Last Updated on May 18, 2020 by PowersToTravel
With my Iceland Travel Blog I hope to introduce you to Iceland, a country I have twice visited and love for many reasons. For each trip, I have an itinerary to share which provided me with some valuable lessons learned.
I first visited Iceland in 2004 on an eighteen day circuit of the main part of the island from mid-June to early July. Then in 2012 and newly married, I took my husband Greg to make a circuit of the island as well, this time in only eight days! We traveled in late May.
My parents are photographers, and life moves at a different speed for them – highlighted by the word “slowly”. Life with Greg moves at a much more accelerated pace.
In 2012 Greg and I saw most of the same sights I had seen earlier, and so many MORE! We flew from Boston to Reykjavik, then drove the “Golden Circle,” and headed southeast on Route 1, and then continued that route all the way around Iceland to return to Reykjavik and the Reykjanes peninsula.
Iceland Itinerary, that is to say, “Itineraries”
Many of the places were the same on both trips, but many of the activities changed and certainly the duration of time we spent at each location was different.
First Iceland Itinerary
Here’s the 2004 Itinerary. At the time my parents and I were shocked by the prices, so we tried to economize by staying in camping cottages. I searched for campsites in Iceland, and many campsites also had cottages which had bathrooms and kitchens and bunk beds, to which you needed to bring your own linens. That sure added to the weight of the checked luggage!
- Day 1 – Arrival early morning, Blue Lagoon, to Reykjavik; night at Baldursbra Guest House
- Day 2 – Golden Circle (Thingvellir, Gulfoss, Geysir), night in cottage at Smaratun Farm, Hvolsvollur
- Day 3 – Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, Vik, Dyrholaey; night in Smaratun
- Day 4 – Drive to Kirkjubaerklauster; canyon at Fjadrargljufur, Dverghamrar rock formations; night at Horgsland cottages.
- Day 5 – Drive to Skaftafell National Park, hike, night at Horgsland cottages
- Day 6 – Drive to Skaftafell National Park, Svartifoss hike, night at Horgsland cottages
- Day 7 – Drive to Djupivogur via Jokulsarlon (the Glacial Lagoon) and Hofn; night at Hotel Framtid (there were no cottages/farms at the time)
- Day 8 – Drive to Egilstaddir; night at Skipalaekur Farm
- Day 9 – Drive to Seydisfjordur and see puffins at Borgarfjordur Estri; night at Skipalaekur Farm
- Day 10 – Logarinn lake and Litlanesfoss; night at Skipalaekur Farm
- Day 11 – Drive to Myvatn via Dettifoss and Hverir geothermal area; night at Hotel Reynihlid
- Day 12 – Husavik, Dettifoss again, from the other side of the river; night at Hotel Reynihlid
- Day 13 – Myvatn; night at Hotel Reynihlid
- Day 14 – Drive to Akureyri via Godafoss; night at cottage at Petersbourg Guest House (no longer exists)
- Day 15 – Day trip north to Siglufjordur; night at cottage at Petersbourg Guest House
- Day 16 – Drive south to Reykjavik and Hveragerdi; night at Nupar Cottages in Hveragerdi
- Day 17 – Drive around near coast; night in Hveragerdi
- Day 18 – Fly home
Lessons learned
One gets really tired of cleaning cottages. Each time we left we were required to either pay a hefty cleaning fee, or clean it ourselves, which we did. We got into a rhythm: Mom cleaning the kitchen, Dad sweeping, packing the car, Wendy cleaning the bath, mopping. We could get it done in a half-hour or so.
Second Iceland Itinerary
On this trip with my new husband, I designed a trip to allow him to experience the quaint cottages with their beautiful views and locations, but constrained by time and knowing him, did not want to be doing housework on the vacation! So in 2012, we stayed in two cottages, but spent the rest of the nights in guesthouses or small hotels.
- Day 1 – arrival early morning, swim in the Blue Lagoon, to Reykjavik, Penis Museum (yes, really!); night at Hotel Holt
- Day 2 – Reykjavik, Golden Circle (Thingvellir, Gulfoss, Geysir), Kerid to Smaratun, Hvolsvollur cottage. They have been developing the property and it is so much more a hotel now, than a farm with a bunch of cottages.
- Day 3 – Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss, Dykholaey to Kirkjubaerklauster Hike at Fjadrargljufur, Dverghamrar rock formations. Night at Horgsland Cottages.
- Day 4 – Skaftafell National Park (no hike – cold, wet weather) Jokulsarlon boat tour. Night at Fosshotel Skaftafell.
- Day 5 – Drive to Egilstaddir via Hofn and Djupivogur and onward to Seydisfjordur. Round-trip drive to Borgarfjordur Estri; night at “Hotel Snaefell” building at Hotel Aldan in Seydisfjordur.
- Day 6 – Dettifoss, Hverir geothermal area, Myvatn, Godafoss, Husavik; night at Kaldbaks-kot (we stayed in a guest house which doesn’t seem to be there anymore, just cottages now.)
- Day 7 – Boat trip to Puffin Island and whale watch with Gentle Giants; night at Akureyri, Ongulstaddir, now known as Lamb Inn
- Day 8 – Drive to Reykjavik, stopping at Glaumbaer Folk Museum, Hvítserkur Sea Stack, Glymur Waterfall hike (never made it to the waterfall, I chickened out before the river – it was late in the day anyway) to Keflavik, to Hotel Berg.
- Day 9 – Fly home
Lessons Learned from two very different trips
- Rent an SUV – on my parents’ trip we rented a station wagon (cost savings) but with our SUV in 2012, Greg and I were able to get off of the highway at times to investigate an interesting road. We had some great experiences I didn’t have in 2004 (like a skua body-surfing on the top of your vehicle!)
- Do not forget to bring very thick Hefty lawn bags! Normal black garbage bags won’t cut it – you need to splurge and buy the most durable/thick you can find. Bring at least 3 or 5. I’ve written an entire article you won’t want to miss about how to sleep in the midnight sun.
- You don’t need 18 days to see a whole lot! But give yourself more than 8 days in order to get in some great hikes.
- Cottages generally have bunk beds and require cleaning. That wouldn’t suit newlyweds, so Greg and I were happy with our small hotels in 2012.
- May doesn’t have biting flies.
- June has great flowers. The lupines in the fields made for some fantastic photography in June 2004; in May 2012 when Greg and I went, summer was just peaking in and we didn’t see any lupines.
- Be prepared to buy a hot tub when you return. That happened both times to me! They are awesome.
- Don’t think you’ll do sightseeing on your first day (after not having gotten any sleep on the airplane). The guesthouses or hotels on both occasions let us in early (just after lunch as I recall) and both times the men (Dad on the first trip, and Greg on the second trip) just couldn’t be roused until dinner time. I was raring to go after a two hour nap but they were dead to the world.
- Hold onto your kids; hold onto each other – there are few railings at the waterfalls and they can be quite scary.
I have not yet gotten to the Snaefellsness Peninsula, the Westfjords or the Vestmannaeyjar Islands. I am so anxious to return to Iceland; it’s just so costly.
I wrote a lot in a private journal about the 2004 trip, but haven’t published it yet. I guess with so many other places we visit, a trip that long ago just slips to the bottom of the list for writing. But because so much was the same then as in 2012, I should get it out and get it in print!
I am planning a week long trip this June to Iceland, and my son has type 1. I have deep fear that something will happen and we will lose the supplies. He will have a pump at that point. Do you know if the pharmacies take american insurances? Any suggestions (other than obviously… don’t lose sight of the supplies?)