East Iceland tours & things to do

Seyðisfjörður, Stuðlagil and puffin cliffs. 31 experiences here from vetted operators — plan days focused on East Iceland or find what runs on your date.

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Our first pick here: Stuðlagil Canyon from Seyðisfjörður — 4.7 from 3,015 Google reviews of the operator, free cancellation 24 h.

On most of these: pickup included · family friendly · free cancellation 24 h.

Our guides to East Iceland

Magic Iceland Travel

Djúpivogur: Jökulsárlón & Diamond Beach Cruise Tour

from €202 per person4.80· 184 Google reviews of the operator

32% above the €153 typical for boat tours

from age 6 · pickup included

6 h 30 · from Djúpivogur

  • Book same day

Enjoy a family-friendly shore excursion from Djúpivogur Port to Iceland's stunning southeast coast, featuring Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Diamond Beach, and scenic landscapes with a local guide and guaranteed return to your cruise.

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All 31 East Iceland tours and experiences, A–Z

East Iceland: questions people ask

Is East Iceland worth visiting?

If you have a week or more, yes. It is the quietest part of the Ring Road: Seyðisfjörður's painted houses and rainbow street, Stuðlagil's basalt canyon, the fjord villages and puffin cliffs at Borgarfjörður eystri. There are no glacier lagoons or geysers, which is why coaches skip it. Only the six- to nine-day Ring Road tours (/experience/876949/, /experience/20483/) include it. It is eight hours from Reykjavík by road.

When is the best time to see Stuðlagil canyon?

July to September, when the river runs low and clear blue-green between the basalt columns. In spring and early summer meltwater turns it grey and high, hiding the columns. There are two sides: the west has a viewing platform and easy access; the east needs a five-kilometre walk each way and gives the photo everyone wants. The guided tour from Seyðisfjörður (/experience/866983/) sorts the logistics.

Where can you see puffins in East Iceland?

Hafnarhólmi at Borgarfjörður eystri, a small harbour islet with boardwalks that put you a few metres from nesting puffins, roughly May to mid-August. It is the easiest close-up puffin spot in Iceland and rarely crowded. Papey island off Djúpivogur is another. The Seyðisfjörður puffin tour (/experience/973294/) runs in summer for cruise passengers and anyone else in port. Bring binoculars anyway; the birds fly out to sea for hours.

What is Seyðisfjörður known for?

The Smyril Line ferry from Denmark and the Faroe Islands docks here, so it is where many Europeans first set foot in Iceland. The town has colourful timber houses from the Norwegian herring era, a blue church at the end of a rainbow-painted street, an arts scene and Gufufoss waterfall on the mountain road in. It is 27 kilometres from Egilsstaðir over a pass that snows shut in winter. A morning covers it.

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Where to stay in East Iceland

From the cheapest to the top end of what is in East Iceland, from our hotel partners. Rooms are booked on our hotels site.

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