Iceland is packed with awesome attractions some remote and some accessible. Lucky for us, Iceland’s South Coast has tons of attractions right off the Ring Road that allowed us to see so much of the coast while on our short trip with short days! We saw the following 5 attractions in just 1 day! We had about 6 solid hours of daylight from about 10 am to 4 pm. Having longer days would have been so appreciated, but we made it work with what we had!
We woke up super early around 5 am to leave our Airbnb around 6 am. The drive was about 4 hours from our Airbnb to our furthest destination, Diamond Beach and Glacier Lagoon, and we drove it in the dark of night to make the most of our daylight when we arrived.
Diamond Beach
Our furthest destinations were Diamond Beach and Glacier Lagoon which are straight across the street from one another. Diamond Beach was stunning. The ice on the black sand is striking, and we had a beautiful golden low sun that made for a seemingly perpetual sunrise. There is not much at the beach beside the beach, so don’t expect to spend too much time here. We spent maybe 30 minutes here taking pictures and looking at the ice.
We parked at the further lot and there was a handful of other cars parked there, but the main lot had a lot more people. The beach is decently long which makes it easy to enjoy the beach without crowds of people. Something interesting was that the power lines were buzzing, and I couldn’t figure out where the noise was coming from for the longest time, so I took a picture of them to remember the sound.
Jökulsárlón - Glacier Lagoon
So, right across the street from Diamond Beach is Glacier Lagoon. And these glaciers are MASSIVE. I guess you see pictures of something and you hear the numbers, but none of that clicks until you see it with your own eyes. The color too. Sooo blue. Like a blue that you don’t think should be real.
It’s a surreal experience. And maybe I was sleepy and fuzzy from just waking up after the car ride, but thinking about it does feel like a dream. We spent some time walking along the shore. We saw some seals too! Which were especially cute and unexpected.
There is a gift shop cafe in the parking lot which is convenient if you want to grab some souvenirs or just to use the bathroom. Another building is just bathrooms which had an insanely long line, so we skipped that and used the bathroom in the gift shop.
We also pulled off the main road to another viewpoint of the lagoon. It was a bit more of a hill which gave you a higher view of the lagoon and was just as breathtaking.
If you’re going to Iceland, this is a must-see.
Fjaðrárgljúfur - Canyon
Our next stop was the Canyon which is a little less than 2 hours from Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach. It is about 5 minutes to drive off of the main Ring Road to a small parking lot for the canyon. When you park there are maybe 20 spots and there was almost no one there. The canyon is long and can be hiked, but we didn’t have the time for that.
We walked up to one of the main viewpoints which was about a 10-minute walk. It is definitely an amazing sight to see, but I want to see it again when it’s more green! It would have been nice to hike more of the ridge of the canyon, but we will just do that next time!
After seeing Adam’s drone footage of the canyon, I fell in love all over again with this location. You should definitely check that video out HERE!
Eldhraun - Lava Fields
Checking out the lave fields was so cool and so easy! After you leave the canyon, the lava fields start almost right away and go on for miles. There are places on the map that will take you to specific spots, but we just pulled over to check it out.
The lava fields are so cool to learn about. The volcanic rock is super porous which allows for this delicate moss to grow on it. Because the moss is so delicate you can’t walk on it. It is easily damaged and takes a long time to repair itself! We made sure to only step where there wasn’t any moss and checked it out up close.
We also stopped at a pull-off point down the road, but there was a tour bus there at the time. It was a bit too busy to get a look off of the vantage point deck that was there, so we continued on to the next destination. Like some of the other destinations this day, you don’t need to spend a lot of time at this spot since there are not any activities. Each stop is basically just taking in Iceland’s beauty and awesomeness. I found this really refreshing compared to most tourist destinations.
Dyrhólaey - Black Sand Beach and Sea Arch
About another hour from the lava field is Dyrhólaey, which is the same place to see both the Black Sand Beach and the Sea Arch. By this point, we were losing our daylight super fast but were still able to catch some daylight. Once you turn off of the Ring Road, it is about a 10-minute drive up the hill to the viewpoint of the beach and the sea arch. Make sure you have a good reliable all-wheel-drive car for this hill because it was the most sketchy road we drove our entire time in Iceland.
Once you get to the top it is maybe a 5-minute walk from the overlook of the beach to the overlook of the arch. Both are beautiful! I would have loved to go down to the beach, but by the time we were making our way back down the hill, it was dark out. My favorite part about this location was how far out you can see from the top of the hill. I also think it's super interesting that I've seen photos of both the arch and the beach all over Instagram and never knew they were in the same spot until doing my research for the trip!
Solheimasandu - Plane Wreck *To be Noted
I just want to mention the Plane Wreckage that everyone talks about! We originally had planned to go, but what I didn’t find in my research was that it is a 40-minute walk from the parking lot, about 2 miles. This is fine as there is a shuttle, but you have to pay $20 for the shuttle and it only runs from 10 am to 5 pm. Since we had planned on arriving at the pick up for the shuttle around 5 pm, we would have had to walk back in the dark and cold. I wouldn’t mind doing the complete “hike” (it’s completely flat) if it were the summer. So we ended up not seeing the plane, but we’ll see it next time.
A travel friend of mine, Madison, did check out the plane wreckage when she visited Iceland last January. She said it was cool to climb up on the plane, but it did get pretty crowded. Here are some of her pictures from the wreck! Follow her on Instagram @madisontraveling !
Iceland is such a great destination for seeing so much in such a short time. We did all of this in just 1 day! Of course, if you have the time, then you can go at a much slower pace, but if you’re on a budget or only have a few days, it can be done!