ICELAND FOR 3 WEEKS??
 

my wife and i are searching for a place to visit late spring/early summer -2018. we are pretty healthy, early 70s and have done extensive independent travel (australia/nz, turkey, spain/portugal, baltic states, italy 4x, grand tour of europe 2x 10 weeks each). we rent a car and then just wander tending to avoid big cities and the routes of tour buses. vietnam & cambodia was our only tour - saving them for when we get old. never been to iceland but it seems like it might be a fit.

We spent 10 days in Iceland in late May this year. I was convinced it would become our new favorite destination, but that didn't happen.

Iceland is getting quite a lot of press these days, but it left us feeling confused and ambivalent.

You might get some ideas and/or insight from my trip report here:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-road-trip.cfm

We were there for a week last October and I enjoyed it. I will say that Iceland has become hugely popular. You won't be able to avoid tourists, and if traveling spring/summer you would need to book accommodations in advance. Reykjavik is the only city of any size, and its center is easily managed on foot.

I've been to Iceland several times (most recently in Sept 2016 and January 2017) and will go back again, but I think 3 weeks would be too much time - unless you're planning lots of down time, hanging out in a rental home reading, sketching or doing a lot of nothing.

I think 2 weeks would be a reasonable amount of time to circumnavigate the entire country, stopping for 2-3 nights in several locations along the route to explore. I spent 4 days in Reykjavík which included one day doing the Inside the Volcano tour. While I like Reykjavík, I don't see how you could spend any more than 3 full days there (and that's assuming you spend a couple of hours in every museum).

I drove the south coast from west to east (Hofn). The landscape was unlike anything I'd seen before and I really enjoyed the weather and terrain changing every 15 kilometers or so. I did two horse riding sessions which I would highly recommend - no riding experience is necessary and because the horses are short and broad, there's no fear factor. I also did a glacier trek, including an ice cave, which was spectacular. If you like to hike, you could fill some of 2 weeks with treks; there are tons of birds, so if you like them, that could also fill some more time.

You could combine a week or so in Iceland with another 2 weeks in Sweden and Norway. Lots of countryside and smaller cities to see, including fjords, mountains and forests, not to mention small hamlets.

While I agree that 3 weeks may be too much, I think two would be ideal. I would've liked to have done a slow circuit of the Ring Road. Also, don't dismiss Reykjavik. There are several excellent museums, and I found I really liked the town. Two days in Reykjavik would be fine.