The Iceland South Coast route is the first leg of Route 1 heading east out of Reykjavík, and the one most people underestimate. It is about 370 km to Jökulsárlón, fully paved, and it packs more roadside sights per kilometre than anything else on the Ring Road. Give it two days minimum. Squeeze it into one and you will drive past most of it in bad light and remember none of it.
Reykjavík to Jökulsárlón is roughly five hours of moving driving. Nobody drives it without stopping. Almost every sight on this stretch sits within a few hundred metres of Route 1, which is exactly why this leg carries more traffic than the rest of the loop put together.
Rough times, no stops, summer conditions:
Speed limit is 90 km/h on paved rural road, 80 on gravel, 50 in towns, and it is camera-enforced. From Vík east you start hitting single-lane bridges. First car onto the bridge has priority, and you slow down well before it rather than racing for the gap.
Seljalandsfoss is the one you can walk behind. The path around the back is wet, slippery and open most of the year, though it closes in ice. Bring a waterproof shell, not an umbrella — the spray comes sideways. Parking is paid, a few euro, card machines at the barrier.
Walk five minutes north along the cliff to Gljúfrabúi, a waterfall hidden in a slot canyon. You wade a shallow stream to get in. Most of the coach crowd never bothers, so it is usually quiet.
Skógafoss is 25 minutes further east, 60 metres of water falling into a flat gravel bed you can walk right up to. There is a staircase up the right-hand side to a platform at the lip. Go up, look, come down. The trail continues for days into the highlands, and unless you are hiking Fimmvörðuháls you do not need more than the first viewpoint. Kvernufoss, a fifteen-minute walk from the folk museum car park next door, is the better-value stop if you want one waterfall to yourself.
Sólheimajökull is the closest glacier tongue to the road on this leg — a short signposted spur off Route 1, then a 15-minute walk from the car park to the ice edge. You can see it for free. You cannot walk on it safely without a guide, crampons and a rope, and the lagoon at the snout has drowned people who went too close for a photo. Guided walks here run around two to three hours and typically cost EUR 90–150; book ahead in summer rather than turning up. There is more on options and seasons on our activities page.
Dyrhólaey is a headland reached by road 218, about 5 km off Route 1. The lower car park gives you the arch and the black beach curving east; the upper one gives you the lighthouse and the long view over Mýrdalssandur. The access road is steep and rough in places, and it can close in high wind. Parts of the headland shut during the seabird nesting season in May and June — signs at the junction tell you what is open that day.
Reynisfjara is the black-sand beach with the basalt columns and the sea stacks offshore. It is also the single most dangerous tourist site in Iceland. The bay has no shelf — swells arrive from the open Atlantic and break as sneaker waves, one run of water travelling forty or fifty metres further up the sand than the twenty before it. People have been killed here. Every one of them was standing on wet sand with their back to the sea.
Rules that are not optional at Reynisfjara. Never turn your back on the water. Stay on dry sand, well above the highest wet line, and keep that line in view. Do not walk out to the stacks or into the cave mouth when the sea is running. Watch the wave-danger light system at the car park and check the forecast on safetravel.is before you go — on red days, look from the car park and leave. Sneaker waves are cold enough and strong enough that a swimmer cannot get back out.
The same applies on the beach below Dyrhólaey and at Diamond Beach later on. Park at the marked car park, use the paths, and keep children next to you rather than ahead of you.
Vík í Mýrdal is a village of a few hundred people with a fuel station, a supermarket, a pool and most of the beds on this coast. It sits at almost exactly the right distance for night one, roughly 190 km from Reykjavík, and it puts you 10 minutes from Reynisfjara for a sunrise or evening visit without the day-trip coaches. Book early — Vík fills months ahead in summer, and prices for a double run from around EUR 130 in shoulder season to EUR 250 and up in July. Our where to stay in Vík guide breaks down the options.
If Vík is full, the fallbacks are Hvolsvöllur and Hella to the west (adds 45–60 minutes to the next morning) or Kirkjubæjarklaustur to the east. For night two, Höfn works well if you are continuing round the loop, since it is an hour past Jökulsárlón and sets you up for the East Fjords.
East of Vík the landscape empties out. You cross Mýrdalssandur and later Skeiðarársandur, vast black outwash plains built by glacial floods. There is nothing between the settlements — fuel up in Vík and again in Kirkjubæjarklaustur or Höfn, and expect around EUR 2 per litre.
Kirkjubæjarklaustur is a lunch and fuel stop. Fjaðrárgljúfur, a canyon with a rim path, is a 15-minute detour just west of it; the access road is gravel and the site closes periodically to let the vegetation recover.
Skaftafell is the part of Vatnajökull National Park you reach from Route 1. Paid parking, a few euro, and the walk most people do is Svartifoss — basalt columns behind a narrow fall, about 1.5 hours return uphill. The flatter path to the Skaftafellsjökull glacier tongue takes about an hour return and is the easier option in bad weather.
Jökulsárlón is 45 minutes on. Icebergs calve off Breiðamerkurjökull, drift across the lagoon and wash out to sea, then strand on Diamond Beach on the ocean side of the bridge. Amphibious and zodiac boat tours run roughly May to October, usually EUR 50–110. If the main lagoon is crowded, Fjallsárlón, about 10 km west, is smaller and far calmer.
Wind is the thing that damages cars here, not ice. Gusts on the open sandur regularly bend car doors backwards on their hinges, and door damage is the most common claim in Iceland. Hold the door with both hands, park nose into the wind, and let passengers out on the sheltered side. Blowing sand and volcanic grit can strip paint across a whole flank in minutes — sand and ash protection is a real add-on worth taking for this coast, because standard collision cover does not include it. See our rental car notes for what each waiver actually covers.
Check road.is / umferdin.is for closures and vedur.is for wind and weather every morning before you drive. Sustained wind over about 20 m/s means stay put; Route 1 gets closed on this stretch when it is bad. From roughly November to April studded winter tyres are fitted by law, and daylight in December is four to five hours, so plan on two or three sights a day, not eight.
Route 1 itself is paved the whole way, so a 2WD is fine for this leg. The temptation is the F-roads inland — Þórsmörk and Landmannalaugar. Those legally require a 4x4, your insurance is void if you take a 2WD onto an F-road, and river crossings are never covered by any policy, on any vehicle. They are summer-only and they are a separate trip, not a detour.
Two days gets you Seljalandsfoss through Jökulsárlón with the main stops and a night in Vík. Three days lets you add a glacier walk or a lagoon boat and spend proper time at Skaftafell. One day gets you to Vík and back, and that is a fair trip on its own — do not try to reach Jökulsárlón and return in a day, that is 740 km.
If you are short on time, cut these first:
What not to cut: Reynisfjara, Skaftafell and Jökulsárlón. This leg is day one and two of the standard loop — see the full 7-day Ring Road itinerary for how it connects to the East Fjords and the north, or browse all guides for the rest of Route 1.
Two days minimum from Reykjavík to Jökulsárlón, sleeping in Vík. Three is better if you want a glacier walk at Sólheimajökull or a boat on the lagoon. A single day realistically gets you as far as Vík and back — Jökulsárlón and return in one day is 740 km of driving and not worth it.
Yes. Route 1 is paved the whole way, and every stop on this leg is on Route 1 or a short surfaced spur. You only need a 4x4 for the F-roads inland, such as Landmannalaugar or Þórsmörk. Taking a 2WD onto an F-road voids your insurance completely, and river crossings are not covered on any vehicle.
The bay is open to the North Atlantic with no shallow shelf, so waves arrive irregularly. Sneaker waves can run forty or fifty metres further up the sand than the previous set, and they have killed visitors. Stay on dry sand well above the wet line, never turn your back on the sea, and check the wave-danger forecast on safetravel.is before you go.
Vík for night one — it is about the right distance from Reykjavík and ten minutes from Reynisfjara. For night two, Kirkjubæjarklaustur if you want a short second morning, or Höfn if you are continuing round the Ring Road. Book months ahead for July and August; both villages are small and sell out.
Wind. Gusts on the open sandur east of Vík rip car doors off their hinges, and blowing sand and ash can strip paint in minutes. Neither is covered by standard collision cover, so sand and ash protection is worth adding. Hold doors with both hands and park facing into the wind.
Doable and often spectacular, but slower. Studded winter tyres are fitted by law from roughly November to April, daylight in December is four to five hours, and Route 1 gets closed on the sandur in storms. Check road.is and vedur.is every morning, plan two or three stops a day, and never drive into a closure.