It’s already S and there are only seven more editions of the A-Z of Iceland left after this. S is for Skaftafell.
Today, Skaftafell is part of the Vatnajökulsþjóðgarður, the Vatnajökull National Park, although the first time I went there Skaftafell was a National Park in its own right. Vatnajökulsþjóðgarður covers pretty much the entire west end of Iceland; it encompasses the Diamond Circle north of Myvatn, the entire Askja/Holuhraun/Desert of Misdeeds area, the Laki craters and a chunk of the Fjallabak area near Landmannalaugar, not to mention Vatnajökull itself. I own the Vatnajökulsþjóðgarður t-shirt in both green and black because it’s simple and pretty and available from the Skaftafell visitor centre. However, it’s also the uniform that Vatnajökulsþjóðgarður park rangers wear so be aware that if you wear it to the airport, you may get accused of working without official documentation, or at least getting some odd looks and more questions than normal.
The Skaftafell area is concentrated around a visitor centre and campsite, set in a little corner between three glaciers – Skaftafellsjökull, Svínafellsjökull and Skeiðarárjökull. The first two are the most easily accessible and if I’m camping at Skaftafell, I’ll always hop along to say hello to Skaftafellsjökull, often in the evening before bed but sometimes in the morning before I set off. It’s not as close as it pretends to be but it’s a very easy walk, providing you don’t mind a little bit of gravel and a tiny bit of route-finding. Should’t need to hunt down the route but it’s a tiny bit harder than it looks.
There isn’t an abundance of accommodation at Skaftafell, not if you’re after something with a solid roof. Your best bet here by far is to camp – in fact, it’s the reason I took to camping in Iceland. It’s the biggest camp in the country although it’s pretty tiny by mainland European standards. It has the softest grass I’ve ever encountered, it’s divided into eight smaller sub-camp fields, four of which have electricity for vans. It also has good showers. They’re not free, unfortunately. They’re powered by cards. You can buy the cards from inside the visitor centre during the day and after-hours, there’s a card-operated machine mounted on the wall outside.
There’s a toilet/shower block right next to the visitor centre and another one in the centre of the campsite. Memorably, there’s a sign up in the one next to the visitor centre that declares… well, read it for yourself.
One of the great things about Skaftafell is that it’s a picking-up point for a lot of glacier tours – the first time, I came with one of the Reykjavik tour companies and we were handed over to Glacier Guides who took us out hiking on Falljökull and then out on a boat trip on Jökulsárlón. There are plenty of other companies and plenty of other glacier tongues to hike and climb on – let me stress, with a professional guide, not on your own. This was also where my Laki day started out – the bus starts at Skaftafell but it also does a pick-up at Kirkjubæjarklaustur, which is a tiny town an hour away. I really can’t figure out why anyone is in Kirkjubæjarklaustur in the first place. There’s nothing for at least an hour on either side and from the point of view of people like me, it’s just a toilet stop and petrol station on your way to Skaftafell, which is a bustling metropolis in comparison.
Skaftafell is a great place for hiking. If you’re really ambitious (and fit and you have a professional guide!), you can climb Iceland’s highest peak which is Hvannadalshnúkur, which pokes out of the top of Vatnajökull. If you’re less ambitious, there are lots of short hiking trails in the area and even a few natural hotpots. The best-known hike is up to Svartifoss, the Black Waterfall. It’s a little black bite out of the green landscape, where a pretty waterfall tumbles over a small hexagonal basalt column cliff. This waterfall, needless to say, starts in the massive glacier and the water is really cold. I paddled in it.
What else is great about Skaftafell? Well, if you’re camping there and you stay out late enough, it’s nice to see the sunset reflecting off Vatnajökull. In the unlikely event that it’s hot, a breeze blows off the glacier and acts as natural air conditioning and I like that.
If you’re doing a circuit of the Ring Road, stopping here is non-optional. This is the highlight of the south coast (it’s also just about the only thing between Vik and the Eastfjords). There’s enough in the area to keep you here at least a day. Two days. I wouldn’t even say three days is too long.
If you’re not doing a circuit of the Ring Road, stop here anyway. It’s worth the effort, and it is an effort. By public bus from Reykjavik, you’re looking at six to eight hours, including stops at the south coast waterfalls an Vik. By car, it’s probably four to six hours. That day trip I mentioned earlier, including the glacier climbing and boat trip, lasted fourteen or sixteen hours, which is a long day. I would recommend staying overnight. Or two nights. Or three nights.
If you’re doing a short trip to Iceland, pick from Reykjavik, Blue Lagoon and Golden Circle. If you’re doing a longer trip, do all three and then the south coast as far as Skaftafell.