Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Vík (Vík í Mýrdal)
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The welcoming little community of Vík has become a booming hub for a very beautiful
portion of the south coast. Iceland's southernmost town, it's also the rainiest, but that
doesn't stop the madhouse atmosphere in summer when every room within 100km is
booked solid. For the beautiful basalt beach
Reynisfjara
and its puffin cliffs, and the rocky
Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon and beyond, all topped by ice caps, Vík is a convenient base
with loads of services. White waves wash up on black sands and the cliffs glow green from
all that rain. Put simply, it's beautiful.
Sights
Reynisdrangur
LANDMARK, BEACH
Vík's most iconic cluster of sea stacks is known as Reynisdrangur, which rise from the
ocean like ebony towers at the western end of Vík's black-sand beach. They're tradition-
ally believed to be trolls that got caught out in the sun. The nearby cliffs are good for
puffin watching. A bracing walk up from Vík's western end takes you to the top of
Reynis-
fjall
ridge (340m), offering superb views. (On the other side of the point is
Reynisfjara
.)
Brydebúð
MUSEUM
( 487 1395;
http://brydebud.vik.is
;
Víkurbraut 28;museum adult/child Ikr500/free; 11am-8pm
Jun-Aug)
In town, the tin-clad house Brydebúð was built in Vestmannaeyjar in 1831 and moved to
Vík in 1895. Today it houses the tourist office, Halldórskaffi and a small museum with dis-
plays on local fishing, and explanations of what it's like to live under the volcano Katla.
Víkurkirkja
CHURCH
(Hátún)
