Visit Iceland describes the south coast as waterfalls, glaciers, and black sand beaches, with Europe’s biggest glacier and hiking country behind them. Its south-coast article gives a distance of about 480 kilometers from Þorlákshöfn to Höfn, one to seven days, combinable with the Golden Circle and the Ring Road, workable all year and better for hiking in summer, and not requiring four-wheel-drive for the coastal road itself.
Water in several forms
The article says tours from Reykjavík run from about 12 hours to three days if you are not driving. It names Skógafoss, Seljalandsfoss, and Gljúfrabúi as waterfalls close to the Ring Road. It says boat and kayak trips go among icebergs at Fjallsárlón and Jökulsárlón. Walking behind a waterfall, a glacier hike, or an ice cave is something operators offer. It is not a casual step off the gravel in ordinary shoes. The safety article is blunt about Reynisfjara, the black sand beach by Vík: powerful sneaker waves and currents have killed visitors. The same warning covers Kirkjufellsfjara at Dyrhólaey and, on another coast, Djúpalónssandur. Rails and signs are there because the hazard is not obvious in a photo.
Vatnajökull
Vatnajökull National Park was established in 2008. Visit Iceland says it includes the whole of Europe’s largest glacier and the older park areas at Skaftafell in the southwest and Jökulsárgljúfur in the north, and that the park covers 13 percent of Iceland. The south side has outlet glaciers, Skaftafell, and Hvannadalshnjúkur, which the practical-information page lists as the country’s highest point at 2,110 meters. Jökulsárlón and Fjallsárlón are inside the park and are reached from Route 1 between Skaftafell and Höfn. The article says boat tours run on both lagoons and that booking ahead is advised. It also says so much water is stored in the glacier that the river Ölfusá, which it calls Iceland’s greatest flow, would need over 200 years to carry that volume to the sea. That is a scale sentence from the park article, not a claim you can check with a bucket.
Landmannalaugar is named as a hiking area near the south coast. It is highland country, not a pull-off on Route 1. Whether the road in is open, and what vehicle it needs, belongs on the highlands page and on umferdin.is the morning you go.
Food and farms, because the south grows things
Visit Iceland’s south regional text says geothermal heat in the southwest, especially around the Golden Circle, supports greenhouses, and that the south has the largest share of the country’s greenhouse area. It names langoustine, local vegetables, and seafood as culinary specialties, and craft beer. From Reykjavík it says 30 to 40 minutes to the west side of South Iceland and the Golden Circle, and from Keflavík about 30 minutes to road 427, the South Coast Way. Vík is described as a village between a glacier and the Atlantic that grew with tourism. None of this is a restaurant ranking.
Beds along this coast fill in summer. The Ring Road article says so specifically for the stretch from Selfoss to Höfn. A one-day dash from Reykjavík can see a waterfall and turn back. It cannot honestly include Höfn. That difference is the whole point of the trip-length page.
Sources
- Visit Iceland, The South Coast
- Visit Iceland, Vatnajökull National Park
- Visit Iceland, The Ring Road
- Visit Iceland, Safe travel
- Visit Iceland, South Iceland
- Visit Iceland, Practical information