Iceland - The World's Most Beautiful Sunset

A story about how tired eyes and tired minds led to experiencing the most beautiful sunset

Guess what? It’s another post about Iceland. Whilst I promise I’ve visited plenty of other countries, the responses I’ve gotten on my previous Icelandic posts have been great and have made me appreciate being a part of the Globetrotters community.

So if you wouldn't mind, here’s another article about Iceland. Please don’t criticize me too much, this month’s Globetrotters theme is waterfalls after all.

Picture this, you’re roughly seven days into your ten-day trip to Iceland. You’ve driven over 1,500km and are almost back in the capital. You’re nearing the end of your busiest day yet, which included kayaking, hiking and glacier walking. You’re still roughly two hours away from your bed for the evening and despite sharing the bulk of the driving, all members of your party are understandably tired.

Well this is exactly what I experienced. In order to squeeze in various excursions throughout the day and cover the 400km drive, we set off at 6 o’clock in the morning from Hofn, a small town situated on the south coast of Iceland. We spent the majority of the morning driving to our base of operations for the day, a visitor center near Skaftafell Glacier. From here, we completed a guided tour up the glacier and even got the opportunity to kayak in freezing water surrounded by floating Icebergs.

By the time we had left our base of operations for the day, the best of the afternoon was behind us. Thankfully concerns relating to driving in the dark were not on our minds as Iceland sees about 20 hours of sunlight during July. This being said, we were in no rush to take our time. We still had another 200km to drive, and despite being completely accustomed to driving long distances by that point, we were very much looking forward to catching up on some sleep following an exhausting day.

Despite refueling our bodies at Skógafoss waterfall (pictured below) and written about by Adrienne Beaumont, we felt very much depleted. Low on energy, the thought of completing the remaining 100km proved incredibly daunting. Whilst the pit stop was vital in sustaining us through the remainder of the day, it did consume a significant portion of time. Whilst the sun was still out when we left the falls, it soon became apparent that we might be completing the drive in the dark.

Despite having driven close to 2,000km by this point, the drive from Skógafoss was the first time we had come close to driving in the dark. With just over 50km to go for the day, all members of the party were struggling. Some exhausted from the day’s activities and others entering a food coma from dinner. With the navigation device estimating another hour on the road, we figured we’d stop one last time at Seljalandsfoss waterfall, if anything just to stretch our legs in the car park.

Pulling up to the car park, the waterfall couldn't have been more than 200m away. Whilst perhaps the smallest waterfall we had seen all trip, we could see people walking behind the falls, something we had yet to experience in Iceland. Liam James H writes about his similar experiences walking behind waterfalls in his article “Wales: The Four Waterfall Walk” linked below.

We locked the car and began the small walk to the falls. Walking at a rather slow pace to begin with, as we got closer to the falls, we could hear those already behind the falls mesmerized by what was clearly the sun shining through the cascading water.

As we got closer, we too began getting excited. This excitement coupled with the huge amount of spray thrown towards us perked the group up entirely. Those who had been quiet during the last few miles of driving were suddenly the biggest chatterboxes around.

Once at the base, we carefully made our way up the slippery steps to the side of the waterfall. At the top, we then proceeded to follow the small rocky path which went under and behind the falls. With the car park somewhat sheltered, it was only once we were behind the falls that we were able to witness the sunset.

I wish we could say that we’d read online that during sunset was the perfect time to visit Skógafoss waterfall. Or even that Skógafoss was something we had planned to see. In truth, the decision to go see the falls was simply one of survival, a last-ditch attempt to find some much-needed energy to make it to our accommodation.

What ended up being an accident, proved to be many people’s highlight of the trip. I’ve never really been one to chase a good sunset but I’d be surprised if I came across someone who had witnessed a more beautiful one than I.

In total, we spent over 30 minutes at the falls. Nobody really wanted to leave. This had nothing to do with the remaining miles we had to drive but everything with the magic of the sunset. After reluctantly getting back into the car, the remaining hour in the car flew by, everyone was simply energized from what they had just experienced.

Whilst not originally on our bucket list, I implore anyone visiting Iceland to go see the falls. If possible, try and visit during a sunset, you won’t regret it.

Iceland is an absolute must for anyone who hasn’t been. Whether you’re planning on staying only for a few days or more, I’ve written about some personal recommendations in the following articles