Iceland review - 2016, Page 88

86 ICELAND REVIEW
EAST ICELAND SPECIAL PROMOTION
BIGGER AND BOLDER
East Iceland feels truly vast. Seen from the sea, it is a wall of
cliffs and mountains stretching up to the sky, conspicuously
perforated by snaking, mysterious fjords. As imposing as it is
intriguing.
From the coast, the sheer mountains provide eyefuls of vis-
tas you’ll not soon forget, as well as anticipation for your jour-
ney over their steep and winding roads. What might appear
to be a tiny white feather from the coast often reveals itself
to be a raging waterfall when you get nearer the summit. And
those midges swirling overhead? They’re probably large sea-
birds nesting in the cliffs above. East Iceland mountains can be
deceptively high.
Meanwhile, inland, East Iceland stretches out before you in
a glacier, hill, mountain and river-studded expanse that could
quite easily go on to the very edge of the world.
To put all this another way, East Iceland is not short of space
to breathe and think, but it also boasts some of the most epic
and remarkable landscape in Europe—and there’s plenty to do
in the region as well.
PROTECTED FOR ALL
A large swathe of East Iceland is covered by the Vatnajökull
National Park—the largest national park in Western Europe,
which also stretches into parts of South Iceland and Northeast
Iceland.
The park includes the whole of Vatnajökull glacier, which is
itself the largest chunk of ice in Europe (south of the Arctic
Circle) as well as a host of other, less chilly, attractions.
Not far from the national park, visitors can marvel at the
Hálslón reservoir and the three Kárahnjúkar dams—the largest
of which is the biggest of its kind in Europe, at 730 meters
(2,395 ft) long. Iceland’s biggest power project has become a
surprise tourist attraction and guided tours are available.
Hengifoss waterfall, Lagarfljót lake, Hallormsstaður forest
and herds of wild reindeer are just a handful of the region’s
many natural attractions.
East Iceland has long enchanted domestic tourists, while overseas visitors
took a little longer to discover this breathtaking region. Now, it is fast
gaining a reputation for being unmissable.
Look East