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2 or 3 Nights for Golden Circle to South Coast

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I'm planning a trip to Iceland over the first week of September and am unsure if I should plan 2 or 3 nights in the Vik area for road-tripping the Golden Circle to the South Coast

Right now the plan is a full-day Golden Circle on Day 1:
- Thingvellier NP, Geysir, Gullfoss, and snorkeling silfra
Then we'd overnight in Hella area or Vik (night 1)

Over days 2-3 we'd like to visit/do the following:
- Seljalandsfoss
- Skogafoss (potential hike there, est 2.3 hrs)
- Reynisfjara black sand beach and Dyrhólaey
- Svartifoss hike (est 1 hr)
- Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon (potential hike there, est 1 hr)
- Eldhraun Lava Field
- Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon
- Diamond beach
- 3 hr glacier hike from Skaftafell

We will definitely spend night 2 in the Vik or Skaftafell area.

I'm debating if that's enough for overnights and on day 3 we could hit up anything that we didn't get to on day 2 before heading back to Reykjavik that evening, or if we should spend an extra night (night 3) in the same area before heading back to Reykjavik on day 4.

Any suggestions?

Posted by
3380 posts

I would do the Golden Circle and then drive straight to Hella to spend the night. See what the weather will be like and then schedule the rest of the things along the south coast accordingly. Spend two nights along the southern road. It's a VERY long drive from Hella out to the furthest points around Diamond Beach / Jokulsarlon - add at least 30% to the times you get on Google maps - wind, traffic, one way bridge, etc., make it take longer than you think it will.

I would see some of these sights on the way out to Vik, spend the night there, and then see the rest on the way back, based on the weather. If it's raining one day, do the hikes the other day.

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