Ice Ice Iceland baby! 🧊🔥
No seriously, pass the ice cubes cuz it’s roasting here in England 🥵 I miss Air Con so much on days like today.
Speaking of cooler weather, let’s get right into this part 2 of 3 Iceland blog! This one is a detailed itinerary of what we did that you can use for your trip, specifically noting all the things we saw & did so you can decide which to add to your bucket list 🤗 enjoy!
How we got there
We took Icelandair both ways- flight time was just over 3 hours and cost ~£310.
We booked our flights in February (4 months out), but I feel like you could get them cheaper if you book about 6 months out.
Icelandair also has a unique offer where you can choose to have a 1-4 day layover in Reykjavik at no extra cost. Perfect for transatlantic journeys when you want to just see the main city or stop for a relaxing day at the blue lagoon.
We also rented a car as we were going around the island, which was pricey (~$£500), however if you are staying around Reykavik & doing group tours then there are multiple ways to get into city by uber, taxi, bus etc and its only 45 min from the airport.
Things to note
We chose to visit Iceland in the summer for the midnight sun. We knew we wouldn’t see northern lights, but the extra time to explore and beautiful lush greenery made up for it!
The currency in Iceland is ISK. The conversion currently is 173ISK per $1 or 136ISK per £1.
Iceland is expensive. Especially alcohol. An average drink cost about 1,990 ISK which is about $15.
There are 380,000 people who live in Iceland, yet over 2 Million people visit per year 🤯
95% of their homes & building are heated by geothermal energy.
A puffin store = souvenir store
I struggled to find a coffee shop open before 9am, so bring your own instant packs or make some in the hotel to get by if you have early starts.
Bars are open till 5am, even on weekdays 🍻
Again, with so much food and commodities being imported, expect to pay quite a bit for your meals
Our Itinerary
THURSDAY
Got in around 3:15pm Iceland time
Picked up car from Blue Rental 4pm
Checked into our hotel (Center Hotels Laugavegur, €504 for 2 nights)
Had dinner at The Grill Market. This was definitely the most expensive of all our meals. I liked my duck spring rolls, however got the Salmon for my main dish and it was like half cooked so the texture was terrible to me.
After dinner, we went out to Hús máls og menningar, which is a fun bar that has live music. Everyone was dancing and singing along. I also appreciated that you could dress casual (think hiking boots, jeans, and cute top).
FRIDAY
Breakfast at hotel (included) was actually fantastic, with fresh bread, fruits, eggs, meats, chesses, etc.
8am pickup time for our Golden Circle tour!
Viator tour name is “Golden Circle & Snorkeling in Silfra From Reykjavík with Free Photos” - there were 10 of us and the driver took us to Gullfoss waterfall, Geysir, Thingvellir National Park, Fontanna where volcanic bread is made, and finally snorkeling the Silfra fissure. The tour cost £200/pp, but was well worth it! BOOK IT HERE
Dropped back off at hotel around 6pm
Dinner tonight was at Kol. We got an assortment of starters and I loved everything I ate.
SATURDAY
Breakfast again at the hotel
Hit the road around 8:30am
10am Blue Lagoon entry time. I think this was my favorite part of the trip, just relaxing in the geothermal baths in our silica face masks with drinks in hand. We chose the premium package, which got us towels and robes for the locker room, a free drink, and 3 face masks. Cost varies depending on entry time, find out more HERE.
We showered and got ourselves ready for the first leg of the drive up North. Stopped outside of Reykjavík for one of the best burgers. More details on food/drink spots in the next blog 😉
Drive time to Grundarfjörður was 2 hours and 45 min. This is a small village on the Snæfellsnes peninsula. The drive was scenic, but there isn’t much as far as gas stations, toilets etc. on the way so be prepared. The village itself was quaint and views of Kirkjufell were beautiful, but I’d say if you are going that far to also check out the Snaefellsjökull National Park & Glacier.
There weren’t many dinner options, but we booked a table at Bjargarsteinn. They seemed to specialize in a 5 course chefs selection, but we just got the lamb which looked close to an English roast dinner.
Midnight sun kayaking adventure- unfortunately our tour was cancelled due to high winds 😕 I feel like it would have been the coolest experience though with views of Kirkjufell in the backdrop, so if you’re interested you can BOOK HERE. €112/pp
Stayed the night at Kirkjufell Hotel, cost £190
SUNDAY
Coffee at Valeria. A columbian gentleman moved to Iceland with his wife to start the kaffihus.
We hit the road around 8:30am for what would be our biggest driving day to the South of the island.
First waterfall - Seljalandsfoss. This was my favorite waterfall because you could go behind it, just be prepared to get wet! Costs £5 to park.
Second Waterfall- Skógafoss. This one was unique in it’s own right as you could hike up to the top and see it from above.
Only around 30 minutes from the last waterfall to drive to Vik.
Black Sand beach
White church & the Lupines.
Checked into Katla hotel. We liked that they had a gym, sauna, and geothermal hot tub to relax in after a long day of driving- Cost €321.
Dinner was at Black Crust Pizzeria.Yes, you read that right. The pizza crust was black, and its said to actually have detoxifying properties. Yum!
Vik was my favorite town we stopped in and would have preferred to stay here another night rather than our random hotel the next night.
MONDAY
Today’s theme was all about the Ice Ice baby! ❄️
Up early to drive the 1.5 hours to meeting spot for our GLACIER HIKE!
Glacier Hike- The tour was 3 hours in total between getting our gear on, transportation to the base of the glacier, and then the hike itself. Our guide took us to the base of the glacier before we put on our crampons and set off.
It was surprisingly HOT once we got hiking. I was down to my tank top & shell by the time we got to the top, so I’d suggest very thin layers or a t-shirt if it’s sunny. And don’t forget sunscreen as it reflects off the ice!
You can book the same tour HERE.
Drive 30 min to the Glacier Lagoon
Diamond Beach
Glacier Lagoon boat ride- we chose the amphibian tour which was a 40 minute relaxing ride through the lagoon and they even brought us a fresh chunk of glacier to hold. Costs $45 and you can book it HERE.
We then drove up to Hofn which was a pretty but sleepy harbour town to have dinner at Pakkhus. The food was great, but not sure it was worth the extra hour drive time.
Stayed at Stratca Apartments for 1 night, £243 (I would NOT recommend this hotel as it was 20 minutes off the main road going 5mph on gravel which we didn’t know that when we booked 😅)
TUESDAY
First day where we could truly sleep in, I think we hit the road about 9 to make our way back to Reykavik, with some added stops.
Fjadrarglijufur Canyon
Saw some wild horses!
Then went to see Kerid Crater which is just outside of Reykjavík. Cost ~£5 per person to walk around.
Dinner tonight was at Rok, which was actually my favorite of all the restaurants from the trip! Super yummy small plates with reasonable pricing as well and right by rainbow row and the church.
We stayed the last night back at center hotels
WEDNESDAY
Shopping in Reykavik town
Grabbed coffee from Reykavik Roasters. They have a couple locations in the town & I thought the oat latte was really good.
Mjúk- wool hats with fox poms
66° North - top quality winter clothing including ski gear (they have a London store too!)
Picked up a few of our favorite Icelandic snacks from the supermarket Bonus.
Sadly it was then time to head back to the airport! I had the best time but we didn’t even explore HALF of the big Island loop, so I can see another trip in my future. Plus I have yet to see the northern lights! The travel bucketlist is never ending.
Hope this guide was helpful! Feel free to ask any questions below. 🤗
Sincerely,
Sarah
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