Two and a half days

Posted by ds on 08/21/25 05:55 AM

Hello all

My husband and I (age 65) fly into Iceland at 830 am in mid September after a very long flight. Sunset is around 8pm (I think) in the middle of September. I expect we will have our luggage and Blue rental car by 10am on Day 1. I have a hotel booked in Reykjavik for 3 nights.

Day 1
I consider this day a “partial” day due to jet lag and not getting our car until mid morning. I was intending to go to either Blue or Sky lagoon for 2-3 hours and I want to spend some time looking around Reykjavik. I want to go shopping, walk the rainbow street, see the church and maybe some attractions like the Lava Show or Fly Over Iceland.

What time do the stores close mid week in Sept? When do the attractions close? I want to make sure I don’t miss the hand-knitting shop because I’m busy at a lagoon or another attraction. I don’t think there is any way I’ll see everything on my Reykjavik wish list during this partial day.

Can someone please comment on what the Blue Lagoon water does to a persons hair and nails? I read that it ruins hair and nails. Does Sky Lagoon cause similar issues?

Day 2 Golden Circle
I want to see the “main” sights of Pingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss. I’m OK missing some of the other sights as it will already be a lot of driving.

Does the Golden Circle drive really take 6 to 8 hours for only those 3 sites? I’m assuming it’s a bad idea to start late in the morning and come back in the dark especially given the unpredictable weather in Iceland.

Day 3
I’m interested in the Southern Coast drive as I want to see the black sand beach and other several other sites.

Is the Southern drive 10 to 12 hours??

Day 4
We get up early and drive to the airport. No time for sightseeing on day 4

Are there other sights you would recommend we see that are closer and involve less driving?

Should I do the Golden Circle OR Southern Coast or should I just stick with the plan to see both?

Posted by mikliz97

Snohomish, WA

08/21/25 08:24 AM

3409 posts

For arrival day you could do either lagoon. I personally would opt for Sky because it will make you sleepy and being right in Reykjavik will be better for that vs driving further from BL.

As for water and hair/nails there are no issues at Sky. At Blue you want to take any silver off but gold is fine. For hair there just slather it in the conditioner and don’t worry. We have been to both of these several times each. At Blue I once slipped and went completely underwater and my hair was fine, most likely due to the conditioner.

The south coast IMO is much more impressive than the GC. With limited time I would head up that direction. I would not go all the way to Jokulsarlon which is about 6 hours from Reykjavik the reason I would stop short is you would have a 6 hour drive back the next day and if weather turns and roads are bad etc you could easily not be back close enough for an early morning flight.

You could go up to Vik though and stay the night there, the in the morning do the GC and stay somewhere close to KEF or Reykjavik for that early flight.

Yes sunset in mid September is around 8. Ideally you would be at your lodging by then since the roads are narrow with no shoulders/guardrails and no street lights. The roads are built up a bit so if you.cross that line and either no shoulder you will roll the vehicle. So daylight driving is the safest bet.

As for the Handknittimg Association store you have plenty of time on arrival day for that. I have never done the lava show, but we did Flyover once and I would not recommend it. The reason is the flight itself is very short and the into we felt was pretty cheesy. The stores don’t close midweek. There is a lot to see and do right in town and IME it is perfect for arrival day.