In my previous post about Iceland, I have mentioned that the first waterfall I visited in Iceland was Gullfoss. It was spectacular but we also came across more waterfalls worth seeing. A few of the waterfalls that we visited in the south of Iceland are Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss.
On our way to Seljalandsfoss, we also stopped a few times to take pictures of the stunning landscapes.
Seljalandsfoss was an impressive waterfall – you can also go behind it and take some shots capturing the greenery hidden by the water. When you look at the fall itself, it might seem that it is very humid behind it and you will get all wet by walking there, but we were rather dry after passing through. The fall had some visitors and it was probably the only fall that we visited that had a paid parking of around 500ISK.
On our way between Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss, we spotted a few great views of smaller, less touristy waterfalls and pulled on the side of the road to capture them as well. I guess my hair on one of the pictures demonstrates how windy Iceland is 🙂
One stop that is worth seeing before Skógafoss is Seljavallalaug Swimming Pool which is located close to Vik and Myrdalsjokul and is 15 minutes away from Seljalandsfoss. If you search the place on Google maps, it will locate the pool but the maps will not show you any road to drive to the pool. Indeed, you would need to park slightly away from the pool and the walk to it through the mountain. This is where the car parking approximately is:
On the way to the pool itself, there is a marvellous path that leads through mountains.
What is Seljavallalaug Swimming Pool? This is the oldest public swimming pool in Iceland. It is a pool of hot water in the middle of the mountains: you can both swim and get the best views. And yes, it is free to swim. There are changing rooms but they were slightly polluted by tourists so if you have a chance, you should probably put your swimming suit before coming there. Also, it is worth bringing some towels but if you don’t have any, that’s fine. We did not have any and it was still a great experience.
If you walk a bit behind the pool, there is also a peaceful view of the water floating from the top of the mountains. We were lucky to get some sunshine while in the pool with the weather of around 11C outside.
And of course, on the way back, I could not miss the opportunity to take more pictures of the general landscape and mesmerizing mountains.
Our last stop of the day was Skógafoss which took around 15 minutes to get to from Seljavallalaug swimming pool. Skógafoss was quite cozily hidden in the mountain that surrounded it on both sides. This waterfall probably had the least visitors among every other we had seen.
In my first blog post, I mentioned that Iceland is truly mesmerizing – it is diverse, it is changing and it is dynamic. There is so much more to tell about Iceland and it is coming soon!
Kat's Thoughts 