The south coast
Seljalandsfoss, which you walk behind, Skógafoss, and the black sand of Reynisfjara.
Duration
8 hrs – 10 hrs
Difficulty
●●○○○
Best time
Early departure, by car
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
The south coast lines up the country's most photographed sites along a hundred and eighty kilometres of Route 1. Seljalandsfoss falls from an old shoreline, and a path runs behind the curtain of water — you come out soaked, whatever the season.
Skógafoss is sixty metres wide and a staircase climbs to its top. Reynisfjara, at Vík, is a black sand beach edged with basalt columns, with the Reynisdrangar sea stacks offshore.
Getting there
Route 1 east from Reykjavik. Seljalandsfoss is two hours out, Vík two and a half. The full loop is one long day.
What to bring
- Walking shoes
- Dry bag
Rules on site
At Reynisfjara, sneaker waves run far up the beach without warning and have killed several visitors: never turn your back on the water and stay well up the sand. Wind regularly closes Route 1 in winter — check road conditions on the morning itself.
Other places in Reykjavik
- The Golden CircleÞingvellir, the Strokkur geyser and Gullfoss waterfall, on a three-hundred-kilometre loop.
Blue LagoonMilky thirty-eight-degree water in a field of black lava.
HallgrímskirkjaA seventy-four-metre concrete church shaped after basalt columns.
Northern lightsFrom September to March, as soon as you step away from the city lights.