Goðafoss, (“Godafoss” for ease of my typing!), or “Waterfall of the Gods“, is one of the must-see waterfalls in Iceland. The Godafoss waterfalls are about 36 ft high (12 m) and are located at the Skjálfandafljót River. It is located somewhere between the northern towns of Akureyri and Husavik. More precisely, it is on the ring road going east from Akureryi, right after the road to Husavik branches off (route 85). The story goes that a key Icelandic chieftain in the year 1,000 AD was trying to decide whether Icelanders would adopt Christianity. After deciding in the affirmative, he returned home and threw his images of the pre-Christianity pagan gods into the waterfall and, hence, the name for the waterfalls.
The waterfall from the highway
The water was gushing generously, as one would expect a proper waterfall would do. Perhaps this time in June was still a time of heavy melt?
Fast-flowing!
Yours truly
Looking from the waterfall back towards the road along one of the trails
Majestic!
The main part of the waterfall
Not only was the waterfall impressive but the flow over the one closest to me drew my eye as the following pictures attest… I need to figure out how to turn some of these into neat art pieces for my home!
It is a miniature (smaller) Niagara Falls!!
Yes, it is!
Hey, looks great, but I dread to think about the temperature of the water! Are there other higher / bigger / spectacular falls in Iceland you would recommend visiting?
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Yes, definitely. There are a couple of spectacular ones, for example, if you drive along the south shore of the island. I have not written yet about these but they were Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss. But the list of waterfalls around the country is pretty large!