South Coast of Iceland Road Trip: Map & 5-Day Itinerary

Updated September 2026 · By Jón Heiðar Ragnheiðarson, Reykjavík

South Coast of Iceland map

Tap any pin to see what’s there and read my article about it. Use the day buttons to zoom in on one day of the plan. The blue line is the Ring Road, the numbered pins are where you sleep, and the green pins are detours worth making if you have the time.

A relaxed 5-day South Coast itinerary

This goes east from Reykjavík to Höfn and back. The distances are rough and don’t count detours. Each day has a link that opens the route in Google Maps, which is handy on your phone in the car.

Day 1: Reykjavík to Hella

Reykjavík → Hella · about 95 km · 1.5 hours of driving

Sleep in, have breakfast, and leave Reykjavík mid-morning. There’s no rush today.

Half an hour out of town, stop at the Lava Tunnel (Raufarhólshellir), a lava tube you walk through with a guide. Then drive down the hill to Hveragerði, a small town built on hot ground, for lunch. If you have legs for it, walk up the Reykjadalur valley to a warm river you can bathe in. It’s about an hour each way and costs nothing. If you’d rather fly than walk, the Mega Zipline crosses the canyon right in town.

Carry on to Hella for the night. In the evening, drive 15 minutes to Hvolsvöllur for Viking Story Night at Mr. Iceland, a farm where Valdimar tells the old stories by candlelight. When people ask me what to do on an evening in South Iceland that has nothing to do with the northern lights, this is my answer. Midgard also runs highland tours from Hvolsvöllur, and near Hella you can visit man-made caves that may be older than the settlement of Iceland.

Several of these partners give my newsletter readers a discount.

Sleep: Hella or Hvolsvöllur. I like Landhotel, just outside Hella; it’s a partner, and newsletter readers get a discount.

Show day 1 on the mapOpen day 1 in Google Maps

Day 2: Waterfalls and black sand

Hella → Vík · about 100 km · 1.5 hours of driving

A short driving day on purpose. This is the busiest part of the South Coast, and you’ll want time at each stop.

• Seljalandsfoss and Gljúfrabúi: walk behind the first, then walk five minutes to the second and step into the gorge. Bring a rain jacket; you’ll need it.
• Skógafoss: climb the steps on the right for the view. Then walk ten minutes to Kvernufoss, which most people miss.
• Sólheimajökull: a glacier tongue a short drive off the Ring Road. Walk up to look at it, but only step onto the ice with a certified guide. Arctic Adventures run glacier walks here, and my readers get a discount.
• The plane wreck on Sólheimasandur: an old DC-3 on the black sand. The walk out is long and flat, about 4 km each way. Icelandic Mountain Guides take you out on an ATV instead.
• Dyrhólaey: cliffs, a sea arch and a lighthouse, with puffins in early summer.
• Reynisfjara: black sand, basalt columns and the Reynisdrangar sea stacks.

End the day in Vík. See real lava poured indoors at the Lava Show (full disclosure: my day job is sales and marketing manager there). If the weather is calm, paraglide over the black beach with True Adventure, who also run a zipline in the village. Katlatrack, a local family company, take you into ice caves under the Katla glacier. All three have reader discounts in my newsletter.

Sleep: Vík. It fills up in summer, so book early.

Show day 2 on the mapOpen day 2 in Google Maps

Day 3: Lava, a canyon and the glacier

Vík → Skaftafell · about 140 km · 2 hours of driving

East of Vík the road crosses Mýrdalssandur, a wide black plain that floods when the Katla volcano erupts under its glacier. Halfway across, the headland of Hjörleifshöfði has a cave you may know from Star Wars and a story from the first years of settlement.

Then comes Eldhraun, lava from the Laki eruption of 1783, covered in thick moss. Look at it from the paths; the moss takes decades to grow back where people walk on it. Take the short turn to Fjaðrárgljúfur, a canyon more than 100 metres deep, and walk the path along the rim. Stay behind the ropes.

Fill up with fuel and groceries in Kirkjubæjarklaustur, as there is little else until Skaftafell. If you’d rather split the day, Klaustur is a quiet place to sleep, and the Systrafoss waterfall is a short walk from the village. After Klaustur the road crosses the flat sands under Vatnajökull, with the mountain Lómagnúpur standing on its own.

At Skaftafell, walk up to Svartifoss, the waterfall framed by black basalt columns. It’s about an hour and a half there and back. If you want to stand on a glacier, go with a certified guide and never on your own. Local Guide of Vatnajökull, a family company from the area, give my readers a discount with the code STUCK. The fit and the brave can climb Hvannadalshnjúkur, Iceland’s highest peak, from the trailhead just east of here. It’s a long day, and a guided one.

Sleep: Skaftafell or nearby. There aren’t many places to stay here, so book early.

Show day 3 on the mapOpen day 3 in Google Maps

Day 4: The glacier lagoons

Skaftafell → Höfn · about 125 km · 2 hours of driving

If you like a walk, start with Múlagljúfur, a green canyon with waterfalls, about an hour uphill from the road. Then stop at Fjallsárlón, the smaller and quieter glacier lagoon, where you can take a boat among the ice.

Then Jökulsárlón. Icebergs break off the glacier, float around the lagoon, and drift out under the bridge to the sea. Seals often swim among them. Across the road is Diamond Beach, where chunks of ice wash up on black sand. The same warning applies as at Reynisfjara: watch the waves. In summer there are boat tours on the lagoon. From roughly November to March, blue ice caves open in the glacier, and those you visit with a guide only.

End the day in Höfn, a working fishing town. It’s known for langoustine, so book a table for dinner. If there’s light left, drive 15 minutes east to Stokksnes, where black dunes sit under the jagged Vestrahorn mountain.

Sleep: Höfn. For comfort, there’s Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon, closer to the ice, and Fosshotel Vatnajökull, just outside Höfn. Rooms are few in this corner of Iceland, so book early; here is a wider search for South Iceland.

Show day 4 on the mapOpen day 4 in Google Maps

Day 5: Back to Reykjavík

Höfn → Reykjavík · about 460 km · 6 hours or more

I’ll be honest: this is the one long day. The good news is that you drive past everything again, in a different light. Stop for lunch in Vík, and pick up anything you missed on the way out, like Kvernufoss or the plane wreck.

Better still, make it a six-day trip and sleep a night in Vík or Hella on the way back. Whatever you do, don’t fly out the same day you drive back from Höfn. In winter, wind and snow can close the road for hours.

If you have more time, don’t turn back at all. Höfn is where the East Fjords begin, and my Ring Road plan carries on from here all the way around the country.

Sleep: Reykjavík, or Vík or Hella if you take the extra day.

Show day 5 on the mapOpen day 5 in Google Maps

Only have two or three days?

• Two days: Reykjavík to Vík on day 1, with Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, Dyrhólaey and Reynisfjara. On day 2, walk on Sólheimajökull with a guide in the morning and drive back to Reykjavík. You’ll miss Jökulsárlón, and that’s fine. Leave it for a longer trip.
• Three days: Reykjavík to Vík on day 1. Vík to Jökulsárlón on day 2, sleeping near the lagoon. Day 3 is a long drive back to Reykjavík, about 5 hours.
• One day: go as far as Vík and back. That’s plenty for one day. If you’d rather not drive, the South Coast Classic tour with Reykjavik Sightseeing does exactly this, and my readers get a discount.

Short on time and don’t want to drive? See my list of day tours I’d book myself, and my tip for making the most of a short vacation in Iceland.

Before you leave Reykjavík

Most people spend a night or two in Reykjavík before or after the South Coast. A few things my partners do well, all with reader discounts in my newsletter:

• The Lava Show, real lava poured indoors, in Reykjavík as well as Vík.
• FlyOver Iceland, a ride over the country on a big screen.
• Whales of Iceland, life-size models of the whales in our waters.
• Elding, whale watching and northern lights by boat from the old harbour.
• The Reykjavik Food Walk, a good first taste of Icelandic food.
• Your Friend in Reykjavik, walking tours with locals.
• Litli Barinn, for a drink and a good meal.
• Hvammsvík Hot Springs by the sea, under an hour from town, or the Sky Lagoon in the city.

More in my Reykjavík guide and my arrival guide for Keflavík. And pack light: you can rent outdoor clothes with Iceland Cover instead of carrying them from home.

Car or camper? Reader discounts that anyone can use

A car with guesthouses is the comfortable choice, and in spring, autumn and winter it’s the only sensible one. A camper van saves on accommodation in summer, but you must sleep at campsites; wild camping in a camper is not allowed. These discounts are open to everyone. Book through the link to get the saving:

Konvin cars and campers give my newsletter subscribers a discount too. The code comes free with the Stuck in Iceland newsletter, along with codes for glacier walks, ice caves, the Lava Show, hot springs and more.

Before you book, read my notes on the mistakes people make renting a car and renting a camper van. Insurance terms differ between companies and change, so read them carefully and ask the company directly if anything is unclear. The South Coast has a lot of sand and gravel blowing about in strong wind, so ask what their cover says about that.

Hot springs near the South Coast

• Reykjavík: the Sky Lagoon, or Hvammsvík by the sea.
• Day 1: the Reykjadalur hot river above Hveragerði, free and an hour’s walk up.
• Day 1 detour: the Secret Lagoon in Flúðir or Laugarás Lagoon, about 40 minutes north of the Ring Road at Selfoss.
• Every town: the local swimming pool. Hella, Hvolsvöllur, Vík, Klaustur and Höfn all have one, with hot tubs, for a fraction of the price of a lagoon.

For every pool in the country, see my complete hot spring guide.

Driving the South Coast: what I tell my friends

• Never stop on the road for a photo, however good the view. Use the pull-outs and car parks. This is the most common cause of accidents on the South Coast.
• Speed limits: 90 km/h on paved roads, 80 on gravel, and 50 or lower in towns. There are speed cameras, and the fines are steep.
• Single-lane bridges are marked Einbreið brú. Slow down; whoever reaches the bridge first goes first. There are several east of Kirkjubæjarklaustur.
• Wind: the sands east of Vík and under Öræfajökull are known for strong gusts, sometimes carrying sand. Park facing into the wind and hold the car door with both hands.
• Fuel: fill up when you’re down to half a tank. The long gaps are between Kirkjubæjarklaustur and Skaftafell, and between Skaftafell and Höfn. Electric cars are fine; there are chargers along the way.
• Every morning, check umferdin.is for road conditions, vedur.is for the weather and safetravel.is for alerts. In an emergency, call 112.
• Glaciers and ice caves: only with a certified guide. They look solid and they are not.

More in my safety tips and my list of the apps worth having on your phone.

The South Coast in winter

From October to April the South Coast is a different trip, and for many people a better one. The south is where Iceland’s winter weather is usually kindest, the ice caves under Vatnajökull and Katla are open, and on a clear night the northern lights come out over the glacier lagoon.

• Rent a 4×4 with proper winter tyres.
• In December you get four to five hours of daylight. Drive only in daylight, and plan no more than two or three hours of driving a day.
• Build in a spare day, and don’t book non-refundable nights back to back. Storms can close the road for a day.
• Check umferdin.is and vedur.is every morning, and be ready to stay put.

See my guide to Iceland in winter.

South Coast FAQ

Before you go

• My Ring Road plan, if you want to keep going around Iceland
• My Golden Circle itinerary, which fits well before day 1
• How to stay safe in Iceland
• How to dress for Iceland
• How to pay for things in Iceland

Written by Jón Heiðar Ragnheiðarson, editor of Stuck in Iceland. I have written about travel in Iceland since 2012. If something in this guide has changed on the road, let me know, and I’ll fix it.