2-3 days in Iceland.. Top things to do/see?

413x

413x

413x

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I expect many of you top earners have been to Iceland. So hoping to get some good ideas.

I may be in Iceland 2-3 days if it's worth it.
Not sure how much is realistic in that time to see. I do not want it crammed full.

What are the best outdoor things to see.
I've heard of:
blue lagoon
Black sand beach
Stupidly getting too close to lava flows! :D


Hit me up!

I can stay 0 - 3 days there. I doubt I have the holiday days for more!
Ie. 0 days if that few days isn't worth it. 3 if there's loads of amazing things.


Also this week he July/August time
 
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Are you looking at Reykjavík and then exploring from there? (probably best given your time constraints!)

We did a trip in February 2022 and stayed in Reykjavík and explored from there (note, this was with a 8 year old child too so 3 of us), we were there for 5 days (although really only 3 whole days as a late flight in, and a early flight out);

We did the following;

Day 1
  • AM Reykjavík itself, depending on your tastes, definitly worth at least half a day of your time - plenty of sites to see i.e Sun Voyager, Rainbow Street, Hallgrimskirkja, getting a hot dog from the famous hot dog stand
  • PM We did a loop that took in "Bridge between two continents", "Valahnúkamöl", " Gunnuhver Hot Springs", "Grindavik" (may not be possible now!!), "Blue Lagoon"
Day 2
  • Most of the "Golden Circle" - So thats "Gullfoss", "Geysirs", "Þingvellir" (We were there in Winter, so we did snowmobiling on the glaciar near Gullfoss)
Day 3
  • Had Originally planned to go "Vik" and back and back to take in the black beaches, "Skógafoss" etc.... However a massive snow storm prevented us leaving Reykjavík as they had literally closed all the roads out. We ended up spending a second day in and around Reykjavík so took in the "Flyover" experience which is a 4D simulator which takes you over some of the key sights of Iceland, "Perlan" which was a very good museum and although wasn't on original itinery, enjoyed the visit.
We hired a 4x4 Duster from the airport, glad we did as in the winter it had studded tyres and we could get around despite the snow and ice (Car was literally parked on an ice sheet! Couldn't believe how easily it drive), driving in Iceland was pretty straight forward - not much to note. Main challenge is if it is in winter as conditions can be "interesting" as I found but given your looking at Summer shouldn't be an issue.

As we had a car, we stayed in an apartment on the outskirts in Kópavogur so was easy to get out of the area, and getting into to Reykjavík with the car was reasonably painless!

If your time is flexible, one of the guides on the snowmobiling said best time to visit he thought was late spring as it has the benefit of non-winter/very green already and plenty of water in the water falls - later in summer you can find the waterfalls are not quite as spectacular. Can only go off what he said so others may have different experience to the contrary!
 
The highlights of Iceland for me were Landmannalaugar, Kerlingarfjöll, Snæfellsnes and the South coast. Of those, in 3 days I would suggest focusing on the South coast, but you're going to be limited on time - driving to Vik from the airport is 3 hours alone.

The popular places that are closer to the airport are

Reykjavik - nice enough city but not worth visiting Iceland for
Blue lagoon - tourist trap
Golden circle - overcrowded waterfalls and geysers. You can see better elsewhere in Iceland.

Personally I don't think you've got enough time to do Iceland justice and would suggest going when you can spare at least a week.
 
weringo said:
The highlights of Iceland for me were Landmannalaugar, Kerlingarfjöll, Snæfellsnes and the South coast. Of those, in 3 days I would suggest focusing on the South coast, but you're going to be limited on time - driving to Vik from the airport is 3 hours alone.

The popular places that are closer to the airport are

Reykjavik - nice enough city but not worth visiting Iceland for
Blue lagoon - tourist trap
Golden circle - overcrowded waterfalls and geysers. You can see better elsewhere in Iceland.

Personally I don't think you've got enough time to do Iceland justice and would suggest going when you can spare at least a week.
Click to expand...


Thanks both.


This is what I was wondering.

Is it even worth it. Or is it better to just spend a day in Reykjavik.
The minimum I have is an overnight stay to catch flight back home next day.

I'm flying from UK to Iceland to Greenland (my actual holiday) and then back (obviously)

I was going to tack on a few days if worth it. But if it's better to just go a different time of year I can do that instead?
 
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413x said:
I expect many of you top earners have been to Iceland. So hoping to get some good ideas.

I may be in Iceland 2-3 days if it's worth it.
Not sure how much is realistic in that time to see. I do not want it crammed full.

What are the best outdoor things to see.
I've heard of:
blue lagoon
Black sand beach
Stupidly getting too close to lava flows! :D


Hit me up!

I can stay 0 - 3 days there. I doubt I have the holiday days for more!
Ie. 0 days if that few days isn't worth it. 3 if there's loads of amazing things.


Also this week he July/August time
Click to expand...
An active volcano!
 
Blue Lagoon may or may not be open as it’s got sporadic closures at the moment due to the volcanic eruptions. That being said, from people who’ve been it doesn’t sound that great and there may be better volcanic pools you can visit.
 
Jokester said:
Blue Lagoon may or may not be open as it’s got sporadic closures at the moment due to the volcanic eruptions. That being said, from people who’ve been it doesn’t sound that great and there may be better volcanic pools you can visit.
Click to expand...

Didn't look too exciting on pics I have to say.
Probably super crowded in july/August too
 
Years ago now, but our Princess Cruise in August 2008 included a coach trip to Blue Lagoon. I'm not one for crowds, but it was fine, like a typical uk swimming pool iirc. Bit different, but I have my doubts that it is even open, I thought some of the volcanic activity on Iceland this year has been extremely close to Blue Lagoon.

Coach trip to/from ship was quite surreal, scenery looked more like the moon, with lichen on many rocks.

Like Norway which we did on same cruise, was very expensive compared to uk, dread to think how relative prices are these days.
 
@413x are you planning on hiring a car? If you are then 3 days is a decent amount of time but you'd be limited to the SE area around Keflavik and Reykjavik, depending on time of arrival you could potentially look at Bridge over 2 continents and that peninsula from the airport then towards Grindavik for the lava flows before heading up to Reykjavik, day 2 drive the golden circle and back to see Reykjavik at night, Day 3 Reykjavik by day, Sky lagoon in Reykjavik gets better reviews than Blue lagoon and less kids.
 
We did a few days for our honeymoon. Hired a car and stayed just outside Reykjavik (Hotel Laxness). We did blue lagoon one one day, drove the golden circle (gulfoss etc) another and went to Vik all on another day (southernmost tip) and did another day around the city... I think.

Renting a car was so much cheaper and more flexible than paid tours. We drove out one night and got to see the Northern Lights too by chance. So lucky!!

So expensive mind!
 
I’m thinking about Iceland for 5 nights or so later in the year.
I’m considering hiring a car with a tent on the roof, looks to be around £120 a day which seems great value!
Plenty of hits on google if you search ‘camper hire Iceland’.

Drive around The Golden Circle, and go where looks interesting. It’s a beautiful looking place and seems a no brainer if you’re going to Greenland.
 
Ahleckz said:
I’m thinking about Iceland for 5 nights or so later in the year.
I’m considering hiring a car with a tent on the roof, looks to be around £120 a day which seems great value!
Plenty of hits on google if you search ‘camper hire Iceland’.

Drive around The Golden Circle, and go where looks interesting. It’s a beautiful looking place and seems a no brainer if you’re going to Greenland.
Click to expand...

Haven't got enough holiday days left by sounds of it to make it worth it. :(
 
If you want a hot spring and the Blue Lagoon is too commercial/closed, try the Secret lagoon - it's directly out of the volcanic spring (not power station runoff) quite small and you can get as warm as you want by getting as close to the spring as you can stand. If it gets to the temperature where you can make a cup of tea, I would suggest moving back slightly...

secretlagoon.is

Secret Lagoon Iceland - Secret Lagoon Iceland

The Secret Lagoon, known locally as Gamla Laugin, is the oldest swimming pool in Iceland. It was made in 1891 at Hverahólmi, a geothermal area near Flúðir.
secretlagoon.is secretlagoon.is

The Golden Circle, which very busy, is like that for a reason - it's all the interesting stuff within range of Reykjavik. The drive along the south coast is amazing though - the views down to Vik and the glaciers beyond there are awesome. Diamond beach and the attached lagoon are worth the long drive.

maps.app.goo.gl

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon Boat Tours and Cafe · Jökulsárlón, 781 Höfn í Hornafirði, Iceland

★★★★★ · Tourist attraction
maps.app.goo.gl maps.app.goo.gl

Edit: Also, while it is expensive, EVERYWHERE takes contactless. I didn't make a single cash transaction anywhere in 10 days holiday.
 
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So in the end I only have 1 day (probs 24 hours) due to lack of holiday. So I'm going to pop into Reykjavík and visit the sky lagoon which looks nicer than the blue lagoon.
 
413x said:
So in the end I only have 1 day (probs 24 hours) due to lack of holiday. So I'm going to pop into Reykjavík and visit the sky lagoon which looks nicer than the blue lagoon.
Click to expand...

It does have an edge that goes over the ocean, so you get ice cold wind over your face while your body is in the warm water which is an odd feeling. If there’s a massive queue for the ‘spa’ treatment I wouldn’t bother - it’s just a cold dip, scrub down then warm wash before you go back in the pool. There is a bar at the side though!

If you can’t get down to the Blue Lagoon then it’s a good replacement - both are just power station run off water though. There is a natural hot spring (the secret lagoon!) but it’s a good hour away.

If you’re staying in the city then the Perlman museum (Iceland National Museum) on top of the hill is definitely worth a visit.
 
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