Jökulsárlón · Backpacking

Camping at Skaftafell is 2,800 ISK per person a night, 2,300 for over-67s and free for anyone 16 or under, with electricity 1,500 ISK per 24 hours. Parking is 1,110 ISK for a car and 450 for a motorcycle at both Jökulsárlón and Skaftafell. The amphibian boat is 7,100 ISK for adults. Skip the boat, camp and cook and a day here costs little more than the fuel.

The countryside network was rebuilt on 1 January 2026: the old routes 51 and 52 were split, and route 52 now runs Reykjavík–Höfn along the whole south coast. The fleet went electric except the Höfn–Vík leg. It follows Route 1 and nothing else — no side roads, no lagoon-side detours, no glacier tracks.

Open all year, with only zones A and C in use through the winter to spare the rest of the ground. Around 400 tent pitches, flush toilets, showers, laundry, drinking water and about 100 electrical hook-ups. You cannot reserve a pitch — you register and pay at reception on arrival — and there is no indoor kitchen or dining room. Outdoor water is off until mid-May.

Once you have paid to park, the marked trails are free. S1 to the glacier snout is a 4.1 km loop of 1–1.5 hours, graded easy; S2 up to Svartifoss and back is 5.8 km and about two hours, also easy. Skaftafellsstofa, the visitor centre, is open year-round with rangers, maps and the day's conditions.

On Jökulsárlón the amphibian is 7,100 ISK for 13s and over, 3,500 for 6–12s and free under 6; the zodiac is 16,600 and takes nobody under 10. Sailings are 09:00–19:00 June to September, 10:00–17:00 in May and from October to 15 November, and nothing runs in deep winter. Fjallsárlón's smaller zodiac trip is 11,300 ISK for about 75 minutes.