Best waterfalls in Iceland, ranked
Wide horseshoe waterfall in green landscape
Ranking Iceland's 15 most-visited waterfalls by drama, accessibility and how badly they’ll soak your camera — with the ones worth a 4-hour detour and the ones that aren’t.
The top five
Seljalandsfoss on the south coast — you walk behind it, you get drenched, it's magnificent. Skogafoss 30 minutes east, 60m tall and rainbow-generating on any sunny afternoon. Godafoss in the north is a wide horseshoe and my personal favourite. Dettifoss in the northeast is Europe's most powerful and the ground actually shakes — take the east bank (Route 864) for the classic view. Gullfoss on the Golden Circle rounds out the essential list.
The underrated and the skips
Haifoss in the highlands (summer only) is 122m and half-empty. Kirkjufellsfoss on Snaefellsnes photographs better than it visits. Bruarfoss requires a 7km round-trip walk that's rarely worth it. Skip Gljufrabui only if you hate wet clothes — otherwise squeeze into the canyon next to Seljalandsfoss and it's the best photo of the trip.
Before you book
What people ask before booking Reykjavik.
All are free to view. Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss charge $8 for parking. Bring coins or the Parka app.
Yes but paths ice over. Micro-spikes ($20 at any N1) are essential November through March.
