Selfoss

The biggest town in south Iceland — practical Ring Road stop, Bobby Fischer's grave, and pizza at Tryggvaskali.

Selfoss is a Ring Road town of 8,000 people that most travellers use as a supply stop between Reykjavik and Vik. It has the country's biggest Bonus supermarket outside the capital, a couple of decent restaurants, and — bizarrely — the grave of Bobby Fischer, the American chess champion, out at Laugardaelir cemetery 5km east. The town centre has been redeveloped around a preserved-and-relocated old-house quarter on Austurvegur that actually works, unlike most Icelandic pedestrianisation attempts. At 9pm the quarter empties out to a handful of diners at Tryggvaskali; the rest of town is dark, low-rise, and residential.

It's a sensible base for the south coast — Geysir and Gullfoss are 60 minutes north, Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss are 60 minutes east, and the Reykjadalur hot river is 10 minutes' drive at Hveragerdi. Doubles ISK 15967-ISK 23336. Skip if you want scenery from your window — Selfoss is functional. Suits drivers, families with kids who need a supermarket, and anyone doing the south coast in bites. Petrol is cheaper here than at the N1 stations further along Route 1 towards Vik, and the town's two supermarkets mean nobody arrives at a farmhouse guesthouse without milk or diesel.

The Olfusa is Iceland's largest river by volume, and the single-lane bridge that once crossed it — replaced by a wider crossing just upstream — used to be the town's defining bottleneck every summer weekend. Selfoss grew up in the 1920s as a dairy and market town for the surrounding farms, and that history still shows in the co-operative-era buildings around Austurvegur and Eyravegur. It isn't picturesque in the way Vik or Hofn are, but it's the only town of any real size between Reykjavik and the glacier lagoons, which is exactly why every south coast itinerary passes through it at least once.

Winter changes the calculation: Route 1 between Reykjavik and Selfoss crosses the Hellisheidi plateau, which closes or slows in bad weather more often than the flat run beyond, so a night in Selfoss before pushing on to Vik or Jokulsarlon is a sensible hedge rather than mere convenience. In summer the same road is fast and dull, and the town's appeal narrows to logistics — fuel, groceries, and a bed close to the Ring Road junction for Landmannalaugar and Thorsmork traffic heading north.

Where to sleep

Around the old-house quarter on Austurvegur and Sigtun is the best of it — walking distance to Tryggvaskali, Kaffi Krus, and Bonus. Expect ISK 15967-ISK 23336. The Hotel Selfoss on the river is bigger and blander but genuinely well-run and has hot pots. Avoid guesthouses out at Hveragerdi advertised as Selfoss — they're fine but 15 minutes' drive away and you'll want a car everywhere. High season (June-August) pushes the top of that band close to ISK 23336 a night for a double with breakfast; in winter the same rooms can drop to ISK 15967 or below, especially midweek. Hotel Örk, a spa hotel in Hveragerdi, falls into the same trap as the guesthouses — lovely geothermal pool, but a 15-minute drive from Selfoss's shops and restaurants, not a walk. Book the old-house quarter first; if it's full, Hotel Selfoss is the fallback, not Hveragerdi.

The essentials

Selfoss old town and river walk (3 km)

Start at the Olfusa bridge, walk through the old-house quarter on Austurvegur (relocated timber houses from around south Iceland, now cafes and shops). Cross to the north bank along the river path, past the church and the old dairy. Loop back over the bridge. Best around sunset when the low light hits the water. About an hour with stops.

Getting there & around

Bus 51 (Straeto) from BSI in Reykjavik reaches Selfoss in 55 minutes, ISK 1474. Runs several times daily. From Keflavik airport, take the Flybus to Reykjavik then bus 51 — about 2h30 total. The town is the transport hub for buses continuing east to Vik (bus 51 continues, 2h) and north to Landmannalaugar (summer bus 14). A rental car makes way more sense for the south coast — you'll want to stop at waterfalls that aren't near bus stops. Within Selfoss itself everything is walkable — the old-house quarter, Bonus, and Sundholl pool are all within 10 minutes on foot of each other, so a car is only needed for day trips out.