STOKKSNES: Icelands MOST PHOTOGRAPHED place

STOKKSNES: Icelands MOST PHOTOGRAPHED place

– [Lea] Where rugged cliffs mirror in shallow water, where beaches with black sand look like not from this Earth. We are approaching one of Iceland’s most famous parts and most picturesque places. Welcome to Stokksnes Beach and welcome to Vestrahorn Mountain. So each morning it’s the same question, which pair of gloves? Gloves for warm weather or gloves for cold weather? And today it’s not so sunny, so we go for those. Welcome to a new day of riding. We are leaving the Eastfjords today to finally approach the part of Iceland that is most famous. So I expect from now on to see all these super dramatic landscapes and sites. So the Ring Road number one that we are currently on is actually quite nice and scenic here. I actually didn’t expect it. I just thought it’s very big, not so nice. And it’s actually going around another fjord and along the coast. So very, very beautiful. We didn’t have a far distance to ride on this day ahead of us, but guys, you know me, I would not be me if I would not have some little detours planned. And I also would not be me if I would not take my travel partner to another sightseeing destination,

Which you meanwhile know he loves. It’s funny, we have done so many, but rides along fjords actually never disappoint. And guys, look at these dramatic clouds. I think sometimes weather like this is also nice as long as it doesn’t rain. Our next stop was a little town on the way because I had heard about some awesome art to be discovered there. This is the town Djupivogur or Djupivogur. I think it’s a very funny name if you ask me. And I don’t know where exactly it is, but we are now looking for a cool artwork that’s supposed to be here in town. (lively music) ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Yeah. ♪

– [Lea] So we first went wrong and there was nothing, but now we should be on the right track for our art experience. ♪ Yeah ♪ (lively music) – The eggs at Gledivik Bay are an artwork by the popular Icelandic visual artist Sigurdur Gudmundsson. The outside artwork consists of 34 huge granite eggs, which represent the eggs of each of the nesting birds in this area, many of which are migrating birds flying over to Iceland

From far away to lay their eggs in Iceland. The eggs at Gledivik Bay are made of Chinese granite and imported from China where the artist Sigurdur lives part of the year with his wife. They also own a home in Djupivogur that they call Himnariki or translated Heaven.

So what do you think about these eggs? – [Travel Partner] That was really worth the detour. – It was not a big detour though, but that was maybe not the more spectacular artwork we have seen so far in Iceland. – [Travel Partner] Not exactly. – Guys, now I immediately feel bad

Because I wasn’t so impressed by the artwork and actually think it’s a very good idea, but maybe we just didn’t see it in the right light. Anyways, the ride must go on and we are continuing south. From Djupivogur, the ride on the Ring Road south is pretty scenic. The road always follows the coastline and provides you with breathtaking views. So we just turned around and drive back a little bit because we passed this little gravel road. It looked as if it would bring us a bit further into the area here next to the road, and it actually looks stunning. And here’s the gravel. We will see. Guys, those roads are really my favorite, roads that you had never planned to go but end up riding anyways for simply no other reason than them looking awesome. It is such a pure experience and this is where real joy and happiness are to be found. This was really such a nice stop. We are continuing now to one of Iceland’s most famous and also most photogenic, I guess, places, but we will see if we both make it. The travel partner actually has to answer some work calls. So I might be losing him today earlier

And explore alone but that’s fine for me also. Have more time to take pictures and videos. Only a few kilometers later, the prophecy took its course. The travel partner headed straight direction to our hotel while I took another detour. My travel partner is now going from a call

And I have to turn back because I want to see a beach. So I’m actually riding back now from where we came. I said goodbye to the travel partner and I missed the turn off to the place I want to go to. So now I need to watch a bit more carefully. Wow, this ride here is already stunning. And actually, I thought this place here would be much, much, much more busy because it’s so famous. But we will see how it is when I reach there. The goal of my ride? Stokksnes Beach, one of the most photographed places in all of Iceland.

It turned out that Stokksnes Beach is not public, so you have to pay a little entrance fee at the Viking Cafe. The family-run Viking Cafe guest house offers rooms, but also cakes, a warm cup of coffee or a delicious looking waffle. But due to not traveling with the travel partner, I couldn’t have a waffle alone because as you guy meanwhile know, waffles are usually to share. The Viking Cafe is also running the Viking Village, which I have to admit I didn’t visit because it didn’t feel very genuine to me and because I had visited an awesome Viking museum in Reykjavik already. The Viking Village was built in 2009 as a film set for a movie that was never filmed.

And you can experience the structure of a Viking village now firsthand. Here is a boom. It says show ticket. This looks a bit strange. We will see. Okay, it worked. Very excited now to visit this place. On the end of the Stokksnes peninsula, Vestrahorn is a dramatic sawtooth mountain rising

Above a shallow tidal lagoon of black sand. It is not the only popular mountain that drops down at Stokksnes Beach though. Brunnhorn is another jagged mountain nicknamed Batman Mountain, thanks to the three recognizable peaks resembling the Batman logo. So really, really nice beach here

And the road that you can drive here along this beach is not very long, but still fun. And if you look right from here on, you can see the so-called Viking Village. And I’m not gonna go there today because I’m too cheap and I don’t wanna pay the entry,

And somehow I don’t want to go. So maybe if you guys want to go. Really black sand here, it’s actually quite pretty. Stokksnes Beach with the towering mountains is one of the most photographic places to visit in Iceland and an Instagram favorite. And yes, that might not sound very attractive, but to hike over the lagoon and the black sand is a fantastic experience.

And like always, the further you walk, the less people there are. Unlike most other mountains in Iceland, which are made of basalt, the Vestrahorn mountains are mainly gabbro rock and were formed by the slow cooling of magnesium and iron-rich magma. The black sand beaches were created

By the sea grinding down volcanic rock over millennia. This was a really beautiful detour. And now I catch up with a travel partner who went already to our next accommodation. And you know, sometimes it’s actually not so bad to travel alone a bit. It’s actually, I always really enjoy it.

And you know, I have a lot of time to set up my tripod, wait forever until I got the shot I wanted. And you know, that said, I’m anyways taking so much time to fly my drone and take videos when traveling. So I guess anyone

Who is not my travel partner would hate to ride with me. But yes, of course, I would not be me if there was not one more detour I wanted to do on this day. So there is this little town called Hofn that is supposed to be super nice and is also supposed

To have some fantastic restaurants. So I would have liked to stay there but same old story of this trip. We didn’t get a room there. But yeah, I wanted to ride through the village anyways to at least once have seen it and know if it’s as nice as I thought.

Hofn is an Icelandic fishing town of just over 2,000 people in southeast Iceland. It is the most significant settlement on Route 1 between the village of Kirkjubaejarklaustur in the south and Egilsstadir in the east. Do you guys see all the restaurants and nice looking buildings? I really think this would have been

For sure a nice place to stay. I couldn’t stay in Hofn though, but had to continue my ride to catch up with my travel partner at another hotel that I will actually not recommend to you, but it turned out to be the perfect place to start our next adventure from.

Guys, did you like the kick off to Iceland’s most famous places? If you did, leave a comment and give this video a thumbs up and I will need all your support to survive the next episode. Next Thursday, the Icelandic weather gods will turn against us and punish us

With the first day of really terrible cold weather, combined with the most pouring rain you can imagine, we will still try to make the best of the situation, visiting Iceland’s famous glacial lagoons and black beaches. See you all next Thursday to dance in the rain.

Visit one of Icelands most famous and beautiful places: The scenic Vestrahorn mountain and Stokksnes beach.
Where rugged cliffs mirror in shallow water, where beaches with black sand look like not from this earth. We are approaching one of Iceland’s most famous parts and most picturesque places. Welcome to Stokksnes and Vestrahorn mountain.

00:00 Intro to Stokksnes and Vestrahorn mountain
00:56 A road trip along the Eastfjords
02:54 The village Djúpivogur & the famous artwork Eggs at Gleðivík Bay by Sigurður Guðmundsson
04:42 Exploring Icelands beauty off the beaten track
06:46 Stokksnes beach & Vestrahorn mountain – is it worth it?
11:49 The idyllic town Höfn

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// Time of the journey: August 2022

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// Riding a Yamaha Ténéré 700 called Fox. Bought the Fox myself in 2019 in Germany.

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//Equipment & Gear:
– Klim Artemis Goretex Jacket (self bought)
– BMW Pants Enduroguard (self bought)
– BMW GS Gloves (self bought)
– Raingloves from another brand (can’t remember the name and they were terrible!!!)
– Alpinestar Toucan Boots (self bought)
– Klim Krios Pro Helmet (self bought)
– Leatt Neckbrace (given to me by Leatt as my self-bought neckbrace was still in Africa)

Watch the review for my helmets here:

//Filmed with:
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Iphone 14
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Tripod Iphone: Joby GorillaPod
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