Day 4: Selfoss to Vik- Chasing Waterfalls

Today we made the short trek from Selfoss to Vik (only 1.5 hours apart) but we made four stops along the way- two more waterfalls, an old US navy plane crash site and Vik's famous black beach. The weather was amazing (the warmest yet- a sizzling 16.5 degrees) which made us very happy campers.

After leaving Selfoss and getting back on Route 1 we noticed TONS of icelandic horses on the nearby farms, so we waited until we drove past a farm where there were some horses near the fence beside the road to stop and take photos. They ended up being very friendly and came right up to us and let us pet them!

We drove for about 45 minutes before spotting the first waterfall,

Seljalandsfoss, right off of Route 1. The best part about the 65m fall was that it had a path that you could take to walk around the entire waterfall which made for some great photos from every angle.

On our way to the next waterfall Skogafoss, we made a quick stop at the Eyjafjallajokull (say that 5 times fast) volcano information center and learned that it is a volcano completely covered by an ice cap that last erupted in 2010. It isn't very obvious in the photo, but it is back to the right behind the farmland! Skogafoss ended up being our favourite waterfall of the trip by FAR- it was 62m high, 15m wide and we were able to climb up right beside it (the rainbows were a nice touch too).

A few km past Skogafoss is where we parked to go see the Solheimasandur plane crash- there are no signs marking where it is and a lot of people end up missing it, but as long as you start watching for cars parked on the side of the road about 10 minutes east of Skogafoss you should be able to find it! Once parked, you will walk about 45 minutes straight down the beach until you see the plane crash to your left.

The last stop before getting to Vik was Dyrholaey nature reserve, which allowed us to climb up the cliffs of the black sand beach and watch the massive waves crash in on the rocks. We easily could have watched this for hours and the views were incredible.

The drive from Dyrholaey to Vik was one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced- by far the best and most scenic drive yet. I didn't think it could get any better until we got into Vik where I instantly fell in love with the tiny town built at the base of massive mountains! We are staying at Hotel Katla tonight which is just a few miles east of Vik, and then we'll be driving from here to Hofn tomorrow!