Where to base yourself for South Iceland
Reykjavík or Selfoss: Where to Base Yourself for South Iceland
Most first trips to Iceland start with a hotel in Reykjavík and a rental car. It makes sense on paper. The airport is close, the restaurants are good, and every tour seems to leave from the city. Then the days begin, and the driving starts to add up.
The question is not whether Reykjavík is a good city. It is. The question is whether it is a good place to sleep if the trip is really about South Iceland.
For most people, it is not.
The short answer
If your plans include the south coast for more than one day, stay east of the capital. A base near Selfoss puts the Golden Circle about an hour away in one direction and the south coast waterfalls about an hour away in the other. From Reykjavík, every one of those days starts and ends with a longer drive.
Stay in Reykjavík if the trip is two nights, mostly city, and includes only one day out. Stay near Selfoss if the landscape is the point.
The driving arithmetic
Selfoss sits about an hour southeast of Reykjavík on Ring Road 1, over the Hellisheiði plateau. That hour does not disappear when you stay in the city. It is paid twice a day, every day you head south.
A south coast day from Reykjavík means roughly two hours of driving before the first waterfall, and the same again after the last one. From a base near Selfoss, Seljalandsfoss is about an hour away. The drive to Vík and Reynisfjara is still long, up to about two hours each way, but it is two hours shorter in total than the same day from the city.
Over a four-night trip with three days out, that difference comes to somewhere between six and nine hours. Most of it happens in the dark between October and March. All of it happens on the same stretch of road you have already seen.
It is a lot of driving. It is not a lot of Iceland.
What changes when you stop moving
The usual fix for the distance problem is a different hotel every night. Selfoss on the first night, Vík on the second, somewhere further east on the third. It solves the driving and creates a new problem: packing, checking in, learning a new building, and never quite arriving.
One base solves both. Two full days out, one room, nothing to pack in between. The Golden Circle on one day, the south coast on another, and a slower day close by when the weather turns, which it will.
Choose fewer stops. You will see more of the country, not less.
What is close to Selfoss
The appeal of a base here is how much sits within an hour, without needing an early start.
- Urriðafoss, Iceland's most voluminous waterfall, five minutes from the hotel.
- Miðbær Selfoss, the town's rebuilt historic center, about 15 minutes away.
- Kerið crater, on the road north toward Reykjavík, with a 20-minute walk around the rim.
- The Golden Circle: Þingvellir (Thingvellir), Geysir and Gullfoss, about an hour away.
- Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss on the south coast, about an hour away.
The one nobody plans for is also the closest. Urriðafoss carries more water than any other waterfall in the country, and it is only a few meters high. Because it is so near, people assume it is minor. It is not.
When Reykjavík is still the right call
There are honest reasons to stay in the city, and it is worth naming them.
If you arrive late and leave early with one full day between, a Reykjavík hotel saves you two transfers. If the trip is about restaurants, museums, concerts and a single Golden Circle tour, the city is the base. If you are not driving and plan to join coach tours, most of them start in Reykjavík.
The trade-off is simple. The city gives you choice after dark. A base in the south gives you the hours of daylight back.
Why the hilltop matters
360 Hotel Boutique & Spa sits on a hilltop just off Ring Road 1, about fifteen minutes from the center of Selfoss. Nothing interrupts the view. Ingólfsfjall is the nearest mountain, eight kilometers (five miles) to the north-northwest. Hekla is due east. Eyjafjallajökull sits on the horizon to the east-southeast, and Vestmannaeyjar, the Westman Islands, rise from the ocean to the south-southeast. Kerlingarfjöll, far to the northeast, appears only on the clearest days.
That matters for a base in a way it does not for a city hotel. In autumn and winter, the evening is long, and where you spend it becomes part of the trip. The spa at the hotel is included in the room rate: outdoor pools, a cold plunge, an outdoor sauna cabin, an outdoor infrared cabin, an adults-only quiet zone with day beds, a gym and a yoga room. Hnaus, the hotel's restaurant, is open to everyone, so dinner does not mean another drive.
When the sky clears, there is no light pollution to drive away from. The hilltop gives an open horizon in every direction, so wherever the northern lights appear, they can be seen. Aurora tours drive their guests out from Reykjavík to within ten kilometers of here. People pay to be driven from the city to where you would already be standing.
The caveats
A base near Selfoss is not a shortcut to everything. Jökulsárlón, the glacier lagoon, is too far for a comfortable day trip from anywhere in the southwest, and it deserves its own trip. Þórsmörk, the valley behind the glaciers, needs a highland bus or a super jeep, runs in summer only, and cannot be reached in a rental car.
Winter driving deserves respect too. Hellisheiði, the plateau between Reykjavík and Selfoss, can close in storms. Check road.is and safetravel.is before every drive, wherever you sleep.
Plan your stay
The ordinary way to see South Iceland is from the city, an hour away from all of it. The other way is to sleep where the day starts. At 360 Hotel Boutique & Spa, the Golden Circle is one direction, the south coast is the other, and the evening is spent in neither.
Frequently asked questions
Is it better to stay in Reykjavík or Selfoss?
For a trip focused on the Golden Circle and the south coast, Selfoss is the better base. It is about an hour closer to the south coast waterfalls, which saves roughly two hours of driving on every day spent there. Reykjavík is the better base for a short, city-focused trip with a single day out.
How far is Selfoss from Reykjavík?
Selfoss is about an hour's drive southeast of Reykjavík on Ring Road 1, over the Hellisheiði plateau. 360 Hotel Boutique & Spa sits about fifteen minutes from the center of Selfoss and is about an hour from Reykjavík city center and about an hour and a half from Keflavík Airport.
Can you do the Golden Circle from Selfoss?
Yes. Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss are about an hour from 360 Hotel Boutique & Spa near Selfoss. Kerið crater sits on the way, and Friðheimar's tomato greenhouses are in the same area. Allow a full day with lunch, since the stops are walks rather than viewpoints.
How far is the south coast from Selfoss?
Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss are about an hour from 360 Hotel Boutique & Spa near Selfoss. Reynisfjara black sand beach, Vík and Sólheimajökull glacier are up to about two hours each way. That is a full day out, so start early, especially between October and March.
Can you see the northern lights from Selfoss?
Yes, on clear, dark nights between autumn and early spring. 360 Hotel Boutique & Spa sits on a hilltop near Selfoss with an open horizon in every direction and no light pollution. Sightings depend on cloud cover and solar activity, so no night is guaranteed.