Skaftafell National Park, which is now a part of the massive Vatnajökull National Park, is one of the best places to visit in Iceland. It is filled with so many natural wonders, including waterfalls, glaciers and beautiful vegetation. People who love being outdoors and hiking will love to spend time in Skaftafell National Park. In this post, we will give you all the information you need to plan your own trip to Skaftafell in Vatnajökull National Park.
Skaftafell National Park was founded in 1967. After being enlarged several times, it was absorbed into the nearby Vatnajökull National Park in 2008. We were confused before we went because the interweb seems to refer to Skaftafell National Park and Vatnajökull National Park interchangeably. However, Skaftafell is a region of Vatnajökull National Park.
Skaftafell really is a land of fire and ice! It is filled with volcanic remains and covered with glaciers. The melting glaciers, create large rivers that give rise to beautiful waterfalls, like the popular Svartifoss. Plus the lush landscape is beautiful, green and filled with flowers in the summer.
When to Visit Skaftafell
Skaftafell is beautiful in the summer, from June through August. This section of Iceland is one of the few places known to have clear sky days and warm weather in the summer. When we visited it was tank top and shorts weather! But the real treat when visiting in the summer is the beautiful meadows that open up and bloom. There were beautiful flowers blooming all around us when we visited in mid-July. May and September are the shoulder season and can also be a great time to visit.
You can visit outside of the summer season but some trails may become icy and others may close, so you’ll need to plan accordingly.
Getting To Skaftafell
Skaftafell is located just off of Route 1, the Ring Road, about four hours from Reykjavík. You need your own vehicle to get here or you can arrange to take a public bus or a professional tour.
When you arrive at Skaftafell National Park, there are several parking areas. Make sure to park in the really full parking lot for visitors. There are two other parking lots: one for tour buses and one that is handicap accessible. Both of these typically have more available parking spots and are closer to the visitor centre but neither are well marked.
What to Budget
Entrance into Skaftafell National Park is 750 ISK per vehicle. This parking fee is for a full day. If you choose to do a glacier hike, and we recommend you do, you’ll need to budget between 1,900 and 3,000 ISK/person for a guided tour.
Food in Iceland is expensive and Skaftafell is no exception. There are a few snack shacks set up in Skaftafell and food will cost about 2000 ISK/person. However, selection here is limited so we packed a lunch when we visited and cooked our own dinner. This is our recommended suggestion for dining here.
Top Things to Do at Skaftafell in Vatnajökull National Park
Visitors Centre
We always stop in the Visitors Centre at all National Parks. They are filled with tons of fun information and knowledgeable staff. Stop in at Skaftafell National Park to learn about the history of the park, including the geological history that made the park what it is today. The rangers at the Centre can also give you recommendations on hiking trails based on the amount of time you have available.
Hiking in Skaftafell
The most popular thing to do in Skaftafell National Park is hike! And the hiking trails here are beautiful. Don’t visit without doing at least one hike.
Svartifoss
- Distance: 5.5 km
- Elevation Gain: 140 m
- Time: 1.5 hours
- Difficulty: easy, with short steep inclines
Svartifoss is the most popular hike in Skaftafell. The hike to this beautiful waterfall is up a very steep incline. However, once the trail levels out, the hike is beautiful. The trails are well maintained. Plus the columnar basalt waterfall at the end is worth the trip.
Svartifoss or ‘“Black Falls” tumble from the top of a columnar basalt cliff. This waterfall is so beautiful that it inspired the design for the Hallgrimskirkja Church in Reykjavík. These hexagonal columns drip water from the Vatnajökull glacier.
The waterfall is located at the far end of a 5 km hiking loop. Along the loop, you’ll see three other smaller waterfalls. If you are short on time or effort, you can hike this as a shorter out-and-back trail.
Sjónarnípa
- Distance: 7.4 km
- Elevation Gain: 160 m
- Time: 3 hours
- Difficulty: moderate
You can tack on a visit to the Sjónarnípa viewpoint after visiting Svartifoss. This was the route we wanted to take but we ran short on time and had to return for our glacier tour. After visiting Svartifoss, you can continue along a spur trail to the viewpoint which will give you a great view of the Skaftafellsjokul glacier and the glacial lagoon. This hike goes through the beautiful flower filled fields and is relatively flat after the initial elevation gain.
Glacier Hiking
I cannot say enough for this experience as it was one of our favorite in all of Iceland! Tours leave from the Skaftefell Visitors Centre area. Then, you drive yourself to the glacier parking lot, about 15 minutes away, and the tour will take you up onto a glacier. Here you’ll learn about the ecosystem of the glacier, including neat moss that can flip themselves over!
You’ll get to walk on the glacier with your cool adventure outfit, including a helmet, a pick, and some grippy crampons. Make sure to wear some sturdy ankle support hiking boots with hard toes so that the crampons can fit or you’ll have to rent shoes. You’ll also have the ability to fill up your water bottle with glacial runoff so you can drink hand bottled glacier water! Can you tell we had tons of fun by all the exclamation points!!!! I had so much fun and learned so much about glaciers on our tour with Arctic Adventures. I wish we would have done a full day tour instead (ahhh… next time).
However, these tours can be strenuous and maybe you’ll find it boring. Several people in our tour were out of breath and less than impressed. Because they were either sticks in the mud who just aren’t impressed with anything or (more likely) because you have to hike up a very steep hill to get to the top of the glacier which can be challenging and they were too busy sitting down to catch their breath to enjoy the tour.
Visit a Glacial Lagoon
Nearby, but technically outside of Skaftafell National Park, you can find two glacial lagoons: Jökulsárlón and Fjallsárlón. These are both beautiful and we’d recommend visiting one or both. You can walk around either lagoon and see the ice chunks that have come loose from the glaciers in Skaftafell.
If you would like to, you can also do a boat or kayak tour of the lagoons. However, if you are planning on climbing a glacier, consider doing a combo boating tour of the nearby lagoon. It will save you money and fill up a whole day with fun adventures.
Where to Stay in Skaftafell National Park
There are several small hostels and hotels nearby. We stayed at the Skyrhúsid Guest House and enjoyed our stay. You can spend between $90-450 USD to stay in accommodations in the area.
However, the only place to stay in the park is at the camping sites. Camping fees are 250 ISK for the site and 1,500 ISK per person. This does not include an electric hookup.
How Long Should You Spend in Skaftafell National Park?
We would recommend spending a half day to a full day in Skaftafell National Park. A half day will allow you to do some hiking while a full day will allow you to add a glacier tour in to your visit.
If you do decide to add a glacier hike in, and we think you should, you will NEED a reservation. When we visited, they were booked out for several days. So while visiting Skaftafell can be a spontaneous stop, you’ll need to plan ahead if you want to hike on a glacier.
We hope this has helped you to plan your trip to Skaftafell in Vatnajökull National Park. We really enjoyed it and think it should be a stop on every Icelandic road trip. Please leave any questions or suggestions you may have in the comments section below.
