Iceland Travel 

This is our itinerary for 18 days spent traveling all over Iceland in March 2021. If you’re looking at planning your trip, you’re totally welcome to steal our itinerary below and just copy it day-for-day, or you can take the information from this blog article and sort it out into your own. Luckily, we have a FREE Itinerary Planner Spreadsheet to download here. 

Only a 5 hour flight from JFK Airport, Iceland can be visited at any time of year. Spring, summer, and fall offer milder temperatures, and the landscape is free of snow. If you decide to visit Iceland in the summer, you’ll experience most places under the midnight sun. In winter, the island is covered in snow, offering a unique experience. Winter is also a great time to look for the Northern Lights. Choosing when to visit Iceland is really up to you and your preferences.

The RIGHT way to travel Iceland / How to travel around Iceland

There are 3 ways to travel Iceland. Probably the most expensive but best way to see the island is with a 4x4 vehicle and staying in Airbnbs. There’s a second, an in-between option, and that is to stay in Guesthouses. Guesthouses are a little bit on the less expensive side but super charming. There are lots of unique stays available to book on Airbnb or Booking.com, and we’ll be mentioning a few of our favorites throughout this blog. 

The third way to travel Iceland is in an infamous camper van. We decided to mix 2 options based on price, and explored Iceland by driving around in a van from Lava Rentals, with the option of staying at campsites and booking B&B unique stays along the way. Maybe it was because it was a covid deal, but our van ended up being the same price as a normal car rental. Make sure to check pricing options and all of your resources and don't assume camper-vanning is the least expensive. It can sometimes work out to be more expensive than staying indoors, when you start to add up all the van extras.

Reykjavík

2 days

We chose to base ourselves in Reykjavik for the first few days, and we would highly recommend that you do the same. We booked an Airbnb in downtown in an area called Kopavogur. It was $125 a night and in a great location to visit the majority of popular locations in and around Reykjavik.

You’ve probably heard of Blue Lagoon but newly opened in Reykjavik, and a more affordable option, is Sky Lagoon. Ready to cure some jet lag, we were excited to spend our first day here. We made a 6.30pm booking pre-hand, entrance was $70 a person and that included a 7-step spa ritual. We spent a good 3-4 hours here and highly recommend it for your first experience in Iceland. This wasn't the only hot spring we visited in our 18 days in Iceland, we’ll be mentioning a few more further on.

Mount Fagradalsfjall eruption

The highlight of our Iceland trip and unfortunately something you won’t be able to experience yourself, is the erupting Mount Fagrdalsfjall Volcano. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us because, just after 18 September 2021, the lava stopped emerging. In the southwest of Iceland, during mid 2021, mount Fagradalsfjall started to erupt every 7 minutes - an anomaly that was the country’s longest volcanic eruption in over 50 years. An hour’s drive from our airbnb, a 4 hour return-trip hike, and we experienced one of the most incredible earth-giving moments of our lives. Are we in a simulation?!

Blue Lagoon

Rounding out the perfect Iceland Day, the Blue lagoon is just a short drive from the volcano and a popular spot to and from the airport. We booked a 3pm slot ahead of time (required during covid) and we booked the Premium pass at $70 per person. This pass included the following: entrance to the Blue Lagoon, silica mud mask, two additional masks, a towel, a drink, a bathrobe, and one glass of sparkling wine if dining at the Lava restaurant onsite. We spent 4.5 hours here and it was unbelievable, in no way do the other hot springs compare to the Blue Lagoon. It really does live up to the hype.

Hallgrímskirkja Church

Situated on a hilltop near the centre of Reykjavík, the church is one of the city's best-known landmarks and is visible throughout the city. It’s the biggest church in Iceland, and it’s a great spot for a quick visit and an Instagram photo.

After a stroll around the monument, take a drive around this quaint town and then pop into a cute, traditional seafood restaurant called Reykjavik Fish for a yummy meal and a warm drink. For the two of us, meals and drinks cost around $50.

Iceland's Golden Circle

2 days

The Golden Circle is essentially a route to travel on, to visit three equally stunning locations in Southwest Iceland: Thingvellir National Park, The Geysir Geothermal Area and Gullfoss Waterfall. Only the city of Reykjavik and Blue Lagoon compete with these destinations in terms of popularity.

Thingvellir National Park - Diving the Silfra Fissure

Located in Iceland’s first national park is the Silfra Fissure - the space between the North American and Eurasian continental plates. This is the only place in the world where you can swim between two continental plates. We booked with Dive IS and had done our drysuit divers certificates prior to going, but honestly, if you don’t have a divers certificate and you just want to snorkel, you’ll experience 90% of what we did. It’s no big deal. By the way, Dive IS are absolute legends and made the experience so much cooler!

Secret Lagoon

After a freezing cold dive, it’s only natural to head to yet another lagoon to relax and warm up. Secret lagoon is the oldest natural pool in Iceland, and one of the more affordable hot spring options. Entrance to the spring was $24 per person, including a towel.

Icelandic horseback riding

If you’re looking to feel like a medieval king or queen for the day, you’ll have to ride an Icelandic horse through the countryside. If you know anything about Icelandic horses, you'll know that they’re a sense of pride for the people of Iceland. The horses are gorgeous, and this is a truly special thing to do in Iceland. We booked with Icelandic Riding for a private tour and support any company that loves their animals as much as they do here.

Geysir

Located in a high-temperature geothermal area, Geysir itself, is one of the best-known geysers in the world. Give yourself 20 minutes to an hour at the park, to watch the Geysir shoot between 70-80m high every few minutes.

Fridheimar Greenhouse Restaurant

The farm where 40% of Iceland’s tomatoes are grown, Fridheimar farm, you essentially enjoy a lunch among the tomato plants, in a greenhouse. The restaurant also offers a Greenhouse visit where guests are informed how Icelanders are able to grow vegetables the whole year around in this space. We had the signature tomato soup and bread buffet at $19 per person,  (bookings are required) and it hit the spot on a cold and rainy day.

Gullfoss Waterfall

This is the Golden waterfall, which gives a name to the most popular route in Iceland, the Golden Circle, and Europe’s largest waterfall by volume. If you head here at 9pm on a relatively rainy day, you may be able to get the entire park to yourselves like we did.

Bubble Hotel

After a day spent at the waterfall, what better way to spend the night in a cosy, transparent bubble at Million Star Hotel in the land of the midnight sun?

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall

This is Iceland’s most popular waterfall, you’ve probably seen it on your Instagram feed or on some desktop screensaver. Make sure to pack rain-gear for this one, you’re going to want to walk behind the cascading falls and you’ll certainly get covered in a light mist. Luckily, we’ve created Iceland packing guide videos over on our Tripped Travel Gear YouTube channel to better prepare you for the elements.

Westman Islands

2 days

This is Iceland’s best kept secret (according to their tourism website) and according to us. Just a 20 mile drive from Seljalandsfoss Waterfall is Herjolfur Port where you’ll catch a ferry for $16 per person and $25 per car to the Westman Islands. Here you can visit Fairy Houses at Gaujulundur, or take a drive to the southernmost part of the island to find puffins, the cutest birds you’ll ever see.

We also suggest that you do an epic one-hour boat tour around the island and you can book it at www.visitwestmanislands.com. 

One last thing on the island: SPRANG! A local rope swing activity enjoyed by locals. Google location: search “sprangan”.

You can do this all on a day trip but we suggest staying the night in a drum house Airbnb at Westman Islands Glamping Cottages. 

Iceland’s South Coast

4 days

We based ourselves in the cute little town of Vik for the next few days of activities, in another darling Airbnb cabin, for $159 per night.

Vik (Black Sand Beach)

This is the set for our “Eurovision Parody” video. Nothing more to say here, just watch the video on YouTube.

Plane Wreck

This is a great, free spot to visit. It’s a 2.5 hour hike on flat land to a plane wreck in the middle of nowhere, pack some really warm clothing for this one as the winds and rain can make it quite unpleasant. Perks of visiting this spot? It’s great for those Instagram photos and drone footage.

Skogafoss waterfall

Another day, another epic waterfall. This is an iconic waterfall, at 60m tall and a must-visit in the south coast. Once again, rain-gear is a must for this one. PS: it’s also the set for the Eurovision movie.

Iceberg Lagoon - Glacial Hike & Lagoon Kayaking In Hofn

The next morning, we headed out to the Iceberg Lagoon (Europe’s largest glacier) for our 2 part tour booked with Arctic Tour. We booked two half-day tours: hiking the glacier, and kayaking on the iceberg lagoon. Pricing was $163 per person for both the hike and the kayaking together. You can book the kayaking separately at www.iceguide.is/tours for $90 per person, if you don’t choose to do the 2 half-day tours that we did. It was a great experience but to be honest, posing with an ice-pick would have been cool enough, the rest of the tour was just a BIG bonus.

The Ring Road

3 days

 Iceland is shaped like a large oval, and the majority of towns are dotted along the coastline on what’s known as the ring road. The Ring Road is a national road in Iceland that circles the entire country, and it makes for a great road trip with quiet roads, less people and beautiful scenery. We woke up on the west side of the Island in a B&B Guesthouse called Nypugardar that we booked on Booking.com (great breakfast!), and started the journey to a town called Seydisfjordur on the east side of the island.

Seydisfjordur picturesque town

A quaint little town made popular by the Ben Stiller ‘Walter Mitty’ movie. It's a great little town to walk around, and to take photos on the rainbow road. Once again, we booked accommodation through Airbnb and this one was located on the rainbow road. 

Myvatn

After heading north in the camper van to a town called Myvatn, a geothermal area, we headed to one of the Game of Thrones film locations, known now as the “John Snow” Cave but officially known as Grjótagjá. Given a score of 3/10 by Tim, it’s a very quick stop and barely worth the visit. It’s really only popular because of big Game of Thrones fans flocking the area.

After visiting the cave for about 3 second, we headed to our final hot spring - Myvatn Nature Baths. You may be asking yourself why we’ve been visiting so many hot springs and the answer is, you can never visit enough. It’s part of Icelandic culture, and we’re all for it. This hot spring is a budget version of Blue Lagoon in the north side of the country, and cost $45.50 per person.

Whale Watching (Husavik)

Definitely a bucket list destination for whale watching in Iceland, is a town called Husavik, located 65 miles south of the Arctic Circle. If you know us, you’ll know just how much we love whale watching. This was up there with our best whale and dolphin watching experiences, and we booked it through North Sailing.

The Arctic Circle

1 day

Probably the most epic way to end our 18 day trip around Iceland, was a ferry ride up to the island of Grimsey in the Arctic Circle. Here we experienced the BEST puffin sightings, and posed with the moveable orb representing the invisible 66 degree Arctic North line. The ferry drops you off on Grimsey island for 4 hours and it’s a place that you can stay overnight at in a hotel, or you can just day trek like us. It’s really just a place you visit to say the words “I’ve touched the Arctic Circle!''.

And that’s the end of our trip, make sure to watch the full 2 hour-long video on our YouTube channel. 

With such an easy flight from New York, bucket-list worthy destinations and one-of-a-kind experiences, it’s no wonder Iceland has exploded in popularity. Thank you Iceland for your natural beauty, having such friendly and welcoming locals, and thank you for being a trip we’ll never ever forget!