Our second full day in Iceland was our longest. We did a small group tour of Southern Iceland that took us to waterfalls, beaches and overlooks. We were picked up two blocks from our hotel and drove about an hour and a half east to start our day at the Skogafoss waterfall. The waterfall was beautiful and well worth its spot on my Iceland bucket list.
My rain boots were a little bit unnecessary, but I wasn’t sure what to expect and when we left Reykjavik for the day. I expected more clouds and rain but we were all thrilled to see the sun. As far as the waterfalls go, if it isn’t raining and if you don’t get too close you’ll be fine without boots or other rain gear.
After Skogafoss we headed on our way and our guide told us all about the Eyjafjallajökull Farm that was almost destroyed by volcano ash and had to rebuild. It was one of the largest farms and an interesting story but not much to see. After that, we were off to the Sólheimajökull Glacier, a sliding glacier. It was covered in ash from volcano eruptions and would’ve been even cooler if it wasn’t mostly tucked into the mountains.
Our next stop was the Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach, another bucket list stop. It was cooler than I could’ve imagined, especially because of the natural rock formations that created caves on the beach. I’m not a big Game of Thrones fan but apparently they filmed on that beach and I can see how it made sense from the one or two clips I’ve seen. The beach is incredibly dangerous and there are a million warning signs for the currents in the water. I didn’t see any rules or regulations anywhere in Iceland, except at that beach so that should give you an idea of just how dangerous it can be. This time I was grateful for the boots because they did a great job of keeping the sand out of my feet.
By the time we got to our next stop, my mom and brother were rightfully exhausted from the sightseeing. My dad, Max and I kept going though and found ourselves at the Dyrhólaey Overlook. The views of the ocean were amazing and completely different from anything I’d seen before. It was worth the short trip up the hill.
Last but not least was the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall. There’s a fable of a treasure chest being hidden behind the falls and you could get a lot closer to Seljalandsfoss than you could to Skogafoss, but we didn’t want to get soaked so we just took a few pictures before heading into the gift shop. The guy working there loves US 80’s music and got along very well with my mom.
It’s a long but amazing day and the ride was so smooth. I normally get really carsick especially in hills but Iceland was so flat I had no problems at all, which was a nice change for me. The small bus worked out pretty well for us for the South Coast because we didn’t really need or want any more time than the guide gave us at each stop and it hit all the major spots we wanted to see. I’d definitely do the small group over a large bus, but I don’t think a private tour is necessary. You can do it yourself with a rental car (which was our original plan) but there’s so much history that the guides give you that you wouldn’t get on your own. Our guide was really great all-around; well-informed, easy to understand, and fit as much as he could into our day trip.
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