Vestrahorn - Mars on Earth

STOKKSNES/VESTRAHOR


From 7pm to 6am there is hardly anyone around in this place, which is bizarre because it is a mind-blowing place, the drive is quite easy and only around an hour from the diamond beach. Simply plug in Stokksnes or Vestrahorn into your GPS and within an hour you will land on mars. Yes you heard that right. A place so out if this world that you’ll think you have indeed landed on a planet other than earth. The landscape is unlike anything you have ever seen it simply blew my mind when we were there. The landscape is full of big dunes, sea grass and a black sand beach and a mountain, which looks like in plunges straight into the sea. This place is actually a family run area so it will cost you around 800 Icelandic krona to enter, I’d also recommend getting the camping package too so you can sleep and wake up in front of this spectacular landscape. 

Imply plug the name Stokksnes into your GPS or drop a pin and within 30 minutes you will land on Mars. Okay not really, but Stokksnes looks like it shouldn’t even be on this planet! This stop will be a memorable one on your 5 day Iceland itinerary because the landscape is unlike anything you have ever seen. The landscape consists of giant dunes, sea grass, a black sand beach, and mountains that plunge straight into the sea. Depending on the time of year, you can also see the northern lights! This is, as far northeast as you will head on our 5 day Iceland road trip itinerary so make sure to spend some time exploring! The lovely lady that owns the place will give you a map of the place and you’ll have the option to visit the light house which is a must do and climb the rocks to the ocean as we actually saw a pod of orcas swimming there. We sat and watched them for at least 10 minutes. Hopefully you will have the same luck that we did. Use the map to navigate the area and explore as much as you can. There is a small village, which was used as a film set, which I found really cool it’s an old Viking settlement. There is also an abundance of Icelandic horses just roaming free and sheep so if you want to snap some incredible shots of their wildlife this is the place to do it. When we were there the rivers, which provided the reflections, was quite low but still plenty to get those incredible reflection shots. Take a walk into the black sand beach and stare at yourself in the reflection of the water or the reflection of the spectacular mountain. We spent a day and a half at this mind-blowing location. There are also horses that roam free so you can get an incredible shot of the horse and the mountain. This was by a long shot the most incredible and impressive place we visited. No matter what the weather is this place is still absolutely breath taking. If it is overcast weather it provides with cool photography as well. After getting your tickets make sure you try the owners Caramel infused apple pie it’s absolutely amazing, the pairing between the caramel and the apple is something I have never experienced we have 3 of their apple pies and it was truly a culinary experience.

The vestrahorn mountain in all its glory

The Höfn area has an abundance of wildlife

It has some pretty epic Iceland Horses too