PLACES TOURISTS NEARLY DESTROYED. WHY ICELAND SOMETIMES CLOSES ITS MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES
A chain across a path, a sign saying “No Entry,” or a closed waterfall. In Iceland, nature sometimes has to be protected from tourists. Why are some places better left hidden from the world?
When you travel around Iceland, you sometimes come across something that can be more surprising to a tourist than the landscape itself. A chain across a road. A sign prohibiting entry. Or a notice explaining that part of an area is temporarily closed because birds are nesting there.
During my nearly thirty trips to Iceland, I have encountered such restrictions many times, and it has never occurred to me to go around a chain or ignore a sign. It is obvious why it is there.
But not every visitor sees it that way. For some, a photograph, a video or the feeling of having reached somewhere other people are not allowed to go may seem more important.
And that is at the heart of one of the biggest problems facing modern tourism.
TOURISM IN ICELAND: WHEN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE STOPS BEING BEAUTIFUL
Iceland has an enormous advantage. Its nature is so dramatic that you often do not need any man-made attraction at all. Volcanoes, lava fields, glaciers, waterfalls, black beaches and canyons already look like movie sets.
At the same time, Icelandic nature is surprisingly fragile. Because of the short growing season, vegetation has only a limited amount of time to grow, and damaged moss or soil can take a very long time to recover. The Environment Agency of Iceland therefore urges visitors to stay on marked paths and respect temporary closures.
The problem begins when thousands of people converge on the same place.
One person stepping off a trail may cause almost no damage. Thousands of people doing the same thing can change an entire landscape.
FJAÐRÁRGLJÚFUR: WHEN A CANYON BECOMES “BIEBER CANYON”
One of the best-known examples is Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon in southern Iceland. Today it is one of the country’s most photographed locations, but only a few years ago it was nowhere near the tourist magnet it is today.
In 2016, 154,948 visitors came here. A year later, the number had risen to 282,423 — an increase of 82 percent.
Justin Bieber played a significant role in this story.
In 2015, he filmed the music video for I'll Show You in Iceland. Fjaðrárgljúfur featured prominently in the video, and after its release the canyon became a destination sought out by fans from around the world. Icelandic media openly wrote at the time about the enormous exposure Bieber's video had brought the country.
Bieber was, of course, not the only reason for the subsequent surge. Iceland was already becoming one of Europe's most sought-after destinations, while social media accelerated the process even further.
But his video demonstrated one important thing: a single person with an enormous global audience can show millions of people, within minutes, a place that previously had been known only to a relatively small number of travellers.
And then the avalanche can begin.
In 2019, Fjaðrárgljúfur had to be temporarily closed. Authorities cited damage to the vegetation caused by heavy visitor traffic combined with the spring thaw and wet conditions. The closure was originally planned to last two weeks, but was eventually extended until June 1.
When the canyon reopened, visitors were given one clear rule: stay on the marked paths.
The canyon did not disappear. But it had to start protecting itself from the people who came to see it.
TODAY, ONE VIRAL POST CAN BE ENOUGH
The Fjaðrárgljúfur story is not unusual because a famous singer is involved. What makes it remarkable is how clearly it demonstrates the power of today's social media.
Once, someone might discover a beautiful place by chance and tell a few friends about it. Today, a single viral post, a video on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube can put information about a place in front of millions of people within hours.
Justin Bieber demonstrated the same mechanism at another location. His 2015 video I'll Show You also featured him at the wreck of an American aircraft on Sólheimasandur. The abandoned wreck in the black desert, which for many years was known mainly to local photographers and a handful of travellers, gradually became one of southern Iceland's iconic attractions.
Today, the site is so heavily visited that shuttle buses operate to the wreck, and visitors are no longer allowed to climb onto the aircraft itself. Not everyone follows the rule.
It is important to say that Bieber is obviously not the “culprit” behind Iceland's tourism boom. His video was simply one example of the power that images have today.
The same effect can be created by an influencer with several million followers. But it can also happen to an ordinary person whose video happens to receive hundreds of thousands or even millions of views.
And suddenly, a place that almost nobody knew about yesterday can end up on the itinerary of every other tourist.
SOMETIMES THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE TOURIST, BUT THE NUMBER OF TOURISTS
This may be the most important distinction.
One person sitting on a rock may change nothing. One person taking a photograph beside a waterfall may not either. But what happens when ten thousand people do the same thing?
What if every one of them walks a few metres off the trail to get a better photograph? What if every one of them steps over a small chain because “there's nobody here anyway”? What if everyone wants exactly the same shot as the person before them?
Nature does not anticipate thousands of tourists having exactly the same idea.
A CHAIN ACROSS A PATH IS NOT AN INVITATION TO CLIMB OVER IT
This is particularly clear at Dyrhólaey. It is a protected area where some sections are regularly closed during the bird-nesting season. The exact dates can vary depending on conditions, but access may be restricted, for example, from May 1 to June 25.
Visitors may therefore encounter chains, barriers and signs.
And this is where, in my opinion, the difference becomes clear between a visitor who respects Iceland and someone who sees it merely as a backdrop for their own experience.
When I see a chain across a path, I do not think: “How can I get to the other side?”
I think: “Why is this chain here?”
Tourist information in southern Iceland even explicitly warns visitors to respect barriers if other people are ignoring them. The reason is precisely the protection of nesting birds.
REYKJAFOSS: ANOTHER PLACE THAT HAS CLOSED
And stories like this do not end with Iceland's famous tourist icons.
In June 2026, the landowner closed access to Reykjafoss and the natural pool Fosslaug in northern Iceland. The decision was not triggered by one specific incident, but by growing visitor numbers and long-standing problems surrounding the management of the site and responsibility for visitors.
And perhaps the most telling detail? According to the Icelandic news website Vísir, some people tried to get through the fence even after the closure.
Sometimes a sign is simply not enough.
ICELAND CANNOT PUT A FENCE AROUND EVERYTHING
It may sound simple: put up barriers, build paths and everything will be fine.
But Iceland is huge, and its nature is not a zoo.
It is impossible to fence off every patch of moss, every lava field, every bird's nest or every canyon. And the more tourist sites become organised and managed, the more another problem emerges: wild nature can begin to resemble a carefully designed amusement park.
Research into tourism around Fagradalsfjall, for example, has highlighted concerns about excessive infrastructure and the “Disneyfication” of natural areas. Social media can accelerate visitor numbers even further.
WHEN A PLACE BECOMES A VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS
That is the paradox of travelling around Iceland. Tourists look for places without crowds. Photographers look for somewhere that has not yet been overexposed. Influencers look for something their followers have not seen before.
And once they find it, they publish it.
If the content is successful, more people arrive.
A place that was a secret tip shared by a handful of travellers a year ago can become one of the busiest spots in the area a year later.
Social media can therefore promote a beautiful place and, at the same time, help destroy what made it beautiful in the first place.
DOES A TOURIST HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW EVERYTHING?
This is where the answer becomes less straightforward.
As a traveller, I want to know where interesting places are. I want maps, coordinates and information about access. And as a writer, of course I want to write about them.
But publishing the exact location can sometimes have the opposite effect from what I intended.
If it is an ordinary, publicly accessible tourist attraction, there is usually no problem. But what if it is a small nesting site, fragile vegetation, or a place that can cope with a few dozen visitors a year but not several thousand?
Are we obliged to show people everything we have discovered ourselves?
Or are there times when we have the right to say: I would rather not show you exactly where this place is.
MAYBE WE DON'T HAVE TO PUBLISH EVERYTHING
This does not mean we should stop writing about Iceland or stop showing its beauty.
It simply means we should think about exactly what we publish.
Sometimes it is enough to show the landscape without precise GPS coordinates. At other times, it is appropriate to explain that a place is accessible only during a certain period. And if there is a sign prohibiting entry, perhaps we should not look for a way around it, but explain why it is there.
Because information itself is not the problem.
The problem begins when information becomes a set of directions for thousands of people who all do the same thing.
NOT EVERYTHING WE CAN VISIT HAS TO BE VISITED
Iceland has taught me one thing over the years: nature is not an attraction that exists to provide us with the perfect photograph.
Some places we can see.
Some places we should leave alone.
And in some places, perhaps the greatest sign of respect is simply to turn around and walk away.
Because the question is ultimately not just:
Can I get there?
It is also:
Should I go there at all?
And perhaps we should ask ourselves the same question as writers, photographers and people on social media.
When I publish a beautiful place, do I want to show people its beauty — or am I actually showing them where they should go?
Sometimes the best way to preserve a beautiful place may be precisely this:
not telling everyone everything.
SOURCES
Environment Agency of Iceland – Fjaðrárgljúfur: information on the canyon's closure and vegetation protection.
Environment Agency of Iceland – Dyrhólaey: access rules and seasonal closures to protect nesting birds.
Environmental Management – Mapping Potential Environmental Impacts from Tourists Using Data from Social Media: A Case Study in the Westfjords of Iceland.
Vísir – information on the closure of Reykjafoss and Fosslaug in June 2026.
Icelandmag – information on visitor numbers and damage at Fjaðrárgljúfur.
Iceland Review – information on Justin Bieber's I'll Show You music video being filmed in Iceland.
About the Author
Iceland has fascinated me for many years. Over the course of numerous journeys across the island, I have driven tens of thousands of kilometers, experienced storms that changed travel plans within minutes, and witnessed days when choosing the right route meant discovering places that most visitors never see. I documented many of these experiences in my documentary film Island in the North.
Through this website, I share practical travel advice, up-to-date information, and firsthand experiences from the field to help others explore Iceland more safely and gain a deeper understanding of its unique landscapes and ever-changing nature.
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