town · Iceland · East
On the route
- Time needed
- 30 min – 12 h
- Price
- Free — No charge to stop; the cheapest shopping and fuel in the East.
- Season
- Year-round.
- Access
- On the Ring Road at the Lagarfljót bridge; flat town with supermarkets, fuel and the regional airport on the main road.
- Checked
- not yet confirmed on an official source
65.267, -14.405 · Iceland
Egilsstaðir
Photograph: Egilsstaðir main road with the Lagarfljót bridge and Fellabær beyond — Eysteinn Guðni Guðnason / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Egilsstaðir is the hub of the East and the third sleep on most anticlockwise Ring Road plans. Everything converges here: the Ring Road from the fjords and from the north, the pass road to Seyðisfjörður and the Norröna ferry, the road up to Stuðlagil, and the domestic airport. It is also the last large town before the long, high crossing of the north-east desert to Mývatn, so it is a fill-everything stop.
The practical line, confirmed on the operators' lists today: Bónus (bonus.is) and Nettó (netto.is) both have supermarkets in town, the only two chain stores between Höfn and Akureyri. Olís has a station at Fellabær, across the bridge on the Ring Road (olis.is); other fuel operators in Egilsstaðir itself could not be confirmed on a station map today. There is a municipal pool and a large campsite on the main road. Toilets at the shops and the campsite.
Timing: three and a half to four hours from Höfn via the fjords, two and a half from Mývatn across the Möðrudalsöræfi. Westbound, the Ring Road climbs to over 600 m on the Möðrudalur plateau and is the section most often closed by snow and wind between October and April; check umferdin.is before leaving, and note the Road Administration's 1777 line.
Quiet except for ferry mornings: on the day Norröna arrives at Seyðisfjörður a queue of campers comes over the pass and the supermarkets and fuel stations are busy for a few hours. If you are not on the ferry, shop the evening before.
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What you can do from Egilsstaðir
- Hengifoss walk in Fljótsdalur
A 2 km climb past Litlanesfoss to a 128 m waterfall in a red-banded gorge, 40–60 minutes up; 35 km from Egilsstaðir round Lake Lagarfljót.
hike · Iceland1.5–2.5 h · Price not publishedadds 3 h 30 to a day - Stuðlagil canyon walk on the east bank
The walk down to the basalt columns from the Klaustursel side: about 5 km return from the Stuðlafoss car park or 10 km from the bridge; an hour's drive from Egilsstaðir.
hike · Iceland1.5–3 h · Price not publishedadds 3 h 35 to a day - Vök Baths on Lake Urriðavatn
Floating hot pools on a lake eight minutes from Egilsstaðir, 12:00–22:00 outside high summer, 7,690 ISK adult; the bath that costs the East's sleep town least time.
lagoon / hot spring · Iceland1.5–2 h · Mid costadds 2 h 15 to a day
Journeys that pass Egilsstaðir
- Iceland Ring Road in 7 days
Anticlockwise from Keflavík: about 1,555 km and 19.5 hours at the wheel in seven days, with nights in Vík, Höfn, Egilsstaðir, Mývatn, Akureyri and Borgarnes.
7 days · Iceland1,555 km · 19 h 35 drivingChecked 1 Nov 2026 - Iceland Ring Road in 10 days with Snæfellsnes
The 7-day loop plus Snæfellsnes, a second east night and the full Diamond Circle: about 2,160 km and 27.5 hours of driving, with a half-day kept for weather.
10 days · Iceland2,160 km · 27 h 40 drivingChecked 1 Nov 2026 - Iceland and the Faroe Islands by ferry, 12 days
Copenhagen to Hirtshals, two nights on the Norröna, three days of Faroese roads, then Seyðisfjörður to Keflavík by north and south: 2,519 km, 36 h driving, 47 h at sea.
12 days · Iceland + Faroe Islands + Denmark2,519 km · 36 h 05 driving · 47 h 30 ferryChecked 1 Nov 2026
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