We're planning a trip with our 3 kids to Iceland in late June with our kids for 6 nights/6.5 days. We're trying to maximize the amount we can see in a short amount of time but also don't want to stay in more than two hotels/airbnbs (we have found on previous trips it's not very enjoyable to only stay in a place for one night). If our goal is to see Reykjavik, the golden circle, and the south coast, are Reykjavik and Vik good lodging bases for both of these? If not, where would you suggest? And how many nights in each one? Is Jökulsárlón an easy excursion from Vik? Thank you! Feel free to share your own itineraries and lodging recs!
Posted by
Snohomish, WA
2762 posts
The thing with Iceland is that it really doesn't work well to try and base out of one area as things are just too spread out.
If you are coming from the US, stay in Reykjavik the first night and enjoy the city and get over jetlag. The next morning head up to Vik which is about 3 hours away. Jokulsarlon is a good 3 hours one way from Vik, so you could do that, but it would be a long day as you will want to stop at various other places along the way. I would not stay in Reykjavik for visiting the Golden Circle. Stay in that area. The GC only takes a day, two tops of you are leisurely and want to stop at every stop.
What about a trip over to Westmann Islands?
The age of the kids makes a difference too.
Posted by
Vancouver, BC
299 posts
If you want to maximize, I would consider a camper van. Depending on the size and the children, this can work well. Even the campground on Reykjavík is walkable to the city centre.
I did this with my daughter and we had an amazing time. Easy to move around and see lots, save money on food, be flexible and not have pack and unpack so much.
Posted by
Snohomish, WA
2762 posts
One of our trips was with a campervan and we loved it. You are with 3 kids though, so to get a camper big enough you will not save any money vs a car/hotels. It is a great way to go though if you can get a camper big enough and you are not worried about budget. Know that many campers are already reserved for this coming summer. I booked ours this past summer for July/August.