Iceland by Campervan: A South Coast Day Trip
/
Iceland’s South Coast
A One Day Self-Drive Itinerary
Second only to the Golden Circle, Iceland’s South Coast is an incredibly popular area for travellers to Iceland seeking adventure, geology and nature. In my opinion, every area of Iceland I have visited is special in its own way, and I struggle to rank them myself. However, if you love waterfalls, this itinerary may well be your favourite of the bunch!
I’m more than happy to share my itinerary for a South Coast day trip; a day spent in an area jam-packed with waterfalls, black sand beaches, and puffin watching along rugged coastlines.
Where to stay in South Coast Iceland
After visiting the Golden Circle, we traveled down to the South Coast towards Seljalandsfoss, one of Iceland’s more famous waterfalls. Nearby, in a unique waterfall cave, is Gljúfrabúi. We found a campsite close by. A new hotel has also been built in the area, called Seljalandsfoss Horizons.
Things to do in the South of Iceland
Seljalandsfoss
I woke up at sunrise to photograph Seljalandsfoss and immediately noticed that, while we were not under midnight sun in September, daylight hours were certainly still lengthened. It was quite light out already at 5:30am, even before the sun began to rise. When it did, it cast a pretty pink hue.
Seljalandsfoss is the first waterfall you meet when driving directly from Reykjavik to the South Coast. It is visible from the road. It originates from Eyjafjallajökull, a glacier covered volcano that is best known for its most recent eruption in 2010 that shut down airline traffic between Europe and North America.
The falls are particularly unique in that you can walk 360 degrees around and behind them, making this a very popular attraction that makes most travellers’ must-see lists.
For this reason, I highly recommend visiting Seljalandsfoss at sunrise, before any crowds have gathered. I was there with only a handful of others, mostly photographers themselves.
Between Seljalandsfoss and Gljúfrabúi there are several small waterfalls trickling down the mountainside.
Gljúfrabúi
Gljúfrabúi is a hidden waterfall within a cave just a short walking distance from Seljalandsfoss. You have to wade in to see the waterfall up close.
The stream running out is fairly deep, although some kind soul has placed a few rocks for stepping on. Wear your waterproof boots! We absolutely loved this place. It felt like something from a fantasy novel, utterly unreal.
Skogafoss
After having some breakfast, we headed out on the road again to our next destination, yet another beautiful waterfall, Skogafoss. Unfortunately for us, we were not the only people interested in Skogafoss’ beauty, a production team had it blocked off with tall scaffolding and were filming something. There were a lot of sad faces. No problem. We just had to get creative with our photographs and decided to climb the very long staircase to the top.
At the top of Skogafoss is an observation deck and a long hiking trail that leads you along the Skoga river. You can see the trail stretching far out into the distance. Some 20+ waterfalls can be seen along this river, of all different sizes.
We took a fairly long hike here and I would certainly recommend setting aside some time to do this if you are able. The hike certainly made up for the blocked view of Skogafoss.
Plane Wreck
After our hike at Skogafoss, we decided to do another (ambitious, I know) to the remains of a US Naval Plane that crashed in 1973 and was left sitting on the beach. This is also a very popular activity for tourists to Iceland. We were undecided on this hike, given our busy morning, but decided to do it as we had a bit of spare time.
The hike took about 1.5-2 hours and was straight across a flat beach. The plane itself was interesting, but maybe not worth the effort it takes if you are on a tight schedule.
Dyrhólaey
Our next stop was the Dyrhólaey peninsula, which loosely translates to “the hill island with the door hole”. It is a nature preserve located on the coastline with famous black arches.
We went here in hopes of spotting puffins and we were successful! They were so tiny and fast that I was unable to get a good photo, but they swooped and played in front of us for a couple of minutes as though they were putting on a show. Just as fast, they were gone and others who were arriving at the viewing point were wondering what we had even been looking at, still grinning and giggling.
The view of Reynisfjara (Black Sand Beach) from here is gorgeous.
A drive up a steep mountain with switchback roads takes you to a unique lighthouse.
Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach
Next we drove around to Black Sand Beach. The sand is literally made from lava rocks, and we were convinced it was an even darker shade than the black sand beach we visited earlier this year in Hawaii.
Please be aware that this beach is considered dangerous due to “sneaker waves” which come high up the beach at random and unpredictable times. Read the warning signs if you are visiting.
This is another very popular stop as people love to view the pillars to the left of the beach offshore. I personally thought the quiet side looking back at Dyrhólaey was beautiful through the haze.
Vik
Our last stop of the day was in the small town of Vik, a quaint little town, surrounded by mountains and with a prominent, red-roofed church standing out on a hill.
Here we found the nicest little brewpub called Smiðjan Brugghús. They had a very large selection of their own craft brews on tap and delicious burgers. After a busy day, this was the perfect way to finish a South Coast day trip.
Bless,
Hill XO
If you found this post helpful to you, Pin it!
