wasn’t too cold considering the hour. We joined her for a while, watching as the green streaks appeared and disappeared, changing pretty rapidly. At 6am, it was quite cold but there were some broad, pale streaks across the sky. 

At 7, we met for breakfast. The sky was still dark but without an aurora. We had breakfast at the hotel and were moving early for our drive to Jökulsárlán Lagoon where we needed to meet our glacier tour just after 9am. The nearly full moon set behind us on the drive. On arrival, the lagoon with its floating icebergs and the glacier behind it were dramatic and beautiful.

About a dozen of us hopped into the large 4wd van to drive up to the glacier, an international group from Vietnam, Italy, Greece, the USA, and our Icelandic guide. It was clear all the tours go to the same ice cave, but we didn’t crowd each other, so it worked out. We put on our crampons and helmets for the walk across the glacier as the morning sun was starting to illuminate the peaks above us. It’s the largest glacier in Europe.

The ice in the cave was beautiful and varied, very clear with pieces of rock and ash and a few bubbles trapped inside it. In places it looked very blue. We took pictures and peered into the spaces, ducking under dripping ice shelves and marveling at the unusual blobs of ice.

After our 4WD ride back to the lagoon, we had fish and chips then walked the paths along the lagoon and river, packed with icebergs of different shapes and sizes and colors ranging from a glossy clear to matte blue. Most seemed stationary, but a few were floating down the river towards the ocean. We walked down to Diamond beach which was littered with icebergs and chunks of ice. There were a lot of people, some getting splashed as the tide came in. Waves broke over some large, unmoving icebergs. Up on the beach were smaller chunks of ice, seemingly deposited by the last high tide. It was strange and beautiful.

The clouds were coming overhead and the temperature was dropping a bit as we drove back to the Magma Hotel for our second night. We made a stop for a short hike to view a tongue of the glacier across a small lake. We dined at the casual and pleasant Systrakaffi near the Magma Hotel before turning in for the night. We checked a few times for aurora activity, but there were too many clouds.