Helgufoss Waterfall

Halldór Laxness, Iceland's Nobel laureate in literature, lived at Gljúfrasteinn and walked to Helgufoss most days. The same route can still be walked from the house, or you can start from the car park and cut it short.

The waterfall is small, and the ground around it is why people stay. Open grass runs down to the water, and a large rock formation stands facing the falls; it can be walked up from the side away from the water. Crowberries ripen along the path in mid to late summer. On the way back to the car park, farmhouse ruins lie to the right, signed Bæjarrústir. Horses graze nearby and may walk over to you.

• Steps on the path: the way down to the falls has stairs along it, though there is little height to regain on the way back.
• Cold water: people swim in the pool below the falls. The water is frigid, and the cold hits hard on entry.
• Allow more than the walk: other trails branch off the main path, and two hours goes quickly if you follow them.
• Berries in season: crowberries ripen along the path in mid to late summer.
• Little to do in bad weather: the draw here is open grass and a rock face by the water, and rain takes both away.

Most visitors drive and walk in from the car park. The path down to the falls is short and loses little height, with steps along the way; it is manageable even for toddlers. A longer route starts at Gljúfrasteinn, the house where Halldór Laxness lived, and follows the walk he took to the waterfall. It takes longer without being harder.

Best: mid to late summer. Crowberries ripen along the path, the grass by the falls is dry enough to sit on, and the light lasts deep into the evening.

Avoid: rain and wind. Everything worth doing at Helgufoss happens on open ground beside the water.

The falls stay far quieter than the waterfalls on the main tourist routes, and having the place to yourself is possible.