My Four Day Itinerary for visiting Iceland

Let the Iceland content commence! At the start of January, Stefan and I took a four day trip to Iceland as a 30th Birthday present for myself. I thought I would share my four day itinerary and I’ve also got a fair few other blogposts planned too. There is so much to see and do when visiting Iceland but it is possible to cram a lot in to a short amount of time! We flew from Manchester Airport and booked and EasyJet holiday package. Our flight times were great meaning we had nearly four full days in Iceland!

Visiting in January

Visiting Iceland in January comes with pros and cons. Whilst you’ll more than likely be greeted with a blanket of snow making it a total winter wonderland, the days are a lot shorter with only around 5 hours daylight! It was quite the shock with it being pitch black outside at 9.30am! If visiting in Summer, they have no darkness! Another pro, would be a higher chance of seeing the Northern Lights as the best time for viewing is between September and April (with December and January being the best months). Spoiler Alert: We didn’t see them! The other con for visiting in the height of Winter is the unpredictable weather. Whilst it looks beautiful in the snow, being caught up in snow storm is not fun! We were really lucky with the weather and thought January was an excellent time to visit.

Day 1 – exploring reykjavik

After a slightly delayed 6am flight from Manchester to Keflavik, we caught the FlyBus to Reykjavik. It’s worth noting that the Keflavik International Airport is around a 45 minute drive to the countries capital. The FlyBus seemed like the easiest and cheapest transfer option. It was £30 one way per person to the area of our hotel. It was slightly cheaper to the Reykjavík bus terminal but we got an additional shuttle to our hotel.

We had arrived in Reykjavík for lunchtime meaning there was plenty time for exploring. We stayed at the Center Hotels Arnarhvoll Hotel which was in a brilliant location. I’d say it was quite a basic hotel but for location it was 10/10. After leaving our luggage, it was time to explore!

The first stop was Skólavörðustígur which is Reykjavík’s famous Rainbow Street. This is almost the central hub of Reykjavík with lot’s of souvenir shops, restaurants and overlooked by the famous Hallgrímskirkja church. We then scouted out the famous hot dog stand as per request from Stefan. Hot dog’s aren’t really my thing but it was so highly recommend. Stefan’s review that for £4.45, it’s majorly overhyped but created a nice starter before our actual lunch!

We visited a place called Le Kock for lunch which specialised in burgers, chicken wings and the most incredible deep fried baby potatoes. We both got one of the meal deals which included a burger, potatoes and a drink for around £20 each. I got the greek potatoes and I’ve got to say they were life changing. The deep fried baby potatoes were served with feta cheese, ranch dressing, grapes, peanuts and spring onions. DIVINE. I’d thoroughly recommend a visit as it was pretty affordable too.

After our delicious lunch we headed back up to our hotel to check in to our room before going to the Hallgrímskirkja church. This church is such an iconic building in Reykjavík and can be seen from everywhere. It was close to the sun setting so we bought tickets to go up to the top of the church. This was around £8 each and you took an elevator to a viewing platform. There wasn’t really a sunset but we got to see some amazing panoramic views with the city in a blanket of snow.

Our next activity will not be for everyone. I was adamant I wanted to see some lava on this trip to Iceland so we headed over to the Lava Show. This was in the harbour area which did seem quite far away but we walked. It seemed like it was one big industrial estate but there was a big supermarket and a few attractions such as the Lava Show, FlyOver Iceland, Whales of Iceland and The Northern Lights Centre. The Lava Show was around £35 per person so quite expensive but we learnt quite a lot about volcanoes and lava. When else am I going to see lava so i thought it was worth while!

We tried to get into a few different places to eat and it was super busy (it was a Friday evening) so we shamefully ended up in Hard Rock Cafe. I guess you always know where you stand with a Hard Rock Cafe though. I would like to point out that for Iceland prices, Hard Rock Cafe was really reasonably priced and our two meals cost £42!

As we’d been up since 3.30am, it was time to head to bed. Reykjavík is a pretty small walkable city so everything is mega close to one another and if you was following this itinerary. I would’ve probably done the Hallgrímskirkja church first when we were first at the Rainbow Street and then got dinner after the Lava Show at Le Kock as i feel like we did a lot of walking from one end of the city to the other twice.

Day 2 – south of iceland tour

On our second day in Iceland, we had booked the South of Iceland Tour. I booked this through Bus Travel Iceland on Get Your Guide and would really recommend them as a tour company. We also did the Golden Circle Tour on Day Three but we decided to do the South of Iceland tour first because the weather forecast was better and the South tour seemed more exposed and it was a longer day.

When booking the tour, we paid a little extra to be picked up near our hotel and be the first on the bus. Which I thought was worth it. With hotel pickup, this tour cost £90 each. Once on our way, we were informed it was going to be pretty icy and slippy so I bought some Crampons at our first refreshment break. I’d say they were 100% worth it but to assess whether you need them before you travel as Amazon sell them for a quarter the price!

The first stop was the Skógafoss waterfall which was just utterly beautiful and one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland. We didn’t have enough time but you can climb some stairs and have an aerial view of it too. It was just a complete winter wonderland here. Right by Skógafoss is actually Eyjafjallajökull⁩⁦ which we passed on the coach. This is the famous volcano which erupted and caused international chaos with the volcanic ash cloud!

The next stop was Reynisfjara Beach which is a famous black sand beach. It is also one of the most dangerous beaches too with it’s crazy waves. When we arrived, there was actually a red warning as the waves were pretty full on. They are known for sneaking up on people which is never good! It was amazing to see the black volcanic sands. The beach is right by the village of Vik which is where we had lunch. Stefan and I had done some research and decided to visit the Black Crust Pizzeria as it sells charcoal pizza! It certainly was an interesting lunch but ever so delicious!

Once back on the coach, we went to a viewpoint at the church which overlooked all of Vik. It was beautiful! It was then on to one of my most anticipated stop of the trip; Sólheimajökull glacier! I was desperate to see a glacier on the trip and it did not disappoint! Around a 20 minute walk to the tongue of the glacier, it looked like something I’d only ever seen on TV. You could actually book onto a trip to hike the glacier which would’ve been an incredible experience.

Our final stop on the South Iceland tour was the Seljalandsfoss waterfall. As the sun was setting and it was getting darker, this was the perfect stop off as it was actually slightly lit up. Along with the moon shining brightly above the waterfall. In Summer, you can actually walk behind Seljalandsfoss but as there was too much ice and snow, it wasn’t possible. After this stop off, we then made our way back to Reykjavik – it was around an hour and 45 minutes drive!

Once back in Reykjavik, we went to the Hlemmur Mathöll food hall. There’s actually a few food halls in Reykjavik but we decided to visit this one which i believe it the original one! They had a fair few different food vendors and we started off strong with some Icelandic Fish and Chips. They were actually really nice and this is coming from a seaside gal. We also visited Fuego for some LA-style Tacos and Flatey for Neapolitan style pizza. All the food was super delicious and it was nice to pick up a few different things. Along with two drinks, the food cost £62.

We then went back to our hotel and decided to pay the Sky Lounge bar a visit. They had a late happy hour and we got a cocktail and a glass of prosecco for £12 which I thought was a bargain (well, for Iceland). The views alone at the Sky Lounge are worth it for a visit. The bar also has a terrace which overlooks the harbour – whilst we were on the look out for the Northern Lights, it wasn’t meant to be. I think if they are super strong you’d be able to see them from the Sky Lounge.

DAY 3 – THE GOLDEN CIRCLE TOUR

Day Three and we’re on another tour. Booked through Bus Travel Iceland on Get Your Guide, we were heading on The Golden Circle Tour. This is the most popular tour in Iceland and traditionally it has three stops but we added a visit to the Kerid Crater on to ours. Whilst the tours can be quite expensive and add up if you do a couple, without a car it’s the best way to see so much in one day. Usually, we would opt for car hire but with the wether being so unpredictable in Winter, we decided to book onto the tours. The Golden Circle tour was about £75 per person including pick up from near our hotel.

Once on the coach with the prime front row seat, we were on our way. We opted for the 9am pickup as any earlier and you’re just visiting all these places in complete darkness. The first stop on the Golden Circle tour was Þingvellir National Park. This is a huge historical site as it was where the Icelandic parliament was formed and it also sits on two tectonic plates making it a monumental geological site. The sun hadn’t rose when we got there but it was still such an incredible winter wonderland sight to see. We walked along the North American tectonic plate whilst looking out to no man’s land. In the distance, we could see the Eurasian tectonic plate and they are actually moving apart each year by approx 2cm. I found it all very fascinating and it was amazing to see it all in person.

The coach actually drove us through ‘no man’s land’ and past the Eurasian tectonic plate before heading towards our second stop of the day which was Gullfoss Waterfall. This was one of my favourite spots we visited (after the glacier) as it was just remarkable. Gullfoss falls was so much bigger than i thought it would be and covered in snow, looked so magical. Stefan even said it was a greater sight than the Grand Canyon so there you have it. Gullfoss Falls is certainly a must see when visiting Iceland – you’ll be blown away.

The next stop were the Geysir Hot Springs area. This where they suddenly explode hot water out of the ground every 5 minutes or so. It’s an incredible sight to see and we were lucky to see about 3 or 4 explosions. There is a fair few Geysirs in the area bubbling away but only one was active when we were there. I’ve also got to say it was also a bit smelly so be warned! At the Geysir site is a big complex where we were advised to grab some lunch – be warned however it’s very expensive. So if you are wanting to cut costs, bring a pack up on this tour!

The three aforementioned stops are the traditional Golden Circle tour but we booked one with the added stop off at the Kerid Crater. So far on our trip we’d been really lucky with the weather, it had been mostly dry and not too cold. However, when we got to the Kerid Crated the weather turned with ice rain and gale force winds meaning we didn’t loiter around too long! The Kerid Crater was pretty amazing too see though. There’s usually a lake in the bottom which you can walk down to but this was covered in snow and the path down was quite slippery. I think it would be amazing to come back to all of these places during Summer just to see the difference. However, i did love all the snow and how magical each location felt looking like a winter wonderland.

It was then time to head back to Reykjavik and freshen up before dinner. After mooching around some souvenier stores, we went to dinner at Baka Baka which we had booked. Baka Baka is a bakery in the day and pizzeria in the night. Yes, we had more pizza. As i was feeling under the weather, we got one to share called the Salsiccia which had salsiccia, potatoes, garlic and parmesan. Honestly was delicious but did cost just over £20 for the one pizza.

After dinner, we went to a place for drinks called Hús máls og menningar. It’s a bookstore by day and a bar by night. Every evening they have live music and to be honest, it got pretty wild in there for a Sunday night! The drinks were quite expensive at £32 for an Aperol Spritz and a beer bur we did have live entertainment and it was great fun. I’d definitely recommend a visit if you are in Reykjavik – just be prepared to pay a little more for drinks.

Day 4 – Sky Lagoon & Fly Home

Our fourth and final day started with checking out of our hotel and going to Brauð & Co for some delicious pastries for breakfast. I can’t tell you how many times this place was recommended to me and it’s so worth the visit. We took our pastries down to the waterfront and took some pictures by the Sun Voyager which is a sculpture by Jón Gunnar Árnason.

Our hotel wasn’t too far from there so we went there to call a taxi to the Sky Lagoon. The taxi each way worked out at £25 each way (for a 10 minute journey!!!) but similar to how much it would have been to add a transfer to our ticket. I was ever so excited to visit the Sky Lagoon and it did not disappoint, it was so modern, luxurious and relaxing!

Our ticket to the Sky Lagoon included their seven step ritual which included a cold plunge, sauna (with insane views), exfolitation with a scrub and even a juice shot. I didn’t take any photo’s from this bit as i’d put my phone back in the locker after the first 10 minutes. If you are wanting to use your phone these cases were really good to keep them dry. Whilst we were in the lagoon there was a bar which we got a glass of fizz and a beer to enjoy over the infinity pool. The lagoon actually faces out to the sea which is pretty amazing. Overall, we loved our experience at the Sky Lagoon. If we had more time in Iceland, I’d have loved to have visited the Blue Lagoon also. Even if it was just to compare the two! Going by reviews though, Sky Lagoon seems to have the edge now!

Once back in the city centre, we grabbed one last meal and went to a place called Bastard Brew and Food. I ordered a steak sandwich and Stefan got a burger. The steak sandwich was one of the best things I’ve ever had. The bread that it was on was unreal. It was an excellent way to end our time in Iceland.

We got the Flybus back to Keflavik Airport for our return journey back to the UK. You can find out the times on their website but they don’t always match up with the flights so we did end up loitering in the airport for a good few hours. The airport is huge though with plenty of shops and you can even get a hot dog!

I think we possibly crammed in as much as we could into the four days we were in Iceland. If we had more time I’d have loved to have gone to see some Icelandic Horses, Snowmobiling (although very pricey), visit Diamond Beach and as I said before, visit the Blue Lagoon. It’s definitely a place I’d love to go back to, especially in Summer as all the landscapes would be so different.

Of course, I’ve not really mentioned the Northern Lights. Sadly, the chances were not great as there was so much cloud cover the whole time we were there. I would say the best thing would be to make your evenings flexible and if there is a high possibility it would be pretty easy to get booked onto a trip.

Hopefully if you are visiting Iceland soon, this post will have given you some ideas of what to do and see. If you have any questions, do get in touch in the comments below. I’ve also got posts and videos on my social pages so check them out too!

Stay tuned as lot’s more Iceland posts coming soon!