hey everyone! would need your advice on my itinerary for 6 days.
Travel dates: 30 july - 6 August (7 days)
Arriving 30th july (early morning) and leaving 6 August (morning)

We are thinking of renting a car, and driving around. Does the following itinerary seem too ambitious (keeping in mind that we will have long days right?)

Day 1:
Thingvellir (Þingvellir) National Park
Geysir hot spring
Gullfoss Waterfall
Kerið Crater Lake

Stayover #1: Selfoss area

Day 2:
Waterfalls (Skogafoss/ Seljalandsfoss)
Drive along south coast to Dyrhólaey natural reserve/ Reynishverfi ( beautiful coast)
Continue across Mýrdalssandur floodplains and Eldhraun- Lava field
Skaftafell National Park- Oasis wedged between glacier and sand plains. Hiking trails : Svartifoss

Glacial Lagoon Jökulsarlón
(is it possible to hike on the glacier during this period? - Sólheimajökull Glacier)

Stayover #2: Hofn area

Day 3
Drive from Höfn to Lónsöræfi, continue to East Fjords.
Egilsstaðir – largest town in the East. Drive towards Lake Myvatn (nature baths?)
Make a detour to Dettifoss (largest waterfall in Europe)
Stop at Námaskarð pass- where boiling mud pools and flashing colors merge with lava and ash from the Krafla volcanic syste.
Stop at Dimmuborgir, the "Dark Castles"

Stay over #3: Húsavík town

Day 4:
Akureyri – largest town in the north (botanical gardens?)
Stop enroute at the beautiful waterfall Goðafoss, on road 1 cose to the junction with 85 at Fosshóll
Skagafjörður – Horse riding / water rafting . / Glaumbær Folk Museum / tiny old church at Víðimýri, close to Varmahlíð
Borgarfjörður District to see Deildartunguhver hot spring,
Beautiful waterfalls Barnafossar and Hraunfossar

Stayover #4:
Borgarnes area

Day 5:
Leave the Borgarfjörður district and head for the scenic and quiet Hvalfjördur fjord.
Back at Reykjavik - do a day tour? (ATV/ hiking/ caving?)

Day 6:
Spend another day at Reykjavik - day tour?

Day 7:
Head to airport in the morning

Please do let me know your thoughts! appreciate it!

Way way way too much. You are attempting to do the Ring Road in about 5 days. The Ring road alone is 1400km, but all the diversions you are planning can easily take this upto about 2000km. In 5 days - 400KM a day on average driving distance. The speed limit is 90 km/h but in reality average driving speeds are around 60 km/h allowing for rests, poor road conditions etc. So you are looking on average at least 6 hours driving per day AND you want to do loads of activities...

Re think your entire plan - for a short space of time I would concentrate on one area of Iceland instead of trying to do the whole thing. The South East of Iceland, with Jökulsarlon being your ultimate destination is a good suggestion. Maybe allow 3-4 days exploring the area before returning to Reykajvik and then having another day travelling somewhere else (A day trip around Borgarfjörður OR Snæfellsness is manageable from RVK.)

Please do not try and do too much, you will just end up spending all your time in a car and not appreciating the country.

Definitely too much! As Mikey says - we're doing the Ring Road around the same time, but we're taking 16 days to do it, and still feeling a bit rushed.

Concentrate on a few areas, don't try to do the whole country on such a short trip! It's heartbreaking, but you must plan as if you'll be back for the other stuff.

Hi Flips,

I agree that you are really trying to cram in too much. I'm not suggesting that you book with them, but have a look at the 1 week itineraries on Iceland expert Discover the World's website:

http://www.discover-the-world.co.uk/...type/fly-drive

slightly cheaper, Farm Holidays Iceland have similar itineraries:

http://www.farmholidays.is/search-result/?tours=1

@mikeyred242, @GreenDragon, @annhig,

Thanks for the reply and advise!! it looked doable using google maps but was afraid it would be too much. what a bummer- all the areas look amazing!

Shall heed your advice and plan till Jökulsarlón!

Does this sound ok? And where would you recommend to stay during my day 2 and 3?

Also, do you suggest booking day hiking tours? or is it good enough to explore the parks and waterfalls oursevles?

Day 1:
Thingvellir (Þingvellir) National Park
Geysir hot spring
Gullfoss Waterfall
Kerið Crater Lake

Stayover #1: Selfoss area

Day 2:
Waterfalls (Skogafoss/ Seljalandsfoss)
Drive along south coast to Dyrhólaey natural reserve/ Reynishverfi ( beautiful coast)
Continue across Mýrdalssandur floodplains and Eldhraun- Lava field
Skaftafell National Park- Oasis wedged between glacier and sand plains. Hiking trails : Svartifoss

Stayover #2: ??

Day 3 (1 August)

Glacial Lagoon Jökulsarlón (Amphibian boat Tour on Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon)

Hiking on Glacier (Sólheimajökull Glacier)
http://www.adventures.is/iceland/gla...lacierdaytrip/

Stayover #3 : ??

Day 4 (2 August)
Drive back to Reykjavik. Cycle in the city/ plan a day tour in the afternoon – caving/ hiking.

Stayover #4: Reykjavik

Day 5 (3 August)
Drive the fjord-side route along Hvalfjordur (Whale Fjord) Visit the Settlement Centre at Borganes
Reykholt for a hike to the falls at Hraunsfossar and the largest hot springs in the country at Deildartunguhver.

Stayover #5: Borgarnes

Day 6 (4 August)
Day trip to Snæfellsness. Explore and hike.

Stayover #6: Borgarnes

Day 7 (5 August)
Drive back to Reykjavik. Relax at the Blue Lagoon. Enjoy the city/ another day tour.

Stayover #7: Reykjavik

Day 8 (6 August)
Head to airport in the morning

Thanks so much for your help!!

you could avoid backtracking to Reykjavik and having two stays there by doing something like this:

Day 1 - drive west to Vik visiting the waterfalls and other attractions en route. Stay Vik.

Day 2 - drive to Jökulsarlón and do amphibious tour of lagoon and glacier hike.
Say Vik

Day 3 - Drive to Golden circle, tour. Stay Selfoss.

Day 4. Finish tour of golden Circle, drive to Snaefellnesses. stay Snaefekllnesses somewhere convenient for hike.

Day 5 - hiking/whale watching trip. Stay Snaefekllnesses

Day 6 - Drive to Borganes via whale centre. overnight Borganes.

Day 7 - Drive to Reykjavik, tour city, overnight there.

Day 8 - home.

That way you get more of the really unique places in Iceland and 2x 2 night stays rather than 2 separate stays in Reykjavik which is ok as a city but nothing special.

Hi Annhig,

Thanks for your suggestion! will do just that!

Do you suggest booking day hiking tours? or is it good enough to explore the parks and waterfalls oursevles?

Any good day tours which you would recommend?

Cheers
Christine

Hi flips - hope the itinerary works out [oh, the responsibility!]

Though I was talking to a friend today who is going next week and doing more or less the same thing.

We did not book any guided hikes, or day tours, but in retrospect it might have been a good idea both to look at the Snaefellnesses glacier and the one at Skaftafell [both have tours featured on the adventure.is website but I'm sure there are others]

The waterfalls on the way to Vik are very easy to find - they are just off the main road as far as I remember.

The iceland tourist board site may help.

Personally I wouldn´t bother with guided tours at Skaftafell. The hiking path to Svartifoss is very clealry marked and not too challenging. There is a large visitor centre at Skaftafell where you can find clear and concise info on where to go and what paths to take.

Same applies to Snæfellsness..invest in a decent guide book (or google Snaæfellsness) and drive to the interesting places yourself. A highlight is the footpath linking Arnastapi with Hellnar.

http://www.west.is/en/west-iceland-r...t-snaefellsnes

Annhig´s suggestion is good..but trying to do a glacier hike and the boat tour of Jökulsarlon on the same day whilst driving to and from Vik will be too much.

I hope this helps, I would try and book accommodation and rental cars ASAP as they tend to be in short supply over summer. For car rental I recommend cars iceland. I have used them many times and have always found them to be excellent.

www.carsiceland.com

@MIKEYRED242 / @ANNHIG,

Thanks so much for your suggestions! everywhere is almost fully booked and it's hard trying to find accomodation. looking forward to the trip already. thanks for your help!

Mikey, since you're familiar with Skaftafell - how accessible is the National Park there for those that aren't good hikers? We can hike for about a half hour, but my husband isn't good beyond that. He wants to see a glacier, though!