Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss are half an hour apart and nothing alike
What you actually do at each South Coast waterfall, how long each stop needs, and the version of each that most people on a tour miss.
Every South Coast day tour stops at Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss, in that order, because they sit about 30 km apart on Route 1 and you pass them on the way to Vík. They’re both around 60 metres tall. That’s where the resemblance ends. One you walk behind. One you climb. Knowing which is which decides what you wear and how you spend a 40-minute stop.
Seljalandsfoss is a walk behind, then a scramble to a second fall
Seljalandsfoss drops off the old sea cliff in a single thin ribbon, and there’s a path that loops behind it. That’s the whole reason to stop. You’ll get wet, properly wet, not misted, so a shell jacket and a hood matter more here than at any other stop on the coast. Put the phone in a pocket before you go in.
The loop takes ten minutes. Then walk north along the base of the cliff for about five hundred metres to Gljúfrabúi, a second waterfall tucked inside a slot canyon. You wade a few steps up a shallow stream to get in, and stand in a stone room with the water crashing in from above. It’s the better of the two and most people on a clock skip it.
Downsides: paid parking if you drive. In winter, the path behind the fall ices over and is roped off, sometimes for weeks. Then Seljalandsfoss is a photo from the front and Gljúfrabúi is the reason to get off the bus.
Skógafoss is a staircase and a view, then a museum
Skógafoss is wider, heavier and louder. It hits flat ground, so you can walk right up to the base across the gravel and stand in the spray. On a sunny day there’s usually a rainbow in it, often two.
Then there’s the staircase up the east side to a platform at the top. It’s a few hundred steps, steep, with a rail. Ten to fifteen minutes up for most people. The view is down the fall and out over the flats to the sea. Behind you, a path continues up the Skógá river past waterfall after waterfall. It’s the start of the Fimmvörðuháls trail over to Þórsmörk. On a tour you can follow it for five minutes and turn round. On your own you could lose an afternoon.
Beside the car park is the Skógar folk museum, with turf houses and a transport hall. Worth an hour if you’re driving. No tour has that hour.
Downside: the base is crowded from late morning to mid-afternoon. The top is quieter because of the stairs.
Which tours, and how they use the time
All three we’d book do both falls, then carry on toward Reynisfjara and Vík in a ten-hour day. BusTravel Iceland’s South Coast Small Group Tour is from €128 in a minibus. Nordur Travel Services’ South Coast Adventure is from €124, also small group, with a 4.9 rating from a smaller base of reviews. Arctic Adventures’ South Shore Adventure is from €128.
None of them will give you enough time to do Gljúfrabúi and the Skógafoss stairs both at a relaxed pace. Pick one at each stop.
Our honest take
At Seljalandsfoss, skip the queue behind the fall and go to Gljúfrabúi. At Skógafoss, climb the stairs. That’s the version of each stop that most people miss, and it fits inside a tour’s schedule if you don’t dawdle.
Between the three tours there’s little to separate them: same route, same stops, similar price. We’d book the small-group option with the pickup time that suits you and spend the saved thought on packing a real waterproof. The tradeoff of any of them is the clock. If the waterfalls are your main reason for the South Coast, drive it and give each an hour.
