gjáin

We were going towards Landmannalaugar on route 32 but the weather turned bad so we turned off down the rough gravel road on the left to the Stöng archaeological site and the Gjáin waterfalls. A 4WD is useful but we did see normal cars too. We parked at Stöng and walked 15mins through the beautiful, hidden valley to the waterfalls, but if you're in a hurry or hate walking you can drive further (I think you'd be missing part of the mystery of the place though)The lush green and many flowers of the valley, the tumbling waterfalls and the weirdly twisted basalt formations really feel special in the midst of the bleak, severe beauty of the surrounding area. We loved it, even in the rain. Two tips. One, stick to the paths as it's easy to get lost if you make your own trail (and you'll be damaging plants that struggle to survive in the difficult conditions). Two, after heavy rain some parts of the path are more difficult as you need to cross the stream. If you don't want wet feet, waterproof boots would help

Not sure why trip advisor has a snow/glacier photo associated with this place. It is a waterfall valley in the middle of nowhere and it is strikingly beautiful. We had a private guide with a 4x4, otherwise it would be impossible to get here over the gravel and dirt roads - and it's not marked either. You will be driving through a desolate landscape - looks like wind whipped, gray dessert up here in the highlands. When our guide pulled over, we thought he was nuts. But one walk to the edge of the canyon and the view down almost knocked me over. I thought I was in Hawaii (but only momentarily). There are stairs to the canyon floor and waterfalls. They are pretty well maintained. I will say that the bottom is squishy and wet, with many trails include 1x6 pieces of plywood over little culverts and streams. I'd most definitely wear your waterproof hiking boots here and DON'T FORGET YOUR CAMERA. At the back of the canyon is a waterfall - fairly tall coming over the edge. There are also multiple other falls coming out of the canyon walls in other areas. They are smaller falls, but beautiful. Think clear glacier streams flowing over walls of moss covered rocks. Clear blue water and rivulets. Caves in the canyon walls. Places to climb, hike and wonder around. Literally - the only thing that was missing from this fairytale landscape was a unicorn.

A giudicare dall'alto numero di islandesi incontrati in questa remota valle e dai pochissimi turisti, Gjain è un segreto che la gente del posto vuole tenere ben custodito. Ed è facile intuire perché: il sentiero dalla fattoria storica Stong conduce attraverso un boschetto a una cascata incorniciata da colonne di basalto, e già qui rimaniamo a bocca aperta. Ma è continuando verso il basso che si apre uno spettacolo mozzafiato. Altre cascate si riversano nel fiume praticamente a 360 gradi, mentre la lussureggiante vegetazione riempie di colori e consistenze tutta l'area densa di formazioni vulcaniche. Dove sono gli elfi? Ti aspetti di vederne spuntare uno in qualsiasi momento! Veramente un posto da cui non si vorrebbe mai andare via.