Manage booking
94 km
About 1 h 30 min
Car 1–4 · Van 5–7
Free cancellation 24 h
South coast · from KEF
About Eyrarbakki and the drive
Eyrarbakki is a small village on the south coast, near the mouth of the Ölfusá river. For centuries it was one of the main trading posts in southern Iceland, and the old timber houses along its streets, many of them painted in bright colours, are a reminder of that past. A sea wall protects the village from the open Atlantic, and the shore is lined with black sand and dark rock.
From Keflavík Airport the driver heads towards Reykjavík and follows Route 1 over Hellisheiði and past Hveragerði to Selfoss, then turns south across the flat farmland of Flói to the coast. Depending on conditions the driver may instead take the Þrengsli road down to the coast and cross the Ölfusá estuary on the bridge near Eyrarbakki. Either way it is a main-road drive.
Visitors come for the museum in Húsið, one of the oldest houses in Iceland, for walks along the shore and for the wetland bird reserve just outside the village. It is also a quiet base for the south coast and the Golden Circle, with Selfoss close by for shopping. Neighbouring Stokkseyri is only a few minutes further along the coast.
Seasons and roads
Winter nights on this stretch of coast are long and dark, good for northern lights from roughly September to April (never guaranteed). Hellisheiði and Þrengsli can close briefly in storms; the driver chooses the open route.
