Vik is a beautiful, Icelandic village, located on the southern coast of Iceland. It is the southernmost village in Iceland. Located on Iceland’s main ring road, it is a perfect location to stop for the night, top-up on food and fuel.
On my road back in 2007, I spent 2 weeks, with my family, completing the ring road around Iceland. As Iceland is very expensive, we decided to save money by camping each night. We spent the night camping at the campsite located in Vik. A beautiful place to spend the night, located near the sea stacks. Cost back in 2007; £7 per person.
As I mentioned above, Vik is only a small village. There isn’t a lot to see and do. You can horse ride across the black sand beach, have a walk around the village and have a walk up to the beautiful church.
If you are visiting Vik as part of your drive along route 1, Iceland’s ring road, you will pass the following two places, which I highly recommend you stop at. If you are just planning on visiting Vik for a day or two, I still recommend you drive out to there two places.
Dyrholaey
Dyrholaey is a 20-minute drive West of Vik and a 30-minute drive East, from Skogafoss. Located off Road 1 down Road 218. Once you are on Road 218, you have a choice. You can drive right to the end or you can turn right and go up the hill. If you follow the road down to the end, you end up next to the black sand beach. I recommend doing both if you have time.
In the summer months, you can see Puffins on the rocks. If you are visiting spring/early summer, check before you go to see if you can access it. This is when the birds are nesting; therefore, they have limited access to it to protect the birds. During nesting season you can drive down to the lower section. The higher section is allowed to be accessed only by foot, as this is where the Puffins are nesting.
From the bottom of Road 218, when the tide is out, you can walk across the beach and explore in the caves and rock formations. Might be worth checking the tide times before your visit.
Not only will you hopefully see the puffins, enjoy the black beach but also you will see a beautiful arch made out of lava. If you are brave enough, you can walk across it. I’m a big baby when it comes to heights, so I decided to give it a miss! It is a nerve-racking 120-metres high. To do this, you need to take the right turning off Road 218.
Laufskalavarda
Laufskalavarda is a 30-minute drive East of Vik, located on Iceland’s ring road (Route 1). It is a lava ridge surrounded by stone cairns. As drivers crossed the desert of Myrdalssandur for the first time, they would place a pile of stones to make a cairn, to wish them good luck on their travels, crossing the desert. As you travel by, you will see piles of cairns, for miles and miles, covering the lava fields.
The desert of Myrdalssandur is an area where the water from the glacier flows out to the see. Therefore, when there is a sudden glacial flood, everything along its path gets washed away. Sadly, you can see evidence of this, as you can see several bridges that have been washed away.
