Our last stop of the day was a short hike to Öxarárfoss Waterfall, one of the highlights of Þingvellir National Park. The trail to the falls is about 1.6 km from the parking area and mostly flat, making it an easy and relaxing walk. Along the way, we found ourselves stopping often — there were so many interesting sights that we reached the base of the waterfall almost without realizing how far we’d gone.

At just 20 meters tall, Öxarárfoss isn’t the highest or most dramatic waterfall in Iceland, especially compared to the giants we had already visited on this trip like Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, and Gullfoss. But waterfalls shouldn’t always be compared — each one has its own personality, and Öxarárfoss has a charm all its own. Its steady, graceful flow over the dark lava rock, framed by moss and rugged cliffs, made it feel peaceful rather than overwhelming.

We spent about 45 minutes here, hiking to the falls and back to the parking lot. You can actually make a loop trail that passes by a quaint church and the famous Silfra fissure, but with daylight fading and our stomachs rumbling, we decided to save that route for another visit.

On our way back toward the parking lot, we caught a distant glimpse of Þingvellir Church, its white walls and dark roof standing out against the green fields and surrounding lava formations. The church looked picture-perfect, almost like it was placed there just for postcards. Unfortunately, with time running short and a long trail ahead, we couldn’t walk all the way over — but even from afar, it added a serene, timeless touch to the landscape.