About this guide
Vík Iceland is an independent travel guide to Vík í Mýrdal and the coast around it, from Skógafoss and Sólheimajökull in the west to the Katla ice cave and Mýrdalssandur in the east. It is written by Patrick Kühne, a travel publisher based in Germany who runs a small group of guides to single destinations.
Not the official tourist office
This site has no connection to the municipality, the landowners at Reynisfjara or any tourism body. Two organisations speak officially for the area. Visit South Iceland, in Icelandic Markaðsstofa Suðurlands, at south.is, is the regional destination management organisation for the south, from Þorlákshöfn in the west to Höfn in the east, about 500 km of coastline. The municipality of Mýrdalshreppur, at vik.is, runs the village and is also responsible for land protection on Dyrhólaey under an agreement made with the Environment Agency of Iceland, whose work on protected areas passed to Náttúruverndarstofnun in 2025. For opening hours, closures and local rules, their pages have the last word.
Where the facts come from
Distances, timetables, opening hours, sun times and climate figures come from official or first-hand sources: Visit South Iceland, the Environment Agency of Iceland, now Náttúruverndarstofnun, for Dyrhólaey and Skógafoss, Statistics Iceland for the population, the Icelandic Tourist Board for the warning system at Reynisfjara, the Icelandic Met Office for the Katla volcano and the climate station in Vík, the Katla Geopark for Sólheimajökull, the road administration and Safetravel for roads and safety, the Skógar Museum, the shuttle and tour operators themselves, and the US Naval Observatory for sunrise and sunset. Each page lists the sources it relies on. We checked them against the original pages on 23 October 2026.
Where sources disagree, we say so or give a range. Two examples: the figures of the Skógar Museum add up to 180 km for the road from Reykjavík, the Perlan museum gives 187 km and the figures of the plane wreck shuttle operator about 190 km, so we write roughly 180 to 190 km. And one source says the plane wreck shuttle runs in summer, while its operator lists it all year; we follow the operator, who names 17:00 as the last departure, earlier when daylight is short.
How the site earns money
Tour cards and comparison tables link to GetYourGuide and, for tours that are not listed there or work better elsewhere, to Viator. When you book through these links we receive a commission, and your price stays the same. Prices, ratings and review counts come live from the booking platform. We do not write them.
We are not a tour operator and do not sell tours ourselves. Questions about a booking, a cancellation or a refund go to the platform or to the operator named on the tour card.
How tours are chosen
Many tours to this coast start in Reykjavík. A tour appears here only when it starts in Vík, picks you up there, or meets at a stated place nearby, such as the Sólheimajökull car park or a base camp in Mýrdalur. We leave out pure transfers, photo shoots and tours whose guest reviews are clearly weaker than the alternatives. The plane wreck shuttle is included because it is the only way to reach the wreck without the long walk. Duration, meeting point, age limits and what is included come from the tour pages. When the platform stops listing a tour, it disappears from this site automatically.
Some places matter without any tour, like the beaches, the Skógar Museum or the free exhibition at the Katla Centre. We link to their own pages, and we earn nothing from those links.
Photos
The photos come from Unsplash and illustrate the activities. Captions describe only what the picture shows and name the photographer. Some pictures were taken elsewhere in Iceland, for example the kayak, horse and lava photos, and in that case the caption does not place them at Vík.
Contact
Contact details are in the legal notice.