Unforgettable Road Trip to the Vik, Iceland

Vik, Iceland is a popular destination and for a good reason. The Vik area is a close destination from the main hub of Reykjavik and has over 10 must-sees along the way. If you have limited time visiting Iceland, a road trip to the Vik area should be first on your list. For your convenience, all of the locations identified below (and anywhere on our blog) are bookmarked in our Google Travel Maps.

Preparing For Your Trip to Vik

How to Get to Vik, Iceland

From experience, we recommend driving to the Vik, and making a road trip of it! The drive to the Vik area from Reykjavik is about 2.5 hours. So, it’s an easy day trip for those staying in the main town. For everything you need to know about renting a car in Iceland, check out our blog post: Renting a Car in Iceland for Road Trip of a Lifetime!

If driving isn’t an option for, there are plenty of tours that will take you to the Vik (and maybe some other destinations like the glaciers or Golden Circle).

How Many Days to Spend in the Vik

For only the Vik area, you really only need a day. If you want to make the most of your time on the road, we recommend spending a day to do the Golden Circle and a day to do the Vik area after. If you’re really ambitious, we highly recommend spending a day at Landmannalaugar National Park, which is our favorite destination in Iceland.

If you want to see just the Vik area, budget a day. If you want to see everything along the way, budget 2-3 days.

Road Trip Itinerary to the Vik

For a full breakdown of how we would plan a roadtrip to the Vik, see our full road trip itinerary: Ultimate Iceland Itinerary: 9 Day Road Trip. The Vik area is section on Day 3, but we recommend doing Day 1 + 2 first! To download all of these destinations onto a map, see our Travel Maps!

Destinations on the Way to Vik, Iceland

If you’re headed to the Vik, you might as well stop by 2 of Iceland’s most famous waterfalls and the famous plane wreck.

Seljalandsfoss

The famous waterfall, Seljalandsfoss, is commonly seen on social media as the waterfall that people walk behind in Iceland. You can get incredible views around golden hour and sunset, as the waterfall is facing west. In the morning, the waterfall is in the shadows. We were on a tight road trip schedule, so a morning visit was it for us.

Protip: For optimal photography, visit Seljalandsfoss during golden hour/sunset.

The visit at the waterfall does not take long at all. The parking lot is just off the ring road. The walk up to the waterfall, through, and back down, takes 30 minutes at a leisurely pace. Bring a rain jacket!

Skogafoss

Only 30 minutes east of Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss is one of Iceland’s most-visited waterfalls. It’s so picturesque and grand, it was a backdrop in Game of Thrones Season 8. This waterfall takes a bit longer to explore. You’ll want to take some pictures at the base of the waterfall. Afterwards, head up the stairs to the top. There’s also a camp site at the waterfall if you want a beautiful evening view and some white noise. Spend about an hour at Skogafoss.

Solheimasandur Plane Wreck

The Solheimasandur Plane Wreck has been gaining popularity as of late. The wreck is 10-20 minutes from the top destinations in the Vik, Iceland and so is an easy stop. And while the photos look cool, even the locals would agree this isn’t necessarily a must-see spot.

Protip: Skip the Solheimasandur Plane Wreck if you are short for time.

The plane wreck is in the middle of a vast black sand beach, which means you can’t drive there. Once you’ve parked your car, you can either walk or take the shuttle. The walk takes 40-60 minutes each way, which is why we recommend the shuttle. The shuttle runs about every half hour and takes 15 minutes each way.

Protip: Budget 1.5 hours for the plane wreck, with 30 minutes for shuttle time.

Black Sand Views in the Vik, Iceland

Dyrhólaey and Reynisfjara Viewpoint

The viewpoints of Dyrhólaey and Reynisfjara overlook the most beautiful and vast black sand beaches in Vik, Iceland. The views are stunning and will spoil black sand beaches for the rest of your trip. Conveniently, both viewpoints are within a 5 minute drive from each other. Though they give similar views, both are worth seeing. Budget an hour or more for these two stops.

Hálsanefshellir Cave and Viewpoint

This cave and viewpoint are the main destinations in the Vik area. The hexagonal rock is a must-see in Iceland, and scattered throughout different parts of the island. The land formations leftover in the sea (image below) are also iconic pictures you’ll see all over social media for Iceland. In case you need a quick pit stop, there’s a café and restroom at this location. Also, a hotdog stand outside! The parking lot is right on the beach, so there’s no hiking required here, and it can be a pretty quick stop if you want.

Protip: Parking here can get a bit busier during high-season, try to get here earlier than later. Budget 30 minutes – 1 hour here.

Vik

The actual town of Vik, Iceland is further east from Hálsanefshellir, but only by about 10 minutes. There’s a few things to do around the town that don’t take that long:

• Vík i Myrdal Church: for sweeping views of the Vik area
• Voyages Vik Friendship Statue: it wasn’t that monumental, so we did a drive by
• Black sand beach Vik: the views were better on the other side, so we only stopped for 15 minutes to take a picture (see above)

Extra Time

If you have extra time in the Vik area, here are a few more things you can add to your itinerary (all tagged on our Travel Map for Iceland):

• Lava show in Vik: we didn’t have time to do this, but could be cool
• Uxafotafoss: another waterfall 5 minutes down the road east of Vik
• Gigjagja: a cave in the shape of Yoda, only 20 minutes east of the Vik

And if you still have extra time, keep heading east to Svartifoss and the glaciers. These two major destinations are on Day 4 of our Ultimate Iceland Itinerary: 9 Day Road Trip. But, if you’re ambitious (and aren’t headed back to Reykjavik at the end of the day), you can do it all in one!

Found this post helpful? Subscribe to our blog or follow us on Instagram for our latest travel tips!