by Alyssa Ramos
“Let it Go, Let it Goooooo!” If you don’t love the movie Frozen, there might be something seriously wrong with you. If you do love it, like me, than you’ll agree that it’s freaking magical, and that you secretly want to live in a bad-ass ice castle like Elsa…minus the anti-social attitude.
There were two main reasons why I really wanted to go to Iceland; the first was to see massive waterfalls, and the second was to hopefully “walk” on a glacier. I had read about these “glacier walks” on a bunch of tour websites, but wasn’t sure if you could really do them in the summer, assuming they would be melted or slushy.
But alas! I was I wrong! I didn’t do any of the tours because they were too expensive, but I did take my loyal little rental car and the stuffed Olaf snowman I bought at LAX as my “Iceland mascot” to a few supposedly “Frozen places” that definitely did not disappoint me (or Olaf) when I got there! You get creative when you travel solo…
So here are 5 “Frozen” places to see in Iceland, which Olaf has graciously decided to show you!
Note: A “glacier” doesn’t have to be a chunk of ice on water, it can be a chunk of ice on a mountain, volcano, planet (how crazy is Pluto?!), etc.
Jump To:
1. Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
Holy crap, this place was awesome! A local blogger recommended Jökulsárlón and I had read about how a few movies were filmed there, but wasn’t sure I’d have time to see it since it’s about 5 hours away from Reykjavik.
BUT, I went anyway, and when I got there, my freaking mind was blown by the freaking lagoon of icebergs that I would only ever have expected to see in Antarctica! The lagoon is at the base of one of the biggest glaciers in Iceland,Breiðamerkurjökull and at the edge of Vatnajökull National Park, both of which you can see in the background.
It’s eerily quiet except for the occasional creaks, cracks, then splashes you hear when a chunk of ice breaks off of one of the icebergs! If you don’t believe in global warming, you will if you watch the broken ice melt as it drifts away!
2. Black Sand Beach Across From Jökulsárlón
Forgive me for the caveman-like name title, but this secret little spot can’t be found on a map or by using Google unless you know that it’s a black sand beach near Jökulsárlón. Most of the beaches in Iceland have black sand which comes from the lava rocks, but what’s awesome about this one in particular is that it literally looks like a beach you’d see in Frozen.
‘What kind of beach would be in Frozen?‘ You might ask. Well the answer is a beach that has chunks of glass-like ice on its shore in place of regular rocks! The chunks wash up on shore from the glacier lagoon across the street, and literally make this place look like the Frozen version of a regular beach!
3. Fjallsárlon Glacier Lagoon
Fjallsárlon is a smaller glacier lagoon than Jökulsárlón, but located just down the street from it if you head West along the South coast of Iceland. This is where the expensive glacier walking tours were offered that I found online, but I was pretty happy just looking at it (for free).
The landscape is a little different than Jökulsárlón, because behind it is the volcano Öræfajökull, and also the glacier Vatnajökull that it’s a part of.
4. Vatnajökull Glacier
Vatnajökull is one of the biggest glaciers in Iceland, and really easy to spot on a map, or from the road as you’re driving to Skaftafell National Park. You can hike to it if you have the proper equipment or are on an expensive tour, or, you can drive as close to it as you can like I did, and get out and take a picture on a piece of glacier.
BE CAREFUL though, because you’re technically not supposed to drive on the roads up to it without a 4×4, and you’re apparently not supposed to walk on it without little spikes in your shoes either.
5. Snæfellsjökull Volcano/Glacier
Snæfellsjökull is known as the “jewel of the West” in Iceland, and most famous for being described as the starting point in the book/movie “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. The reason for the reference is because the “mountain” is actually an active volcano covered with a glacier, which means its center really does go down below the Earth‘s surface.
Again, you aren’t really supposed to drive up to it unless you have the appropriate type of car (AKA not an economy rental like mine, but I did it anyway), but if you’re careful, you can do it, and even get out and (carefully) walk on patches of glacier!
There are tons of other Frozen places in Iceland that I didn’t get to go to, like Langjökull and Eyjafjallajökull (chya, try pronouncing that one), but hopefully I’ll get to go back soon, and if not…don’t forget to send me pictures!
hello alyssa,
what do you think is the best period to visit Island?
Depends what you want to see/do — I went in the “summer” and it was still cold (about 50 degrees F) but that made it possible to see the waterfalls and beaches without freezing or losing light! During the winter, it’s mostly darkness but you can see the Northern Lights!
We’d vote for winter! It’s much quieter around here and you can still do mostly all the same activities. Prices drop down a bit AND the northern lights are the best act of mother nature in the world!