Iceland Six-Day Five-Night Travel Diary: Exploring the Magnificent Black Sand Beaches and Waterfalls of Southern VIK (Part 1)

Six Days and Five Nights in Iceland Travel Diary - Guide to Iceland Local Tours

On 3/22 I set off for a two-day trip to southern Iceland. This time in Iceland I had three biggest goals — the Northern Lights, the blue ice cave, and the glacier lagoon — and the latter two are both in the south. While doing research beforehand, I kept seeing that if the weather is too bad, there's a chance you won't be able to enter the blue ice cave, so before the two-day trip I was full of anxiety the whole time, worrying whether I'd end up coming away from this trip to Iceland with none of my big goals achieved… At 8:40 we boarded the tour bus, and this time the guide was a young man in his 20s named SIDI (later he also introduced himself as Iceland's youngest tour guide). I kept looking out the window, because I was wondering whether today I'd be in the same group as the Hong Kong girl who made the post back then. Originally our itinerary had synced up yesterday, but unexpectedly we were placed into different local groups, so the two of us have so far only been chatting in a Line group chat, and still haven't met in person! Finally, someone with a Hong Kong accent spoke up from behind me, "Are you Dong Kui? On this Iceland trip, we come from Hong Kong (MOMO), Macau (BOBO), a Taiwanese living in the UK (Lumos), and me, a Taiwanese living in Vietnam — four travel lovers from four different places meeting each other in a country as far away as Iceland! The first stop of the southern trip was Seljalandsfoss, the "Water Curtain Cave" waterfall. Actually, this spot has two waterfalls — the other one is called Gljúfrabúi The weather is pretty good today, although it's still cloudy…

Getting off at the parking lot, you'll first arrive at Gljúfrabúi, which some call the secret waterfall. It's nestled within a rocky crevice, and to see its full beauty, you'd need to wade through water. However, since I didn't prepare for that, I could only glimpse it from a distance without getting myself wet.

The second waterfall is the Water Curtain Cave Waterfall. It got its name because there's a cave behind the waterfall that you can walk into. That day the wind was very strong, and the falling water scattered with the wind.

While my travel companion and I were discussing whether to rush in, we ran into our aurora buddies from yesterday. 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 a view like this, it was worth it! My down jacket got soaked and my socks got a bit wet, but 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, our aurora buddy had clearly come prepared, with a waterproof jacket, boots, and quick-dry pants! We made it through the challenge!

We arrived at our second stop, Skógafoss (Rainbow Waterfall). You can hike up a trail to the top to admire this waterfall, or you can stay directly below and feel the powerful impact of the falling water.

As people who want to see everything, we didn't hesitate to climb up first. The view from the upper observation deck — although unlike Golden Waterfall, where looking down gives a very different perspective, the view from above Rainbow Falls I think is just so-so~

Coming back down, fortunately the rainbow is still there, and Rainbow Waterfall truly lives up to its name.

Our third stop was Reynisfjara Beach, the black sand beach in the south. Besides the black sand formed by the erosion of basalt, the tall and unique basalt cliffs beside it are also one of the highlights.

The tour guide here gave a special reminder that because the waves are very strong, you must stay well away from the shoreline — it's said that every year several tourists are tragically swept into the sea and lose their lives. The jet-black sand paired with pale blue seawater is Iceland's unique coastal color scheme.

Then we went to the small town of VIK next to the Black Sand Beach. This small town is also a place where independent travelers often come to stay, and almost everything in the tiny town is related to tourism - hotels, one-day tour travel agencies, and so on.

The famous church in VIK town

The fourth stop is the Eldhraun lava field, formed by the volcanic eruption of 1783-1784. This volcano not only destroyed the homes and farms of the surrounding residents, but the poisonous 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. Some say this eruption was the very spark that ignited the French Revolution. Now, the 565-square-kilometer lava field created back then is covered layer upon layer in moss, forming a fascinating landscape. There's a short trail that lets you experience walking right on top of the volcanic lava.

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

On the way to the hotel, we passed by the glacier lake we're going to visit tomorrow — so spectacular, just seeing it from afar was already so exciting! We arrived at around 6 o'clock at Hotel Smyrlabjörg, the three-star hotel for this two-day trip to the south. The surroundings were extremely desolate, and this hotel was the only building around.

The room is very spacious, the most comfortable one we've stayed in these past few days. Our tour guide reminded us that since several tour groups would be staying here today, if we wanted to have dinner at the hotel we should head over early, so we simply left our luggage and went straight to the restaurant to check in. Given my personality, I wouldn't normally choose to eat dinner at a hotel, since it could easily turn out to be both a letdown and expensive, but firstly the guide strongly recommended it the whole way here, and secondly there weren't any other options nearby, and finally we had originally planned to put our whole budget into dinner anyway, so forget it, let's just go for it! My travel companion and I both chose the lamb chops, plus we each ordered an appetizer, and I also ordered an extra glass of red wine

It turned out I wasn't deceived by the tour guide after all—all the dishes were excellent quality, and I finally got to try Icelandic lamb chops~very tender and without that heavy mutton smell Cheers! Wishing you all the best seeing the Northern Lights tonight!

We were just at the restaurant having drinks and chatting, feeling like a group of friends who had known each other for ages, until the staff started tidying up and the restaurant was about to close, so we left. After leaving the restaurant, we stepped outside the hotel to have a look. The hotel area really didn't have much light pollution, but the clouds overhead were still quite thick... After discussing, we decided to go back to our rooms to freshen up first, then meet up in MOMO&BOBO's room. Before we knew it, it was already 12 o'clock, and our eyelids were getting heavier and heavier...At this moment, Lumos volunteered to keep watch through the night, and we set an alarm for 3 o'clock (because the app showed that the clouds would be more scattered at this time). When the alarm went off, I woke up startled, and watched Lumos shake his head—it looked like today was hopeless, so we decided to go back to our own rooms to rest. Lying in bed, intentionally not closing the curtains, looking out the window, hoping so much to see that dazzling green light that would make people gasp. Half asleep and half awake all along, when suddenly I heard "mission continued!?" Mission continues? I woke up with a start and looked out the window—it was still pitch dark. I picked up my phone to check, and suddenly noticed that the Hella observation station, also in the south, could see the aurora. I immediately dragged Lumos out of bed and rushed outside the hotel. 4:50, the sky was still dark, and the clouds overhead had cleared. Suddenly I noticed a sight that looked like the Milky Way but also like clouds. I gasped: is this it? I immediately set my phone to a 10-second shutter and aimed it to shoot!

It really is the aurora! At that moment, I was truly deeply moved. Although the Kp value was below 2 at the time, we still managed to see the aurora!! After confirming the aurora, of course we had to wake up our companions. I was responsible for waking up MOMO & BOBO, while Lumos went to wake up the aurora buddy from yesterday. Six of us were on the open ground next to the hotel, excitedly taking photos. We really wanted to wake up everyone in the entire hotel and share this joy together~ The aurora didn't stop for even a moment, and later we even captured purple auroras. It wasn't until the next day when I looked up information that I learned purple auroras are actually quite rare. It just so happened that after the solar tsunami that occurred in 2023, there was a better chance of seeing such a beautiful sight.

My favorite photo is this one. I originally thought it looked like an angel, but my family looked at it and thought it looked 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 Iceland's magical six-day, five-night journey! 👉 【Iceland Six-Day Highlights Self-Guided Travel Guide】Itinerary × Local Group Experience × Cost Estimate Get a full picture of the itinerary and plan your dream trip to Iceland! 👉 Iceland Six-Day, Five-Night Travel Diary: The Starting Point of the Journey and a Bumpy First Day Arriving in Iceland, strolling through Reykjavik 👉 Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Trip: Snæfellsnes Peninsula One-Day Tour Guide and Hidden Gem Exploration Explore Iceland's enchanting peninsula and capture its magnificent natural landscapes. 👉 Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Trip: Golden Circle One-Day Tour Classic Sights and Play Guide Feel the stunning charm of Iceland's classic attractions and gain memories that will last a lifetime. 👉 Iceland 6-Day 5-Night Trip: Exploring the Magnificent Black Sand Beaches and Waterfalls of VIK in the South (Part 1) Step into the mysterious world of VIK and feel the natural beauty of the south. 👉 Iceland Six-Day Five-Night Journey: Blue Ice Cave Wonders and a Southern Adventure Under the Aurora (Part 2) Experience the Blue Ice Cave expedition firsthand and capture the dazzling spectacle of the Northern Lights. 👉 Iceland Six-Day Five-Night Journey: A Helicopter Volcano Sightseeing Experience, Overlooking the Magnificent Lava Land Fly over Iceland's volcanic landscape and enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.