1-week itinerary in early June
This community was incredibly helpful in planning a first time trip to Iceland. I wanted to share our itinerary because it was valuable seeing others' posts. I apologize in advance if my details or place names are inaccurate (and please correct me).
A little context:
- My partner and I are from the US, very well-traveled, but it is our first time in northern Europe.
- We're comfortable driving long distances. I am not a camper but we like to do a lot when we travel. In a different universe, we would have done a campervan adventure but alas, I am not that kind of person.
- I like to bookmark a lot but it's so we have options and alternative plans rather than having to do it all. For brevity, I am not sharing every single stop I've marked in our itinerary.
- We're also huge foodies, even though I hate that term...we simply enjoy eating and love to try everything. I don't expect Iceland to be a culinary heaven but I am excited to pick up groceries at Krónan and pack lunches as well as to splurge on dinners in Reykjavik.
- Our biggest (self-imposed) limitation is staying 5 consecutive nights in Reykjavik because we wanted to redeem hotel points and it required a longer consecutive stay. Otherwise, I would have loved to hop around more hotels outside of the capital (especially Buubble or Greenhouse).
- We rented a hybrid 4x4; I don't anticipate that this is necessary, we just wanted an SUV and couldn't find a non-4x4 one.
- Every hotel we booked includes breakfast to be more cost-effective and flexible.
Day 1: Red-eye flight, arrive in KEF at 9 AM. Picking up some breakfast near the airport then driving all the way to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, stopping as we wish for short photo-ops, restroom breaks, leg stretches, and what not. Some major stops include Blue Lagoon (not going into the water), lunch in Selfoss, and maybe a self-guided little lava cave tour (Arnarker or Gjögur). We booked the Zodiac boat tour and will stop by Diamond Beach afterwards. Depending on our energy and daylight, we may hike to Svartifoss. Staying at the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon for the night. We've done a glacier hike in Alaska before so we wanted to do something different here. It's a heavy first day but we wanted to get to the furthest point and move backwards towards Reykjavik due to our aforementioned lodging restriction.
Day 2: Seeing Svartifoss if we didn't the day before. Drive towards Vik and stopping for photos wherever we did not the first day. Grab a quick lunch and then to the Katla Ice Cave tour (with Katlatrack), followed by a horseback riding tour (Vik Horse Adventure) on Víkurfjara Beach. Dinner at Black Crust Pizzeria (doing the ice cave tour gives you a discount). We'll also check out Reynisfjara Beach and try to spot some puffins by Dyrhólaey Lighthouse. Staying the night in Vik at Hotel Kria.
Day 3: Admire puffins again on the way out of Vik and hitting up all the waterfalls: Skógafoss, Írárfoss, Seljalandsfoss, and Gljúfrabúi. Stopping in Hella for lunch and the Caves of Hella tour. Driving to Reykjavik and stopping at Urriðafoss, Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River, and maybe Hveradalir geothermal area. Check into Konsulat Hotel and grab dinner in the city.
Day 4: Brauð & Co is our #1 priority this morning, then doing the Golden Circle loop. We've been to Yellowstone NP and some of the photos remind me of there, so I'm not sure how long we'll stay at the sights. We still allotted a full day for this, it may be jam-packed or leisurely - please advise. We're driving straight to Laugharvatn Fontana first for the geothermal bakery and baths. Then stopping at Brúarfoss and Gullfoss before trying to eat lunch at Fridheimar. Might stop at Secret Lagoon if we feel like soaking again, then looping back up to Kerið Crater and Þingvellir NP. Dinner back in the city.
Day 5: Exploring the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, going from south to west to north side. Landmarks I'm most looking forward to: Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge, Saxhóll Crater, and Svöðufoss. Lunch in Hellnar at Fjöruhúsið Café. Dinner at Matarlist in Ólafsvik. We would have loved to try a whale watching tour but the times make it challenging since the last departure is at 2pm and takes up a lot of time. Would also love some insight on this - if it's super worth it, I'll rework our timeline in the peninsula.
Day 6: This is our slow day to recharge and a buffer day in case of inclement weather. We may try out Passion bakery (or return to Brauð & Co because I keep seeing everyone rave about it and I love cinnamon rolls). Find cats to pet in the city, visit Hallgrímskirkja and other landmarks in the city. Might walk around first before resorting to driving if necessary. Going to grab a hot dog for lunch or Icelandic Street Food. Visit a museum or two - my priority is the Icelandic Phallological Museum but I'm also considering Saga and Settlement Exhibition for more history. I'm hesitant on Perlan because we've been to a lot of these types of museums, but might go just for the ice cream? On that note, please share best ice cream spots. Made a reservation at Skal! for dinner.
Day 7: Hike Glymur then take our time at Hvammsvik Hot Springs. Return to Reykjavik for dinner. If our previous plans get derailed, this becomes our make-up day.
Day 8: Grab bagels at DEIG Workshop and maybe swing by Brauð & Co to pick up goodies to bring home (I have high expectations for this place after reading this subreddit). We always like to check out foreign Costcos for local snacks (we are American, we like snackies) so we'll do that on our way out of the city and fill up gas. Flight out of KEF at 1 PM.
I would really appreciate any and all feedback. There were some highly recommended activities and places that simply didn't interest us (eg Silfra snorkeling) but I would still love to see if I missed anything or if parts of our itinerary seem unrealistic. Thank you!
Final Notes: Will bookmark safetravel.is, vedur.is, road.is for safety alerts, road conditions, etc. and the Parka app for paying for parking.