On my first day in Iceland, after Fagradalsfjall, I headed to Þingvellir National Park.

The parking area was huge, and the landscape opened almost immediately after I left the car. Waterways, rocky fissures, the lake and low mountains stretched across a view that felt much larger in person than it had in photographs.

Rift landscape and lake views at Þingvellir National Park

The first wide view across Þingvellir, with water and rocky rifts stretching into the distance Personal photo · 2025-02-24

The park’s official material describes Þingvellir as part of the fissure zone along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. On the ground, that geology registered less as a fact to memorize and more as the unusual shape of the landscape itself.

A walk that kept going

I set off toward the waterfall.

At first, the open view made the distance difficult to judge. Once I started following the paths, though, it became clear that I was going to walk much farther than I had expected. A boardwalk crossed the low fields and waterways, with Þingvellir Church visible in the distance.

Boardwalk leading across the open fields toward Þingvellir Church

The path continued across the fields and waterways with the church in the distance Personal photo · 2025-02-24

The distance was manageable; the wind was harder. There was very little around to block it, so the cold seemed to follow me everywhere.

The sky had looked fairly clear when I arrived, but snow began falling later in the visit. The change happened quickly enough to make the same landscape feel completely different. After that day, I stopped leaving my winter layers in the car just because the weather looked calm at the start.

Following the water to Öxarárfoss

After a long stretch of walking, the sound and speed of the water began to change.

Before the waterfall itself came into view, the Öxará river was already rushing between dark rocks. Patches of snow, black stone and fast blue-grey water made the final approach almost as interesting as the destination.

The Öxará river moving between dark rocks near Öxarárfoss

The Öxará running faster between dark rocks as I approached the waterfall Personal photo · 2025-02-24

Then Öxarárfoss finally appeared.

It was the first waterfall I saw in Iceland. It did not strike me as enormous, but I liked the way the water dropped from the dark cliff and then broke into smaller channels around the boulders below. After the long walk, it felt like a satisfying first waterfall rather than a spectacle that needed to be huge.

Öxarárfoss dropping from a dark rock cliff at Þingvellir

Öxarárfoss, the first waterfall of my Iceland trip Personal photo · 2025-02-24
Water cascading down the rocks at Öxarárfoss
The movement of the falling water that a still photo could not quite capture Personal photo · 2025-02-24

The other parking lot I noticed afterward

Once I had reached the waterfall and looked around, I noticed something slightly annoying: there was another parking area nearby.

I had just walked a long way from where I left the car, so my first reaction was simply, “I could have driven closer?”

Checking the park’s current information later made the layout clearer. The historic area has three main parking areas, P1, P2 and P5, and P2 is east and below Öxarárfoss. A parking fee paid for the day is valid at all three. If I returned with someone who did not want a long walk, I would check the sights and parking locations first and combine driving with shorter walks.

By the time I started heading back, snow was beginning to show across the ground. The blue tones from earlier had faded into grey, and the wide landscape that had first felt open and calm now looked much colder and rougher.

A darker snowy view across Þingvellir late in the walk

Snow changed both the color and the mood of the landscape near the end of the walk Personal photo · 2025-02-24

What stayed with me was not one viewpoint so much as the time spent moving through the park. I walked into strong wind under a clear sky, watched snow arrive, and eventually reached the first waterfall of my Iceland trip.

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PRACTICAL INFO

  • Place: Þingvellir National Park, Iceland
  • Parking: Current official information lists P1 at Hakið Visitor Center and the upper end of Almannagjá, P2 east and below Öxarárfoss, and P5 near Þingvellir Church and Silfra.
  • Parking fee: A passenger car with five or fewer seats currently costs 1,000 ISK. Payment is valid for the same day at P1, P2 and P5.
  • Walking trails: The national park has numerous trails, and routes around the historic assembly site are generally well signed.
  • Winter footing: Not every path is cleared of snow. The park advises good footwear and recommends crampons or microspikes in slippery winter conditions, particularly on the route toward Öxarárfoss.
  • Snow-covered fissures: Official winter guidance warns that rifts can be difficult to see under snow and asks visitors to stay on marked paths.
  • Conditions: Trail access and surface conditions can change with the weather, so current park notices should be checked before a winter visit.
  • Info checked: 2026-10-02