Iceland Six Days Five Nights Travel Diary: Exploring the Magnificent Black Sand Beaches and Waterfall Journey in Southern VIK (Part 1)

Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Trip Diary - Guide to Iceland Local Tours

On March 22nd, I'm heading to South Iceland for a two-day trip. This time, I have three main goals: Northern Lights, blue ice caves, and glacial lakes—the latter two are both in the south. While doing my research, I kept reading that if the weather is too severe, there's a chance we might not be able to enter the blue ice cave. So before this two-day trip, I've been feeling quite anxious. What if I come back from Iceland without achieving any of my major goals? I boarded the tour bus at 8:40. This time the tour guide was a young man in his twenties named SIDI (later he also introduced himself as Iceland's youngest tour guide). I kept looking out the window, wondering whether today I'd be in the same group as the Hong Kong girl who posted online earlier. Yesterday our itineraries were already synced, but unexpectedly we ended up being assigned to different local groups, so the two of us have so far only chatted in a Line group chat and haven't met in person yet! Finally, someone with a Hong Kong accent spoke up behind me, "Are you Dongkui? This Iceland trip brought us together from four different places — MOMO from Hong Kong, BOBO from Macau, Lumos a Taiwanese living in the UK, and me, a Taiwanese living in Vietnam. Four travel lovers from four different corners of the world meeting in a country as far away as Iceland! The first stop of the southern trip was Seljalandsfoss, the waterfall you can walk behind. Actually there are two waterfalls at this spot — the other one is called Gljúfrabúi. The weather is pretty good today, though it's still cloudy…

After getting off at the parking lot, you'll first arrive at Gljúfrabúi, which some call the "secret waterfall." It's tucked away within a rock crevice, and to catch a full glimpse of it, you'd need to wade through the water to get inside. Since I hadn't prepared for that, I could only peek at a glimpse of it here and there without getting myself wet.

The second waterfall is Water Curtain Cave Waterfall, named for the cave behind it where you can walk through. The wind was incredibly strong that day, and the falling water scattered beautifully in the breeze.

While my travel companion and I were discussing whether to rush in, we ran into yesterday's aurora buddies, and in the end it was me, Lumos, and one of the aurora buddies who charged into the cave behind the waterfall together. Soaked through! But seeing scenery like this — totally worth it! My feather jacket got soaked and my socks got a bit wet, while Lumos's gear was even worse off than mine — I really admire how he managed to push through the rest of that day's itinerary! Meanwhile, the aurora buddy clearly came prepared with a waterproof jacket, boots, and quick-dry pants! We completed the challenge!

We arrived at our second stop, Skógafoss (Rainbow Waterfall). You can hike up a trail to the top to enjoy the view, or stay at the base to feel the incredible rush of water cascading down.

As people who want to see everything, we didn't hesitate to climb up first to the observation deck to check out the view from above. But unlike Golden Waterfall, where the view looking down is very different and striking, the view from above Rainbow Waterfall felt pretty average to me~

Coming back down below, thankfully the rainbow was still there — the Rainbow Falls truly lived up to its name.

Our third stop was Reynisfjara Beach in the south. Besides the black sand carved by basalt, the tall and peculiar basalt cliffs beside it are also a highlight worth seeing.

The tour guide here has a special reminder: because of the strong waves, you must stay far away from the shore. It's said that every year several tourists unfortunately get caught in the sea and perish. The pitch-black sand beach, paired with light blue seawater, represents a unique Icelandic coastal color combination.

Next, we went to the small town of VIK next to the black sand beach. This town is also a place where independent travelers often stop and stay. The small town is almost entirely made up of tourism-related businesses, such as hotels, day-tour travel agencies, and so on.

The Famous Church in VIK Town

The fourth stop is the Eldhraun lava field, which was formed by the volcanic eruption of 1783-1784. This volcano not only destroyed the homes and farms of the surrounding residents, but the toxic gases released after the eruption caused even further damage. It wasn't just Iceland that suffered—the massive amount of volcanic ash produced by the eruption at the time even affected food production in Britain and France, and some say this volcanic eruption was the spark that ignited the French Revolution. Today, the 565-square-kilometer lava field created back then is covered in layers of moss, forming a fascinating landscape. There's a short trail that lets you experience walking across the volcanic lava yourself.

Today's final stop is Hofskirkja Church, one of only 6 turf churches remaining in Iceland and the last ancient church built in this traditional turf style.

On our way to the hotel, we passed by the glacier lake we were planning to visit tomorrow—it was absolutely breathtaking! Just seeing it from a distance filled us with excitement. Around 6 o'clock, we arrived at Hotel Smyrlabjörg, a three-star hotel for our two-day southern trip. The surroundings were quite desolate, with this hotel being the only building in sight.

The room was very spacious, the most comfortable place we've stayed in the past few days. Our tour guide reminded us that several tour groups would be staying here today, so if we wanted to have dinner at the hotel, we should head over early. So we simply set our luggage down and went straight to check in at the restaurant. Given my personality, I'd normally never choose to eat dinner at a hotel — it's often both a letdown and overpriced. But since our guide had been strongly recommending it the whole way, and there weren't really any other options nearby, plus we'd already planned to put our whole budget toward dinner anyway, we said forget it and just went for it! My travel companion and I both chose the lamb chops, each ordered an appetizer as well, and I also got myself a glass of red wine.

It turns out we really weren't scammed by the tour guide — every dish was top-notch, and we finally got to try Icelandic lamb chops~ Super tender and without too strong a mutton smell! Cheers! Wishing us luck in advance for seeing the Northern Lights tonight!

We spent the evening at the restaurant drinking and chatting, like a group of friends who had known each other for a long time, and we only left when the surroundings started being tidied up and the restaurant was about to close. After leaving the restaurant, we walked outside the hotel to take a look. It's true there isn't much light pollution on this side of the hotel, but the clouds above are still quite thick... After some discussion, we decided to head back to our rooms first to freshen up, then meet in MOMO&BOBO's room. As we chatted away, it became 12 o'clock and our eyelids gradually grew heavy...At that moment, Lumos volunteered to stay up and keep watch for the night. We agreed to set an alarm for 3 o'clock (because the app showed that the clouds would likely disperse by then). The alarm went off and I jolted awake. Looking at Lumos shaking his head, it seemed hopeless for today. We decided to return to our own rooms to rest. Lying in bed, I deliberately didn't close the curtains, gazing out the window, desperately hoping to catch that green light that would make people gasp in wonder. Drifting between sleep and wakefulness, I suddenly heard "mission continued!?" Mission continues? I jolted awake and looked out the window—it was still pitch black. I grabbed my phone to check and suddenly discovered that the Hella observatory down south could see the aurora! I immediately woke up Lumos and rushed outside the hotel. 4:50 AM—the sky was still dark, but the clouds overhead had cleared. Suddenly, I spotted something that looked like both the Milky Way and clouds. I cried out: Is this it? I quickly set my phone to a 10-second shutter and aimed my camera!

It's really the aurora! I was truly moved in that moment — even though the Kp index was under 2 at the time, we still got to see the aurora!! After confirming there really was an aurora, of course we went to wake up our companions too. I was in charge of waking up MOMO & BOBO, while Lumos went to wake up yesterday's aurora buddies. The six of us stood on the empty lot next to the hotel, excitedly taking photos — we really wanted to wake up everyone in the whole hotel to share this joy with them~ The aurora didn't stop for even a moment — later we even managed to photograph a purple aurora. It wasn't until we checked online the next day that we learned purple auroras are actually quite rare, and it just so happened that, after the solar storm in 2023, there was a better chance of seeing such a beautiful sight.

This is my favorite photo! I originally thought it looked like an angel, but when my family members saw it, they thought it looked even more like a phoenix!

The aurora feast lasted 30-40 minutes, and only gradually faded from view once the sun peeked out and lit up the sky. My body was exhausted, but my heart was so fulfilled! Explore more of this fantastical 6-day, 5-night journey through Iceland! 👉 【Iceland 6-Day Highlights Self-Drive Guide】Itinerary Planning × Local Group Tour Experience × Budget Estimate Get to know the overall itinerary and plan your dream trip to Iceland! 👉 Iceland 6-Day, 5-Night Travelogue: The Starting Point of the Journey and a Bumpy First Day Arriving in Iceland, strolling through Reykjavík 👉 6 Days 5 Nights in Iceland: One-Day Snæfellsnes Peninsula Guide & Hidden Gems Exploration Explore Iceland's enchanting peninsula and capture its magnificent natural landscapes. 👉 6 Days 5 Nights in Iceland: One-Day Golden Circle Guide to Classic Sights & Activities Feel the breathtaking charm of Iceland's classic attractions and gain memories that will last a lifetime. 👉 6 Days 5 Nights in Iceland: Exploring VIK's Magnificent Black Sand Beach & Waterfalls in the South (Part 1) Step into the mysterious world of VIK and feel the natural beauty of the south. 👉 Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Journey: The Blue Ice Cave Wonder and a Southern Adventure Under the Northern Lights (Part 2) Experience the Blue Ice Cave adventure firsthand and capture the dazzling spectacle of the Aurora in this northern wonderland. 👉 Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Journey: A Helicopter Volcano Viewing Experience, Overlooking the Magnificent Lava Land Fly over Iceland's volcanic landscape and enjoy a truly one-of-a-kind adventure.