lthomas6

We are planning to go to Iceland from Sept 16 to the 20th. Our flight on the 16th lands in Iceland at 4:30am the next day so technically we will be there from 17 to 20th flying out at 3:30pm. Is this too short? We plan to go on WOW air. It is just the 2 of us looking forward to relax and enjoy the outdoors. Would it be too much to do the following in this timeframe?
Day 1: Hot Springs near Hveragerdi
GOLDEN CIRCLE:
Geysers At Haukadalur
Gullfoss Waterfall
Kerið Crater Lake
Thingvellir National Park
Day 2: Drive to Vik and see:
Seljalandsfoss Waterfall (sunrise - take picture behind waterfall)
Eyjafjallajökull Volcano
Skógafoss Waterfall (rainbow, bieber, hike)
Sólheimasandur Plane Crash
Reynisdrangar (Black Sand Beach)
Reynisfjara (hexogonal columns)
Hiking Sólheimajökull Glacier
Day 3?
Day 4 - Blue Lagoon and then airport

cheweyd

just got back from Iceland with my 16 year old daughter where we spent only 3 days and it was great. our itinerary went like this.

Day 1 arrive 9am
Pick up rental car and had a couple of hours to burn before blue lagoon so we went to Grindavik and ate breakfast. We then spent 2 hours at blue lagoon, it was a great way to start a vacation . we then drove towards Vik where we spent the night. We visited sjelandfoss and skogafoss on the way.

I had planned on visiting rejnisfjara beach but decided to leave for next day, the driving took a lot longer than I thought it would, keep that in mind.

Day 2 we continued east to fjaorarglujufur canyon which was very impressive and further east to Jokulsarlon glacial lake. We spent 1-2 hours at each place. We then headed back west and visited Rejnisfjara beach and then continued on to rejkjavik.

Day 3 we did the golden circle and saw geyser gullafoss and kerio crater and topped it off with a sunset whale watching tour where we saw 3-4 humpbacks and dolphins right near the boat.

I enjoyed both day 1 and 2 more than the golden circle as it was much more crowded and not as memorable as the other sights.

Your day one looks doable but day 2 would be tough.

So I would suggest staying one night in Vik so you can see more of southern Iceland which is much more impressive. A hike in skaftafell national park is also very popular.

At least you have some time to plan, I booked the trip 10 days ahead on a whim

I can't stop thinking about Iceland since I got back 2 days ago, it really is a special place and I will be back to explore the whole place in the future for sure.

lthomas6

Did you feel you were spending most of your days driving?
We arrive at 4:30am and depart at 3;30pm. so would prob do blue lagoon when we leave iceland. with our current itinery we would spend 3 full days but can extend to 4 full days - thoughts?

cheweyd

My daughter and I ranked our favorite places and this is all the places we visited and their composite rank

Skogafoss
Fjaorarglujufur canyon
Jokulsarlon lagoon
Rejnisfjara beach
Blue lagoon
Whale watching
Sjelandfoss
Kerio crater
Gullafoss
Geysir

cheweyd

Yes we were doing lots of driving but that was ok because the scenery is really something else and it's all part of the journey.

Your itinerary looks pretty tough, you might have to skip a few things. We were on the road for 14 hours the second day and didn't see as much as you want to.

I would probably stay in Vik the first 2 nights and then Reykjavik the 3rd night if I had to do it again. South Iceland is where you want to be

roshniray

Hi We went to Iceland last year for 4 days and covered quite a bit. We also went to North Iceland (Akruyeri) for a day although it was bit hectic. Have written up a blog about it. See if it helps you.
https://avidtravellers.net/2015/08/1...ating-iceland/