Reykjanesviti Lighthouse

About Reykjanesviti Lighthouse

Reykjanesviti Lighthouse stands on a lone hill at the southwestern tip of the Reykjanes Peninsula, a white concrete tower looking out over lava fields, steaming ground and a heavy Atlantic swell. It carries on the job of Iceland's very first lighthouse, and it makes an easy stop on the way to or from Keflavík Airport.

Iceland's first lighthouse went up in 1878 on Valahnúkur, the sea cliff just below the hill. Earthquakes and wave erosion undermined it within a decade, so the current tower was built on the Bæjarfell hill in 1907 and 1908, and the old one was demolished. The light still works today and was placed on Iceland's list of protected lighthouses in 2003.

The Reykjanes lighthouse sits about 25 minutes from the airport and roughly an hour from Reykjavík, reached through Reykjanesbær on Route 44 and then Route 425. A short path climbs the hill to the base of the tower, though you can't go inside. The best views come from Valahnúkur, where the cliffs drop straight into the surf and a bronze sculpture remembers the great auk, a seabird hunted to extinction in the 1840s.

Give yourself 30 to 45 minutes for the hill and the cliffs, or longer if you add the Gunnuhver hot springs about a kilometer away. Wind here can be ferocious, so stay well back from the cliff edges. Because the peninsula has had repeated eruptions since 2021, check safetravel.is and road.is for closures before you drive.