The Plane Wreckage on Sólheimasandur | Is it worth your time?

The plane wreckage on Sólheimasandur seems to be very popular to visit. It’s pretty cool and all but is it really worth spending your time on? Let’s find out.

What’s the Story behind the Plane Wreckage on Sólheimasandur?

The wreckage is a US Navy aircraft that was forced to land on Sólheimasandur in 1973 due to severe icing. All seven crew members survived and were rescued by helicopter.

Since then, the plane wreckage has been lying on Sólheimasandur relatively intact. Through the years, there have been done some damages to it though. Superficial damage from graffiti, gunfire and tourists.

For decades, very few people were interested or even knew about the wreckage. It’s only in recent years that the plane wreckage became so popular as it is today.

When I visited for the first time in 2014 you could drive all the way up to it. Understandably this had to be changed when the traffic to it increased drastically in the following years. Today you either need to walk the 7km/4.4mi from the parking lot or take the shuttle.

Why became the Plane Wreckage on Sólheimasandur so popular?

So what changed? Why did it become so popular all of a sudden? What or who is to blame or thank for that you might ask? Well, the answer to that question is actually Justin Bieber! 

This Canadian singer published a music video for his song “I’ll Show You” in November 2015. This video was shot here in Iceland and one of the locations in it was the plane wreckage on Sólheimasandur. Suddenly the world knew about it and as a result the number of people visiting this site skyrocketed.

This actually also happened in another location he used in this same video. A stunning canyon called Fjaðrárgljúfur. Also a place that hadn’t gotten especially much attention until it appeared in Bieber’s music video.

A little side note. Please do me a favor. If you check out Bieber’s video, you’ll see him do some things like swimming in Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and rolling around in the moss. Needless to say, that isn’t an acceptable behavior in Icelandic nature. So please bear that in mind when you visit. Thank you! 🙂

How to get to the Plane Wreckage on Sólheimasandur 

Like I mentioned before, you have two options when visiting the plane wreckage on Sólheimasandur. You can either walk 7km/4.4mi (round trip) or take the shuttle that costs 2,900 ISK per adult.

In either case you start your journey from a parking lot located right by the Ring Road on the Icelandic South Coast. Its location is between Skógafoss Falls and Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach. About 9km from Skógafoss and 25km from Reynisfjara.

The hike

If you have plenty of time, it’s an ok walk if the weather is nice. Or is it? No, not really to be honest. Let’s just cut the crap. It isn’t even an ok walk. It’s just plain boring! Nothing to see on the way. Just sand and some more sand. The trail is also pretty rocky which makes it tiring to walk on. Yes, I said it. I simply don’t think this relatively long walk is worth your time. But hey, of course this is just my opinion and, needless to say, you don’t have to agree. I totally understand if you want to do it but I wanted to give you my honest opinion. And here you have it! 🙂

I would like to mention though, if the weather or the weather forecast is bad, you should absolutely not do this walk/hike. In January 2020, two tourists died of hypothermia near the wreckage after getting caught in a storm that went over the area.

A month later, search and rescue units needed to rescue several people that had ignored warnings from the police to not hike to the wreckage due to really bad weather forecast in the area.

It can’t be said enough. We always need to respect the weather here in Iceland which often can be pretty brutal. Deadly even. 

Icelandic Met Office – Weather forecast and warnings.

The Shuttle

So if you really want to see the wreckage, I recommend you take the shuttle instead. At least if you’re short on time. Which in my experience, everybody is. There are endless places to see and explore here in Iceland and everybody has to prioritize what to put on their itinerary. Because you know, it’s simply impossible to do and see it all in one trip.

Personally I think the shuttle ticket is a bit pricey but it will also save you a lot of time so you might find it worth it. The shuttle seems to run every 30 min from 10am as long as conditions allow. You can either buy tickets online or on the bus on site.

You can see the shuttle schedule and buy tickets here.

A different Option to Experience the Plane Wreckage

There is one more option you might want to consider. That is booking an ATV tour where one of the stops is the wreckage. Of course this is much more expensive than just taking the shuttle but here we are also talking about a whole other experience. Here the wreckage is just a part of a bigger program.

An example of an ATV tour that stops at the wreckage.

I haven’t been on exactly this tour but I have been on a couple of ATV tours in other areas and loved it. I’ve also heard good things from a few tourists that have done this tour. They  thought it was so much fun so I thought it was worth mentioning in case it was something for you.

One last Tip!

As you have found out by now, I’m not a big fan of this attraction. Or let’s say I wouldn’t prioritise it very high.

But I would like to add one thing. If you do hike or take the shuttle to the plane wreckage, you might want to know that a few hundred meters away from it, you’l find a nice black sand beach. You might even have it all to yourself like I did when I visited. Not many people seem to walk all the way down there so if that’s something for you, now you know 🙂

Well, that’s it for now. If you liked this post and think some of your friends might be interested in reading it too, please help me spread the word. I’d really appreciate it if you’d share it on social media or just send it directly to a friend.

Until next time!