The Ultimate Iceland Guide
Known as the Land of Fire and Ice, since the popular TV series Game of Thrones, Iceland is more popular than ever!! But is it possible to see this Island full of waterfalls, ice, horses and geothermal wonders without spending your life savings?
Read on to find out how you can book this once-in-a-lifetime holiday and find out the perfect 4-day Itinerary.
As with any DIY holiday, the key to an affordable, enjoyable and easy-going trip is pre-planning!! If you put in the work now, you will have the trip of a lifetime that you and your family will talk about forever!
This guide will do a lot of the hard work for you and help you to book your ideal trip, feel free to ask me any questions in the comments :)
One thing I really want to say here is that you will see a lot online about Golden Circle tours that take you to the Geysirs and Waterfalls etc. but please don't book these, you will save yourself so much money by hiring a car and going yourself as there is absolutely no charge to see any of the sites in Iceland except for the Blue Lagoon.
Iceland was also the perfect place for us to drive on the other side of the road for the first time as there's hardly any traffic!
So, let's get started!!
Step 1: Book your flights
We flew with Iceland Air and we were beyond happy with them. - free kids snack box,, free movies on flight, free soft drinks. Cost of flights to Iceland can vary depending on the time of year and how far in advance you book, but it's definitely worth keeping an eye on the website as they have regular deals!
Step 2: Car Hire
- Northbound Icerental 4x4. We booked a Suzuki Grand Vitara 2011. Pickup at Reykjavík airport and return to airport. We paid 28280 ISK (€400) for 3 nights/4 days.
Tip: Don't go for a brand-new car when hiring, we felt way more relaxed with a slightly older car as we didn't need to worry as much about gravel and dents etc. We took photos of all existing dents and scratches on the car and added on collision damage waiver-third party liable insurance and super collision damage waiver. You can also add on 'Sand and Ash' insurance, we didn't feel like we needed it so didn't add it on, but definitely make this decision yourself!
The most important thing for car hire in Iceland is that you 100% need a 4x4 and not a Dacia Duster, which is what you will see advertised a lot for cheap! You need a good old fashioned 4x4 that can withstand strong winds and icy roads.
Word of advice too, be careful when opening your doors as it is very windy in some parts of Iceland, especially if you go near the sea. I have read stories of people's doors being blown off 😮
Other than that, don't be afraid to drive in Iceland, honestly, we read so much crap online that we were absolutely terrified to drive over there but it was fine!! Just drive slowly, check the sunrise and sunset times if you don't want to drive in the dark and make sure you hire the correct car! (Not a Dacia!!!)
Step 3: Accommodation
My biggest top tip for you is to stay in accommodation outside of Reykjavik in the golden circle. You will spend most of your time driving through the Golden Circle so there's no point driving back to Reykjavik each evening.
We stayed in Minniborgir cottages. They were fab!!! You can book a cottage with private hot tub or use the public ones. There's a reception with bar onsite where you can get beers and breakfast.
We sat in the hot tubs each evening looking out for the Northern Lights. Unfortunately, they weren't visible at the time we were there, but the sky was so clear, and we enjoyed looking at the stars.
There's plenty of apps you can download on your phone that will tell you when the Northern Lights are visible each evening.
For our final nights, we chose to stay in an airport hotel so that we could drop the car off early and explore Reykjavik on our last day and then get a good night sleep before heading to the airport in the morning.
We stayed at the Hotel Keflavic. It was a really good airport hotel super close to airport, with a shuttle bus. It also had a lovely and affordable restaurant next door where we could have dinner and let Lily play in the kids area.
Best Time of Year to Go
This really depends on what you are looking for. Iceland is beautiful all year round, but if you want to try and see the Northern Lights you need to go between x and x.
We went in November, and it was perfect for what we wanted from this trip. We wanted hiking and nature and to spend as much time outdoors as possible. There was no snow when we went, except for the last day, but that suited us perfect, and it was easier to navigate our way around. It gave us a better look at the amazing landscapes.
3-day itinerary
Day 1
When we landed in Reykjavík airport, we were collected by Northbound 4x4 and brought to their office to collect our car. We then drove straight to the Bonus Supermarket near to the Blue Lagoon. We did a small grocery shop, grabbing snacks, breakfast food and stuff for dinners too.
Then we headed straight for the Blue Lagoon. This Geothermal Spa is only 22 km from the airport, so I would highly recommend going here either when you arrive in Iceland or just before going home. We found it to be the absolute perfect start to our holiday in Iceland.
The Blue Lagoon is a Geothermal Spa located in a lava field. Its location is favorable for geothermal power and its water is supplied by the nearby geothermal power station.
This spa is most famous for its mineral-rich steamy hot water and soft white silica mud, which is known to have an abundance of skin and health benefits and if applied to the skin is thought to have anti-aging benefits (that's me sold!!!).
You might read that the Blue Lagoon is overpriced, too touristy, not worth it as man-made etc. But we really enjoyed it and totally felt that it was worth what we paid.
There are lots of thermal baths and more natural ones that you can visit throughout Iceland, but as we were going with our 7-year-old at the time, we wanted to go to one where the water temperatures were controlled.
I would definitely recommend booking this experience in advance. You can book on the Blue Lagoon Website. We went for the Comfort package, which includes entrance to the Blue Lagoon, a silica mud mask for your face, use of a towel and a free drink of choice. The cost was €84.61 per adult and children are free.
Children under the age of 8 are required to wear arm bands. They share a locker with the parent and don't get a free drink. However, you can buy juice when collecting your free alcoholic beverage.
You can choose to eat at the spa itself, but prices were bananas!! We have a few snacks in the car after the Blue Lagoon and then headed back to our cabin to cook dinner!
Top tip: Put a hair mask in your hair and tie it up high. The Sulphur in the water can really dry out your hair.
Day 2
Each day we got up at around 8am and had brekkie in the cabin then made sure to be on the road for sunrise, this was 9am in November. It was so lovely driving through the Golden Circle as the sun was rising!
Our first stop was the Geysir Centre. We used Google Maps on our phone to navigate us everywhere and we never had any issues. We had a paper map in the car too, just in case, but never needed to use it. The internet in Iceland is superb, we always had 4g no matter where we were (Ireland please take note!!!) and all coffee shops and restaurants etc. had Wi-Fi.
Strokkur is Iceland's most visited geyser due to its activity, and it definitely will not disappoint!! It is found in a geyser geothermal area and blasts water up to 40 meters high every 10-15 minutes.
I won't go into the science behind geysers and why they erupt, but it is definitely something worth reading into if going to Iceland as it's fascinating!!
Here you will also find the Geysir Centre, which has plenty of information about this rare phenomenon, a lovely gift shop and a coffee shop. We stopped here for coffee and some cakes and found it again to be very reasonably priced.
Next stop was the first of many amazing Waterfalls of our trip:
Gullfoss Waterfall. Did you know that Foss means waterfall in Icelandic, so all of the waterfalls in Iceland will be called something Foss. In this case, Gullfoss, which means golden waterfall.
This waterfall is beautiful to visit and is quite unique in that you will view it from above, compared to the other ones you will see on your trip. This actually makes it look like the waterfall is going into the ground! This is because the waterfall plunges right into a gorge, thereby looking like it's disappearing into the earth... How magical is that!!
There are multiple viewpoints for seeing this waterfall, the lower points are open year-round, but some will be closed off in winter, so bear this in mind when trying to decide when you want to go. Also, it can get quite icy and slippery here so definitely where appropriate footwear and maybe invest in crampons for the kids...the first time you fall on your butt will be funny, but the 3rd and 4th time will literally be a pain in the butt 😉😉
There is also a visitor centre here where you can use the restroom. We stopped for a delicious hot chocolate to warm us up after our walk around the falls.
Next stop... Lunch time!!
For lunch we went to the incredible Fridheimar greenhouse. The theme of this family run farm style restaurant is tomatoes!! From tomato beer to tomato soup to tomato cakes, you can experience all things tomato here while sitting in the greenhouse amongst all the cultivated plants. You can even go on a free tour of the greenhouse, where they will tell you all about how they grow the tomato vines and also show you their very hard workers... the bees!!
If eating here I would highly recommend getting the soup buffet! Here you can have all you can eat tomato soup with sour cream, freshly baked bread, cucumber salsa and butter. It was delicious!!
We also tried the tortillas with Basel, mozzarella and tomatoes and the tomato bear. It was all 10/10.
After your meal you can walk around outside and see the beautiful Icelandic horses.
Make sure to reserve your table for here in advance on their website.
Our last stop of the day was Þingvellir National Park -
This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the only one on the Iceland mainland, which is surprising as it is probably one of the sites you will hear the least about, or certainly it's nowhere near as popular as the Geysers and some of the waterfalls.
But this was definitely one of my favourite stops!! This may be attributed to my extreme Game of Thrones nerdiness ;). Remember the 'Bloody Gates', the entrance to the Eeyrie where Aunt Lysa lived?? Well, that's Þingvellir National Park. You will find this on the 'Oxarfoss trail', which is the road to the Oxarfoss waterfall.
Remember the brutal battle between Lady Brienne and the hound?? That was also filmed at Þingvellir National Park :)
Ok ok, enough GOT, why else is this place worth visiting?
This park is located in an active volcanic area. It's most famous and most interesting feature is that it is the part of Iceland where you can essentially stand on two different continents. This is because Iceland is divided by the Mid-Atlantic Rift and therefore some parts of Iceland are on the 'North American Tectonic Plate' and the rest is on the 'Eurasian Plate'.
Iceland is actually the only place in the whole world where you can see this rift above sea level and at Þingvellir National Park you can literally walk in it!
As you enter this park by descending a cliff into a valley you are looking at North America and as you go through the park you ascend on the other side at Eurasia. The whole valley in between is known as the rift valley.
Every year these tectonic plates move apart by approx. 2.5 centimeters and have done so for millions of years. This results in the lava fields and this giant gorge that you see when you stroll through this World Heritage Site.
Now don't worry if Geography and 'Tectonic plates' aren't your thing, there is plenty more to see in this park. From lava fields to an abundance of hiking trails, wildlife to waterfalls, you will not regret spending a couple of hours here!!
Check out Things to do - Thingvellir National Park for a list of things to do and hiking trails in the area.
Day 3
Day 3 of our Iceland adventure and we had a lot to look forward to. We got up for sunrise again and made our way to the amazing Seljalandsfoss waterfall. This was my absolute favorite waterfall because you can walk right behind it, it was everything I imagined when I thought of Iceland!
Next, we headed to the DC-3 plane wreckage located on Sólheimasandur black sand beach. This is the remainder of a US Navy Aircraft that had to make an emergency crash landing in 1973. There's something so eerie about seeing this abandoned carcass of a plane in the middle of nowhere resting on top of black sand, it's also the perfect place for getting some really good photos.
Previously this site wasn't as accessible as you had to walk 4km there and back on very rocky terrain to see the crash, so it really was only suitable for very fit people, especially with the unforgiving winds that will push you back. Now though you can book a shuttle through Arcanum tours for €20.18 per adult and €10.44 per child return. The shuttle runs every 30 minutes, but I would definitely advise to book in advance.
This is absolutely worth seeing, especially if you like photography. You will get out of this world shots here. I recommend wearing a pop of colour going here like red or yellow. It shows up really good in photographs against the eery black sand.
Warning, it is freeeezing here if you go in the winter. It's also by the sea so the wind is out of this world! I'm adding this picture below of this poor person to the right trying to battle their way through the wind lol!
Funny story, Lily's glove literally blew off her hand and Ross ran to get it. He tried to dive for it but missed and was blown down a hill 🤣🤣🤣 Honestly, I think it was the highlight out out trip, I'm devastated I don't have it on camera lol!!
After this windy stop we headed to Vik so we could grab lunch and see the famous Black Sand Beach. Vik was the furthest we had gone on our trip so far and is outside of the Golden Circle. Vik is 187 km or approx. 2h 30 mins from Reykjavic, so I would highly recommend that you stay somewhere on the Golden Circle if you're hoping to visit the famous beach.
We had a lovely lunch in Smidjan Brugghus. This is a cute little Micro Brewery in the middle of Vik where you can get delicious burgers, chips and BBQ style food and try all of their craft beers. You will pay approx. €20 for a burger and chips, €10 for a glass of wine or beer and you can buy some of their cans to take away for approx. €3.50 per can.
After we fueled up, we headed for Reynisfjara beach or better known as the Black Sand Beach. This beach is super famous because.... you guessed it, the sand is black😁! Black sand is formed when volcanic material, such as basalt, rocks and lava is eroded.
This beach has amazing cliffs of basalt columns that look like pyramids and incredible sea stacks right in the middle of the ocean.
Bonus: it's also a GOT filming location!! This beach is shown in episode 5 and 6 of season 7. You will also see it in 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'.
Note it is windy and cold at this beach so please wrap up warm and be careful, don't go too close to the water in winter or enter the caves if the tide is coming in.
Make sure to stop off at the church at Vik for gorgeous views and some pictures too before you go.
Last stop of the day before we fell into bed was Skogafoss waterfall, one of Icelands largest waterfalls. If you go when the sun is shining, keep an eye out for the amazing rainbows it can reflect due to the contant spray of water, you might even be licky enough to see a double rainbow!
This is the waterfall in Game of Thrones that John and Dani fly to with their dragons. It is absolutely stunning and enormous!! I would highly recommend walking up the steps (all 370 of them) to see the waterfall from the top. On your way up, keep an eye out for the troll in the cliff edge!
So, there you have it, our first 3 days of Iceland. My next post will be day 4 - a quick stop to Kerid Crater followed by a full day in Reykjavic. So make sure to subscribe so you don't miss it!!