I visited this WHS in 2022. I spent 3 nights in the area between Skaftafell and Jokulsarlon, 1 of which in my rental car parked near the Jokulsarlon bridge as all hotels in the area were fully booked.

The Vatnajokull National Park is characterised by diversity on all fronts, be it landscape, biosphere, geology or service levels. To simplify matters, however, it may be placed into two categories: uninhabited highland area with limited services (requiring 4WD vehicles and/or expensive guided tours or adventure tours such as dogsledding, motoski tours, glacier walks or ice cave exploration), and lowland areas with higher service levels. I focused on the latter which are easily accessible from the ring road, namely Skaftafell with 2 easy/medium signposted hikes to Svartifoss waterfall and a turf house which is not part of the tentative WHS list and another one which leads close to the Skaftafell glacier; Jokulsarlon; and Fjallsarlon. On the way to Skaftafell (outside the NP area), I really enjoyed exploring some scenic lowland parts of the Katla UNESCO Global Geopark (great for birdwatching especially without a 4WD car) and the lava field of Eldhraun totally covered with deep moss and a short path to see a little bit of it without damaging the rest. 

The park's five visitor centres are all located in lowland areas. Each of them has an exhibition about the park's nature and cultural heritage, with park rangers and volunteers offering information and interpretative walks or programs. Parking areas with a fee are available just next to them as well as organised camping grounds. I visited the Skaftafell Visitor Centre and really enjoyed their interpretative information video projected in English by one of the rangers on duty or volunteers. The sheer size and variety offered throughout the year during each different season are mindboggling. It is also humbling to watch and learn how nature can be devastating and how the ring road has to be adapted yearly due to the constantly melting glaciers or whenever one of the subglacial volcanoes erupts causing sudden glacial outburst floods (called jökulhlaups in Icelandic) with damaging consequences (a good example is the Skeiðará Bridge monument just off the ring road with bent steel girders from the first bridge across the alluvial plain of the Vatnajökull glacier, destroyed by a glacial run in 1996). Just opposite the various information boards near the Skaftafell Visitor Centre next to the glacier hike starting point, one can find a UNESCO WHS inscription plaque.

Vatnajökull conceals a part of the neovolcanic zone and seven (!) subglacial volcanoes, including four of the most active ones in Iceland: Grímsvötn, Bárðarbunga, Kverkfjöll and Öræfajökull. Ice and volcano interactions produce various geological formations and unique habitats especially for flora and avifauna. Not having been to Antartica, Alaska, Greeland or similar places, I really enjoyed exploring both glacier lagoons in Iceland and they were a true highlight. I really had a field day, with a short touristy zodiac tour to get closer to the impressive glacier but mostly on land hiking the short loop at the lesser known Fjallsarlon and watching the bluish-white ice floating, melting and breaking before washing off along the black sands of Diamond Beach.

It was really peaceful (albeit cold!) especially after the boat tours ended. I watched the countless playful seals diving and resting on some of the floating ice with evolving shapes and sizes and was really impressed with the crashing sound every time the bigger drifting ice forms melted further in the glacier lagoon or the distant thundering sound of ice breaking off the glacier. Only around 10% is visible above the water level. The ice melts rapidly because warmer seawater enters the lagoon. Glacial ice is a mixture of ice, sand, gravel, tephra and air bubbles. The composition is clearly seen in the "icebergs" that break off the glacier snout. The blue colour of the dense ice is due to the fact that it absorbs all colours of the spectrum except blue, which is reflected and clear ice seems blue. The blue hue diminishes as the ice melts in the sun. Beneath the water level, ice melts without contact with the air. This is why the blue colour is so striking after an "iceberg" has tipped over. It was quite easy to forget the lack of comfort when sleeping for 1 night in the rental car, but it was really worth the extra effort of heading straight there after the Surtsey boat trip to make the most of the 1-2 days of sunny weather.