Day 5 - Dettifoss

- Dettifoss - 

Dettifoss, located in Jökulsárgljúfur National Park is also known as the most powerful and largest waterfall in Europe with its size of 100 meters width and plunges from 45 meters height.

- Driving to Dettifoss -

There are 2 routes linking to the waterfall, Route 864 and route 862 (Newer route and closer if you are coming from the West).

Route 864

Links to the East bank of the waterfall. It will be closed during winter season so you will have to use alternate route 862. Route is not paved and very rough to drive on. Total of 32km drive and further from the viewing point. Walking distance is 700 meters from parking. We drove halfway in to find that the road is closed due to slippery winter. We went in driving Kia Sportage but for the unpaved section it is not too difficult to drive, just that you have to drive veryyy slow to get in and avoiding port holes. Speed limit is 80km/hr but you will probably be driving at 30km/hr. According to many bloggers and trip advisor comments, the view are spectacular and you get to see a fuller view of the waterfalls

Route 862

Links to the West bank, a better option as it is well paved with total 22km distance (finished in year 2011) It is also nearer to the fall with ample car park space, huge enough to accommodate buses. There are blogs saying that it is sometimes closed during the winter so better check for road condition before travelling. I personally prefer route 862 as it will be a smoother ride plus there is FREE PARKING and FREE TOILET! 

One thing about the toilets here, it looks like portable toilets around construction sites/fun fair. Total of about 10 of it and it doesn't flush~~~ It is like a basin full of everybody's junk and the smell definitely blows your mind. Unless if you really urgently needs a leak, do not enter. I thought I nearly died there LOL! 

The walk to the waterfall is on flat ground, totally zero difficulty. Take note the nearer to the falls, the slippery it gets. And again, you will be drenched as the water are so strong it forms water vapour spraying on you. This place is totally worth to stop by. We nearly bypass this due to road closure and thank god we did not give up. Another thing good about travelling in Iceland is that the attractions are mostly FOC, so most of the expenses will be on hotels, petrol and food. Below is one quick video on the waterfall.

- Selfoss - 

Another 1km walk from Detifoss may bring you to another waterfall Selfoss. This is also a must see attraction in Iceland.. but due to the long and rocky climb we decided to skip this! There are walking route from west bank and also east bank. I have found some good reference view on West and East bank for your reference.

West Selfoss

East Selfoss

Now you can clearly judge for yourself which area you should go for a better view. For day 5 due to the extra long journey, we only had time for one destination. Stay tune for Day 6 where we go whale watching! 

Day 5 Driving Route:-

Total distance traveled: 250km

Time spent on road: 3 hours 30 minutes