Just starting to plan a 5 day trip to Iceland (October 2022). I am looking for the best way to create an Itinerary
Should I travel each day and then head back to Reykjavik each evening or should I travel each day and then stay a in the area that I traveled to and then on to the next location
Thank You
Jeff
Are you planning on driving a rental car each day, jeff? For our early April trip a few years ago, we did a mix. We were there longer then 5 days, though. The days we had a rental car, we did day trips out of Reykjavik, returning for each night, although 2 days were in Reykjavik itself, no car.
Our excursion outside of Reykjavik was actually on a tour with Icelandic Adventure Guides, which traveled the south coast, as far east as Jokulsarlon, then back to Reykjavik over a few days. There we stayed in a different place each night. Early spring was too extreme to visit far north. I’d imagine October could be a similar climate, and with just 5 days, I wouldn’t imagine you’d be going too far over those 5 days to reach many, many separate locations for single stays.
Five days is not a very long time in Iceland, but it probably is all that you can do.
Most flights from the US are redeyes -- arriving between 6:00 and 7: 00 am. That first day you should take it easy and maybe do the Blue Lagoon and walk around downtown Reykjavik. Also, since most tours leave from Reykjavik and the airport is 45 minutes away, it's hard to get on a tour on the first day.
We did a one-day tour of Golden Circle, which is a very long day but it gives you a good introduction to the geology and history of Iceland. On your other days, you should drive out to Jokulsarlon (like Cyn said). Spend a couple nights in that area, then drive back to KEF via Reykjanes Peninsula.
Thank you all for your suggestions... I guess I will have to find a way to stay longer
We did a 5 day trip in September of 2018. Arrived KEF very early and headed to the Blue Lagoon for 3-4 hours, then on to Reykjavik to check-in, explore, have dinner. Day 2 we did the Golden Circle returning to Reykjavik for dinner. Days 3-4 we signed up for an overnight tour (including a glacier hike) of the south coast. It was a small group tour, 7 people plus our driver/guide, and went almost as far as Hofn. We saw and did so much, very worthwhile. We spent our last night back in Reykjavik and since out flight back to the States didn’t leave until late afternoon we had a nice breakfast then visited the Settlement museum. We enjoyed this trip very much. I know there is much more to Iceland but we were very happy with what we saw and did on this short trip.
Based on all the comments we have decided to extend the trip a couple more days.
Thank you in helping us plan our trip
Jeff
Adding more days will be good. I would not stay in Reykjavik the entire time. I would stay the day/night of arrival and maybe part of the next day, then ran a car and venture out. Figure out where you plan to visit, and find lodgings near those. Our second trip was this past August and we rented a car for 12 days and did the ring road. I used booking.com for most of our lodgings. Be sure to stay near the airport your last night.
