Part 2 Itinerary: The Road to Vik

Day 3: Driving to Vik 

This day can be summed up as the day we proved "waterproof" is not necessarily waterproof.

Seljalandsfoss

Don't forget to bring waterproof gear for your cameras. It's essentially raining behind the waterfall, so you and your camera will get wet walking behind it.

Gljúfrabúi

Don't just leave after seeing Seljalandsfoss! Follow the sign for Gljúfrabúi waterfall, which is only a few minutes walk away from Seljalandsfoss. When you're visiting Gljúfrabúi, again, waterproof everything as much as possible. Waterproof shoes or high hiking boots is also a good idea as you'll have to step on the rocks and into a bit of water. Be careful though! The rocks are incredibly slippery.

But once you're inside...

On the way to Skogafoss

You'll pass by cool places while driving like:

And this:

Skogafoss

Come here early in the morning to avoid crowds of tourists. There's also a 500+ step hike up to the top of the waterfall. Others may disagree, but I personally think the view from below is much more interesting.

Sólheimasandur plane wreck

So I've wanted to go to Iceland since 2010 — back when people gave me a funny look and asked me why I wanted to go to such a "random place" when I told them. This meant in the span of those 7 years, I looked at a lot of photos, read a lot of blogs, and planned way too much in advance.

When I looked up the walk to the Sólheimasandur plane wreck back in 2014, 2015, and up to early 2016, most blogs said it was a 15 minute walk one way. That's not too bad, I thought.

I made a grave error by not checking more recent articles.

We pulled into the parking lot. At this point, the weather started to get a bit windy, foggy, and misty. But I thought 15 minutes there and back and we'll be back in the car and headed to Vik in no time.

So we walked and walked and walked. 15 minutes...30 minutes...still no plane in sight. It was just endless views of black sand.

The wind was now up to over 20 mph and mist was blowing at us full speed. We were getting cold and soaked and wondered if we were following the right trail markers.

But then we saw other people headed back to the parking lot, and they told us that we were almost there.

After a total of a 45 minute walk from the parking lot, we made it!

But then we had to walk all the way back — with no shelter from 30 mph wind constantly blowing mist at us. By the time we made it back to our car, we looked like we had just walked out of the shower with our clothes on.

Needless to say, that one-way-15-turned-45-minute-walk put us incredibly behind schedule.

Dyrhólaey Arch Attempt #1

It was getting fairly dark after Solheimsandur. Given the increasing wind speed, D suggested that we visit Dyrhólaey and Reynisfjara Beach the next day. I, however, stubbornly believed we could still do it all in one day.

I was wrong.

We drove on a windy uphill road with numerous potholes to the top of some cliffs. So here we were on a cliff in a car shaking from 30+ mph winds, with rainy weather, and with barely any sunlight left. What could go wrong?

I tried opening the door a crack, and the wind flung it open. Papers, plastic bags, waterproof camera covers flew everywhere.

D braved the wind to retrieve as many of these as he could. We agreed to call it an early night and cautiously drove back down, heading to our hotel in Vik.

Additional Places to Visit

If you have more time, more daylight, or fortunate weather, consider taking a dip in Seljavallalaug, an outdoor pool that gets its water from a natural hot spring.

Consider taking a ferry to Vestmannaeyjar to go hiking and see the puffins if you're traveling in Iceland during late spring or during the summer.

If you're planning on visiting Vik and beyond, check out "Part 3: Vik to Skaftafell in One Day" here!