girl, inbetweenied recommend iceland itinerary · a few tips before i go into the itinerary... 1....

Girl, Inbetweenied Recommend IcelandItinerary

TRIP SUMMARY

A few tips before I go into the itinerary...

Day One - Do the Blue Lagoon on the way to Reykjavik from the airport; after the Lagoon,explore Reykjavik.

Explore Reykjavik

A few food suggestions...

The Golden Circle - 1 full day

Dive/Snorkel Silfra/Lava Tube-Cave - 1 Full Day

The Southern Coast (Seljalandsfoss Waterfall/Skógafoss Waterfall/Vik/SkógafossWaterfall/Skaftafell National Park - Svartifoss/Jokulsarlon/Westman Islands) - 2 - 3 full days

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall

Skógafoss Waterfall

Vik

Drive to Skaftafell National Park

Hotel Skaftafell

Timing

Svartifoss (2 hour hike)

Glacier Hike (3.5 hours)

Jökulsárlón (45 minute drive from Skaftafell)

Stay in Hotel Skaftafell

Westman Islands - 1 full day

Fly to Akureyri (45 minutes) or Drive (4 hrs 30 mins one way)

Lake Myvatn, Dimmuborgir, and Myvatn Nature Baths

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

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DAY 1

A few tips before I go into the itinerary...

1. Should I Rent a Car? I highly recommend renting your own car and driving -it's a much better experience than being on a big tour bus with lots of people,and you can stop off wherever you like! The famous ring road takes you aroundthe entire country, and there's so many beautiful things to see. That said, drivingin winter can be really dangerous and you will be limited where you can go dueto road closures. We still rented a car when we were there in December; youhave to be really comfortable driving in snow and constantly look at the weather.Check out my video in this post to see a complete white out situation weencountered...http://www.girlinbetweenied.com/go-iceland-pack/

2. Where Should I Stay? In my opinion - renting a place via AirBNB orHomeaway is so much better than a hotel, especially because Iceland is pricey.You can easily make some of your own meals to save some cash, and you willhave a lot more room. The first time we went we stayed in the City Center Hotel(http://www.citycenterhotel.is/), which was just ok - the rooms were nice, butsmall, and it was LOUD on the weekends until 5 am because of all of the barsaround it. Second time around, we rented an apartment via Homeaway inReykjavik that was absolutely amazing(http://www.apartmentsiniceland.com/lowerpenthouse).

Day One - Do the Blue Lagoon on the way to Reykjavik fromthe airport; after the Lagoon, explore Reykjavik.

The Blue Lagoon is closer to the airport than Reykjavik, so it makes sense to do iton the way in or out if Iceland. Also, since you will likely be on a red eye (if you arecoming from the east coast), you will get to Iceland early in the morning, and willlikely have to waste time before you check into to your accommodation, so doingthe Blue Lagoon is perfect.

If you don't rent a car, you can pay for a round-trip airport transfer that includes pickup and drop off at the Lagoon, and includes your entry ticket. For example,Reykjavik Excursions goes back and forth from the Blue Lagoon and Reykjavikevery hour (https://www.re.is/day-tours/blue-lagoon-no-entry?gclid=Cj0KEQjwx96-BRDyzY3GqcqZgcgBEiQANHd-nqnNcpTdfk2yr17CKCLLtOInf30odoWM_dlNRW5Oor4aAiW28P8HAQ).

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In my opinion, the Blue Lagoon is pretty touristy and is not worth a separate trip -there are better places to have a hot soak. That said, if you go to Iceland, you haveto see it! Remember to book your tickets online ahead of time - it sells out(http://www.bluelagoon.com/blue-lagoon-spa/prices-and-packages/experience-packages/)!

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Explore Reykjavik

I recommend exploring Reykjavik after the Blue Lagoon (if you do it on the first day).If you have a car, I recommend going to the President's house (you can roll right upto it!), and the Perlan Dome for a great view of the city. Of course you should go upinto the Hallgrímskirkja Church. If you don't have a car, you can do a day tour of sitesright around Reykjavik through Grayline (http://grayline.is/tours/reykjavik/reykjavik-city-sightseeing-tour-8706_3?gclid=Cj0KEQjwx96-BRDyzY3GqcqZgcgBEiQANHd-ni_6I0TGDnpSQZBDYaehehJwC8K-k8QQmgcX4WmVB28aAuSS8P8HAQ). Ittakes you to the president’s house, the Perlan Dome, and a few other sites. This isnot a must do, but was nice to get a sense of Reykjavik.

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A few food suggestions...

There is amazing place in Reykjavik to get breakfast - Bergsson Matheson(http://www.bergsson.net/)You also must eat the traditional rotten shark with a shot of black death(http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/icelandic-cuisine-hakarl-iceland-fermented-shark.html)Go to the Sea Barron - the Lobster Soup is AMAZING(https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g189970-d1209708-Reviews-Saegreifinn_The_Sea_Baron-Reykjavik_Capital_Region.html)

Check out Messinn for dinner - yum :) (http://messinn.com/)

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DAY 2

The Golden Circle - 1 full day

If not renting a car, I recommend a Super Jeep trip through Golden Circle thatincludes the includes driving up on the Langjökull Glacier, Gullfoss Waterfall,Geyser/Strokkur, Kerid crater lake, Þingvellir National Park (the Continental Divideis here) and off-roading in a super jeep. The first time we went, we didn't rent a car,and took a tour with Nordic Visitor (http://daytours.nordicvisitor.com/iceland/golden-circle-tours/the-golden-circle-by-4x4/195/) It was a great tour, and it’s way betterthan being on a big tour bus with a bunch of people.

If you rent a car, it's super easy to drive the circle as well. If you do this, I recommendstopping at the Fontana Baths for a nice hot soak (http://www.fontana.is/en/sauna)!You can also go into the freezing water right outside and then hop back in the baths -it was invigorating.

We also snowmobiled on this Langjökull Glacier. Personally, it scared me a bit, andwe ended up flipping it, but if that's your thing, you can also do that! Here's severaldifferent tour options you can combine with the Golden Circle -https://guidetoiceland.is/book-trips-holiday/adventure-tours/snowmobile (thisGlacier is easily reached when doing the Golden Circle).

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DAY 3

Dive/Snorkel Silfra/Lava Tube-Cave - 1 Full Day

The Continental Divide/First Parliament site is usually included your Golden Circletour where you just walk around the site.

We didn't realize this the first time we went - you can actually snorkel/scuba in theglacial water in the continental divide (it's 36 degree water)! You can also add a lavacave tour in conjunction with this tour.

We booked with Dive Iceland, and I will be doing a completely separate article onthis experience, because it was crazy beautiful!

https://www.dive.is/diving-snorkeling-tours/snorkeling-day-tours/snorkeling-silfra-lava-caving-combo/

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DAY 4

The Southern Coast (Seljalandsfoss Waterfall/SkógafossWaterfall/Vik/Skógafoss Waterfall/Skaftafell National Park -Svartifoss/Jokulsarlon/Westman Islands) - 2 - 3 full days

The Southern Coast (Seljalandsfoss Waterfall/SkógafossWaterfall/Vik/Skógafoss Waterfall/Skaftafell National Park -Svartifoss/Jokulsarlon/Westman Islands) - 2 - 3 full days You can do day toursfrom Reykjavik to spots on the southern coast, but I highly recommend renting a carand doing this on your own. Many of the tours do it in a day and back, so you don'thave a lot of time to really explore everything it offers. I LOVED this part of our trip(we did this in September - I don't know that I would have attempted it in the winter).

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall is beautiful and is just a little outside of Reykavikrecommend as first stop.

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Skógafoss Waterfall

Right before you get to Vik where the Black Sand Beach with the organ like rockformations, you can stop at Skógafoss Waterfall.

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Vik

Next stop in Vik where there’s a cool black beach is. Be REALLY careful here –people have gotten sucked out into the ocean and died - NO JOKE! Stay away fromthe water!!

Drive to Skaftafell National Park

Make your way to Skaftafell National Park. Without stopping along the way,Reykjavik to this point is close to a 4 hour drive, so I recommend getting a hotelhere. Obviously you will be stopping along the way, so you likely will fill your day withthe stops I recommended above.

Check-in Hotel Skaftafell

We stayed at the Hotel Skaftafell http://hotelskaftafell.is which in the park.Depending on what tours you book, and how many hikes you want to do, you couldstay a night or two in this location.

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DAY 5

Timing

It would be tough to fit all three of these things in one day, but it is possible if youtime it right and do the waterfall hike early!

Svartifoss (2 hour hike)

The next day, wake up and do an AMAZING waterfall/hike there – follow the signs toSvartifoss. The hike is really beautiful - it's about 3.4 miles, and is consideredeasy. This link to provides you all the hiking routes in this park, as well as thedifficulty level - http://www.vatnajokulsthjodgardur.is/english/hiking/skaftafell/

Glacier Hike (3.5 hours)

I also highly recommend a glacier hike. We didn't do this, but we spoke to severalfolks who had and they said it was beautiful! Glacier Guides offers easy-level hikesthat are about 3.5 hours (April through October) -http://www.glacierguides.is/GlacierTripsFromSkaftafell/GlacierWonders

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Jökulsárlón (45 minute drive from Skaftafell)

It’s a 45 minute drive from Skaftafell National Park to Jökulsárlón. This developedinto a lake after the glacier started receding from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.The lake has grown since then at varying rates because the melting of the glaciers.

If you go between May and October, you can do a boat tour, which was one of myfavorite things we did there. You can book the boat tour here,http://icelagoon.is/booking/

Check-in Stay in Hotel Skaftafell

http://hotelskaftafell.is

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DAY 6

Westman Islands - 1 full day

On your way back to Reykjavik you can visit the Westman Islands by ferry (if in theright season you can see the puffins). We didn't do this; we just didn't have enoughtime. Here's a great blog post on the Westman Islands from Unlocking Kiki -http://unlockingkiki.com/guide-westman-islands-iceland/. It is about an hour and 45minutes outside of Reykjavik, and is about 2.5 hours drive from Skaftafell NationalPark.

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DAY 7

Departure Fly to Akureyri (45 minutes) or Drive (4 hrs 30 mins one way)

You can easily fly and take a day trip to Akureyri or drive to enjoy the scenery alongthe way! If you drive, here's a good post from As Her World Turns blog -http://www.asherworldturns.com/iceland-road-trip-day-1-drive-to-akureyri/ - aboutthe trip.

Lake Myvatn, Dimmuborgir, and Myvatn Nature Baths

You can do a day-long tour from Reykjavik that includes flights and all transportationvia Air Iceland...https://www.airiceland.is/tours/iceland/lake-myvatn. We took a flightand did a 12-hour day tour to the Lake Myvatn area, and saw Godafoss, Krafla,Dimmuborgir, and the Myvatn Nature Baths (this is better than the Blue Lagoon inmy opinion!)

This area is also where the US tested the cars that went to the moon back in theday! It was fun to hike around on. The day is a total of 12 hours, and you get to see alot before returning to Reykjavik. We really enjoyed this day, but I would have lovedto stay overnight. The town of Akureyri was so cute!

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girl, inbetweenied recommend iceland itinerary · a few tips before i go into the itinerary... 1....

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