Reykjavík · Iceland
Urriðafoss
Car park at Iceland's highest-volume waterfall on the Þjórsá, a few minutes off Route 1 east of Selfoss.
See tonight's live score and best time to go for Urriðafoss in Aurora Atlas
Why it works for the aurora
- View
- North-east up the Þjórsá river; flat farmland, so the northern sky is low and open..
- Darkness
- Dark sky, grade 1 on a scale from 0 (darkest) to 5. Little artificial light; a good place for faint aurora and the Milky Way.
- Aurora
- Near the edge of the auroral oval: aurora on most active nights, low in the northern sky on quiet ones.
Getting there
- Distance
- About 83 km by road from Reykjavík (estimate), roughly 1 h 36 by car.
- Parking
- Paid car park (1,000 ISK).
- Coordinates
- 63.9247, -20.6754 · Open in OpenStreetMap
Before you go
Riverbank edges are slippery; keep behind the path edge.
Dress for standing still in the cold, bring a head torch with a red light, and park only where parking is allowed. A forecast is guidance, not a promise: check the road and weather warnings for Iceland before a night drive. See our winter safety note.
Spot information from openstreetmap.org.