Iceland
72 hours in Iceland and we actually saw a lot of things we wanted to! This itinerary is perfect for anyone with a time crunch. This sounds quite chaotic, but it’s honestly super do-able and not as stressful as it sounds.
Depending on the time of the year you visit Iceland, be sure to pack A LOT OF LAYERS! Everyone we had encountered in Iceland prioritized comfort over looking cute. The first day we landed in Iceland we were met with 80 mph winds, and we ended up only wearing a series of leg warmers etc.
Day 1
We flew in through a red-eye flight from JFK, we snoozed the most on this flight over since we knew we wouldn’t have a lot of time to sleep. The excitement was seeing a volcanic eruption while landing!
We arrived right in KEF at 8am, and the first thing we did was pick up our rental car. After countless hours of research, it made a lot of sense to rent a car to save on both time and money rather than relying on tour guides. We went into the trip knowing what we wanted to see.
We made a pitstop from KEF to a site where we can view the volcanic eruption up close. Be careful when doing this, the wind was extremely scary at 80 mph.
After our little detour, we drove about 30 mins to Reykjavik to pick up some breakfast from Brauð & Co. Be sure to get there as early as you can so you can pick up the fresh baked goods!
We stopped by a coffee shop down the street - Reykjavik roasters for some coffee. While in the area, we went to the top of Hallgrimskirkja. From the top of the church, you can see the view of Reykjavik.
Upon checking into our hotel Reykjavik Lights, our room was not going to be ready until 4pm, it was only 11am at this point. So we changed into our several layers and were ready to explore! After driving for about 1.5 hours, we went north to Kirkjufellsfoss. We stopped by Sheeps Waterfall and Grundarfoss. The drive was extremely scenic changing from lush green pastures to dark volcanic mountains to rocky waterfalls. For lunch we had stopped by for some gas station sandwiches - these were our lifesaver honestly. There wasn’t as many options for food on our drive.
By the time we got back to Reykjavik, we had our room, and we got ready to explore the city at night! We had a reservation at Kopar, which was AMAZING and well worth it. The food was extremely delicious, we had appetizers there, the smoked salmon and hamachi crudo. We then stopped by Seabaron for lobster bisque. We stopped by TÖLT, a speakeasy in the Reykjavik EDITION for a nightcap. The drinks were extremely unique and the interior was cozy and exclusive.
By the time we reached back at the hotel, we had time to shower and head to sleep. We had to wake up at 5:30am for the next day!
Day 2
Starting the day at 5:30am was rough honestly, but this day was completely PACKED. On day two we were making our way to the southern coast of Iceland.
Seljalandsfoss was our first waterfall stop, and it was HUGE. You can actually walk around to the backside of the waterfall and observe the waterfall from that angle which was amazing.
The second waterfall stop we made was to Skogafoss, which was also huge, but we ended up not climbing up the side of the falls since we just mainly wanted to observe it. The location of the waterfall was fantastic where it’s easy to witness rainbows at the mouth of the falls!
We drove down to Dyrhólaey - the most southern point of Iceland. The views were absolutely captivating. We did not go all the way to the tip, but viewed it from a viewpoint.
We stopped by Reynisfjara Beach next. Being such a Game of Thrones fan, I was obsessed with the dragon cave and the natural architecture of the columnal rocks. After hearing how crowded the famous hot dog stand was in Reykjavik, we were excited to see there was a hot dog stand on the beach! They were delicious (and also have vegan options)!
We stopped by Vik after lunch for our Katla Ice Cave Tour. This experience was said to take about 2 hours, but it took us 4 hours. Just be prepared for the difference in time based off of the tour group agility. We all hopped into a big jeep van. The terrain was extremely bumpy for 45 min to get to the ice cave point. We then attached the ice claws onto our shoes so we can climb the glaciers! It was incredible climbing a giant block of glacier and to view the ice cave itself, but it was definitely spooky witnessing how fast the water was melting as well!
After a strenuous 2 hour hike, we returned back and we had some well-deserved soup! We stopped by a cute coffee shop in Vik called “Bus stop Cafe”.
The last stop of the day was Diamond Beach which was about 2 hours east from Vik! The drive was filled with more glaciers, moss covered lava rocks and a quick hike to Fjaðrárgljúfur.
Upon making it to Diamond beach right around early evening time, we were lucky to see some small (but heavy) pieces of ice on the beach!
Just a short 10min walk away was Jökulsárlón - a lake filled with pieces of icebergs! Truly a sight to behold!
While there were a few other spots in the area, we weren’t able to hit since it was a 6 hour drive back to Reykjavik. Be sure to stop by a gas station if possible before 8pm since everything on the road closes down at 10pm, including the kitchen to certain gas stations.
Day 3
We were able to snooze for a little bit on our last day in Iceland! Today’s focus was central iceland- the golden circle area. Just a short hour drive from Reykjavik, we stopped at Gullfoss. It was magnificent seeing the size of the waterfall dipping deep under the surface. Try to get to Gullfoss early to avoid all of the tour buses.
Our next stop was Brúarfossr, this was the most blue glacier water I have seen! It is known as Iceland’s most bluest waterfall. Truly breathtaking! There's a lot of great areas for quick photo ops. The hike is a quick 5min from the parking lot.
The golden circle’s Strokkur geyser was not worth the hype in my opinion. The parking was very hectic and the geyser would erupt every 10min, but it would be about 15 ft high. There were more exciting geysers to see around the world in my opinion.
Our last stop before lunch was Kerid Crater, a volcanic crater lake. The size was massive!
I had been dreaming about Vinstofa Frioheima since 2018! The famous tomato greenhouse restaurant. Everything is worth the hype! Definitely make a reservation ahead of visiting, we were lucky to squeeze in on a not-so-busy day! The food was perfect! We had a tomato and salmon salad, tomato soup, bruschetta, and tomato cheesecake.
What better way to relax from the rushed weekend than go to Sky Lagoon! We wanted to go to Blue Lagoon initially, but since there was a volcanic eruption near it, we decided to go to Sky. This was perhaps the best decision we made. The seven step, Skjóll Ritual, was very relaxing from having a numerical order to enjoying the spa, with no certain allotted time for each phase.
After relaxing post-spa, we ate dinner on the site. While booking if there’s 2 people, it’s cheaper to do the date night passes - 2 glasses of wine at the lagoon are included along with a platter at the bar after the experience are included. We tried deer pate and it was delicious along with some rye bread and berry jam!
We ended up roaming around Reykjavik downtown area for a while. Being a big fan of the movie The Big Lebowski, I was excited to venture there for the nostalgia. We were able to see the famous pride rainbow street on our walk as well!
While calling it a night on our drive back to the hotel around 11pm, the best treat was seeing the northern lights! This was the best farewell to receive from Iceland. This was definitely a short trip, but it was a miracle to see all that we had achieved! We only didn’t get to visit Ayukeri - but for anyone wondering if it’s possible to see almost everything in a short amount of time, it absolutely is!
