Black beach of Reynisfjara Beach. Vik beach in Iceland Black sands of Iceland

Black sands of Iceland.

Iceland is a country where true natural wonders await travelers. Black Beach is a mysterious, enigmatic place. It is here, in the southern part of Iceland, near Cape Dyrholaey, not far from the village of Vik, that the most unusual beach on Earth is located.

Black sand on a strange beach

The unusual coastline stretches for as much as 5 kilometers. The harsh, cold sea against the backdrop of the gloomy shore looks somehow inhospitable. Surprisingly, the sand, which has a true black color, is very clean. There is no garbage, no various impurities, no pebbles. Humans do not pollute this area, because this corner of nature is located where it rains more than 80% of the time a year. Few people like dampness and high humidity.

Volcanic lava is to blame for the appearance of black sand. For hundreds of years, lava flowed into the ocean after eruptions, and then solidified. Sea water slowly broke pieces of lava into small particles and threw them ashore. This is how an amazing beach came into being.

Unusual boulders on a black sand beach

In addition to the incredible color of the sand, the fantastic landscape of the beach is complemented by huge boulders and basalt columns. The shape of unique formations is very different. Local residents claim that these evil trolls were petrified by the appearance of the sun, having been delayed during one of their forays onto Earth.

Black basalt columns appeared as a result of the action of sea water on coastal rocks. Reynisdrangar is the name given to the massive black formations. Mount Reynisfjall is visible nearby, with birds living on its slopes and in its crevices. Most of all – noisy seagulls.

Ominous sand attracts filmmakers

The landscapes of Iceland are unusual in many ways. But few can compare with Black Beach. The unreal view of the fantastic beach brought it popularity in the world of cinema. Science fiction films are often filmed here. There is no need to fly to the ends of the world - in the north of Europe, in Iceland, there are all the conditions to film a “horror film” or a story about the other world.

The weather conditions near the village of Vik are, frankly speaking, “unimportant”. Thick fog, piercing wind, cold, dampness - not much pleasant. Few people risk swimming in the icy sea. But Black Beach in the south of Iceland constantly attracts travelers who are strong in spirit, cannot live without challenges and dream of meeting the unknown...

Holidays on Black Beach in Iceland

Despite the fact that Reynisfjara Beach is located in the south of Iceland, only the most seasoned people can swim here, since the water in the ocean is very cold. However, this fact does not stop tourists flocking to see the local beauty. Most often it rains here, it is windy, and powerful waves noisily crash into the black strip of the beach. Here and there along the beach and in the water there are black basalt columns that resemble fingers.

These basalt rocks of Reynisdrangar, according to ancient Icelandic legend, are petrified and frozen trolls who intended to sink an Icelandic ship with sheep. However, when morning came, these creatures turned into sullen rocks.

Typically, tourists travel to Black Beach on a package tour that includes the Reynisdrangar Columns, Dyrholaey Cape, Skógafoss Waterfall and Myrdalsjökull Glacier.

Village Vik

Black sands of Iceland, photo:

Which is located in Hawaii but this is not the only such place, another mysterious place with black gravel sand, it is located 180 km southeast of Reykjavik, near the village of Vik and near Cape Dyrholaey near the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, this black beach of Reynisfjara or Vik beach. Where did this unusual sand come from, and what secrets does it keep?

Reynisfjara Beach with pitch-black sand (sometimes called Vik Beach), stretches for as much as 5 kilometers and is the most unusual and famous place in Iceland. True, tourists come here not to swim and sunbathe, but for the interest of seeing such an unusual phenomenon, when the sand under their feet is not a light shade but a dark one.

Swimming in this place is not so comfortable, since this is the wettest place in Iceland and the normal weather for it is fog, wind, dampness, cold and they say that it rains here 340 days a year, but this does not stop real travelers and, Despite such conditions, tourists come here every now and then.

Black Reynisfjara beach arose thanks to volcanic lava from a nearby volcano. For hundreds of years after the eruptions, it flowed into the ocean and when it cooled, the sea water gradually crushed these pieces of lava on the rocks into small pieces, throwing them ashore, thus creating the black and fine sand of this unusual beach.

Also, as a result of the influence of sea water on the coastal rocks, amazing formations, also of the same black color, were formed, these are boulders and columns. Black basalt columns are called "Reynisdrangar" they stand among the waters of the North Atlantic, they are also called - "Troll Fingers" because of its resemblance to thin fingers sticking out of the water. According to legend, trolls once lived here, and one day they tried to steal a three-masted ship with sheep on board, they were already dragging it to the shore, but then the sun rose, and, not having time to hide, the hand of one of them petrified from the sunlight and remained there here forever rise above the water. “Troll's fingers” can be seen from the black beach of Vik, but if you want to get a better look at them, then it is better to climb the rocks stretching along Reynisdrangar.

Close to the beach Vic Mount Reynisfjall is visible, which is famous among ornithologists because in summer its crevices are home to a large number of birds of various species. Black Beach Reynisfjara It consistently ranks high among the best beaches in the world, and its atmosphere and unusual sand attract directors who shoot science-fiction films here. And the American magazine “Islands Magazine” called "Black Beach" one of the most beautiful beaches on Earth.

Volcanic beaches located near the village of Vik, just 180 kilometers southeast of Reykjavik, are one of the most mystical places in Iceland.

The black sandy beaches with the famous basalt columns in the ocean are also interesting for Game of Thrones fans, because they are on the list of confirmed filming locations for the seventh season of the series, and, apparently, this is where scenes with Daenerys Targaryen will be filmed, since the massive basalt columns, which locals have long believed to be petrified trolls, look as if they were scorched by dragon fire.

However, in this case, “Game of Thrones” is rather just another reason to visit the Black Beach in the vicinity of Vik, but certainly not the primary reason, because this place is not just beautiful to tears, it, as they say, has a special energy that everyone feels in its being, any person, even one who by nature is a complete materialist.

The name of the village Vik (in Icelandic Vík), in the vicinity of which the famous beaches are located, is translated into Russian simply as “bay”. In general, most of the names of Icelandic cities, villages or natural objects, no matter how wonderful or outlandish they may seem to us, are not at all poetic and are simply a detailed description of the object. For example, the name of the country's capital, Reykjavik, literally means “smoking bay.”

As for the name of the village of Vik, the Icelanders, for reasons known to them, decided not to award the settlement with defining epithets, although, of course, the name “black” or “balsat bay” in this case would be very appropriate. Today, less than 300 people live in the village, but this place, despite its small population, has always been an important point on the geographical map of the island, because it served as a transit point from the center of the country to the capital, where today about 63% of the total population of Iceland lives.

In the photo: a farm in the vicinity of the village of Vik

To this day, the residents of the village of Vik live like on a volcano in the literal sense of the expression. The fact is that the village is located south of the Mýrdalsjökull glacier, which partially covers the Katla volcano. Although Katla has not erupted since 1918, the volcano has been acting restlessly lately; scientists note that the level of magma in its depths has begun to rise, so that the inhabitants of Vik have to constantly be on alert.

The fact is that a volcanic eruption will inevitably lead to the melting of the glacier, which can cause a flood; in the best case, the village will simply be covered with volcanic dust. By the way, a local church, built on a high hill, is equipped as a shelter in case of flooding. The villagers are accustomed to rush there and hide within its life-saving walls at the first sign of danger, for example, if volcanic ash begins to fall from the sky, and when you imagine this process in paint, a picture in the style of some medieval engravings immediately begins to emerge before your mind’s eye, illustrating the Apocalypse!

In the photo: moss-covered valleys near the village of Vik

In a word, it is not surprising that things are tight with local residents in the village of Vik. But with tourists here, on the contrary, everything is very good. In late spring, summer and autumn, while the roads of Iceland have not yet completely disappeared under snow piles and a crust of ice, along which fast drifting snow invariably spreads, all tourists who arrived in the capital of the country get here.

But in winter the beaches are deserted, because you can only get here by buses of travel agencies or by specialized giant jeeps, the wheels of which are taller than human height. True, the beaches themselves look much less impressive in the cold season - after all, it is better to observe the contact of black volcanic sand and snow-white sea foam without impurities of snow and ice.

The coast near the village of Vik is divided by massive cliffs. On one side is the well-known black beach of Reynisfjara, located at the foot of Mount Reynisfjall. It is here that the largest concentration of tourist people is observed, because everyone wants to look at the famous basalt columns that rise like stone idols from the coastal waves.

In the photo: the famous basalt columns on the Reynisfjara beach

Several local legends are associated with them. According to the first, simplified version, the black blocks are trolls who once lived in this area. They say that one night they tried to pull their boats ashore (according to another version, on the contrary, to drag the boats into the sea), but were caught by the first rays of the sun and, as a result, turned to stone.

The second legend is sadder and more romantic. There are also trolls in it, but they are kept company by human beings. Allegedly, a long time ago, one of the villagers discovered that his beloved wife was in contact with trolls; in one version, the creatures kidnapped the woman, and in another, they froze her body on a dark and cold Icelandic night.

The husband tried to help his beloved in a difficult situation, but something went wrong. On the one hand, the trolls were petrified and promised not to bother any of the village residents again, and on the other hand, the main character of the story was unable to return home after communicating with supernatural creatures, but, as the legend says, her soul gained freedom and still lives among trolls and stones in the coastal waves at the foot of Mount Reynisfjall.

You should walk along the black sand beach carefully so as not to be caught off guard by the oncoming waves. They are treacherous on the Reynisfjara beach, they will drag you into a pool and you won’t be able to get back out, and the volcanic sand is soft and viscous, which gives you the feeling that you are walking on a carpet woven from many particles.

The chiseled slopes of Mount Reynisfjall are also noteworthy on the beach. In the place where the rock is exposed, they look like the pipes of an organ on which, if not trolls, then Mother Nature herself plays music. The only thing that destroys this illusion is tourists trying to climb onto the pipes and take a selfie against a non-trivial background. The same organ pipes can be seen in the cave on the Reynisfjara beach, there are, of course, also a lot of tourists there, and the cave itself is tiny, from the series: you went in, took a photo and left, you won’t be able to linger even if you wanted to.

In the photo: cave and basalt columns on Reynisfjara beach

Having thoroughly studied the surrounding area, it makes sense to move behind the rock that divides the coast into two parts, and go to the vicinity of Dyrhólaey beach. Unfortunately, it is forbidden to go down to the beach itself, but from the height of the cliff you can see not just amazing or enchanting views, but landscapes, when looking at which you understand that even Photoshop and the computer world of the planet Pandora, created by the genius of James Cameron, are nothing compared to that miracle that nature can create.

In the photo: a cliff near Dyrhólaey beach

Black sand, which was not disturbed by a person’s foot, and white sea foam, which falls on it with every wave running onto the shore, and therefore seems like a bride’s veil, for some reason thrown over a mourning dress, the cries of seagulls, the rustle of the surf and the silent, stern solemnity of the black rocks In this place, the feeling of the passage of time completely disappears, and everything momentary not only becomes unimportant, it seems insignificant compared to the omnipotent timelessness that reigns here.

This feeling becomes even more acute near the lonely lighthouse that rises on the cliff. Its neat white building with a red roof looks so organic against the azure sky that it seems that this is not a living landscape at all, but a picture simulated in a graphics editor.

Importantly, there are few tourists in the vicinity of Dyrhólaey. Most of them go to the cliff, where you can see the basalt trolls of Reynisfjara, and at the same time admire how the unruly cold waves crash with incredible force against the coastal stones.

It’s no longer possible to sit and meditate here, because the wind currents on the cliff are strong, and the waves periodically roll in so gigantic that they splash the unlucky guests of this place with salt water from head to toe.

By the way, on the cliffs of Dyrhólaey this is perceived almost as part of a ritual, a kind of baptism by the rebellious sea elements. The only thing is that cameras and video equipment should still be protected from the waves, because the harsh Icelandic romance is certainly beautiful, but then hastily changing a camera or phone is not a very pleasant experience.

Therefore, on the cliff, you should not bother with photographs in the eternal human attempt, if not to stop the moment, then at least to capture it in a form not distorted by changeable memory. In the end, it is possible to photograph the rebellious waves, but to convey the power of the elements, which you feel here with every cell of your body, is an endeavor that is initially doomed to failure. This place is imbued not just with power, but with the music of nature, which everyone can hear, but only a few can parse it into notes.

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Yulia Malkova- Yulia Malkova - founder of the website project. In the past, he was the editor-in-chief of the elle.ru Internet project and the editor-in-chief of the cosmo.ru website. I talk about travel for my own pleasure and the pleasure of my readers. If you are a representative of hotels or a tourism office, but we do not know each other, you can contact me by email: [email protected]

Iceland is a multifaceted and very beautiful country located in Europe. It is washed by the Atlantic Ocean. The capital of Iceland is the city of Reykjavik. Today we are going to learn in more detail about the black beach in Iceland, a photo of which you can also see in the article.

What is Iceland famous for?

The territory of the country is an island of volcanic origin. The climate here is not very favorable for a holiday on the coast. But the nature is rich in colors, many beautiful beaches and landscapes that will take your breath away. There are also waterfalls, colorful glaciers and, of course, a beautiful ocean.

But probably the most beautiful and bewitching place in Iceland can be considered the black coast. These beaches are called Reynisfjara. We usually imagine a coastline with golden or white sand. But here the beach is very different from others, because it is completely covered with black sand.

Reynisfjara is located near the small town of Vik in the south of Iceland. Its population is about 300 people. This is a very unusual place that fascinates. The beach is surrounded by basalt cliffs and huge mysterious caves. But most of all, where did the black sand beach in Iceland come from?

Appearance

A black beach in Iceland was formed as a result of volcanic activity. Many years ago, an avalanche flowed into the ocean and then froze. When it fell into the water, it was crushed by waves for years. This resulted in fine, prickly sand. This is how the black miracle of nature was born.

General characteristics

The Icelandic beach with pitch-black sand stretches for approximately five kilometers along the sea. More than fifty minerals and many other elements have been discovered here. But surprisingly, despite the color, the sand is very clean. There is no garbage or other waste in it.

Black Beach in Iceland looks a little gloomy due to the cold ocean in the background. Additionally, this part of Iceland is very damp and humid. This is because it rains most of the year.

What surrounds him?

In addition to the extraordinary sand, the beach landscape is brightened by huge boulders and basalt columns. They appeared as a result of the influence of sea water on coastal rocks. But there is also a legend that the boulders appeared as a result of trolls’ forays onto the surface of the earth, which turned into stones when the sun appeared.

A wide variety of birds live in the gorges of these rocks. But among them it is worth highlighting one special one, which is the pride of Iceland. This bird is named puffin. They are special and very beautiful. In some ways they look a little like a penguin, and in some ways like a parrot. They are very friendly and funny.

The unreal and extraordinary view of the black beach in Iceland is in great demand in the world of cinema. His landscapes often attract worldwide cinema. Horror films, as well as films about science fiction and the other world, are often filmed here. But the most important thing is that filming does not require additional scenery - nature itself took care of this.

The most beautiful beach

Black Beach in the town of Vik was recognized as the most beautiful beach on earth 20 years ago. To this day he proudly bears this title.

Also in the town of Vik there are several hotels, restaurants, cafes and a campsite. All these amenities are created for tourists. A factory was created in the city for the production of products from Icelandic wool, which is known throughout the world for its excellent quality. There is a store near the factory. Here you can buy wool products. Despite their high quality, they are relatively inexpensive. Such a purchase can be an excellent gift for loved ones.

You can also note such a landmark of Vik as Cape Dyrholaey. Its length reaches 120 meters, and at the end there are beautiful and unusual arches.

Walking along the beach between scattered boulders of fantastic and exclusive shapes, you can feel complete calm, complete estrangement from the world and completely connect with nature.

Iceland moss

You can also find one interesting thing in the town - Icelandic moss. It is very beautiful and soft to the touch, like fluff. Literally all the stone blocks are covered with moss. It looks fabulous, as if you were in the land of gnomes. If anyone doesn’t know, moss has healing properties. It is good for coughs.

You should also definitely visit Skaftafell National Park, because here you can admire the beautiful waterfall called Svartifoss. It translates as "black waterfall".

Despite the fact that this is the southernmost point of the island, it is usually quite cool here. The temperature in summer reaches only +15 °C. The water in the ocean is also cold, so not every tourist will dare to swim here.

Staying on a black beach does not guarantee you a sunny and warm holiday, which will allow you to swim in the ocean to your heart's content, since it almost always rains here and is very damp. But the most beautiful landscape, good emotions and wonderful warm memories are guaranteed to you.

Black Beach of Iceland is located near the village of Vik. Vik is a small village in the south of the country with only a couple of hundred inhabitants.

The village, located on the coast of the black beach, has a unique climate that depends on the Gulf Stream. Vik has the wettest climate in Iceland.

Along with the black beach, one can highlight one of the equally important attractions of Vik - Cape Dyrholaey. It is a collection of rocks that, intertwined with each other, form arches and go deep into the Atlantic Ocean.

What does the name of the black beach come from?

In Iceland the black beach is called Reynisfjara. We can say that the beach is called black precisely because a narrow strip of fine black sand stretches along the shore for five kilometers. The formation of the black beach lasted for hundreds of years. The main factor in its formation are volcanoes. The lava that poured out from the crater of the volcano reached the ocean.

When interacting with water, it slowly cooled and remained on the ocean shore for a long time. Then it turned into a homogeneous solid rock, which slowly but surely, under the influence of the ocean and over the course of a single millennium, turned into fine black sand. This entire long process has resulted in one of the most beautiful beaches on earth.

Iceland's Black Beach is a holiday destination for many tourists.

Tourists vacationing in Iceland are in a hurry to get to its beach. They are not even stopped by the fact that only the most seasoned daredevils will be able to swim in the ocean, because the water in it is very cold. However, tourists are eager to visit Reynisfjara, not so much to bask on its black sand or plunge into the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, but rather to see the magnificent beauty of these places.

There is a legend in Iceland according to which trolls tried to sink a ship with sheep heading to Iceland. However, their intentions were not destined to come true, and at dawn these trolls turned into rocks. Now hundreds of tourists from different countries come to admire these rocks.