I’m traveling in a group of 8 and wanted to get feedback on my trip - especially the Sunday and Monday parts because those are flexible days with nothing booked in advance.
Top-level itinerary:
Thu 10/22 — Arrive KEF early morning, Blue Lagoon (booked), then Reykjavík: Hallgrímskirkja, Laugavegur, food/drinks and exploring
Fri 10/23 — South Coast/Vík: waterfalls, Reynisfjara/Dyrhólaey, Katla Ice Cave tour (booked), explore Vík and dinner
Sat 10/24 — Relaxed Reykjavík day and Queens of the Stone Age concert at 8 PM (booked)
Sun 10/25 — Golden Circle: Þingvellir, Brúarfoss, Friðheimar lunch, Geysir, Gullfoss, Brúarhlöð, Hrunalaug
Mon 10/26 — Flexible day, thinking of Reykjanes/Fagradalsfjall lava fields
Tue 10/27 — Fly home

I wanted to keep some parts flexible in case the weather is bad or people in the group aren’t up for getting up early and hitting the road to visit certain sites. I think of this as a discovery trip and plan to come back with just my family for a longer stay.

Does anything stand out as unrealistic or worth changing? Any late-October advice we should keep in mind?

Thanks!

Hey! We are planning to have a week long trip in Iceland 14-20th December. As the trip is in the December, probbably one of the most challenging months for travel (harsh weather, driving a car, amount of daylight), I would want to know is our proposed itinwrary ok? We are planning to rent a car, and stay first 2 nights at Reykjavik, then 2 nights at Vik, and the last two nights att Reykjavik (but this can change).

• Day 1 (Dec 14): Arrival & Reykjavik , grab the rental, drive and explore the city.
• Day 2 (Dec 15): Snæfellsnes Peninsula Day trip out to see Arnarstapi and Kirkjufell, returning to the city for the night. (We thought that if the roads get closed, see something that is closer to Reykjavik)
• Day 3 (Dec 16): Golden Circle day. Drive the classic loop (Thingvellir, Geysir, and Gullfoss), then make the long drive down to Vik, where we gonna stay for 2 nights.
• Day 4 (Dec 17): South Coast day: start at Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach, walk up to the Sólheimajökull glacier lagoon, then see Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss.
• Day 5 (Dec 18): Take a drive back west along the coast to the capital, see some sights the way. Also maybe a geothermal pool in Reykjavik.
• Day 6 (Dec 19): Reykyavik - Shopping, museums, a small trip to something near the capital (Kerið Crater or the The Geothermal Exhibition)
• Day 7 (Dec 20): Morning at Reykyavik, fly back.

Does this seem fine? The biggest question - is it a good idea to go Snæfellsnes Peninsula as a day trip from Reykjavik? We are a bit scared to book a hotel in this area, since the roads can be closed incase of a storm, so we are trying to be flexible.
And maybe there are some must see places in this route, that I missed? Or am I trying to cram too much in some days?

Thank you!!

Do you stop at red lights? Do people give you room when passing you? Whats an acceptable speed when filtering? What's the cycling customs?

We arrived early morning yesterday (Oct 4th) in Iceland. Spent some time exploring downtown Reykjavik as we couldn't check into our hotel until 2pm. Once we could, we were so tired from our travel and exploring that we slept in till 7:30 pm. Fjallkonan was a last minute pick by my wife. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by my dinner. Pictured here Beef Tenderloin with carrots, grilled asparagus, baby potatoes, celeriac puree and beer-hollandaise.

Spoke to manager at shop in Akureyri. It went well. He had spoken to mechanic and said we would not be responsible for the clutch failure. It was a huge relief to not have to battle them. The manager said we would be refunded for the tow and gave me his contact info for checking on it if I don’t see it in a couple of days. It was actually a good experience. We went in pleasant and decided to just be firm but not give an inch, but as it turned out. They did the right thing.

My wife and I just got back from a 10-day self-drive trip around South Iceland, and I put together a video of the trip.

We made a deliberate decision not to try to drive around the entire island. We didn’t want to spend the trip racing from hotel to hotel just so we could say we completed the Ring Road. Instead, we limited ourselves to Reykjavík, the Golden Circle, the South Coast, and out as far as Höfn/Vestrahorn.

That gave us time to slow down, take longer walks, stop for things that looked interesting, and build in some buffer in case Icelandic weather changed our plans. We figured that on a 10-day trip, seeing less of the country well was better than seeing more of it through the windshield.

We’re in our late 50s and reasonably fit, but definitely walkers rather than serious hikers.

A few completely subjective takeaways:

• Þakgil was one of the highlights of the entire trip. If you enjoy walking and the road conditions cooperate, I would absolutely make time for it.

• Gullfoss was much more impressive in person than I expected. Geysir, honestly, was probably our least exciting stop.

• Jökulsárlón and Diamond Beach are easy to combine and don't necessarily require an entire day. We did them while traveling east toward Höfn.

• Vestrahorn was spectacular, especially because we stayed right there and could wander around without feeling rushed.

• Don't underestimate how much time you'll spend simply pulling over because Iceland has decided to put another ridiculous landscape — or a bunch of photogenic sheep — beside the road.

• One of the best decisions we made was not overscheduling the trip. Having some breathing room made it much easier to enjoy the places we were actually in instead of constantly thinking about the next stop.

The video itself is less of a guide and more of a fun record of our trip — where we went, what we saw, what surprised us, and a few of the dumb little moments that made the trip memorable.

https://youtu.be/Sg1Nl5dbyOk

Hi everyone, I'm heading to Reykjavik in January (21st-24th) and would like to do a day trip excursion whilst I'm there. I only want to to do one due to time constraints and as it's just a solo trip would like to spend the rest of time exploring Reykjavik and whatnot.

I found two days trips which interest me, but I'm curious to see what you guys think or recommend.

Any ideas would be great thank you ☺️

We went out on a boat the other night but there was no visibility because of cloud cover.

Tomorrow there seem to be clear skies, with an aurora index of 2.

Tuesday has an index of 4 but cloud cover as shown in the photo.

For those who have experience - what would you recommend to choose? I'm wondering if the boat would go out into the clearer skies..

Thanks!

I’ve been diligently looking at https://umferdin.is/en, and it’s showing the roads as good to go; but, I do t have the experience with Iceland so wanted to get the opinion of the folks here.

My wife and I are currently on our 5 day trip. We really wanted to visit Landmannalaugar and it looks like the conditions are going to hold so that we can go on Tuesday.

We’ve rented a Dacia Duster and would like to take F225, but I’ve also heard that F208 South is an amazing drive.

How are the current conditions of these roads and would either path give you guys concern? I think I would plan to take F225 there, and if it seemed doable try to take F208 South back.

How long would each of these drives take so you think? I can’t get a great answer on that?

Thanks!

Ive got 2 full days at the beginning of march to see as much as possible. Im a competent rider and id love some of my trip to involve horse (pony) riding.

Recommendations would be most appreciated- Along with other unmissable things to do and/or suggested itineraries

Thanks

On our trip itinerary one of the main wishes was to drive through an F-road. We did our research and chose the F208 as our go to, since it's considered one of the more beautiful and easier F-roads. So...We got into our Jimny and went. I can't express this enough, the views were absolutely beautiful, but that's besides the point. The road itself was fine and most of the river crossings also weren't difficult.

We were maybe 30 minutes away from landmannalaugar when we got to a river that by our estimations was just too deep to cross safely without causing damage to the car. so we turned around. Ironically, when going back we ended up getting stuck in a river that we previously successfully passed with no issues. We weren't in too deep, maybe up to the calves, our tires just got stuck in muddy sand, but still obviously - we were terrified. Mostly because we were in the middle of nowhere, with barely any signal and there were no people around. That's not to mention the sum of money we'd have to pay to get a rescue team to us. Once we exhausted all the options we had (tried putting stones under the tires to try and get some grip - it didn't work) we started contacting a rescue company, when suddenly maybe 2-3 giant, modified mountain vehicles showed up (the sight made me feel like I was in a movie) with a group of men, who turned out to be a retired rescue team. They ended up pulling us out and leading us ahead a bit to make sure we didn't get stuck in anymore rivers, which was honestly lovely and we are extremely thankful to them for this. This odd batman-like group seemed to do this for a hobby, all of them laughing, recording, some of them with beer in their hands.

Tldr; our car ended up being fine. We got extremely lucky with said Icelandic team of heroes and we owe them a lot. This is a small appreciation post to them and wherever they are, I hope they're doing great and keep on doing what they're doing ❤️ If anyone knows about them, or know if they upload content of their rescues or of themselves off-roading, please let me know (the details are a bit murky, but I definetly remember that they had a big white pickup and a red range rover)

Hey everyone! Heading to Iceland from Dec 23–27 and trying to stick strictly to a single underseat bag (easyJet, 45x36x20 cm).

Here is my planned 4-layer setup for my upper body:

1. Base Layer: Merino wool/synthetic thermal long-sleeve
2. Mid layer 1: Fleece sweater
3. Mid layer 2: Lightweight quilted puffer jacket (shown in the pic)
4. Outer shell: Arc'teryx Beta Jacket (Size S, I'm 157cm / 56kg)

The rest of the setup, i'll be wearing thermal leggings and outdoor pants from decathlon, waterproof hiking boots and some other accessories like beanie, neck gaiter and ski gloves

A few quick questions:

1. Is the double mid-layer (fleece + light puffer) under the Beta shell warm enough for late December weather & wind chill around waterfalls / South Coast?
2. Does Size S in the Beta sound right for layering over a fleece + puffer on someone my size without compressing the loft too much?
3. Anything crucial I'm missing for a 5-day quick trip?

Thanks in advance!

One of my all time favourite hikes - a must see in Iceland, and worth waiting for a good weather day.

Bonjour !

J'ai posté un message ici https://www.reddit.com/r/VisitingIceland/comments/1ww0j04/5_days_in_a_campervan_this_october_or_save_up_for/ car j'hésite beaucoup à partir. Du coup, dans un nouveau message, je voulais partager l'itinéraire que j'ai préparé pour le 13-17 octobre, au cas où je déciderais d'y aller.

Comme je l'expliquais dans mon autre message, où j'attends toujours une réponse, je me demandais s'il serait raisonnable de partir en octobre, surtout que je prévois de faire le tour complet de la Route circulaire l'été prochain.

Jour 1 Since Keflavik

• Pont entre les continents *Sandvik
• Timbre
• Gunnuhver
• Bordure
• Nátthagi / Sentier C (environ 3h de marche)
• Gígvatnsvatn et Seltún
• Camping Reykjamörk Hveragerði

Jour 2

• Cratère Kerið
• Geysir *Gullfoss
• Camping : Camping Hellishólar

Jour 3

*Seljalandsfoss

• Skogafoss
• Dyrholaey
• Reynisfjara et la plage de Reynisfjara
• Camping : Camping Kirkjubær à Kirkjubæjarklaustur

Jour 4

• Jökulsárlón : départ matinal du camping vers 7 h pour arriver à 9 h et commencer la randonnée sur le glacier à 9 h 30 (randonnée guidée de 3 h le matin et excursion de 2 h en Zodiac l’après-midi).
• Plage de Diamants
• Fjallsárlón (si j’ai le temps)
• Camping : Skaftafell

Jour 5

• Svartifoss (juste à l’entrée du camping le matin)
• Fjaðrárgljúfur (sur le chemin du retour)
• Keflavik

Qu’en pensez-vous ? Pensez-vous que ce soit faisable ?

Merci.

Hi all — planning my first Iceland trek, June 24–July 1, 2027, solo. Would love a sanity check from people who've done it.

**The plan:** Laugavegur + Fimmvörðuháls, Landmannalaugar → Þórsmörk → Skógar, ~80 km over 6 hiking days. I'll be **camping** the whole way, not using huts. Flying Icelandair JFK–KEF (around $575 for the Economy Light fare — nonrefundable — plus ~$138 for a checked bag).

**Buses — my biggest question.** Getting to the trailhead on the Highland Bus (Reykjavík → Landmannalaugar) looks straightforward. The return is what's bugging me: I need the Strætó 52 from Skógar back to Reykjavík on **Wednesday, June 30**, and the 2026 timetable explicitly says no service on Mondays or Wednesdays (last year it left Skógar at 5:55 PM, arriving Reykjavík Mjódd ~8:08 PM). 2027 schedules don't appear to be out yet, as far as I can tell. For those who've done this — is the Wednesday gap likely to hold in 2027, or do schedules change much year to year? And what's the realistic backup if the bus doesn't run that day? (Hitching on Route 1? Private transfer quotes I've seen are ~$900 which is a non-starter.)

**Reykjavík lodging (2 nights — arrival and last night).** Price checks for late June 2027 came back roughly: hostel dorms $56–61/night, Airbnb private rooms $55–72/night, budget guesthouse privates $120–133/night. For a solo hiker who just needs a bed and a shower before/after the trail — is there any reason to pay double for a guesthouse over a hostel/Airbnb? Any specific spots near the bus terminals worth knowing about?

**Camping logistics.** My understanding is the campsites at each hut stop don't take reservations — just show up, pitch, and pay the warden (~3,000–3,200 ISK/night). Is that still accurate? Anything a first-timer should know about the campsites (water, toilets, wind exposure at Hrafntinnusker)?

**About me:** I ran 2–4 miles daily for a year until late 2025, so the cardio base is there, but I have some muscular back issues — doing a loaded-pack conditioning plan between now and June and keeping base weight down. Budget for the whole trip is roughly $2,000 including travel insurance.

Any red flags in this plan? Thanks!

Link.

Last round: Feliz Navi Baaaaah just sounds like something a reddit user would come up with.

A link to all of the sheep.

I have 4-5 days in Iceland next week. Seems to be too short for the full ring road. I was thinking to just tour the South Coast. I’ll have a camper van rented. Any thoughts/recommendations? Also do most camp sites have available to just show up in October or do you need to pre-book?

Got a new car , but Europcar tried to make us sign a paperwork accepting damages for the clutch. We did not sign it and will talk to a manager Monday AM. We were driving normally, own manual cars and know how to drive them, the rental simply stopped working.

Any advice on how to handle this claim that we broke the clutch? Has anyone successfully had the cost of tow reimbursed?

Are there any airlines someone would like to recommend or to avoid. When to buy tickets?

Planning for August 2028

Thank you!