Seljalandsfoss and Gljúfrabúi

From the car park take the gravel path to the foot of Seljalandsfoss. Climb the steps on its south side and follow the path round behind the falling water, coming down on the north side. Walk north along the foot of the cliffs, past a few smaller falls, to the narrow cleft where Gljúfrabúi drops out of sight. Look in from the mouth, or step in over the stones. Come back along the cliff foot, this time passing in front of Seljalandsfoss over a small footbridge.

It is 1.9 km there and back with 68 m of ascent; allow about half an hour. The grade is Easy: an almost level path, with wet steps behind the fall.

The path behind the fall is soaked with spray and slippery, so waterproofs help. In winter spray freezes on the cliff and over the path, and ice can fall in a thaw: the path behind the fall is closed when it ices up. Inside the Gljúfrabúi gorge rocks can fall, and the scramble paths up the cliff beside it are not part of this walk.

The landowners charge 900 ISK per car for the day, collected through Checkit by number-plate cameras; stays under ten minutes are free. The falls are on road 249, just off the Ring Road; no bus stops here.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.