McWhirter elopements

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Here are five popular elopement locations in South Iceland.


Many eloping couples when they first-time contact to have their Iceland elopement don’t know which part of Iceland they want to be in or where to have their ceremony. So how to even start when you don’t even know which part of the country you would go to?

👩‍💻 With our first consultation together we talked about how far they are comfortable to travel in Iceland, which kind of scenery they want to have on their day and which time of the year they would visit Iceland (this affects a lot on visiting locations). How comfortable they are with well-known locations where other tourists might visit or are they more into private locations?

In this blog post, I will show you some amazing locations in South Iceland which is one of the most popular regions in Iceland to get married.

Iceland elopement location: Seljalandsfoss.

Seljalandsfoss Is one of the most known waterfalls in Iceland is about 60 metres tall. The most distinguishing feature of Seljalandsfoss is a pathway that stretches around it. The cliffs behind the falls have a wide cavern, and rocks and paths allow guests to fully encircle it in summer. The cliffs are usually pretty wet, muddy and slippery so you need to be careful while walking there. Also, you can feel the power of the waterfall so be prepared to get a bit wet.

Because Seljlandsfoss is one of the most popular stops, the parking fee is 7-9 dollars and there is no guarantee of privacy. There are many tours going all year round and sometimes the only moment I have been able to have a bit of privacy for my couples has been before 7 am! Since it is a super busy location you need to carefully think when to visit it.

You can easily spot Seljalandsfoss from Road 1 (more known as Ring Road) and you can access it with every car type.

Iceland elopement location: Skogafoss.

Skógafoss is one of Iceland’s biggest and most beautiful waterfalls with an astounding width of 25 meters (82 feet) and a drop of 60 meters (197 feet).

The land underneath the waterfall is very flat, allowing visitors to walk right up to the wall of water. You can feel the power of the waterfall the more you walk towards it.

Skogafoss is- known as waterfall and has been shown in Game of Thrones and Thorn (The Dark World).

Iceland elopement location: Black sand beach.

The beach has very easy access, one of the most popular black sand beaches in Iceland. The beach in Iceland is called Reynisfraja. Upon visiting the beach, travellers will immediately observe rocky sea stacks sitting off the shoreline.

According to local Icelandic folklore, these large basalt columns were once trolls trying to pull ships from the ocean to shore. However, these trolls were dim and went out too late in the night; dawn broke on the horizon, turning the trolls into solid stones.

!! Visitors to Reynisfjara must be made well aware of the potential dangers present at the beach. First of all, the rolling, roaring waves of Reynisfjara are particularly violent, often pushing far further up the beach than many would expect.

These are called sneaker waves, and they can appear when least expected, even on incredibly still days. There are no significant landmasses in between Antarctica and the shores of Reynisfjara, meaning waves have thousands of kilometres to build. A number of people have died because of sneaker waves.

Visitors are advised to never turn their back on the waves, and keep a safe distance of at least 30 meters (98 feet).!! 

Iceland elopement location: Katla ice cave.

I highly recommend visiting Katla during wintertime. It’s possible to do it in the summer but there has been a lot of ice cave melting during summer times which makes entering the ice caves more dangerous. Also, not so many of the landscapes will be covered in snow at all. Since the ice caves keep on changing by their own weight ice caves cannot be visited without a trained and experienced guide.

Iceland elopement location: Kvernufoss.

Kvernufoss is s located close to Skogafoss and is still not so well-known. It's easy to access. From the car park, the walk is about 10 minutes.

The closer path to the waterfall can be muddy and the possibility of slip and fall. You can also access the waterfall behind. But do not try this during wintertime. The path behind the waterfall can be very slippery and in the worst case, you could slip and slide straight into the waterfall! Or even having an icicle falling on your head!

Kvernufoss is a private property that is open to people. There is no bathrooms or trash cans in the area. Always stick on the trail.

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