Seljalandsfoss · Skógafoss · Reynisfjara · Vík
Iceland's South Coast strings its best-known sights along one road — two famous waterfalls, a black sand beach, a village under a glacier — and an ice cave slots into the middle of it. These tours combine the two, so a single day covers the coast and the ice.
Choose your trip
Day tours from Reykjavik come first, then the tours based on the coast itself, then the multi-day options that reach as far as Jökulsárlón. Prices are per person in US dollars with free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
The highest-rated South Coast day here. Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, Reynisfjara and the Katla ice cave in one twelve-hour run, with a small-group feel throughout.
Free cancellation up to 24h
The most conventional coach version, covering the same waterfalls and the cave. Larger groups of up to 65 keep it among the cheaper full days.
Free cancellation up to 24h
A small-group day capped at fourteen, which makes a real difference at the busier stops. Twelve hours from Reykjavik.
Free cancellation up to 24h
A 4x4 South Coast day built around the Katla cave, running slightly shorter than the other capital departures at just over eleven hours.
Free cancellation up to 24h
Meets in Vík for a compact three hours, or in Reykjavik for the full day — the same cave either way. The most reviewed cave tour on the site.
Free cancellation up to 24h
A quad ride across the black lava sands below Mýrdalsjökull to the Sólheimasandur plane wreck. No cave, but a strong South Coast half-day in its own right.
Free cancellation up to 24h
Two days covering the waterfalls, Vík, Jökulsárlón and three hours on Mýrdalsjökull, with a hotel and breakfast included. Note the cave visited is usually the Crystal Cave at Breiðamerkurjökull, with Katla as the alternative.
Free cancellation up to 24h
The stretch of Route 1 running east from Reykjavik is the most visited part of Iceland outside the Golden Circle, and it packs a lot into about 190 km. Seljalandsfoss at roughly 120 km, with the path behind the falls; Skógafoss at about 150 km; the Sólheimasandur plane wreck; Reynisfjara and its basalt columns; and Vík at around 180 km.
Above Vík sits Mýrdalsjökull and the Katla volcano beneath it, which is where the ice cave comes in. Push further east and the coast continues to Skaftafell at about 327 km and Jökulsárlón at roughly 380 km — too far for the same day.
It is the only ice cave close enough to combine with the waterfalls in a single day, and the only one open year-round. That is why every South Coast tour with a cave on this page uses Katla rather than the blue caves further east.
The trade-off is honest enough: the Katla cave is streaked black with volcanic ash rather than the electric blue of the crystal caves. Different, not lesser — but if the blue is the point of the trip, a South Coast day tour is not the way to see it.
Self-driving works well in summer and gives you time at each stop. In winter it is a real decision: the South Coast is exposed, wind and ice close the road at short notice, and daylight can be as short as five hours. Guided days remove that risk and handle the cave access, which is guided-only regardless.
The tours here run eleven to twelve hours, which is a long day by any measure. Most of that is driving. Anyone who would rather not spend it in a vehicle should base themselves in Vík instead and book the three-hour cave tour from there.
The blue caves and the glacier lagoon are on the same coast but a long way further on — four and a half to five hours from Reykjavik each way. A day return is technically possible and genuinely punishing.
The sensible options are to stay overnight along the coast, or take a two-day tour that includes the cave, a hotel and the lagoon. One caveat worth reading before booking: on the two-day trip listed above the operator states the cave is usually the Crystal Cave at Breiðamerkurjökull, switching to Katla when that one is inaccessible.
Location & access
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