Viktória is the “new girl” – here at What’s On and in Iceland. She comes from Hungary, studies Viking Stuff at the University and loves photography, so we’re sending her on ALL the tours to get a fresh perspective on what they’re like. As the old Icelandic saying goes “perceptive is the eye of the visitor.”
Photos by Á Viktória Jávorszky.
The south coast of Iceland is the area of Iceland that’s most popular with tourists. It’s easy to see why, some of Iceland’s most spectacular natural wonders are there and the landscape is incredibly diverse, ranging from verdant farmland to black sand beaches and majestic white glaciers. A tour of the south coast covers a sizable part of the Icelandic coastline so the trip is a long one.
- See also: 10 Things to Do in and Around Selfoss
The Early Bird Gets to See the South Coast of Iceland!
The morning of our tour of the south coast was an early one for me and my fellow explorers. We got picked up at our respective hotels around 8 in the morning and soon took off in a big bus. We stopped briefly at Hveragerði to stretch our legs but our first real stop at Skógafoss waterfall. We soon learned that it will soak you to the bone if you get too close to it. Despite the wet clothes, I’d recommend it!
The Road Is Long
We had another, brief stop at a restaurant by Skaftafell, overlooking Vatnajökull, where we had lunch and some of us climbed a small hill on the other side of the road. The view of Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier, was sensational and it was also a great spot to experience Iceland in all its autumnal glory and take in all the beautiful colours. After the brief walk we got back into the bus and drove for a few more hours (what seemed like an eternity, Iceland is a lot bigger than you might think despite a small population).
The Tips of the Icebergs
Jökulsárlón is definitely worth the drive, though, as we saw as soon as we arrived. We lined up and got on the boats in small groups. It took three boats to fit us all and the boats went to sail on the lake at ten-minute intervals, giving each boat room to enjoy the wonders of the lagoon. This turned out to be necessary as the engines of said boats are very loud. With only us on the water, however, the serenity of the place was incomparable. The blue ice floating in the water, the sun shining, along with some seals peeking out to see who dares disrupt their rest was a beautiful experience. Our guide on the boat was a lot of fun, we could get our photo taken holding a huge chunk of ice (brrr, cold!) and afterwards we could even try eating some of the ice to see how it tasted.
After the glacial lagoon we went to the other side of the road, to the beach where there were some more ice chunks floating around or lying in the beach melting. The area has the same black sand beaches that Vík is famous for as well as tiny icebergs which made for majestic photos.
The Maneating Black Reynisfjara Beach
Our next stop was at Vík where we had dinner in an amazing tiny restaurant. The only downside was that we had to wait in a very long line before we could order. They made up for it by bringing our food out almost as soon as we had ordered so after we hastily ate our dinner we had time to walk around on the infamous black sand beach called Reynisfjara. The beach is strikingly beautiful, with the imposing Reynisdrangar sticking out of the water, but it’s also extremely dangerous, as people can be (and have been) swept out to sea by the strong undercurrent if they venture too close to the water. It was already getting dark so the view was getting a bit dimmed but we still enjoyed every minute of being there. You might notice I’m repeating myself a little bit but so far every part of Iceland has been a wonder in itself.
A Walk Behind a Waterfall
The last stop on our trip around the south coast was at Seljalandsfoss, late in the evening. Everyone had forgotten about it or assumed we would skip it due to lack of time, but it turns out our driver and tour guide, Ásgeir and Helga planned this all along. As it happens, Seljalandsfoss is the only waterfall in Iceland that’s lit during the night with a faint blue light. It’s not enough light for photography but just enough for a scary walk behind the waterfall.
After Seljalandsfoss we were on our way back to Reykjavík. We would have stopped to watch the northern lights, but unfortunately the night was too cloudy for us to see anything. The tour took all day, and I was exhausted afterwards, but our guides made sure that we had fun and they always kept a watchful eye on us, trying to solve all our problems that could come up throughout the day. A very long – but great – trip to the south coast, and really fun, too, if you do not mind early pick-ups and late drop offs.
