Let’s go to Iceland!

Iceland! It’s been on my bucket list to visit Iceland and I finally went in the fall of 2023. A friend recently reached out asking for information of where I stayed so I thought I’d do a list of all the things we did on our trip to share with all of you!

I originally chose Iceland for my 41^st birthday as a solo trip but after reaching out to a friend in London to coordinate stopping to see her on my layover home, she asked if she could come with me on the trip. And so my solo trip turned into a fun girl’s trip for two! It’s been a few months since my trip but I hope you find the following useful for your own trip planning!

I knew that I wanted to see as much of Iceland as possible so we decided on a 5 day stay. We also chose to visit at the end of September which is fall in Iceland with normal daylight and nighttime hours. It also rarely snows that early in Iceland which would allow us to drive without worry of hitting a snowstorm. We also would have the chance to see the Northern Lights, maybe, which we unfortunately did not end up seeing. Here was our itinerary.

Iceland wants tourists to visit so you may be able to find a flight to/from Europe and US that offers a long layover to visit at least Reykjavik. I do recommend staying a bit longer to see a bit more of Iceland. The colors of the landscape were absolutely incredible and worth seeing. I originally planned to book flights directly from the US and originally found a flight on Alaska airlines which is a codeshare partner with Icelandair, offering direct flights from Portland and Seattle to Reykjavik. There are also many flights from New York as well as Detroit. I also heard of a low cost airline, called Play, which is offering nonstop flights from New York, you may want to check them out.

I rented a car for the entirety of our trip so that we would have the flexibility to design our own itinerary. There are horror stories all over the internet about car rentals. I was more scared than I needed to be but you could never be too careful. The car rental companies will try to sell you on their supplemental insurance as you will read that fellow renters have received hefty bills due to dings to either the car or the windshield when they return the car. The weather is tumultuous in Iceland, one moment it is sunny and the next you’re caught in a windstorm with hail that seems like it’ll blow your door right off, so it is possible that inclement weather out of nowhere could cause unplanned damage. However, I called my credit card and they offered insurance coverage as long as I paid for the rental with my card and that I was the sole driver of the car. So I declined the extra coverage and happy to report that I thankfully had no issues when I returned the car. But do take a video of the car before you leave the lot. A few other tips while driving, there is a no tolerance limit for driving under the influence of alcohol in Iceland and they do not tolerate speeding. Supposedly there are cameras on the roadways that take photos of license plates of speed violations but the roads are mostly 2 lane roads, some are even gravel and very uneven to some of the sites, so it is quite difficult to go very fast. Keep this in mind when planning your driving distance between stops, the road trip can seem long without much ability to go much faster and with the possibility of weather changing suddenly. If I were to do Iceland again, I would rent a camper van to be able to stop wherever and whenever, while enjoying the vast and beautiful landscape calling out your name to take a photo as you pass it by! Either way, be prepared to do a lot of driving! Note, you must have a credit card with a pin to pay for gas at all gas stations in Iceland, there is no other option if you are paying with card.

Day 1: We arrived into Reykjavik in the morning, picked up the rental car, and decided to drive around the peninsula around the airport to see the Bridge Between Continents and Reykjanes Lighthouse. Both are definitely worth a stop. The landscape around Reykjanes Lighthouse is extraordinary with breathtaking colors.

We then drove to the Blue Lagoon hoping to get in before we checked into our hotel. We did not make a reservation. This was a big mistake. After getting caught behind a large bus of tourists and waiting in line to find out that they were nearly sold out for the day, we got lucky and they were able to give us a spot in the evening, meaning we would have to drive back. It is worth the visit and do book your reservation in advance. Do not skip stopping here, I know it’s very hyped up and seems touristy but it is a very cool experience. The basic ticket gets you a mask and one drink and a few hours in the pool. 

We checked into Hotel Holt in Reykjavik. They offered free parking and fair rates. It was a huge plus not to have to find street parking when we came and went to visit the Blue Lagoon or arrived late at night. The rooms were small and slightly outdated but the location and free parking made up for the lack of excitement in the rooms. There is no on site restaurant, although they did offer continental breakfast and they do have a hotel lobby bar. The staff had great customer service as well and were very accommodating when we changed our travel dates and offered vouchers for adjusted rates. We stayed at this hotel a total of 3 nights. We were able to walk into the quaint downtown easily and the neighborhood is very safe. We had dinner at Islenski Barinn which is a local pub in the main part of town. I actually ate there 2 nights. The pub is very cozy and I had one of the best meals of my trip there, you must try the grilled whale, it is unbelievable!

Day 2: We drove the Golden Circle. Some of the sights on the Golden Circle are absolutely worth seeing and some I could have skipped if we were short on time. The entire route and all stops are full of tourists being bused in droves. Allow ample time for driving in between each stop. We left Reykjavik about 9am, made it to Fridheimer at 1:30pm but just barely, and made it back to Reykjavik at 9pm and we hurried some of the stops. It will be a very jammed day if you do not leave early enough in the morning and want to visit all attractions.

We started with stopping at Thingvellir and we were both pleasantly surprised. Since we were there in late September, the colors in and around the park were magnificent and the most colorful and reminiscent of fall colors we saw in all of Iceland. We parked in one of the lots and walked a boardwalk through the park and spent about an hour total there. You can also snorkel the Silfra Fissure there, we did not do that but it would be a cool experience if you can brave the cold water. I also saw so many camper vans there and thought it would be cool to camp at the park if I were ever to return.

We then drove to Geyser Crater and Gullfoss Waterfall. Both were packed with tourists and it took longer than anticipated to see Geyser as they rope you through a gift shop to find the Crater. The Geyser goes off every 5 minutes or so and it is cool to see but does not require you to linger for long. The Gullfoss Waterfall is powerful but there are so many waterfalls in Iceland, you could skip it if you are tight on time. We were tight on time as we had a lunch reservation at Fridheimer Farm to catch and they do not hold tables. Fridheimer Farm is a tomato greenhouse farm featuring a full menu of only tomato inspired items. It’s a very fun experience and you can watch our experience here on you tube. Make sure to plan a stop here and book your table in advance, they are only open for lunch.

After Fridheimer, we visited the Secret Lagoon, known as the oldest swimming pool in Iceland. It is a natural geothermal pool and had a full changing room. They also had free noodles that you can float around with. The water was quite warm and enjoyable to spend an hour there.

We then drove to Kerid Crater and walked down to the bottom. The colors were once again absolutely beautiful. Knowing we had limited time to the day, we made our stop quick.

I had on my list to hike Reykjadalur Valley to the hot springs. We almost didn’t do it and I am so happy we did. This was our favorite thing that we did on our entire trip. We arrived at the parking lot at Reykjadalur about an hour before sunset. I had some notes from a blog post on how to follow the trail to the hot springs. We decided to start walking our way out and saw so many natural hot springs along the path. We almost turned around half way through the hike but decided to keep walking on and again I am so happy that we did. We mostly saw locals on the trail who reassured us we were going the right way. The gravel path takes you up a small mountain winding through the valley until you see a long strip of pools sitting in the valley about an hour into your hike. The pools are not that warm but the experience was so cool and so worth it. The sun set while we were at the pools and we walked back nearly the entire time in the dark. It was not as spooky as we thought and the full moon lit our path. Go prepared with a pack full of a change of clothes, water, and a flashlight. Make time for this stop!

Day 3: We left early in the morning and stopped at Sandholt for a quick bite before heading out. We planned to drive all the way to the Jokulsarlon glacier which is past Vik and along Iceland’s Route 1 which traverses around the entire country’s coastline. This was set to be a 5 hour drive so we planned to break up the drive with a stop visiting the Westman Islands. I would recommend if making this drive to just drive to your destination and stop along Route 1. While it was unique and less touristy to visit the Westman Islands, the weather was quite terrible out on the island and very choppy waters on the ferry. We had planned to do a hike from the volcano museum at the top peak of the island and it was so windy we cut our visit short and only stayed for about 2 hours total. We could have skipped visiting but if you are visiting in the summer I know they have a music festival every year that sounded very cool to check out and the hike may be more enjoyable then. The summer months are also when you can see puffins. Do not brave the trip in the winter months.

We ended our long drive at the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon in extremely high winds. The hotel was a delight and we wished we had stayed longer than just one night. The hotel is the only one that I know of that is close to the glacial lagoon but it was fabulous. It had stylish rooms and facilities and a great restaurant and bar right in the lobby. 

Day 4: We had booked a zodiac boat tour at the glacial lagoon first thing in the morning and the drive was about 20 minutes past the hotel so we had to check out of our lovely hotel early. It was a very cold morning and quite windy, we thought maybe they would cancel the tour. Luckily they did not cancel, and instead it was the best tour we took on our trip. The boat goes extremely fast, to the point where they reported people falling off, so I am not sure if it is good to take small children on this type of boat, but it was exhilarating! We got very close to the icebergs floating in the glacial lagoon. 

After our boat tour, we visited Diamond Beach across the street. The landscape is so unique, do not miss stopping. If it’s a nice day, keep your car parked in the glacial lagoon if you have another tour booked and walk across the street to the beach. The parking lot of the lagoon will fill up quickly and it is where all tours pick up and drop off. They also have food trucks to grab lunch from and the food was quite good.

After lunch, we took an ice cave tour on Vatnajokull, the largest glacier in Iceland. The portion that most tours visit is on the bottom part of the glacier where the ice meets the black volcanic ground. Because of that, the glacier walk will not look like what you picture walking on ice will look like. The ice cave was a short visit inside the actual cave and we were quite disappointed for the tour in general. We could have skipped doing this activity and saved our money. I did hear that ice cave tours are only available during certain times of the year and the Katla Ice Cave tour may be a bit better. They also say each time you visit an ice cave it changes so no experience is ever the same. You may have a different experience.

After our tour, we drove to Vik to stay at Hotel Kria. The hotel was just ok and the restaurant did not have great food. It was the only actual hotel I could find in the area and we needed to stay in town due to our early morning tour the next day. I would recommend at least venturing out into town for dinner instead of eating at the hotel bar. I took a quick drive to the nearby Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach. Do not miss stopping here, it’s quite unique in its landscape although full of tourists. There are also horseback riding tours on this beach and I wished we had the time to do this experience so may be worth checking out on your trip.

Day 5: We started our last day in Iceland with a glacier hike on Solheimajokull Glacier. This glacier looked like an actual glacier and was not covered with black volcanic sand. Our guide was fabulous and we loved this hike. We were able to drive right to the parking lot, put on our gear, and walk up to the glacier. Definitely worth booking!

The rest of our day was full of waterfalls and rainbows. We stopped at Skogafoss Waterfall and had lunch at the cutest food truck for some fresh fish and chips. We ended our day driving back to Reyjkavik and stopping at the Seljalandsfoss waterfall on the way. There is a second waterfall to the right of Seljalandsfoss that is worth a little walk inside a cave, makes for a great photo. Both can be accessed by walking from the same parking lot and following the path along the cliff.

We ended our night back at Hotel Holt and dinner in Reykjavik. We flew out first thing the next morning. You may be wondering if we saw the Northern Lights and unfortunately we did not during our trip. I have heard the experience is hit or miss so it is not guaranteed to see them. Hopefully you will get lucky on your trip to see them!

What an adventure we had and let me know how your trip turns out and if you ended up checking out any of these tips! I’d love to hear from you!