Campsites are trampled, products disappear from shelves

Campsites in eastern Iceland are feeling the increased demand even more due to the mild weather today and over the past few days. Heiður Vigfúsdóttir, the director of Egilsstadur campsite, told a news agency that various products in supermarkets are disappearing quickly from the shelves.

“There’s a lot of foot traffic here and you can see it in the product selection in the supermarket. It looks like most of them are heading our way. You can see it in the camp in the middle, they’re trying to fill the gaps.”

The area is full

She said people come from far and wide for a chance to enjoy the gentle easterly breeze. The reservable areas of the campground are mostly full for the weekend and into the next week, but she noted there is another area that follows a first-come, first-served rule and usually has a chance to get a campsite.

“We try to welcome as many people as possible so that all Icelanders can get their dose of vitamin D and stay warm here with us.”

I don’t want to say where there is space.

Jón Magnússon, owner of Camp East, which runs seven campsites in the Austfjörður area, told a news agency that it was crazy to do this at all of them. Camp East is located in Neskaupstaður, Eskifirður, Reyðarfjörður, Fáskrúðsfjörður, Stöðvarfjörður, Breiðdalsvík and Fossárdal.

All campgrounds except one were fully booked, but he said he did not want to reveal which ones still had space to avoid crowds in the area. The same applies to most campgrounds in the east.

“Something is loosening up in Fljótsdalsgrund and it will be loose tomorrow morning. The other campground was more or less full last night,” Heiður said when asked about the situation at other campgrounds in East Iceland.