Iceland

I did a little flight research (using Kayak) - there are no direct flights that I could locate from Victoria, but Icelandair does fly non-stop from Vancouver, Seattle and Portland to KEF. A word of caution - many of those flights depart mid afternoon and arrive very early the following morning.
Iceland is an outside travel bonanza. Waterfalls, birds, icebergs, whales, geysers, volcanoes ( hopefully inactive during your visit) abound.
I'd suggest renting a car or camper at KEF, and hit the "Ring Road" in counter clockwise travel - heading south and east along the southern coast.
Delights are to be found on the island of Heimaey (puffin colonies), Jokulsatlon (iceberg calving), Dettifoss (largest European waterfall) and endless unique landscapes.
As you continue to make your way around the island and head toward the west coast, the Golden Circle is a full day adventure.
Reykjavik is very nice, but by now the natural beauty of Iceland will make their largest city seem anticlimactic.
Iceland is a wonderful travel experience - wonderful but very very expensive!
There are no shortage of travel information and images on line and in print. Ten days? Sounds good to me!

I was there in Sept. 2017 with a tour grp. Yes it is quite costly so make any reservations ahead and therefore set an itinerary firm. Once out of Reykavik there are few hotel choices. 1 day is sufficient for Reykavik, then remining 6 days u could be busy with the natural wonders. If u wish to visit an island of courSe add another day or 2as a ferry ride takes at least 2hrs one way.

Hi Kerri:
I was just in Reykjavik in December, just for 4 days on the way to Europe.
And I think one day there would not be enough.
I easily filled four whole days; but in summer you would want to get out and into the countryside.
I loved it!; even though it was winter, and only light for 4 hours each day!
Very nice people, food was very good, lots to see in the city; plus I took a N. Lights tour one evening, and a whole day tour of the Golden Circle another day. And a free walking tour of the city.
All well worth it.
Iceland is very expensive, esp. restaurants and hotels; but if you stayed in an apartment, you could at least eat some or all meals there.
Grocery stores were fairly reasonable, but with limited choices, not like home, just different.
IcelandAir from YVR was just fine, no more or less room than other airlines, very clean, and I brought all my own food, as you have to buy it on board otherwise.
Everyone else seemed to do the same.
They do give you tea, coffee, juice or water.
The flight arrives very early: 06:15; and you can book in advance or on board for a GrayLine bus transfer into Reykjavik.
The airport is 45 mins. drive from the city.
Hotels are aware of this, and mine let me in at 08:00 and gave me breakfast when I arrived.
I stayed at the Hotel Orkin; basic, but clean and warm, and affordable by Icelandic standards, and a free breakfast.
You can walk from there into downtown in about 20 minutes; longer for me, as I have terrible knees.
I took city buses a couple of times.
Let me know if I can help with anything else!

Thanks for all the excellent advice!

Reykjavic also has a "hop on hop off" bus that goes by all the main sights in the city. While many find these very toursity, I find some to be helpful in getting around. It was also convenient on the day I took it because it was raining.

Be aware that Iceland is very crowded and very expensive in the summer. I was there in October of 16 and planned to go back this past summer. The rates at my hotel went up over $100/night in summer over the other seasons. I decided to wait until next fall when rates will be lower and I'll have a better chance of seeing the Northern Lights. (I was rained out last time.)

Did you see Cameron's blog posts about researching the book? I think you'll want the longer stay. (I always want the longer stay, everywhere.) One post says:

The Ring Road curls 800 miles around the island’s perimeter, connecting virtually all of its must-see sights. It’s crazy to do Iceland’s ultimate road trip in less than five days; a week lets you slow down and actually enjoy it.

And from what Cameron told me, there's no shortcut on this ring road - no going halfway and then cutting across the middle. It's pretty much all or nothing.

https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2017/08/iceland-guidebook-march/

https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2017/08/budget-tips-iceland/

Have you looked on the Reykjavik and Icelandic visitor websites yet? They are excellent resources for everything, including self-drive packages if you choose to rent a car. You would probably need at least 10 days to drive the whole Ring Road around the country; 7 days is not enough. Definitely set aside 2-3 full days for Reykjavik and reserve the rest for other side trips (there are lots of day tour options, or you can just drive yourself). It's very easy to get around on foot or by bus in Reykjavik, no need for a car there. The brick and mortar visitor center in the city is excellent too, they can help you with anything you need.

In my opinion Reykjavik itself does not need more that one or two full days. Then again I'm not much of a city type of tourist. A coworker of mine also recently went to Iceland and came to a similar conclusion. Now if you plan to add some day tours out of Reykjavik that's a different story. You can easily fill several days with nice day trips from there.

I've only done cursory research in terms of hiking but to my knowledge the hot spots for that would be the east fjords, the west fjords, Þórsmörk and Snæfellsnes. Both fjords are quite a distance away (ESPECIALLY Hornstrandir!). The other two are closer. Þórsmörk is more inland and secluded. Snæfellsnes is a peninsula and more open to a mix of hiking and sightseeing. Both have a bunch of worthy sights to visit on your way there.

If you stick to Reykjavik + some day trips + one other place for hiking you can probably get by with 7-10 days. If you even consider doing the ring road or travelling further away then you should prolong your stay to 2 weeks. I've been on two tours of Iceland: 9 days (flying to Akureyri then driving clockwise back to Reykjavik) and 15 days (Ring road + West fjords). I consider those timeframes the absolute minimum you'd need for such a program. I've since researched my own trips to Iceland (but couldn't go yet). The amount of nice places we skipped over on those tours is mind boggling.

My recommendation would be Snæfellsnes as many of the sights you'd visit on your way to Þórsmörk (Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss) are likely to be included in available day trips from Reykjavik. On your way to Snæfellsnes be sure to visit Hraunfossar.

There's probably a bunch of stuff I'm forgetting.

100% worth it to take half that time and either drive cross country or fly to the Akureyri/Husavik/Myvatn area, especially if you aren't already doing the ring road. Reykjavik is great but with that much time, head north! To me (totally mho) it was a more beautiful and less tourist-filled area, while still having tourist development.