Getting Around Selfoss and the South Coast by Public Bus

The Two Networks You Need to Understand

South Iceland runs on two separate Strætó systems, and mixing them up is the most common planning mistake. The capital-area network covers Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður and Kópavogur, with Mjódd as the main bus terminal for services heading east. Route 51 is the workhorse: it leaves Mjódd roughly hourly through the day, runs the Ring Road through Hellisheiði pass, and reaches Selfoss in about 70 minutes with a stop at Hveragerði on the way. From Selfoss, route 52 continues east along the coast through Vík í Mýrdal toward Kirkjubæjarklaustur, and route 73 serves the coast road south to Þorlákshöfn.

Selfoss has one main bus stop, Strætóstöðin Selfossi, on Austurvegur near the town centre, and it is a proper interchange rather than a roadside shelter: there is a waiting area and the timings are built around connections. Buses are modern, have wi-fi and take contactless card payment, and the fare is a flat zone-based price rather than a distance charge, so a short hop costs the same as a long one within the same zone band. Buy through the Strætó app or tap on board; paper tickets are not really a thing any more. The catch is frequency, not comfort.

Realistic Day Trips from a Selfoss Base

Selfoss is the practical hub for this stretch of the south because almost everything you would want to see sits within an hour of it. Hveragerði, with its geothermal area and the hiking trail up Reykjadalur valley, is a 15-minute ride on route 51 and makes an easy half-day. Þorlákshöfn, the harbour town with a long black-sand beach, is around 25 minutes down route 73. Eyrarbakki and Stokkseyri, the old trading villages with the maritime museum and the lava-centre exhibits, are a short taxi or a long walk off the main line and genuinely awkward without a car; I would not build a day around them on the bus alone.

For the headline sights, be honest with yourself about the cost of time. Seljalandsfoss is roughly 1 hour 15 minutes from Selfoss on route 52, and Skógafoss another 30 minutes beyond that, but the timetable gives you a handful of departures a day, so you commit to a fixed return. That works well if you want a slow day at one waterfall with the walk behind Seljalandsfoss, and badly if you are trying to tick off four stops. Vík is about 2 hours 15 minutes each way and deserves an overnight rather than a day return.

Reykjavík, the Airport and the Blue Lagoon

Route 51 into Reykjavík is genuinely usable for a city day: catch an early bus from Selfoss, arrive at Mjódd around mid-morning, take the city bus or the short walk to a tram-style connection onward, and you have most of a day in the capital before the last return in the evening. Check the last departure before you leave in the morning, because it is earlier than you expect, and the Mjódd interchange is not somewhere you want to be stranded after the shops shut. The journey is scenic over Hellisheiði and costs a fraction of a coach tour.

Keflavík airport is the exception where the bus is a poor fit. There is no direct Strætó service from Selfoss; you take route 51 to Reykjavík and change to the airport express coaches from BSÍ, which adds up to roughly three and a half hours door to door with the change. For an early flight, I would book a night in Reykjavík or in Keflavík rather than attempt it from Selfoss. The Blue Lagoon at Grindavík is similarly awkward: no Strætó route serves it directly, and the organised coach from Reykjavík is the realistic option. If those two are on your list, structure the trip around Reykjavík for those nights.

What the Timetable Means for Where You Sleep

Because the buses radiate from Selfoss, the town is the strongest base on this stretch if you are without a car: you can reach Hveragerði, Þorlákshöfn, the coast road east and Reykjavík without changing, and the stop is walkable from most of the town centre. Accommodation clusters along Austurvegur and the streets running down to the Ölfusá river, which puts you within ten minutes of the bus stop. That convenience is worth more than it sounds when your day is built around a fixed departure and you are carrying a bag.

Book on the river side if you can, and ask about luggage storage for your last morning; it makes the difference between a relaxed departure and dragging a case around town. Hveragerði suits anyone who wants hiking from the door and does not mind a quieter evening. Vík is worth one night if you are continuing east, but it makes a poor base for the west of the region. For a first trip, I would put three nights in Selfoss and one in Vík. The bus times are reliable; the frequency is the constraint, so plan around two or three departures a day, not twenty.