Visit South Iceland: adventures you cannot miss

Iceland is an amazing place where I lived for half a year. So I prepared a little guide on what adventures and crucial to your vacation. Let’s start with the south. Later on, I might do some of the beaten path trips, along with Reykjavik adventures and hikes.

Adventures between volcanos

South of Iceland looks very different from the north, where the fjords are more similar to Norway scenery. Nature is full of vulcanos and new nature that always comes around after a volcano erupts.

Golden circle

Widely popular get-away from Reykjavik. The golden circle has four attractions that are doable in one day. First: you can go to a volcano that died out. This place is so popular, that even Icelandic popular bands made a music video down there. But to be completely honest – it is still just a cave. Unless you are a volcano fan.

Next, you can head to Þingvellir national park, where is a bridge between continents and one of the clearest water with very high visibility. People are even diving there, but if you don’t like 8-degree water, maybe it is not for you.

Another stop on your golden circle day should be Stokkur, which is Geysir (the one where my roommate got burnt). It is very easy to observe, it erupts more or less every 10 minutes, so it is just about waiting around. This place is especially beautiful in winter, where you can spot, where the soil is hot and where it isn’t. There is also a hiking path, which is quite popular especially if you want to know something more about geothermal energy.

Last but not least, visit Godafoss. It is one of the most massive waterfalls in Iceland and maybe in Europe as well. The good thing about it is that you can come very close to it. There is a path for that. Just don’t try to bathe in it, it is very dangerous. You can observe it both from the distance and from close, so it is only up to you how wet do you want to be.

Southern waterfalls and wild nature

As I mentioned before. When you visit Iceland, south is definitely not to miss destination. There is a lot of Waterfalls. The interesting ones are called Selvjanasfoss – and Skógafoss.

Seljanasfoss is the one where you can go behind the water stream and basically walk about the waterfall. Yes, it was in Justin Bieber music video. But what can you do? More importantly, there is another waterfall right next to it. Well, 50 meters from that place. It is hidden in the cave and there are not too many people. The other waterfall is called Gljúfrabúi and it marked where it is, just not a lot of tourists wants to visit it.

Skógafoss is both a village and waterfall perhaps 30 km from Seljanasfoss. It is said to be one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Iceland. Besides that, you can also see that in the village there are the houses with the grass on the roof that probably everyone saw by now.

Sanctuaries

This part of South Iceland is also surrounded by other kinds of beautiful nature. There is Dyrhólaey – rock coast on the south of Iceland. You can find here the bird sanctuary so it is possible to see puffins here. They are still not too friendly with humans, so take a good camera to take pictures of them.

When mentioning this coast there is a very famous black beach. You can find it by name Reynisfjara. It is the beach with weird cubic shapes caves around. It is very popular for walking around, although I have to say. Whatever you do, don’t step into the water here, the underground streams are very dangerous and cost lives.

If you are finding accommodation to go for the next adventure, go to Vík. It is the biggest town in South and it is classic northern architecture. It is like a sanctuary for tourist. So it is great for refreshing, withdraw money and find a good restaurant here.

South Iceland hikes

When it comes to real wilderness and hiking between mountains and volcanos, there is Langmannalaugar and Thorsmork. Both of them are surreally beautiful and you will be surprised how it looks over there. It is entirely possible to spend a holiday just camping and hiking in these places. They are definitely not to miss when visiting south Iceland.

Both of those places have basic accommodation place where you can be, along with bathing. Langmannalaugar has even natural hot springs that are amazing after a long hike. The hikes both on Thorsmork and Langmannalaugar are described very carefully, so you know where to go and what difficulty it is, also how long it will approximately take.

Last recommendation for this post: come here at summer, the roads are impossible to get through from October.