South Coast Iceland waterfall tours: Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss and the day around them

The falls sit on a cliff that used to be a shoreline. The south face of Eyjafjallajökull was once coastline, and over thousands of years the sea has retreated about 5 km, leaving sheer cliffs that run parallel to the coast for hundreds of kilometers and mark the edge of the highlands. Skógafoss is the best known of the falls on that old coast. Seljalandsá, the river behind Seljalandsfoss, starts at the Eyjafjallajökull ice cap, which covered 66 km² in 2019 and was once more than 80.

The cliff you climb at Skógafoss used to be a coastline.

Seljalandsfoss is about 60 m high, a thin cascade, and the fall with a footpath behind it. South Iceland's tourist board asks visitors to respect the closure of the paths and warns that in winter, walking behind the fall is particularly dangerous because ice can fall in large chunks, especially at thaw. One operator suggests a raincoat if you plan to go behind. The height is one of the figures the listings cannot agree on: one gives 65 m, another 60.

A little further west, Gljúfrabúi is partly hidden by its canyon. Some listings add it, and the private Top Iceland Tours day includes it. Ask the operator if you want it.

Sólheimajökull is an outlet glacier of Mýrdalsjökull, melting back by about 60 m a year, according to Wikipedia. The standard day only walks toward it: the most reviewed listing follows the valley the glacier carved, and another goes up to the small lake formed by the retreating ice. Walking on the ice is a different product, sold on the glacier and waterfall page.

Vík is the village with the red church, a short photo stop in the listing we read. Beyond it the road continues to Jökulsárlón. Three of the most reviewed listings add the glacier lagoon and run 14 hours, at roughly 120 to 500 EUR, against 10 hours for the standard day. The Gray Line version has the lowest rating of the three, 4.4 on 646 reviews.

The listing gives a return time but no departure time and no minutes per stop. With two to two and a half hours each way to Skógafoss, four to five of the ten hours are on the road, which leaves five to six for five stops and lunch. Call it 45 minutes to an hour a stop: our arithmetic, not a promise. The order also varies. The Reykjavik Excursions listing goes Skógafoss, Vík, Reynisfjara, Sólheimajökull, then Seljalandsfoss.

Start with classic waterfall tours, the baseline in the 120 to 250 EUR band. Move to small-group tours if you want fewer people for a small extra. Go to glacier and waterfall tours for the ice, and to private tours only when the schedule is the problem.

The two cheap formats sit almost on top of each other. The glacier bar runs from roughly 250 to 1,000 EUR because it holds both a day with a hike and a two-day trip. Private is a different scale altogether: the middle half runs from roughly 500 to more than 1,000 EUR, and one private 11-hour day lists above 1,000 EUR. Fifteen of the 20 private tours quote one price for the whole booking, with caps from 5 to 15 travelers, and the other five are per person, so the private bar mixes two units. Every other price on this page is per person. Divide before you compare.

The squares are where tours start. The dots are the waterfalls, and the triangles are the landmarks the listings add: Sólheimajökull, Reynisfjara and, at the far right, Jökulsárlón.

Reykjavík is about 150 km from Skógafoss. Seljalandsfoss is the dot furthest west, roughly 30 km before Skógar, and Reynisfjara and Vík are about as far east as the standard day goes. Jökulsárlón is far enough past them that the listings reaching it run 14 hours, so the choice between 10 hours and 14 is a choice about one place.

Tours run through the year, and one operator states that its tour operates in all weather conditions, so dress for it. What changes is the ground. The days are short in winter, and the Sólheimajökull warnings apply in summer too. Reynisfjara has no off season, because the waves do not follow the calendar.