Getting to Studagil
In our itinerary for the day we only had one destination, that was to visit Studlagil Canyon and then it would be to go on to our stay for one night at Modrudalur. From our internet checking there did not seem to be other interesting locations to visit enroute. We expected to trek several hours at Studlagil, so we picked a stay that was at most an hour drive away.
Foss and Rjukandi Waterfalls
Iceland was known as the “Land of Waterfalls”, and that term did not strike us until we were in Iceland. Waterfalls were literary everywhere. We could not be stopping for all these waterfalls!
After leaving Seydisfjordur on Route93, we reached Ring Road at Egilsstadir and went forward and in about an hour later we spotted an interesting waterfall.
The water flowed a distance and dropped into a large “bowl” shape hole in the ground and this repeated again and again. There was no obvious path to walk to the falls, so we could only admire it from afar. We checked on google map and the name of this falls was “Foss”, that was not an appropriate name as “Foss” meant waterfall in Iceland.
About five minutes later we came to another waterfall, this time we were able to park our car at a set-in by the roadside where we saw several cars already parked. It was a short walk (100m) to the fall, but at some section the walk was steep.
Rjukani waterfall was a multi-tier waterfall. It was 93m high and was very visible from the Ring Road. Rjukani waterfall was quite nice though it was not as magnificent as some of the more famous waterfalls that we had visited.
Studlagil Canyon
About 4.5 km from Rjukani Waterfall we turned left off the Ring Road onto Route 923, we drove on for another 18km to reach Studlagi West side carpark.
Studlagil Canyon could be viewed from the east side or west side of the Canyon. On the map the west side carpark seemed to be nearer the Canyon viewpoint with a shorter walking distance. We parked our car on the west side carpark and walked toward the viewpoint. The canyon was below the road level so it could not be seen, walking toward the viewpoint we saw a small waterfall at the joint of another river flowing into the canyon. Then we reached a metal stair that led down to a viewing deck below.
From the viewing deck there was no path to go down into the canyon, but we saw many people in the canyon. There seemed to be a path on the east side that go into the canyon.
The canyon walls were lined with basalt columns and the water was a beautiful turquoise color. The canyon wall on the west side was straight and vertical whereas the cliff wall on the east side was curvy in some section and shorter.
Not satisfied with viewing Studlagil from the west side we drove to the east side. Immediate once we crossed to the other side of the canyon there was a carpark, we did not stop to park as it we wanted to shorten our walk to the canyon viewpoint on the east side.
The road on the east side was pretty uneven which made it quite tough to drive for our small 2WD car. We saw a carpark after about a 1+km from the crossing and it looked packed with cars. We parked on a slope just before the carpark where we saw another small car already parked. Since we did not in parked in the carpark we did not have to pay parking fee of 1000 ISK
It was a 40 minute walk to Studlagil Canyon viewpoint on the eastside from the carpark. On the way we passed a waterfall, Studlafoss. We viewed the falls from the walking path and did not attempt to climb up the rocks for a better look.
The hike to the viewpoint was pretty easy on flat ground. As we got nearer to the viewpoint we veered off the path and walked closer to cliff to see the canyon. The canyon wall on the left side was lower than that of the right side. There was also a path that led down to the water. Near the water, the balsalt columns were much shorter which allowed many visitors to hop over them to get very close to the water.
The water flowing through the canyon was turquoise in color. The blue water was due to sediment deposits from glaciers.
Our stay at Modrudalur
Our stay was at Modrudalur which was an hour drive from Studlagil Canyon. it was located in the east highlands, north of Vatnajokull glacier. On our way there we felt like we were travelling to the “middle of no where”. The land was so vast and the mountains were so far away. Modrudalur was a farm (an animal form) and was highest farm in Iceland, sitting at an elevation of 469 meters above sea level.
At Modrudalur our stay was with Fjalladyrd Hotel. There were several connected blocks of houses one grey color row and one yellow color row. At Modrudalur there was even a church and gas station.
The reception was in the yellow color row of houses and a staff directed us to our unit in the grey color row of houses. When we entered the main down into the row of grey houses, we were pleasantly surprised. It opened into a cosy living room with many cosy sofas and an old piano. There was a small pantry with a coffee machine. This was a common room for guests.
Another door in this common room opened into a corridor with rooms on both sides. Our room was a double room with ensuite toilet. The room size was great, much larger than those that we had before there was even space for two cosy chairs and a table.
Our ensuite toilet came with a nice shower.
Outside our room window we saw the vast greenland of Modrudalur, the environment was so tranquil and peaceful. On the grass land we saw boardwalk and a river. Definitely a lovely place to explore.
Breakfast the next morning was simple and nice and we got to eat it in a glassed dining room. We loved Fjalladyrd Hotel as it was a lovely and posh guesthouse and of course the price reflected it. The cost for one night stay in a twin room with ensuite toilet and breakfast was € 260. It was definitely our most costly accommodation in Iceland!
Though our double room was on the expensive side, there were cheaper accommodation available and that will be those with shared bathroom.