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March 14, 2023

Iceland – Day 2 – South Coast

Iceland Day 2

On our second day in Iceland, we woke up ready to start exploring the island! Our plan for our 10 day trip was to drive around the entire island, one of the peninsulas, and return to the capital city before our flight back home. First up was the Iceland south coast, which is well known for it’s waterfalls and amazing views!

The weather on day two was cloudy, but still on the warmer side with a high around 50 degrees. It threatened to rain on us most of the day, however the rain stayed away! We were still thankful for our waterproof gear though because walking behind waterfalls was like getting caught in a rain storm! This first day was jam packed with sights to see, with short drives between each spot and plenty to explore! Our first stop was at a smaller waterfall called Urriðafoss. It was the perfect spot to stretch our legs between the city and the first big waterfall we were going to!

Icelandic Waterfalls

Next up was Seljalandsfoss, which is a large waterfall that you can walk behind! It was magical getting to walk behind the waterfall and see the power of the water as it fell over the cliff. We continued to explore this area and saw a second waterfall tucked away in the rocks. I didn’t get any photos of that one with my camera though, because we got soaking wet just looking at it! On the way back to the car, we saw a little shop to buy sandwiches and drinks at. Even though it felt like we had just started our day, it was already lunch time! We had delicious sandwiches and I tried Appelsín for the first time. It’s an orange pop that is now one of my favorites!

Now that we had eaten lunch, we were ready for the biggest waterfall I have ever seen! Skógafoss is one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland! I had seen so many photos of this waterfall, but the photos do not do it justice. It is massive and so beautiful! We walked as close as we could before hitting the water’s edge. Then, we walked up nearly 500 steps to the top of the waterfall for a different view. The view was definitely worth all those stairs!

The next waterfall was a lesser known one called Kvernufoss. We had to walk across farm land and through a valley to see this waterfall. I was worried it was going to be a long hike, and my camera battery was running low. However, it was quick and worth it to see another amazing waterfall! This one was so different than the others we saw that day because it was in it’s own valley. There was no one else around and it was very quiet besides the roar of the waterfall.

Overlook and Lighthouse

We made a quick stop at our lodging to charge the camera battery and then we backtracked to see a lighthouse! I had been looking forward to this overlook ever since I saw a photo of it online. Dyrhólaey is up on cliff and it over looks black beaches on either side. There is a lighthouse at the top and a rock formation in the ocean just off the cliff. The dreary clouds had cleared by this point of the day. Unfortunately, we missed the sunshine when we were charging the camera battery, but we still got blue skies and the sunset behind the clouds. The overlook was breathtaking, and the wind was insane! Walking out toward the lighthouse, the wind nearly pushed you over!

We ended the evening with a short hike around the area until it was dark. Then we were off to the grocery store for dinner supplies! We were lucky enough to have a kitchen most nights so we could cook our dinner and get food ready for the next day.