Brúarfoss

The colour is the first thing and the only thing people talk about. Brúarfoss isn't tall. It's a wide, low, split waterfall, but the water rushing through the cracks is an electric turquoise that makes every photo look over-edited. It isn't. That's just the river.

Brúarfoss (Bruarfoss, meaning "bridge falls") sits on the Brúará river in South Iceland, a short detour off the Golden Circle between Laugarvatn and Geysir. The name comes from a natural stone arch that once spanned the river here. Today a wooden footbridge crosses just upstream, and that's where you get the classic view: the water pouring from both sides into a narrow blue channel in the middle.

Tours that visit Brúarfoss

Complete Classic Golden Circle Private Tour from Reykjavík

8 hours · From Reykjavík

0(0)

From 120.750 ISK

Golden Circle & Secret Lagoon Private Tour from Reykjavík

10 hours · From Reykjavík

0(0)

From 142.250 ISK

The Ultimate Golden Circle & Hidden Gems Full Day Tour

8 hours · From Reykjavík

4.8(60)

From 112.398 ISK

The Viking Circle

10 hours · From Reykjavík

4.9(237)

From 150.000 ISK

Private Golden Circle Escape with Blue Lagoon Tour from Reykjavik

11 hours · From Reykjavík

0(0)

From 175.000 ISK

Golden Circle & Blue Lagoon Private Tour from Reykjavík with Admission

11 hours · From Reykjavík

0(0)

From 152.250 ISK

How to get to Brúarfoss

You have two options, and they're completely different trips.

The short one: a newer paid car park, reached by a rough gravel road, puts you about 5 minutes' walk from the waterfall. At the time of writing, a car costs around 750 ISK. Plan half an hour in total.

The long one: the free trailhead car park on Route 37, marked "Brúarfoss Trail – Parking" on Google Maps. From there, a path follows the river about 3.5 km each way, roughly an hour's walk in each direction. On the way you pass two more waterfalls, Hlauptungufoss and Miðfoss, and the river is the same crazy blue throughout. The car park is small, has no toilets and fills up in summer.

Brúarfoss is about 1.5 hours from Reykjavík. Most people visit on the way to or from Geysir.

Pro tip: if you have the time, do the walk. The paid car park gets you the famous shot, but the riverside trail is where Brúarfoss makes sense, with three waterfalls, few people and birch scrub along the banks. It's flat, so the main difficulty is mud. Wear shoes you don't mind ruining.

Best time to visit Brúarfoss

The water is blue all year, but the river looks best on a bright day, when the colour really glows. Summer is easiest: dry-ish trails, long light, the birch green. Autumn is quiet and colourful. In winter the trail can be muddy, icy or snowed over, and the gravel road to the paid car park is rough. Check conditions and go in daylight.

Whichever route you take, stay on the path and off the rocks by the edge. The banks are undercut in places and the current is strong. You don't want to test it.

What's near Brúarfoss

Brúarfoss fits easily into a Golden Circle day. Laugarvatn, with the Fontana geothermal baths on the lakeshore, is a short drive west. Geysir is a short drive east, and Gullfoss 10 minutes beyond that. If you're doing the long walk, go to Brúarfoss first and do the rest of the loop after, because an hour each way along a river is a lot more fun with fresh legs than at the end of the day.

Brúarfoss tours

Brúarfoss isn't on the standard big-bus Golden Circle, which is why it stays calm. Private and small-group Golden Circle tours can fit it in. Tours that include Brúarfoss are below.