Iceland Travel Guide: South Iceland Travel Guide
It’s been a month since I returned from Iceland, by the way, Asia representing the women’s side of our blog came to Las Vegas but we are still Iceland we’re counting! Meanwhile, we made other travel plans, planned distant routes, but this is the second time to Iceland and this time our tent camping plan is fixed! Come on, think about how much this country has affected us.
In this article, we talked about our preparations before going to Iceland and our 8-day Icelandic route. Now it’s time to tell our South Iceland route.
As you know, South Iceland route is one of the two most popular routes for Iceland travelers. The other one is already Golden Circle route.
If you have limited time in Iceland and stay between Golden Circle and South Iceland route, we think Definitely more beautiful than South Iceland! Of course, tastes and colors are indisputable, that’s different.
We need to say something before we start the article; yes, the beauties, waterfalls, caves, sea arches and ocean views you will see in South Iceland and even throughout Iceland are incredible. But the most beautiful thing is the road itself.. The feeling of being on the go! It’s nice to go in the middle of nowhere for hours, turn the music up loud in the car, sing along to the songs in that nothingness, stand in front of the white horses you see on the side of the road, share your food and retreat to your cabin in the evening!
While writing this article, it’s nice to repeat those feelings we lived and wanted to say. Now we can start!
Information about South Iceland;
When you set off from Reykjavik, the first of South Iceland route> stop Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, last stop is Jökülsarlon glacier. The famous Vik town is in the middle of the South Iceland route.
We are talking about a 400km road from Reykjavik to Jökülsarlon, and if you ask us, South Iceland is a route that will be completed in 2 days.. The best is to visit the town of Vik on the first day, stay near the town of Vik in the evening and continue to Jökulsarlon on the second day.
If you can spare a day in South Iceland, the most beautiful part is to visit the part of the town of Vik.. It is also possible to go and return to Jökulsarlon in one day, but this time you may not understand anything from the places you have visited in a hurry.. The best thing to do is to visit this geography without haste.. There is no rush in Iceland’s nature.
We take this route in order Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, Seljavallalaug natural spa, Skogafoss waterfall , Solheimasandur plane crash, Dyrholaey(Sea Arch)sea arch, Black Sand beach, Vik town > and we toured the Jökulsarlon glaciers. All these destinations are very easy to reach, they are all either on the main road or very close to the main road.
‘Foss‘ actually means waterfall in Icelandic, but we still call them ‘Xfoss waterfall’. ‘ we keep talking about, now you’ll be excused.
We marked all these destinations on Google Map before we went. and after exiting Reykjavik we found our way smoothly by following Route 1. If you follow Route 1 without disturbing it, you will be returning to Iceland by drawing a circle from beginning to end, it is a very stable highway! Also Google Maps works fine, you don’t need to download any other apps if you have internet. We strongly recommend you to download Maps.me if you will not have internet.
South Iceland Accommodation Recommendations
One of the best experiences of South Iceland for us is the volcano that exploded in 2010, paralyzing Europe’s air traffic Staying in a cottage on the outskirts of Eyjafjallajokull!
After advancing to the town of Vik on the first day in South Iceland, when it got dark, we went back 1 hour just for this and we found the Hellisholar Cottages where we would sleep that night. Here’s the link!
Shacks called ‘Cottages‘ are very common in Iceland. Cabins are usually one-room or two-room and have a kitchen and a bathroom.. So you can shop at the market and have your dinner at the cottage.
We paid 180 Euros for 4 people for this two-room cottage.. It’s an average price when you consider Iceland’s accommodation prices, and to experience such a thing is priceless! We spent 4 of our 7 nights in Iceland in cottages like this.
If you’re looking for affordable accommodation around Vik, you can check out Puffin Hostel.
Where in South Iceland Yesek:
During our Iceland trip, we shopped at the Bonus market and prepared breakfast sandwiches for ourselves.. We had to have our lunch at the Hotel Skogafoss Bistro Bar right next to the Skogafoss waterfall. We say we had to because 2 Hamburgers + 2 beers cost about 50 Euros. Let’s not go without saying that the cheapest thing on the menu is the hamburger! On the first day, we were a little inexperienced, and on the second day, we bought enough food and snacks for the whole day from Kronan Supermarket in Vik and continued on our way..
Now we can come to the point!
Seljalandfoss
You take Route 1 from Reykjavik, it takes about 1 hour and you are in front of Seljalandfoss. Naturally, this was the first waterfall of our Iceland trip.. In fact, we, who had never seen an Icelandic waterfall(!) before, celebrated this event by drinking Jager at the head of the waterfall!
By the way, if you agree to get wet like crazy, you can pass behind the waterfall.. We preferred to take pictures by watching the scenery and to drink Jager with the scenery. it was very, very nice!
Bonus: After passing Seljalandfoss and continuing on Route 1 after 15 minutes, on the right at the side of the road you see Eyjafjallajokull Tourism Center you see. This is a view point where you can look at our famous volcano from afar and from a wide angle.. But one should not expect too much because when viewed from a distance, it is no different from any mountain.. You are likely to say that this is what caused the uproar by explosion.
Skogafoss
You pass Eyjafjallajokull Tourism Center and continue on Route 1, and after a short while you come across Skogafoss (waterfall) is coming out.
It looks amazing, it makes you feel amazing. In fact, this is one of the favorite places of photographers who come to Iceland.. Think about it, you are in Iceland, there is a waterfall 60 meters high in front of you, what is it!
We loved Seljalandfoss too, but our vote is for Skogafoss!
Now South! It came to the point we were most curious about in Iceland.
Solheimasandur Plane Wreck (Solheimasandur Plane Wreck)
In 1973, an American navy plane made a crash landing on Solheimasandur Beach and its wreckage is here today. ! In fact, we can not say exactly the wreckage because there were no deaths in the accident.. Only certain parts have been stolen by tourists over time!
It is forbidden to enter by car, as the entrance to this coastal part where the plane is located is fenced. It is not possible to enter even with a 4X4. After you land, you have to walk 3.5 km to the wreckage, 7 km if you include the turn.. Meanwhile there is nothing but nothing around you. Only a line-shaped sea appears on the horizon. When you reach the beach, you will see this wreck. Located in one of Iceland’s best-seeing areas of the Northern Lights. If you are crazy about going late and the northern lights come your way, you may encounter one of the most beautiful sights you have ever seen in your life.. Did we tell you, this cruel Northern Lights didn’t show us once on our 7-day Iceland trip!
Don’t come back without getting on top of the plane and taking a picture!
Dyrholaey
It’s a strange place again. This is a strange feeling that makes you feel as if you have walked to the end of the world and even come to its end.. We write this short because it is a place whose beauty cannot be understood without seeing it.. Let’s leave you with the photo.
You can think of this sea arch / peninsular near the town of Vik as a small peninsula on the edge of cliffs, formed by volcanic movements.
Even as it is. As if it’s not too beautiful, there is also a very beautiful lighthouse on the cliff.
When there is no wave in the ocean, they named it ‘Dyrholaey’ because the boats passed through the hole created by the cliff, because its literal translation means ‘door hole’!
We have unanimously included Dyrholaey in our Iceland Top 3 list, see how beautiful it is!
The only annoying thing we can remember about Dyrholaey is the drones that are constantly spinning overhead and doing ‘bbbzt’ ‘bbzzt’. How popular have these drones been since we’ve seen them?. Anyway.
Black Sand Beach
This beach, consisting of black sand just at the bottom of the town of Vik, has definitely taken its place in all articles about the 10 most interesting beaches in the world.
The beach, of course, was again the result of volcanic activity (surprised? no!) Volcanic rocks eroded over time and formed black sands. There are also incredible rocks and different formations in the ocean.
Photographers, nature lovers and tourists flock to see this beach.. E is very normal!
Only the day we went there was a cold and storm to death. We’ve never seen so many storms anywhere in Iceland. Make sure to save your thickest clothes for the day you visit this place.
Vik Town
The reason why this town, which has a local population of around 200 people, is visited by travelers of the southern route is simple, fill your stomach! In the geography we are talking about, you do not come across any cafes, restaurants and markets during hours.. The town of Vik acts as a liberated area.
Here you can get gas, do your grocery shopping at the Kronan supermarket, and continue on your way to the famous Vik Church.. Congratulations, you have toured Vik Town from start to finish!
Finally, if you have time and enough money, you can dine at Vikurskali. We ticked off maybe we could go, but the supermarket was more appealing.
The town of Vik was the last stop of our first day in South Iceland.. From here, we went back to the cabin where we would spend the night, in the direction we came from, on the road for 1 hour.. If you don’t want to spend the night on the outskirts of Eyjafjallajokull like us, you can also stay in Vik.
On our second day, we woke up early and set out to see the Jökulsarlon glaciers.
Jökulsarlón Glacier
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Jökulsarlón glaciers were actually formed by the melting of the huge Vatnajökull glacier just below it, and the fragments of the glaciers approaching Jökulsarlón lake.
About 2 hours from Vik to Jökulsarlón. you are driving through nothingness and suddenly you see pieces of glacier in a lake on your left!
Glaciers have started to break into pieces more and more and come closer to Jökulsarlon, especially in recent years, due to global warming.. We have decided that these Jökulsarlon glaciers are the only good thing that has happened on this ephemeral world because of global warming.. You really feel like you are in another universe.
If watching the glaciers and taking lots of photos is not enough, there are wheeled boats that go both on land and on water, you can tour the glacial lake with these vehicles.. It seemed pretty unnecessary to us (a blog that would die of honesty) so we didn’t do it.
Skaftafell National Park
We had never been interested in the glacial lake tour by wheel boat, the tour that we were interested in but could not do due to the seasonal conditions. it was an ice cave tour. Since we were in April, the glaciers were starting to melt, and they canceled the tour two days before our excursion as there was a possibility that the ice caves could collapse on us (kiss!).
Ice caves tour is a continuation of the huge Vatnajökul glacier. takes place in the Skaftafel National Park. Just have a jacket with you, the tour company provides all the remaining gear. We looked at the photo above and got very excited, but said, “There is one thing they know, we canceled it and continued on our way, I guess that’s the only thing left in us in Iceland.
Glacier walk tours are available in all forms. There is a season but it did not appeal to us very much after the cave option.. If you are going to Iceland between November and March, you can search for these tours on Google and find an agency according to your taste.
If you want more extreme activities, let us take you here.. (extremeiceland.is)
Jökulsarlón, we can say that it was our last stop in South Iceland. We were impressed by this geography, took lots of photos, had lots of fun and set off for North Iceland, where we will spend the next 4 days.. Not knowing what awaits us in the North!
Our North Iceland article will be on the blog soon.
Love everyone!
Give us our greetings to Iceland!
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