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Mýrdalssandur

Mýrdalssandur (Iceland)

Practical information about Mýrdalssandur

  • Desert
  • River
  • Volcano
3 / 5 - One review
How to get there
15 km east of Vik by car
When to go
May through October
Minimum stay
A few hours

Reviews of Mýrdalssandur

Emmanuelle Bluman Travel writer
163 travel articles

When you leave Vik in the direction of Jokulsarlon, you pass through this expanse of lava desert that stretches as far as the eye can see with the glaciers in the background, a rare landscape in Iceland.

My suggestion:
Don't cross Myrdalssandur without making a few photo stops along the way, and especially stop off in Laufskálavörður to build a cairn, which is supposed to bring good luck. 
Summary:

Heading east out of Vik you almost immediately begin a long desert crossing - the Myrdalssandur is indeed a desert of lava stone, the result of the vagaries of Katla volcano. In fact, the further east you go the less inhabited the area becomes, because it is regularly victim to floods. 

The first time I crossed Myrdalssandur, I didn't necessarily realise that all the lava stones around me had been spewed by the volcano. 

The place is surprisingly empty and, of course, there is no human presence - who would want to live in a place where the volcanoes belch their rocks and where the waters destroy everything in their path! 

If you want to stretch your legs and don't want to settle for a photo stop by the roadside, try to go to Hjörleifshöfdi, just outside Vik. It's the only hill of any size that offers a view of the coast. By continuing almost straight ahead toward the ocean you will arrive at Kötlutangi, the most southerly point of the island.

Myrdalssandur