Dear Iceland-knowledgeable Tweeps, would you have some travel tips for me and my two kids (12/16) for four days in August? We are flying in and out of Reykjavík and have a car. pic.twitter.com/HeKZ46u9ps
— Tina Roth Eisenberg (@swissmiss) May 15, 2022
Do you happen to have any Iceland travel tips? Care to share? Thank uuuuuu!
I’ve only visited Reykjavik — here are my two tips:
Valdís in Reykjavik has pretty fantastic ice cream (and I’m an ice cream fanatic) https://goo.gl/maps/aMtiDLQFqZmYiYS7A
Reykjavik has amazing public pools with the largest being Laugardalslaug. It is convenient to the city center, has multiple giant pools, hot tubs, a water slide, mini golf, and much more. it’s inexpensive and a great place to chat with local folks https://goo.gl/maps/2pHcY2DasvpzzRdk8
May 16th, 2022 / 12:52 pm
Hi Tina, My main tip is that you will want to stop constantly to take photos and just marvel at how stunning the landscape is so give yourself time to do that.
One of my highlights was Jökulsárlón where you can see icebergs on the volcanic beach sand and an incredible glacier. Even though we had a week, we hadn’t planned to drive too far each day and therefore were able to see it on two separate days which was an excellent decision because one day was cloudy and one was sunny and gave us an entirely different view and experience each time.
Enjoy!
May 16th, 2022 / 8:14 pm
it’s lesser known at least on travel ig but i would highly recommend visiting the westman island. you have to take a ferry there (pls book your ticket ahead) and you can drive your car onto the ferry. the ride over is stunning and the island itself is beautiful.
you have to stop into https://www.slippurinn.com/welcome — they have amazing award winning seasonal food.
May 17th, 2022 / 10:48 am
Don’t miss the Volcano Museum, right in the center of town. It’s very small, but has a little screening room with excellent videos. Your kids will like it. Also, for science buffs, a visit to a geothermal plant is a must. I’m not going to mention the major tourist sights, because you already know about them, but be sure to have a hot dog….Reykjavik is famous for them!
Safe travels.
May 17th, 2022 / 12:52 pm
Unfortunately, never been, but…
Ian Cumming (lovely, thoughtful gentleman, photographer, baker) is there right now – saw this IG post yesterday:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdm6vpZo_SR
So maybe check out his posts, too?
(…he was also on the Great British Baking Show, too! – FYI http://icimages.com/wordpress/gbbo/)
May 17th, 2022 / 1:56 pm
I second Jökulsárlón! Absolutely stunning.
Also, if you have time, the Vestmannaeyjar islands (short ferry ride off the south coast, just a bit past the ring road) are breathtaking. And also home to huge populations of puffins!!!
May 18th, 2022 / 9:39 am
My #1 tip: extend your trip! We spent 10 days exploring Iceland and it was one of my favorite trips ever. The north east was my favorite part of Iceland. A beautiful little fishing village with a rainbow road, whale watching! So many gorgeous waterfalls!
If you truly only have 4 days, I suggest
Blue lagoon – so many websites say skip it, but it was truly awesome.
Stay in airbnb’s as opposed to hotels – there are SO many cute cottages. we had an amazing one-night stay here https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/8577877?wl_source=list&wl_id=222812453&role=wishlist_owner&adults=1&children=0&infants=0&source_impression_id=p3_1652893525_I%2BhtXkt45A0xjEoYand they had horseback riding on site through beautiful landscape. you can see a volcano in the distance.
Drive to Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss waterfalls – really nice hiking there too
Black volcanic rock beach
Seljavallalaug – this natural pool was one of my favorite places.
The furthest you can probably drive is to the glacier lagoon before you’ll have to head back towards Reykjavik. It’s cool, but if you have to miss anything, that would be the thing.
Have fun!
May 18th, 2022 / 1:19 pm
Hello!
Be sure to visit some hot springs, some of them might need a hike to reach them, but are worth it.
Here, a map:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/viewer?mid=11N_nj6tjCP3mNzpSNfzk85JgVUCe-WEa&ll=65.43099135504488%2C0&z=5
Enjoy Iceland Tina!
May 22nd, 2022 / 4:23 am
A handful of places that came to mind (don’t know if these are considered tourist sights much; we stumbled on them in our meanderings):
Haafell Goat Farm – a quick drive out in the country that takes you under a bit of the ocean. Stay out of the right lane coming out of the tunnel, it’s a FastPass-like lane (maybe it’s obvious but we missed the signs). The internet will tell you everything great about the goat farm.
Hallgrímskirkja
Penninn Eymundsson Austurstræti – A bookstore/articles of interest/cafe that seems right up your alley. The area it’s in has a lot to take in: a beautiful cemetery, the national museum, city hall (maybe a bit strange but I dug it), and of course the monument to the unknown bureaucrat.
May 22nd, 2022 / 9:30 pm