Flight to Iceland

Vik

Vík in Mýrdalur is Iceland's most southerly village. Although this community of 600 inhabitants faces the open Atlantic, Vík is the only seaside settlement in Iceland left without a harbour due to natural circumstances. Nevertheless Vík's inhabitants go fishing with the help of their amphibious boats, which enable them to drive, literally, out to sea. Vík has good travel services and offers plenty of camping and hotel space. Among the many aspects of Vík that make it attractive to tourists are the increasingly popular sea-and-land trips in the above-mentioned boats; sight-seeing flights; snowmobile trips on the Mýrdalsjökull glacier; excellent salmon and trout fishing; and horseback riding, to list a few.

The natural beauty of the area is spectacular. Just east of the village's outskirts lies one of Europe's biggest arctic tern breeding grounds. South of Vík is a beautiful beach, which the international ISLANDS Magazine named one of the world's ten best island beaches in 1991. A short hike within the close vicinity of Vík is sure to satisfy all serious nature lovers and bird watchers. To the south of Reynisfjall mountain, a spectacular set of rock columns called Reynisdrangar rise majestically out of the Atlantic Ocean.

Dyrhólaey, where the unique rock arch is found, is a 120-m-high promontory in the western part of the Mýrdalur district. Dyrhólaey is Iceland's most southerly tip. North of Vík rises the bulk of the 700 km2 Mýrdalsjökull glacier, Iceland's fourth largest. Approximately 600 metres below the ice lies the dormant sub-glacial volcano Katla. Katla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes, and has on average erupted twice a century, the last occasion being in 1918.

There are many places of interest in the vicinity of Vík. On the south slopes of Reynisfjall can be found beautiful basalt-lava rock formations and sea-made caves. The historical palagonite mountains of Pétursey, Hjörleifshöfði and Hafursey stand towering over the surrounding black expanse. A valley glacier from Mýrdalsjökull, Sólheimajökull, marks the westernmost part of the district. The river Jökulsá on Sólheimasandur originates from hot springs beneath the glacier. The river's strong smell of solfataric hydrogen sulphide has also earned it the name of Fúlilækur (Stinky River).

Few other places in Iceland offer as many contrasts of nature as Mýrdalur. The area is therefore an ideal place to visit for those travellers who want to enjoy good travel services and the best of what the country's natural environment has to offer.

Accommodation in Vik.