Itinerary: Iceland Travel in 6 Days

While 6 days is not a lot of time to cover all the beautiful sights in the country, it is a decent length of time to get a pretty good idea of what Iceland has to offer. Here is what my friend and I did in our 6 full days in Iceland.

Day 1: Arrival at KEF

We landed at KEF airport early in the morning, so we decided to spend the morning/early afternoon enjoying The Blue Lagoon, which is an easy 20-minute drive from the airport. If you do not have a car you can sign up for bus transfers that will take you to/from the airport and to/from Reykjavik. Blue Lagoon offers luggage storage services at their facility for a fee.

Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa that is one of the most visited places in Iceland. It is very close to the airport, so many people visit either after arrival or right before they leave. While it is “touristy” it is a pretty unique experience that is worth trying out. While you are there be sure to apply a silica and algae mask!

While we were there, we also made a reservation at LAVA Restaurant for lunch on site. This was the first time we tried Icelandic cuisine, and it was delicious! It is popular so be sure to make a reservation before you go. Please note that your wrist band from The Blue Lagoon will not work for payment at the restaurant, so you will need to take your wallet with you.

After our morning/afternoon at The Blue Lagoon, we drove to Reykjavik and spent the rest of the evening exploring the city by foot. One key landmark we made sure to hit is Hallgrimskirkja, a church inspired by the basalt columns of Reynisfjara in Vik. It’s a very impressive structure, so you won’t miss it if you are walking around the city.

I would highly recommend joining a walking tour on your first day in the city if you have time. These walking tours can help get you acquainted with Iceland’s history and culture and also provide an overview of the sights to see in Reykjavik. At the end of the tour the guides will send you an email with recommendations of places to see/do in Reykjavik. The walking tours aren’t exactly free – the tour guides work off tips, but you get to choose what you think the tour was worth. I found the tour to be very useful so it was definitely worth it for us!

Day 2: Golden Circle to Vík

The next day we started making our way east to Vík via the Golden Circle. The Golden Circle is one of the most popular tourist routes in Iceland. It is a 190-mile loop from the capital city Reykjavik that can be done in a day trip. Since we were not returning to Reykjavik, we visited all the sights and then continued our way east.

That morning we started with Þingvellir National Park/Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in a canyon/valley between 2 tectonic plates. The park has quite a number of sights to offer so we spent a few hours walking the trails and exploring the area. You can spend even more time if you decide to join the activities offered here, such as snorkeling or scuba diving at the Silfra fissure.

Our next stop was The Great Geysir, a hot spring in the Haukadalur valley in southwestern Iceland that the term “geyser” is named after. It is dormant now but nearby you will find Strokkur, the only geyser active in the area.

Our final stop at the Golden Circle is Gullfoss, which literally means “golden falls.” It is one of the most beautiful and popular waterfall in Iceland. On good days you can even see a rainbow!

After our visit to the Golden Circle, we stopped by two beautiful waterfalls on our way to Vík: Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss. At Seljalandsfoss, you can even walk behind the waterfall, which is something I have never done before. If you are a Justin Bieber fan, you should know this is the same waterfall that was featured in his music video. Skogafoss is also impressive so it’s worth checking out!

We didn’t get to do this but if you have time, you may want to stop by the famous Sólheimasandur Plane Crash, which was also featured in Justin Bieber’s music video. To get there you have to drive on F-roads, so you will need a 4×4 for this drive. Please note if you try driving with a non-4×4 rental you will void your agreement with the rental company!

At the end of a very long but fulfilling day, we stayed at the Hotel Katla in Vík.

Day 3: Exploring Vík, waterfalls and icebergs on our way to Höfn 

We spent the morning exploring Vík before continuing on our journey. We started the day at Dyrholaey, a nesting ground for many species of birds, including puffins. Unfortunately we did not see any puffins that morning, but the place was so beautiful that we were not at all disappointed! Dyrholaey is a good spot to see the Reynisdrangar, the basalt sea stacks that were once trolls, according to legend. If you follow the gravel road to the top of Dyrholaey, you will reach Vík church, the highest point in Vík. There you can get a pretty good view of the village and also of the beaches nearby.

Next we went to visit Black Sand Beach, with a claim as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. There is a chance you can see puffins there as well, but we weren’t so lucky that day!

Finally we visited Reynisfjara Beach, a black pebble beach that features amazing basalt columns that inspired the Hallgrimskirkja church in Reykjavik. From here you will get a closer view of the sea stacks Reynisdrangar.

After a few hours exploring Vík we continued our journey east. Our next stop was at Skaftafell, which is part of Vatnajökull National Park in southeast Iceland. At Skaftafell we went on a quick 2-hour round-trip hike to Svartifoss, a waterfall surrounded by basalt columns which inspired the Hallgrimskirkja church in Reykjavik. We really wished we packed a good lunch for this hike because there were several good spots for a picnic at this waterfall. Something to save for the next visit, perhaps!

After this hike we continued our journey to Jökulsárlón Iceberg Lagoon, my favorite place in Iceland. No words can describe the beauty you see at the lagoon. What’s even more beautiful is the lagoon continues to move and change so it never looks the same. We signed up for the 1-hour zodiac boat tour, so we were able to get close to the icebergs and also to the glacier. After the boat tour, we stopped by Diamond Beach across the bridge and looked for icebergs that washed up on shore. Since weather was so warm and sunny that day (and it was summer) we were only able to find very small ice pieces. In the winter, much bigger pieces are seen on the beach, which create very dramatic and impressive photos.

Fjallsárlón is a smaller glacier lagoon nearby that is also worth checking out. Companies also offer boat rides at this lagoon, but I would recommend taking a boat ride at the larger lagoon for the best experience.

We ended our drive that day in the small town of Höfn and stayed at Hotel Höfn.

Day 4: Glacier walking and back to Vík

Hiking Vatnajökull glacier walking tour with Glacier Adventure. This company is the only company that services Breiðamerkurjökull, one of  Vatnajökull’s biggest outlet glacier, so you can get away from the crowds to explore this untapped area with very knowledgeable guides. Because it is more remote than, say, the area around Skaftafell, we ended up being the only ones signed up for the tour, so yay for the bonus private tour! The walk started out in the small “town” (it is more like a farm area) Hali. From there we took a drive off-road to the base of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier where we took a short boat ride on a zodiac boat before getting on the ice.

This night we stayed at Hotel Edda Vík.

Day 5: Going back to Reykjavik

We spent most of the day driving back to Reykjavik. On our way back we stopped by the Sólheimajökull Glacier. It is a much smaller glacier so it isn’t as popular or crowded. It’s definitely worth a stop!

We also stopped by Kerið, a natural crater lake located close to the town of Selfoss, where we ate lunch. If you are nearby and have time, it’s worth a look, but there is a 400kr charge to access the area.

Before we headed back to Reykjavik, we went to check out the Raufarholshellir lava tube cave and the Reykjadalur geothermal hot springs nearby.

• The Raufarholshellir lava tube cave is estimated to be 1360 meters long and is about an hour away from Reykjavik. The entrance is easily accessible from the road. And guess what? It’s FREE! There are no railings, platforms or rules to follow, so you can explore at your leisure. The first few chambers are lit from the crevices in ceiling, but if you want to explore more, you should bring some gear – head lamps, helmets, gloves and good shoes for caving inside dark chambers. We went in June and there was unmelted snow in the main chambers and ice formations in the inner chambers.
• Reykjadalur, or “Steam Valley,” is a geothermal area full of steam, hot springs and bubbling mud pots.  If you have enough time you can take a hike to see the valley and get closer to the steam.

Day 6: A day in Reykjavik

We didn’t have time to join a walking tour on our first day in Iceland, so we ended up joining up on this day. I also spent some time shopping for souvenirs on the shopping streets. This was a “chill” day for us, but if you want to do more, there are many activities you can sign up for such as puffin/whale watching tours, Thrihnukagigur Volcano tour (you go inside the volcano!), horse back riding, etc.

Day 7: Departure from KEF

We had to leave at the crack of dawn, so I we basically got up and left for the airport. Depending on your flight schedule you may want to swing by the Blue Lagoon if you did not get a chance to go when you arrived.