r/VisitingIceland

Husband & I just got back from ten long days in your beautiful country. I cried the whole way from Reykjavik to the airport. ( I'm an American) it was very hard for me to come back here. We loved everyday of this trip & are already planning a summer trip back in the future. The most beautiful place on earth - wanted to share some pics. Can't wait to visit again 🥹

Black crust pizza. So unique. Volcanic. Really unique combos in all the pizzas offered

I’ve been reminiscing about my trip to Iceland last year and love seeing the stark contrast in photos taken across the colder months, so I thought I’d share some of my favourites.

I spent 6 nights in Iceland - 3 in Reykjavik, and the other 3 between Hvolsvöllur, Reynivellir, and Vík. It’s the furthest I’ve ever travelled from home (Australia), and easily one of the most expensive destinations I’ve visited, rivalled only by Switzerland (the AUD conversion is rough).

I joined a small-group 5-night tour and arrived a day early to explore Reykjavik - although in hindsight, that probably wasn’t necessary.

Was pretty fortunate with weather with only experiencing rain on one day and our tour guide was able to adjust our schedule and glacier hike to the day before. This was really great because it meant I also had time for the glacier lagoon boat tour the next day.

Highlights: • Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon • Breiðamerkurjökull glacier hike • Puffins at Reynisfjara viewpoint • Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon • Skógafoss & Seljalandsfoss • The cats of Reykjavik • Experiencing midnight sun

Flying into Iceland from Ireland with a window seat was unforgettable - seeing glaciers stretch across vast, empty landscapes genuinely felt like landing on another planet. It’s unlike anywhere I’ve ever been. The only way to describe it is otherworldly.

On the way out to London, we flew over recently erupted volcanoes and could see lava flowing, such a surreal experience.

Disappointments: • Blue Lagoon. I don’t regret going, but I wish I’d chosen Sky Lagoon instead. We also visited the Secret Lagoon, which was a good, more affordable basic alternative. • Coming from a very friendly country, I did find the service in Iceland a bit cold at times, but I understand that’s a cultural difference and something I often notice when travelling.

Less than twentyfour hours between the visits, april 10th versus april 11th. We were a bit underwhelmed yesterday – not disappointed, as we were prepared that sometimes there will be a lot of "diamonds", and sometimes nothing. Was still a really nice beach yesterday and fun to watch the birds catching fish. But today... Wow.

Thank you to Bus Travel Iceland for getting us out at the perfect time. Would recommend them if KP is above 4!! We got lucky and it was 6.7 (unheard of!!!) on our first night so we were able to quickly book a tour and get out to see the show of our lives. Thank you Iceland!

We saw the northern lights from our airbnb!!!!

Got a wee glimpse from our rental down in Hella, Friday the 10th at 11pm.

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:

1. My partner and I are from the US, very well-traveled, but it is our first time in northern Europe.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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).
6. 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.
7. 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.

Hey folks. A hiking buddy and I are planning to do these trails this summer. This will be our first time in Iceland, and I want to get a quick sniff test of our itinerary, esp. since FI is strongly recommending that folks pre-book campsites this year. We will be car-free and plan to hike S => N, because we want to do some day-hiking around Landmannalaugar after we finish the main trail.

We plan to camp every night and will carry enough (cold-soak) food to cover our days on-trail. However, we will be supplementing at huts & restaurants in Þórsmörk and Landmannalaugar on our rest days.

As a note, we're fairly experienced backpackers capable of 20 mile days at altitude. The itinerary below is pretty chill for us, but I figure the slower pace will be relaxing while also providing some extra buffer against bad weather and other unforeseen delays. Would definitely appreciate some feedback though. Thanks in advance!

Planned Itinerary:

• Day 1 (Th): Arrive at KEF, KEF => Reykjavik (Strætó Bus 55?), camp overnight.
• Day 2 (F): Reykjavik => Skógar (Strætó Bus 52), camp at Skógar.
• Day 3 (Sa): Skógar => Fimmvörðuskáli (~7.5 mi)
• Day 4 (Su): Fimmvörðuskáli => Þórsmörk (Langidalur) (~9.3 mi)
• Day 5 (M): Chill day hiking around Þórsmörk, second night in Þórsmörk (Langidalur)
• Day 6 (T): Þórsmörk => Emstrur (~9.3 mi)
• Day 7 (W): Emstrur => Álftavatn (~10 mi)
• Day 8 (Th): Álftavatn => Landmannalaugar (~15 mi)
• Day 9 (F): Chill day hiking around Landmannalaugar, second night at Landmannalaugar
• Day 10 (Sa): Landmannalaugar => Reykjavik (using a bus service) and camp overnight.
• Day 11 (Su): Reykjavik => KEF (Strætó Bus 55), flight back home in the evening.

Questions:

• How inconvenient is it to take the Strætó 55 to and from the airport compared to booking Flybus or Grayline?
• Some research led me to believe that Strætó 51 would take people to Skógar, but this recent update suggests that it is now the 52 that we will need to take. It doesn't run every day, but it is currently operating on Fridays. Does anyone know if this might change up during the summer?
• Thoughts on doubling up on some of these days to add more time in Þórsmörk and/or Landmannalaugar? We can likely combine Days 2-3 or Days 3-4 (if it is recommended to avoid camping on Fimmvörðuháls due to weather conditions). Days 6-8 can also be reduced to two days by camping at Hvanngil instead.
• Is planning to get back to Reykjavik on Day 10 instead of Day 9 tempting fate in case we run into foul weather?