Dyrhólaey

Quick Facts

Time Spent30 minutes

Best Time to Visit?Morning

Bathroom Available?No

Cost for EntryFree

Worth It?Must Go

Seasonal?Year-Round

Attraction Tips

The road up isn't paved well

As you drive up to the top of the hill, the road is full of pot holes and isn’t paved or maintained very well. While you can get here with any type of car, just be careful as you drive up.

It can be very windy

This attraction sits on the top of an unprotected hill, subject to high wind gusts, so we highly recommend you stay away from the edges as you’re walking around. Be sure to also be extremely careful when opening your car doors in high winds – the door could potentially swing the other way and damage the car.

Walk up on the Hill

While the main attractions are the unique rock formation and expansive view of what looks like a never ending beach, walking up on the hill near the parking lot offers a true 360 degree view of the mountains and beach.

How to Get There & Parking

Address:

Dyrhólaey

9VXF+R6

Vik, Iceland

Directions via Google Maps

Parking: Free

Attraction Details

As you drive up to Dyrhólaey, you’ll notice that the road isn’t well paved – there are pot holes everywhere! But don’t let that deter you from driving to the top in any type of car, just be careful and find ways to avoid them. We were lucky enough to see a wild horse on our drive up, close to the main road, and hope you get the chance to see one too! This isn’t a highly frequented attraction, so the parking lot isn’t very big or full, but it is completely worth the visit to see the expansive views of south Iceland.

It’s important to note that, since the area is very high up and unprotected by the wind, there can be huge gusts of wind that can push you from where you’re standing. Because of this, please be careful and really hold onto your car doors when getting in and out of your vehicle. We’ve heard that, in some cases, if people don’t have a hold on their doors and a gust of wind comes, the door of the vehicle can bend backwards and overextend – damaging the hinges of the door. So be careful, especially at this attraction. Additionally, we’d also recommend not standing too closely to the edges as you’re walking around the path for safety reasons.

Now that the disclaimers are out of the way – this perch up on the hill offers absolutely stunning views of the famous arch that sits in the water, Reynisfjara Beach, an endless black sand coastline and lush green mountains in the distance. This is another attraction where pictures just can’t capture the essence of what actually being there offers. We found ourselves in complete awe of what this lookout point provides and can’t wait for you to experience it too.

While we didn’t run into this issue, we also read that sometimes during spring/summer time, there is limited road access to Dyrhólaey. You should check before you visit because it could be different between seasons. That being said, if there is limited road access, you could park your car to the point where the road is blocked off and hike up to the top, which is about a 30 minute intermediate hike to the top, since it’s all up hill and the road zigzags.

Overall, this attraction was absolutely beautiful and offers some pretty amazing panoramic views. We hope you find the time to stop here on your trip!

Attraction Details

Overall, this attraction was absolutely beautiful and offers some pretty amazing panoramic views. We hope you find the time to stop here on your trip!