Sólheimajökull is a small glacier in South Iceland between Skógafoss and Vík. It is actually an outlet glacier on the southwest of the larger glacier Mýrdalsjökull. Sólheimajökull drains into the Jökulsá á Sólheimasandi River and out to the sea. The glacier fairly easy to get to - Route 221 is just off Route 1 about 25 km west of Vík and leads right to the glacier. Route 221 is only 5 km, but its a little rough at the end so a 4WD vehicle is recommended. We visited on our South Coast Tour with Iceland Guided Tours. Since it was just one stop on our tour, we only spent about an hour here, but it is possible to do a real glacier hike if you have a full day. But even if you won't have a lot of time, it's worth a stop. Where else can you see a black glacier? The glacier is covered in black tephra from an eruption of Katla volcano. Here and there, the ice was "clean" and we could see patches...
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Hjálparfoss Waterfall
by jmpncsu
Hjálparfoss waterfall is a beautiful double waterfall in south Iceland on the Fossá River just north of where it meets the Þjórsá River. There's not a lot nearby, but the falls are just off Route 32 on the way to Landmannalaugar. We visited on the way to Landmannalaugar with Iceland Guided Tours. Although its not the highest falls, its flow is quite powerful and the setting in the valley is beautiful. There are also some impressive basalt cliffs around the falls basin. The tour guide told us that waterfall means "help" in Icelandic, because its the valley is the first sign of vegetation after crossing the highlands. Right next to the falls is Þjóðelvisbærinn Stöng, a reconstructed Viking long house. We didn't visit, but could see it from the road.
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Eyrarbakki
by toonsarah
Our last morning in Iceland started grey and damp, after a brief but glorious sunrise, and just got wetter and wetter! We had planned to cram in lots of sightseeing before our early afternoon check-in time, but in the event only made it to Eyrarbakki before the weather got too dreadful and we scuttled for the airport! We came here on the recommendation of Regina1965 who had said that this was a good place to see a typical 19th century Icelandic fishing village, and despite the mist and rain it was easy to see how full of character is this little community of old houses. It was a challenge taking photos without getting the camera too wet, and even more of a challenge doing justice to the pretty colours of some of the houses, but we enjoyed our brief walk around part of the village, nevertheless, although when we tried to walk by the sea a combination of rain and wind drove us back to the...
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