6 nights in Iceland for two but not self-driving

You will see many wonderful waterfalls on the south coast, so no need to take the very long drive up to Akureyri.

Yes, you can find two day tours to the south coast. In fact, at least two days is usually recommended because there's so much to see there. Some suggestions for tour companies include Arctic Adventures, Troll Expeditions, Nordic Adventures, and Reykjavik Expeditions . Also check Guide to Iceland.

By "west coast trip" I assume you mean the Snæfellsnes Peninsula? That is a very long day, but very much worth it.

You can also get a lot of input by posting on the TripAdvisor Iceland forum.

Glad that you’ve decided not to go to Norway this trip … it’ll still be there, waiting for you on another trip. So we did have a rental car, but if you find a tour or excursion operator, there’s plenty to see for 6 nights along the southern portion of Iceland, including g Reykjavik.

We did drive up onto the Snaefellsness Peninsula for a daytrip one day, but didn’t make it far enough to see the Mount Snæfell volcanic peak, or to spend the night. It was April, and winter wasn’t over yet, so we didn’t try to visit Akureyri. You will enjoy Vik. We also went farther east, for a night in Höfn.

One place that we couldn’t visit, because it wasn’t open for visitors in April, was the Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar), with a huge concentration of puffins in the summer. I believe you could go there in September.

In April, there was a possibility of seeing Northern Lights, but it was overcast and we did not see any. September is still less likely than December or January, but you might get lucky. One thing to consider for the night of Day 5 is a “Warm Baths and Cool Lights” tour, which we did. The bus picks you up at your hotel in Reykjavik, and takes you to the Fontana baths, with natural hot pools and saunas. Dinner there is an option, too. Then they take you out to look for Northern Lights (clouds permitting), but even without any Lights, the Fontana baths is a quintessential Iceland experience. Many tourists go to soak instead in the Blue Lagoon, but that is water supplied by runoff from a power plant - doesn’t sound like such a magical experience. Fontana baths, however, was wonderful and memorable. Bring your swimsuit for the baths, plus warm clothes for the Northern Lights viewing party.

I think your itinerary looks pretty good. We have always had rental cars except our first trip as it was just a 3 night stopover and we had no idea what we were doing;) If you are up for driving, I do recommend that as it it gives you much more flexibility. I will try and gives a few suggestions whether it be self drive or tours.

For day 1, Reykjavik is perfect and there is so much to see and do. I love the Citywalk "free" walking tour (sign up about one week in advance, and it does sell out) and you tip what you want at the end. We have done that twice on arrival days and it is really good. Also, the food tour is excellent. We went at 11am and that was perfect as it goes for 3 hours and there is so much food that it covered us for both lunch and dinner. So in that respect it was cost effective as well as just a lot of fun. You could go to Sky Lagoon which is wonderful or just one of the local pools right in town. SL is in Reykjavik, but about a 15 minute drive. We just walked to Sundhollin as it was about 2 blocks fro our hotel.

On day 2 I would try to do the northern lights tour this night. Then if the tour doesn't go, you still have time to have a 2nd chance as most companies offer that. I highly recommend Aurora Experts. We went with him this past October and he was wonderful! Plus he is the only operator that has winter jumpsuits in case you get cold, and he doesn't charge extra for tripods etc like others. Whether you do a tour for the Golden Circle or self drive, do not miss Fridheimer, the tomato place. It is a wonderful stop for lunch. If you want to soak, Secret Lagoon or Laugarvatn Fontana are both in this area. We are headed to Fontana this summer, but have been to Secret Lagoon on a prior trip and loved that, FWIW.

For day 3 and 4 you could self drive or do a 2 day south coast tour. We have done both, sort of. We have done it ourselves, which I prefer as you can stop at any time. The tour we were booked on was in early February, so a very stormy time of year. Weather was turning and a storm was rolling in, so they had to cancel the 2nd day of the tour to stay safe. We used Troll, and they were excellent with communication and they refunded that second day immediately. We did the one day with them as it included a glacier hike so we had to have a guide. We also used them for an ice cave tour, as again a guide is required for that. If you are not wanting to do a glacier hiker or ice cave, then definitely self drive if you are up for it. If you are wanting to do either of these excursions, then it makes the most sense to do a 2 day tour that includes this. I highly recommend Troll as they were so good to work with, especially when things did not go as planned.

If you are self driving, on day 5 I would wander the Reykjanes Peninsula. It is basically the area where the airport is and along the coast in that area. I love this area as there are so few visitors that check it out, and there is a lot to explore. It would be a relaxing day and then you could use this night for your second chance at the Northern Lights.

Day 6 for Snaefellsness would be enjoyable.

Depending on what time your flight on day 7 leaves, you might be able to do the Blue Lagoon that day before heading to the airport. We had a really nice stay at Northern Light Inn, literally about a 2 minute drive from the BL. We stayed here on our last night on one trip and it set us up perfectly for the BL in the morning then to the airport to return the car and fly home. If you do the Reykjanes Peninsula, then it would fit in perfectly with that.

I should have added this. I know you said self driving, but I didn't know why so that is why I threw out those ideas. I did this because many people don't realize that it is really easy to drive there. I know that is not for everyone though, so if you want to do tours for everything, that is doable. I would look at what Troll has to offer for any of the places I suggested. I would not try do Godafoss or anything in the north with your time frame. That is just too much, IMO. Plan another trip back to see the rest of the country;)

Thanks to all for responding to my post and giving useful inputs. I can now go ahead with the booking. Just one last question before that. My agent is suggesting to shift the trip from Sept to Oct ( beginning) so that chance of seeing northern light will be higher. However, the daylight availabilty will also be less ( around three hours). Will the long day trips like west coast, south coast etc be affected? Kindly suggest. Thanks

Please don't plan your whole trip around the sometimes very rare opportunity to see northern lights. It all depends on getting clear skies and solar activity, and sometimes those just don't align when you want them to.

It starts getting much colder in October. We went in mid-September a couple of years ago, and there were some days when I wore three and four layers of clothing and jackets. Of course, I live in Hawaii so anything makes me cold, but you should check average temperatures for your tentative dates.

Just a comparison: on September 15 there are 13 hours of daylight. On October 15 there are 10 hours of daylight. Which would you rather have, daylight hours for seeing all of the wonderful scenery in Iceland, or more nighttime for a small possibility of seeing northern lights?

If you are really wanting the northern lights, then yes I would switch to October. BUT know that it can get much colder then than in September. As long as you are ok with that, then I would swap. We have been twice n October. Once in the middle of the month and once at the very end/into November. Both times the NL's were amazing. The first trip we were too jetlagged to see them though, but the next couple of days that is what everyone was talking about. But this past fall, even right in Reykjavik, there was a beautiful showing even vividly to the naked eye. We did a tour as well a couple days later. So just based on our experience, I would definitely go in October again in a heartbeat.

Thanks again to both of you. I would probably plan in Sept only. Let's see.