4 Best Restaurants in Vatnajökull National Park–Skaftafell, East Iceland and the Eastfjords

Convenient, fast, and especially welcome after a morning hike on Skaftafellsheiði, Glacier Goodies, located next to the visitor center in Skaftafell, serves a modest menu of tasty, hot meals from their food truck. Just follow your nose.

At the large and no-frills Kaffiterían Skaftafelli, next to the Skaftafell Visitor Centre, you can get light lunch of soup or a hot dish like fish or meatballs. They also serve grilled sandwiches, pastries, and cakes, plus snacks for the trails.

As the only place of shelter at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, this basic café, resembling a series of pitched roofs, offers light refreshments with sandwiches, soups, hot chocolate, and coffee. There is free Wi-Fi, bathrooms, and a modest selection of postcards and souvenirs. It's open year-round. If the weather is good, the food trucks in the car park are a better option for a bite.

The large restaurant inside the Þórbergssetur museum and cultural center is often busy, as there are limited food options along this stretch of road in Iceland. Even with that pressure, the dishes are always tasty, with a special emphasis on lamb and arctic char raised on the local farm. It's an all-day affair too: you can stop by for a light meal, soup, or a waffle or a hearty, three-course evening meal.