Iceland intinerary

Posted by RC (Fort Myers, FL) on 06/14/25 03:47 PM

Leaving for Iceland in a few weeks.
First part is land by car – Golden 1 day, Selflessness 2 days, South Coast 2 days, Westerman 2 half days.
Second part is a 7N cruise.

Any suggestions or criticisms for sites, restaurants, timing, or anything else is most appreciated.

Land –
July 09 Wednesday – Fly from MCO (Orlando) and arrive the 10th about 9A.

July 10 Thursday – AB&B, Reykjavik
• Get car – Blue Car Rental -
• Blue Lagoon (by KEF) or Sky Lagoon (near Reyk), or check in (is available)?
• RS city walk (2hr) p71.
• Rain day - https://perlan.is/ ($50), Lava Show ($50). Both near Grand Food Hall.
• Grocery – Bonus and Kronan, look for Iceland flavored salts.
• Craft beers – Skuli, MicroBar, AEgir.
• Resturants – BakaBaka and Braud & Co. (for cinnamon roll), Sea Baron (lobster soup), Grand Food Hall (closest to “13”), Hlemmur Mathöll food hall (closest to “15”), Hafnartorg Gallery Food Hall (closest to “13”), a block away is Pósthús Food Hall & Bar (closest to “13”), Matur og Drykurr (fish soup), Iceland Street Food (lamb soup), Svarta Kaffið café (soup). Le Kock for a burger and potatoes, also Bastard for burger. The Bæjarins beztu hot dog stand is located on Tryggvagata 1, Friðheimar (greenhouse).

July 11 Friday – AB&B, Reykjavik
• Golden Circle

July 12 Saturday – AB&B, Grundarfirði.
• Selflessness Peninsula Part 1
• Borgarnes, Hraunfossar, Gerouberg Cliffs, Berserkjahraun lava field

July 13 Sunday – AB&B, Reykjavík
• Snaefellsnes Peninsula p293. Part 2
• Snæfellsjökull, Saxholl Crater, Djúpalónssandur, Vatnshellir Cave, Malarrif lighthouse, Ytri Beach? Rauofeldsgja Gorge?
• Arnarstapi for sea stacks, Budir (black church), then Ytri-Tunga for seals. Back to Reyk.

July 14 Monday – AB&B, Vík
• South Coast Drive part 1
• Reykjavik to Vik – 116m/2:41h
• Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, Dyrholaey Rock, Reynisfjara, Katla Ice caves?
• Smidjan brewhouse, The Soup Company, Black crust Pizza, Sudur-Vik Restaurant, Fish stew at Ströndin, Skool Beans (closed Monday) Klettsvegur, 870.

July 15 Tuesday – AB&B, Vík
• South Coast Drive part 2 - p216. (map p221)
• Vik to Diamond Beach – 119m/2:23h
• Fjadrargljufur Canyon, Mulagljufur Canyon?, Ingólfshöfði, Jokulsarlon, Diamond Beach, Svartifoss

July 16 Wednesday – Guesthouse Hamar, Vestmannaeyjar
• Vik to Landeyjahöfn – 1h/46m
 Ferry, Ebbi tour

July 17 Thursday – AB&B, Reykjavík
 Ferry, Fujiborden in Stokkseri for langusteen, Eyjafjallajökull ice cap (town of Hvolsvöllur has visitor center 19m from ferry).
• Landeyjahöfn to Reykjavik 1:56h/86m.
• Drop car.

Cruise –

July 18 Friday – Reykjavik/ship, Iceland –
 1:00 check-in
• leave 7p (Skarfabakki terminal).

July 19 Saturday – At sea.
• ?

July 20 Sunday - Seydisfjordur, Iceland
• 7a – 6p
• Puffin Watching Shore Excursion in Borgarfjordur Eystri???

July 21 Monday – At sea.
• ?

July 22 Tuesday - Akureyri, Iceland –
• Arrive 8a
• Whale tour

July 23 Wednesday – Akureyri, Iceland –
• Depart 8p
 Godafoss tour

July 24 Thursday - Isafjordur, Iceland –
• 9a – 4p
• Dynjandi Waterfall and Farm Tour???

July 25 Friday - Reykjavik, Iceland – AB&B, Tryggvagata 13, Reykjavik
• arrive 5a and off boat by 8ish.
• What to do (no car)?

July 26 Saturday – Fly to Orlando –

Posted by mikliz97

Snohomish, WA

06/14/25 05:34 PM

3208 posts

Overall this is pretty good , but I would change a few things.

Your arrival day lists a bunch of restaurants, including Fridheimar which is not in the city, but rather in the Golden Circle, so I am a bit confused. Baka Baka is good, but the cinnamon rolls at Braud are better, lol. If you want breakfast, do Baka Baka and then just swing by Braud later for a treat.

Also for arrival day I would skip the RS self guided walking tour and instead do the Citywalk "free" walking tour. The guides are so good! We have done it a few times. It is free, but you tip what you want at the end.

The next day I would not go to the GC, but instead do Snaefellsness. The reason for this is to cut out any backtracking.

On Snaefellsness, if you find yourself running out of time skip the seal beach and Borgarnes. Raudfeldsgja Gorge is beautiful! I highly recommend the hike (walk) between Arnastapi and Hellnar. It is 45 minutes each way with beautiful views, and when you turn around in Hellnar to go back, there is a sweet little cafe that is perfect for lunch. We have seen arctic foxes in several locations around Snaefellsness, so keep an eye out.

Then after Snaefellsness, head to the Golden Circle.

Katla is great, but I have only done it in the winter. In the summer the cave melts out so the big circle is usually gone, but that is the only cave that is year round. A friend did it last summer in June and said it was a highlight though. We used Troll for that and they are excellent with their day trips and their guides are excellent as well.

We have stayed at Guesthouse Hamar and it was fine. It was very bare bones, and breakfast was minimal, just so you know. It is fine, just not as nice as other places since this is a guesthouse as well as a hostel. I have not done that tour, but we did the Rib Safari tour and that was so much fun! If you were looking at that at all, I feel that it is a must.

I have not done any tours in those port towns as well always have a vehicle, so can't help with that. Well, there was one thing we did in Isafjordur and that was a kayaking trip which was only a few hours. We used Borea Adventures and they are great.

For your last day in Reykjavik, what are your interests? You can rent a car for just the day. Blue has a rental office right down on the wharf there. Otherwise what about heading up to Hvammsvik Hot Springs, which is about 45 minutes north of Reykjavik but you can book transportation through them. Are you interested in hot springs? If so, I can suggest quite a few for the other areas of your trip. If you stay in Reykjavik or even if you do Hvammsvik, I would also suggest doing the food tour in town. It lasts for 3 hours and it wonderful! I have done it a few times.

BTW, your drive times you will want to add on at least 20% more. The driving in Iceland is slow. The roads are 2 lanes, no shoulder (nada, nothing), and the roads are built up so if you do not stay in your lane you will roll down an embankment. Hence the slow speed limits. There are speed cameras all over as well, and we have seen police pull people over and give tickets. Then there are the one lane bridges, so you take turns going. All of this just means the driving takes longer than anticipated.

Note that at Hraunfossar/Barnafoss the toilet is cash only, so keep some coins on you.