South Coast · Backpacking

Most of the sights charge nothing to see — check each car park for a parking charge before you assume the stop is free. Vík's pool is 1,500 ISK for an adult and 550 for a child; Skógar Museum is 3,000 ISK for adults, 1,600 for 12–17s, free under 12 and 6,750 for a family. Camping, a pool and your own cooking is a cheap day; one museum plus a guided glacier walk is not.

From 1 January 2026 the countryside routes were reorganised: route 51 now runs Selfoss–Reykjavík, route 52 Reykjavík–Höfn along the whole south coast, and route 53 Selfoss–Landeyjahöfn–Hvolsvöllur for the Westman Islands ferry. Most of the fleet went electric except the Höfn–Vík service. It runs on Route 1 and will not take you up a side road.

Vík's campsite is on Klettsvegur, Skógar's beside the museum, Hvolsvöllur's on Austurvegur and Klaustur's at Kirkjubær. Camping is what keeps this coast affordable; the hotels in Vík in high summer are what makes it the opposite.

Founded in 1949 and holding over 18,000 objects across three parts: a folk museum, an open-air group of turf and stone farm buildings, and a hall of 19th- and 20th-century transport. Open 362 days a year — 09:00–18:00 June to August, 10:00–17:00 September to May — at 3,000 ISK for an adult and free under 12.

Twenty kilometres up road 214 from Vík: a canyon campsite well off the Ring Road, reachable only in summer. Cheap, and about the only place on this coast where you can be somewhere quiet in July.