On The Road: Sólheimajökull

If you drive the South Coast, or any part of Iceland, you’ll see a lot of intriguing signs pointing inland from the Ring Road. Sites of particular interest are indicated by a kind of swirly square insignia. Part of the fun of an Icelandic road trip is taking a few unplanned turns, just to see what lies just around the next corner or over the next hill. Sometimes, it might be a canyon (if the place name ends in “gjá”), or some seaside cliffs (“bjarg”), or a waterfall (“foss”).

But if it’s sign for something ending with “jökull,” it’s glacier-related. Whatever you do, don’t skip the turn for Soheimajökull, between Skógar and Vík. After a short, newly paved road (fine for a normal rental car) and a ten-minute walk, you’ll see the vast, blue, cracked ice-fall tumbling from the heights of Mýrðalsjökull down to ground level.

Note: don’t go farther than a few steps onto the ice without a guide—as well as being beautiful, glaciers can be very dangerous. For that, think about booking a glacier walk with a provider such as Arctic Adventures: arcticadventures.is.

Read more in our On The Road series here.