I'm considering a trip to Iceland and would appreciate any comments or advice from this forum. I like nature in the wild and I love to day hike. At age 70 though, I've had to slow down and no longer backpack or do extended trekking.

So, what's a good first trip? I'm thinking about five days - one day in Reykjavik, two days in the fjords to the northwest, and two more days driving highway 1 around the island with a stop in the national park. Can anyone suggest their favorite spots? This would be a summer trip so I assume the highway would be completely open.

I understand that Iceland is extremely expensive. True? What's a good food budget? And how to get there? I can fly Wow airlines from Detroit cheaper than I can fly from Copenhagen. Am I missing something? Thanks for your help!

There is a brilliant trip report by the poster annhig. It's a few years old now but I urge you to search for It and read it. (Id try and find it for you but links aren't working from my mobile at the moment)

We have been to many of the usual suspects when it comes to expensive destinations but Iceland exceeds even Norway and Switzerland. Some of the prices of products are incomprehensible but the British pound is considerably weaker than the US dollar and so your shock may be slightly less. You’ll find it fairly difficult to find a main course for less than $50 and accommodation is generally expensive.

i have to say of all our adventures Iceland was our biggest let down. The comparative costs didn’t help but in many aspects the geographic sites don’t match other destination we have visited. The country also suffers from an over active national marketing machine which seems to want to concentrate visitors in certain areas and keep,them from the interior. As a result many of the recognised sites are simply overrun with foreign tourists. That’s fine if you’re on St Marks Square but for us, many of sites were spoiled by too many people.

The Northern Fjords were much quieter but nowhere near as spectacular as Norway.

One activity we did which was the experience of a lifetime was a guided glacier walk.

I wanted to visit Iceland since being a small child wh9 was obsessed with geography. If you have visited Norway, Scotland, Canada, Alaska and/or New Zealand then you MAY find Iceland a bit of an (expensive) let down.

Landmannalaugar Bus Tours | trex.is

We have found the landscape in Iceland to vary between “what’s the big deal?” to truly spectacular. I’m not sure you can get to some of the places we did without some serious hiking. But as a long shot take a look at the section in this link called “spend a day in landmannalaugar”.

Thanks everyone. I was hoping to do Iceland easily / cheaply as an add on to a Scandinavian tour we're looking at. I think we'll put it on the shelf in favor of Patagonia instead.

Iceland is very expensive but also very unusual. It is one of the safest friendliest countries I have ever been. Credit cards are accepted widely. The main city has all the restaurants and bars and hotels. The small towns are pretty empty. Vik which we drove to through lovely waterfalls and extensive snow covered mountain ranges and empty lands that resembled the Hobbit, to get to a town that had a gas station restaurant and a church and a black sand beach. That was it.
So yes the small towns are pretty desolate, but the landscapes are very unique. Loved our ride on snowmobiles on the glaciers. It was freezing in late may. I truly enjoyed my stay, but once was just right. My daughter and I had a very enjoyable time in Iceland.

"So, what's a good first trip? I'm thinking about five days - one day in Reykjavik, two days in the fjords to the northwest, and two more days driving highway 1 around the island with a stop in the national park. Can anyone suggest their favorite spots? This would be a summer trip so I assume the highway would be completely open.""
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You want one day in Reykjavik and 2 days in the NW fjords and then drive around the Island

Really!!!!!!

You want to zip around the Island on Highway 1
There is lots to see there in many places. You want to see all the major Waterfalls, do the Glacier walk, go hiking up some of the well marked hiking trails. do the boat ride on Lake Jakulsarlon ( home to 2 James Bond Movies).
I was there for 12 days last August , I did the whole Island loop but I stayed over night in six different places, to make sure I saw all that I wanted to see.

Then I took several day trips from Reykjavik .

I had 4 days in Reyjkavik to make sure I saw all the major places and then some.

Some places were expensive and some were not.
If you do not go around the Island , then do the Golden Circle Tour as this will give you a short sample of Iceland and it's scenery.