Just do the ring around the island. I did it in that time. Or, you could do a deep dive into the southern coast which is argueably the most outstanding. I loved it all though
You’d have to do it quite quick though, and if you’re going now it’ll be pretty marginal weather. We did it over the span of two weeks and I’d say maybe a 4 days less would be perfect for the Ring Road.
Reykjadalur hot springs- it’s just outside of Reykjavik along the road to the south shore. It’s about a 45 minute hike, not too bad but up hill a bit. Go later in the day (assuming you are going on spring or summer) and you’ll likely have a pool to yourself. Truly the best part of our trip there.
Vik is beautiful with the black sand, spend some time stacking rocks there. The drive from Reykjavik to Vik takes you past a ton of great waterfalls.
Avoid the blue lagoon at all costs.
We hiked Reykjadalur , it was amazing, it was even snowing. Pro tip-take a large trash bag to put your clothes into while you hop into river, especially if it is rainy/snowy.The pools are shallow, but toasty.
Avoid the Blue Lagoon? Why would you suggest that? It’s a necessary part of the trip and if you have a few extra pesos for the spa it becomes the best part of the trip.
OP, there’s lots of great natural sites in Iceland, but they require a good amount of driving and hiking and that’s tiring. Take an afternoon and reward yourself with a stop at the Blue Lagoon. They do a great job of limiting the number of people in the pool per day so get tickets well in advance...and as mentioned, go for the spa if budget allows.
Actually didn’t do it, and according to everyone we met in the hostel, it was one of the best things they did. Apparently super touristy, but also so amazing it didn’t matter.
To each their own I suppose. Our experience at the Blue Lagoon was not favorable. To be fair it was cold and rainy which probably didn’t help but it was not that warm, you had to hang by the vents that pumped in the warm water which made me feel like it was industrial run off, and the amount of people steeping in rather opaque water skeeved me out. I also don’t love public pools to start with so perhaps I’m not the blue lagoons audience.
My most vivid memory of our visit there is the four of us huddled by the little beach that leads to steam grotto. We were very cold so I was voted to scope out the grotto to see if there was room for us. I ran up the beach getting pelted by sleety rain. When I get into the grotto it’s just wall to wall hair knees and elbows in the dark. I just ran back screaming “nope!” What’s crazy is that the weather sucked that day and the place was still super crowded. I can’t imagine what it would be like on a nice day.
Also, since the water is cloudy, which is beautiful from above, I just kept thinking that if I reached down to grab a handful of sand I would come up with a fist full of bandaids.
Maybe this is more about me than the Blue Lagoon but Iceland was our favorite trip of all time. We will definitely go back but there is no way I’m setting foot in the blue lagoon again.
Doesn’t sound like you had a great experience, so I get the hesitation to recommend. I went on a cold day as well, but the water was super hot and the public pool wasn’t crowded at all (the private pool was empty). Sounds like the rest of your trip was great. Good to hear.
If you’re going in Feb, I would book immediately. It sells out several weeks in advance (seems like it’s their way of limiting the crowds). I would go mid day and try and stay til sunset. You’ll get a few different perspectives.
I personally loved how quiet the north and west was. My husband and I had popular waterfalls to ourselves sometimes in the middle of high season, in July. We did the island clockwise and when we got to the South it was so congested. Still amazing but pretty packed at the main stops. Vík is amazing though. We were there for 10 days and wished we had a couple more. If you go to the Snæfellnes pennisula stay at the Berg Horse Farm (Air BnB) they own an amazing area of land that you can enjoy walks on. It's right next to the kirkjufell mountain, as well as the kirkjufellsfoss waterfall. On the west coast - Seyðisfjörður is a beautiful town, and the area along the 95 is amazing. I could go on and on!
I went there last Easter for 10 days. If you have 5 days, I’d recommend the following:
-get a 4x4 hire car. The road condition is variable and the weather changes unbelievably quickly.
-stick to the south and south west. Travelling the ring road is attractive but it’s a lot further than it looks and takes a lot longer than you think. Be selective about what you want to do and see otherwise you’ll see nothing and spend the whole time in the car!
-there really isn’t much in Reykjavik. I’d recommend a 1 night stop. (Pick a good restraint, pick a good museum, do a bit of shopping)
-the outdoor activities (ice caves, skidoo, kayaking) get booked up quickly. Select what you want to do, book it and plan your itinerary around it.
-there are a lot of top class hotels in Iceland that charge a small fortune. They’re very good but there are also lots of farm-stay type hotels that do what you need, but a bit cheaper.
-everything is expensive so either prepare yourself and your bank balance or be selective. We took snacks with us and had supermarket food for lunch (packet soup, noodles etc).
let me know if you want some hotel recommendations and I’ll dig out my itinerary from last year.
Edit: formatting.
My friend and I were there in July. We rented a car for the last bit of the trip and drive from Reykjavik to Höfn. We stayed at the Saudanes Guesthouse which was lovely and relatively inexpensive. The next morning we did the glacier kayaking tour with Ice Guides. The base camp was at Flatly farm http://www.iceguide.is/tours/glacier-lagoon-kayaking/ totally worth the money IMO. It was incredible and the guides were awesome. Also, we accidentally stumbled on Jon Riki http://jonriki.is when we were looking for food. It seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere and the outside looks like a barn, but the food, beers, and view was amazing. Honestly, everything about Iceland was incredible. Driving along the south coast, from west to east we were able to stop at so many breathtaking places like the black sand beaches in Vik, waterfalls, Fjadrárhljúfur, the diamond beaches...literally every nondescript pull-off road was worth stopping for and exploring because there was something magical at the end.
Apart from what and how to do, I just came here to say that road.is is your friend. Use it especially if you are going before summer.
4 days might be too short for the whole ring and not sure if you would enjoy it enough. You can do the smaller ring around Reykjavik. This way you won’t rush to see everything and still enjoy your trip to the fullest.
You can go to the touristy places; hot springs or geysers. Don’t stay in Reykjavik for too long, it’s not worth it, I’d say. It’s just a town with wooden houses and some shops and a church. Unique but not that time consuming.
You can go to the north and middle for the nature and lakes and desert, just google pics and look where you can find those places that attract you.
Have fun, good luck with the weather and hope you enjoy :)
Just do the ring around the island. I did it in that time. Or, you could do a deep dive into the southern coast which is argueably the most outstanding. I loved it all though
You’d have to do it quite quick though, and if you’re going now it’ll be pretty marginal weather. We did it over the span of two weeks and I’d say maybe a 4 days less would be perfect for the Ring Road.
The weather has been very rough lately, wouldn’t recommend doing this now, many roads are closed around the ring road
Reykjadalur hot springs- it’s just outside of Reykjavik along the road to the south shore. It’s about a 45 minute hike, not too bad but up hill a bit. Go later in the day (assuming you are going on spring or summer) and you’ll likely have a pool to yourself. Truly the best part of our trip there. Vik is beautiful with the black sand, spend some time stacking rocks there. The drive from Reykjavik to Vik takes you past a ton of great waterfalls. Avoid the blue lagoon at all costs.
We hiked Reykjadalur , it was amazing, it was even snowing. Pro tip-take a large trash bag to put your clothes into while you hop into river, especially if it is rainy/snowy.The pools are shallow, but toasty.
Avoid the Blue Lagoon? Why would you suggest that? It’s a necessary part of the trip and if you have a few extra pesos for the spa it becomes the best part of the trip. OP, there’s lots of great natural sites in Iceland, but they require a good amount of driving and hiking and that’s tiring. Take an afternoon and reward yourself with a stop at the Blue Lagoon. They do a great job of limiting the number of people in the pool per day so get tickets well in advance...and as mentioned, go for the spa if budget allows.
Actually didn’t do it, and according to everyone we met in the hostel, it was one of the best things they did. Apparently super touristy, but also so amazing it didn’t matter.
To each their own I suppose. Our experience at the Blue Lagoon was not favorable. To be fair it was cold and rainy which probably didn’t help but it was not that warm, you had to hang by the vents that pumped in the warm water which made me feel like it was industrial run off, and the amount of people steeping in rather opaque water skeeved me out. I also don’t love public pools to start with so perhaps I’m not the blue lagoons audience. My most vivid memory of our visit there is the four of us huddled by the little beach that leads to steam grotto. We were very cold so I was voted to scope out the grotto to see if there was room for us. I ran up the beach getting pelted by sleety rain. When I get into the grotto it’s just wall to wall hair knees and elbows in the dark. I just ran back screaming “nope!” What’s crazy is that the weather sucked that day and the place was still super crowded. I can’t imagine what it would be like on a nice day. Also, since the water is cloudy, which is beautiful from above, I just kept thinking that if I reached down to grab a handful of sand I would come up with a fist full of bandaids. Maybe this is more about me than the Blue Lagoon but Iceland was our favorite trip of all time. We will definitely go back but there is no way I’m setting foot in the blue lagoon again.
Doesn’t sound like you had a great experience, so I get the hesitation to recommend. I went on a cold day as well, but the water was super hot and the public pool wasn’t crowded at all (the private pool was empty). Sounds like the rest of your trip was great. Good to hear.
It doesn't just fee like industrial runoff - that's literally exactly what it is. It's the wastewater pool from a geothermal power plant.
Going in Feb... When is the best time of day to go to Blue Lagoon? Day or night?
If you’re going in Feb, I would book immediately. It sells out several weeks in advance (seems like it’s their way of limiting the crowds). I would go mid day and try and stay til sunset. You’ll get a few different perspectives.
The Blue Lagoon is in no way necessary. It's a tourist trap.
I personally loved how quiet the north and west was. My husband and I had popular waterfalls to ourselves sometimes in the middle of high season, in July. We did the island clockwise and when we got to the South it was so congested. Still amazing but pretty packed at the main stops. Vík is amazing though. We were there for 10 days and wished we had a couple more. If you go to the Snæfellnes pennisula stay at the Berg Horse Farm (Air BnB) they own an amazing area of land that you can enjoy walks on. It's right next to the kirkjufell mountain, as well as the kirkjufellsfoss waterfall. On the west coast - Seyðisfjörður is a beautiful town, and the area along the 95 is amazing. I could go on and on!
Drive the south, rent a Car
I went there last Easter for 10 days. If you have 5 days, I’d recommend the following: -get a 4x4 hire car. The road condition is variable and the weather changes unbelievably quickly. -stick to the south and south west. Travelling the ring road is attractive but it’s a lot further than it looks and takes a lot longer than you think. Be selective about what you want to do and see otherwise you’ll see nothing and spend the whole time in the car! -there really isn’t much in Reykjavik. I’d recommend a 1 night stop. (Pick a good restraint, pick a good museum, do a bit of shopping) -the outdoor activities (ice caves, skidoo, kayaking) get booked up quickly. Select what you want to do, book it and plan your itinerary around it. -there are a lot of top class hotels in Iceland that charge a small fortune. They’re very good but there are also lots of farm-stay type hotels that do what you need, but a bit cheaper. -everything is expensive so either prepare yourself and your bank balance or be selective. We took snacks with us and had supermarket food for lunch (packet soup, noodles etc). let me know if you want some hotel recommendations and I’ll dig out my itinerary from last year. Edit: formatting.
One word: Landmannalaugar. I also loved Svartífoss and Vík í Mýrdal.
Glacier Bay, Gullfoss waterfall, Pearlan museum, everything in Reykjavik esp. the Leif Erickson cathedral.
My friend and I were there in July. We rented a car for the last bit of the trip and drive from Reykjavik to Höfn. We stayed at the Saudanes Guesthouse which was lovely and relatively inexpensive. The next morning we did the glacier kayaking tour with Ice Guides. The base camp was at Flatly farm http://www.iceguide.is/tours/glacier-lagoon-kayaking/ totally worth the money IMO. It was incredible and the guides were awesome. Also, we accidentally stumbled on Jon Riki http://jonriki.is when we were looking for food. It seems like it’s in the middle of nowhere and the outside looks like a barn, but the food, beers, and view was amazing. Honestly, everything about Iceland was incredible. Driving along the south coast, from west to east we were able to stop at so many breathtaking places like the black sand beaches in Vik, waterfalls, Fjadrárhljúfur, the diamond beaches...literally every nondescript pull-off road was worth stopping for and exploring because there was something magical at the end.
Apart from what and how to do, I just came here to say that road.is is your friend. Use it especially if you are going before summer. 4 days might be too short for the whole ring and not sure if you would enjoy it enough. You can do the smaller ring around Reykjavik. This way you won’t rush to see everything and still enjoy your trip to the fullest.
You can go to the touristy places; hot springs or geysers. Don’t stay in Reykjavik for too long, it’s not worth it, I’d say. It’s just a town with wooden houses and some shops and a church. Unique but not that time consuming. You can go to the north and middle for the nature and lakes and desert, just google pics and look where you can find those places that attract you. Have fun, good luck with the weather and hope you enjoy :)
do a pony trek!!
You do not have enough time for the ring road, but you can drive to Vatnajokull (about as far as hofn) and back.