March 20, 2025

Car Hire Iceland

Iceland – south coast road trip, by hire car.

This road trip can easily be undertaken in a day and is presented from the position of covering it in your hired car, as we covered in our ‘Golden Circle adventure’ your hours of daylight at this time of year will be limited.  We completed the last leg of our journey from Selfoss to Reykjavik, for this tour your first leg is Reykjavik to Selfoss. A light dusting of snow had appeared overnight, which had become a little heavy over the tops, there is nothing to fear though, the Icelandic know how to deal with inclement weather, the snow ploughs had already been out, and the 4×4 rental car with studded winter tyres glided across the road. After an hour or so you will find yourself passing through Selfoss, you can learn more about this southern scenic Icelandic town on our previous entry.

A further 50 Km or so down route 1 will see you arriving in the town of Hringvegur, it is a small town with a population of just 1000 people, and you will find many amenities in the town. We can recommend a visit to the Lava Museum, if you are looking to complete this trip your time spent there will need to be brief. It will then be a brief drive to the first of our stop off point.

 Seljalanddfoss Waterfall  

This is another example of the force of nature at work in Iceland, the water falls some 60 meters over the cliff, where the mist permeates when it hits the water, you will need to choose your time wisely for what is a perfect photo opportunity, as the area surrounding the bottom of the waterfall can be crowded. At the time of our visit (December 2024) the area at the side of the waterfall was roped off for safety concerns, it is easy to see why. In summer visitors can walk the path that circles around underneath the waterfall, I must say we were somewhat disappointed this was not an option on our trip, there are both pros and cons of summer vs winter trips, and at the end of the day people’s safety should be of the paramount importance.

There is a delightful walk to the right hand side of the falls, where you will find a fairly sizeable cave which legend has it was used for meetings and the like by the ancient Icelandic’s, further along the path you will be able to gain a view of a smaller waterfall (Gljufrabui), you cannot access this waterfall it is set back from the path and can be viewed through where the 2 crags meet forming a narrow canyon, if you are lucky you will catch a rainbow, mesmerising is probably the most fitting word. It is then back to the car park, where you will find public toilets and a nice café selling warm drinks and traditional food, there are several benches where you can sit, enjoy your refreshments and admire the views, as we have highlighted previously, be sure to pay your parking fee prior to leaving to avoid any fines, at the time of writing the charge is 1000 ISK. For those that are on a budget or simply prefer a challenge, you will find a free parking area some 500 metres further up Route 1 you can park here and walk back to the falls, just ensure you have some study shoes to cross the wetlands.

Skogafoss Waterfall 

Your next stop will see you meet the power of Skogafass, this is one of Iceland’s largest waterfalls, the water rushes over and falls some 60 metres, getting there from Seljalanddfoss is very much Route 1 (pardon the pun), straight down the route 1 ring road, with the wild Atlantic on your right hands side, on the right hand side before you reach Skogfass we would recommend pulling over at the café, whilst it was closed when we were visiting (perhaps it only opens in the summer) there is a really interesting storyboard of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2011 providing photographs of the surrounding area laden with Ash. This was somewhat poignant to the life of Indigo Car Hire as when starting out on their journey of renting cars they had an very important exhibition to attend in Spain, and were able to get on one of the first departing flight from the UK after the weeks of air traffic disruption, the team took a moment to pay homage to this tribute that laid next to a café on the side of the Route 1 ring road.

We now turn back to Skogafoss, which is located next to the village of Skogar, in Skogfar you will find a couple of hotels, the largest been Hotel Skogafoss and several smaller guesthouse, there will be no trouble in finding yourself an adequate feeding station, there are several of them in the town, we could personally recommend Mia’s country van, providing local Fish and Chip, they are delicious. We are pleased to report that parking here is free of charge. Whilst this article covers the day trip from Reykjavik, you could easily spend a couple of days in Skogfar, the hike to the Glacier could take up one of those days (there is camping on offer for those who are more adventurous) perhaps on a future trip we will write in more detail about the delights of the immediate area.

Taking in the majestic view of the falls maybe enough for some, however we recommend making the journey up the steps to the right-hand side, there are 527 of them so be prepared, The view from the lookout platform is well worth it, you are level with the top off the falls, looking out on the water gushing over the edge, the view over the surrounding landscape towards the coast is not to be ignored. Depending on your plans for the remainder of the tour, depends on how much further you want to walk up the Fimmvorouhals trail, this will ultimately take you all the way to the Glacier, but that type of hike needs to be planned out thoroughly with ample time given, there are in fact warning signs in the car parks to ensure people act within their physical limits, and to ensure they have the right equipment for the journey they are about to embark on. By spending another 20 minutes walking further up the trial you will come across 6 or so smaller waterfalls, all of which are marked out and have good viewing points from the cliff tops, we would suggest taking this extra time, it is worth it. We can testify that the descent is far easier than the accent!

By this time will be ticking away and certainly in the winter months you will be thinking about the hours of darkness drawing in, our final stop on this tour is Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach, which is situated 35KM on from Skogafoss, make no mistaken navigation is going to be no issue, keep heading down the Route 1 ring road.

Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach

This is the most famous beach in Iceland (and made even more famous when ‘Floki’ in the series Vikings landed on it), many people flock to see the wonder of the black sand and geometric rock formations, in all fairness the ‘sand’ would be better described as pebbles, a walk along the beach whilst been over looked by the dark ballast columns will create that feeling that many places in Iceland conjure up ‘ other wordily’  Be warned this spot can be very dangerous and there is signage as you enter the beach explaining the phenomenon that is ‘sneaker waves’ these are powerful waves that can sneak up the shoreline, every 20 minute or so, they are so powerful that they can easily sweep one out to sea, the threat of drowning is a real, and we would encourage anyone to pay heed to the instructions given as you enter the beach, and not to encroach too far near the water’s edge, this is not a spot where you can take a paddle in the water’s edge. You can wander down the beach at a safe distance from the water edge for as long as you want, in fact turning right and walking further down will take you away from the throng of people you generally get at this spot, be sure to wrap up warm as the cold gusts will sweep in from the Atlantic, funny to think that the next piece of land south of this spot you will find is the Canary Islands. Feel free to spend as long as you want at this spot, but remember it is near enough 200KM back to Reykjavik.

That is a wrap for our Southern Iceland tour, along the way you will come across a number stops that you combine with this tour, if taking in the main 3 above was not to your liking, Vik is worth a visit, this is a small, picturesque village that is located near to Reynisfjara. Drangurinn, this is an odd-looking rock formation, which is tufted in grass, and has stories of elves linked to it. There is of course the Solheimajokull outlet Glacier that’s runs off the might Myradalsjokull Icecap, there are various activities on offer here.

We base our experience on a self-guided independent road trip in the car you have hired, there are of course plenty of guided tours on offer, all we always prefer the freedom of planning your own course in your own time.

If you are hiring a car it does not necessarily have to collected on your arrival at Keflavik Airport, Indigo Car Hire has collection locations from Reykjavik Domestic Airport, which is easily accessible by foot from the centre of the city, so if you are looking to rent for 24 or 48 hours, we have you covered.

If you require any advice prior to booking, you can complete our enquiry form and one of the team will be in touch with you promptly.

We hope you find this information useful and hope to be of assistance with your car rental needs in Iceland.