u/borritokwokamole

Posted before our trip for itinerary feedback. We made some revisions and here to report back! We were there June 4-11. Overall: 10/10 trip and we haven’t stopped talking about making plans to return so we can explore the rest of the country.

Packing

• Layers: Truly the key as is with any cold place. This means merino base layer, fleece mid layer, waterproof AND windproof shell. The windproof part is important. We used our rain pants almost every day as well. Do you need them? Maybe not depending on the weather, but it helped make us be way more comfortable (and dry) in the car. We changed out our base layers daily and alternated between two mid layers so they could air out in between wears. There were occasional times it felt warm enough to only wear a base layer; I didn’t bring any short-sleeved shirts but I recommend it for the “summer.” The main thing is how unpredictable the weather is, so pack for versatility.
• Shoes: We brought sneakers, waterproof sandals, and waterproof hiking boots. Changed into the boots as needed, otherwise stayed in sneakers for driving and easier walks. Wore sandals in hotel rooms and hot springs.
• Towels: You can rent them in many places but not everywhere. It was just nice to have; travel towels are very lightweight and dry quickly, so it wasn't a big deal to bring.
• Gloves: We didn’t use them that much but when we did, they were very helpful (e.g. it was raining during our Zodiac boat tour, definitely kept our hands warmer). Liner gloves don’t add much weight or take up space in your luggage, I would recommend bringing a pair.
• Neck gaiter/balaclava: Helped for longer excursions outdoors when there could be strong winds. 
• Beanies: It was nice to have when we weren’t wearing our shells but otherwise, our hoods did the job.
• Swimwear: One was enough. You shower before and after anyway. We brought hangers and hung them up (along with our towels) in the car during the day.
• Sleeping masks: never used them, the curtains in the hotels were sufficient and honestly we were tired enough each night to fall/stay asleep.

Quick note about lodging: As I said in my first post, we had a limitation on hotels because we wanted to redeem points so we “had to” stay in Reykjavik for 5 consecutive nights. We stayed in Vik for the first two nights. All of our hotels included breakfast.

On to our itinerary recap! 

Day 1: Arrival

• Red-eye from the US (~8 hr flight), arrived at KEF at 9 AM. The airport was easy to navigate. Picked up our car rental from Blue, which was seamless as well.
• Grabbed a bite from Kokulist nearby and started driving towards Vik.
• We stopped for quick sights along the way and ate lunch in Selfoss - we loved Pylsuvagninn.
• Checked into Hotel Vik. Took out our waterproof clothes and switched into boots.
• 4PM - Ice cave tour with KatlaTrack.
  • Review: It was a rather warm afternoon so the caves were quite wet. It took about 3 hours in total; we napped a little on the shuttle bus going there and back. Our tour guide was very nice and knowledgeable. It was a brief trek up and down from the caves. They provide helmets with a headlamp and cramp-ons. Yes, the ice is slippery. There is a rope you can hold onto but I wouldn’t bring anyone that has a hard time going up/down a steep incline. Rating: 3/5, would have enjoyed it more if it was colder/drier (so maybe don’t go in June)
• Dinner at Black Crust (they share a building with KatlaTrack).
• Ended the day strolling around Kronan for snacks.
• Side note: We did struggle to sleep on the flight because it was HOT on our aircraft, but despite that, the drive was not difficult at all and my husband still thinks we could have driven to Glacier Lagoon as originally planned. I took a nap in the car just in case he got tired and wanted to switch drivers. That being said, I am glad we decided to stop in Vik.

Day 2: Vatnajökull National Park

• Drove towards Glacier Lagoon. We stopped at Fjaðrárgljúfur, Eldhraun, Stjórnarfoss, Kirkjugólf, and Fossálar. The only one with a bit more walking was Fjaðrárgljúfur but it was our favorite stop.
• 1:50 PM - Zodiac boat tour with Arctic Adventures.
  • Review: They gave us flotation suits so don’t worry about being too cold. We witnessed an iceberg flipping over and also saw curious seal pups. The ride is not super smooth so caution if you have any elderly or difficulty keeping balance. Rating: 4.5/5, with all the gear on + rain it was hard to maneuver on the boat but otherwise it was a fantastic experience
• We ended up spending quite a bit of time afterwards on Diamond Beach. Ate our packed lunches from Kronan and just watched the icebergs move.
• We were planning to go to Skaftafell on the way back to Vik but I didn’t want to do it in torrential downpour, which started as we got into the parking lot.
• Dinner at The Soup Company. This is where we learned how much Iceland likes soup, at least on the southern coast. I think we had soup every day. And oftentimes, it's AYCE. And portions were not as small as I anticipated.
• Went to Reynisfjara and checked out Hálsanefshellir. Very pretty but if you didn’t know, there's not much sand left and more of a pebbly beach.
• Checked into Hotel Kria. Why did we switch hotels? Short answer: my husband couldn’t choose. We enjoyed both - both of our rooms had a mini fridge and were two twin beds pushed together. We enjoyed breakfast at Vik more but liked the vibe at Kria more.
• NOTE: Reynisfjara Viewpoint has restricted hours during nesting season. We saw fewer puffins than hoped and it was very windy up there. We also realized you can’t actually get that close to the birds (which makes sense) and everyone’s beautiful photos were likely not taken on a phone - which is all we had. Still, they were very cute and worth fighting the winds/rain.

Day 3: Chasing Waterfalls

• 9 AM - Vik Horse Adventure. ~1 hr ride on Víkurfjara.
  • Review: Icelandic horses are different and much smoother than what we’ve ridden before. Someone’s horse did freak out and she fell off but luckily she was experienced and was not injured. It also started pouring rain towards the end of our ride so it was very cold and wet. We continued to find horsehair in the car for the remainder of the trip lol. Rating: 3.5/5, once again our experience was a bit stifled by weather, and also you rode in a line and you really can’t hear the tour guide speaking if you weren’t the first two people.
• I think we checked out 7 waterfalls this afternoon. Of course, it included the most popular ones like Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss. Gljúfrabúi was cool but unfortunately our timing meant it was flooded with tourists trying to get their Instagram shot. Our favorites of the day were Írárfoss and Urriðafoss. We only encountered one other group of people at those spots and otherwise enjoyed the views to ourselves. We never felt rushed from one place to another and truly the waterfalls were unreal.
• Dinner at Eldstó Art Cafe - just stopped when we felt hungry on the way towards the city. It was a lovely meal.
• Checked into the Konsulat Hotel, which would be our homebase for the rest of the week.

Day 4: Golden Circle

• Swung by Brauð & Co since it was only a few minutes walking distance from our hotel. Honestly? It was okay. We don’t understand the hype.
• 10:15 AM - Laugharvatn Fontana, geothermal bakery tour.
  • Review: It was fun. I don’t like rye bread but this was delicious, probably because it was so fresh. We planned to go to the baths as well but they were under renovation, so I guess we will have to return next time to check it out. Rating: 4/5, we each had at least 3 slices of bread with yummy butter and smoked trout. The “tour” itself was short but learning about the process of making the bread was cool. It would be a really great experience with the bath.
• Þingvellir National Park - we’ve been to Yellowstone and the scenery is sort of similar.
• Brúarfoss was very pretty, very blue.
• Gullfoss was very impressive. Cloudy weather meant no rainbow, but we still liked it.
• Waited about 30 minutes for a table at Fridheimar. My husband LOVED it - he had 5 bowls…definitely delicious tomatoes but it’s not for everyone. Their skewer add-ons are tiny and not worth the price. Salad was the best caprese-style we’ve had. 
• We sort of food-coma’d after this, took a nap in the car, then went to Secret Lagoon. 
  • Review: It was a bit crowded but family-friendly. We enjoyed going between the cold plunge and hot tub more than the natural spring. Rating: 3/5, definitely saw people not showering beforehand.
• Dinner at Seabaron. Yeah, we knew it was touristy. Not really worth it for a fish skewer. We also grabbed a hot dog from Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur which had a stand right next to our hotel because why not.

Day 5: Snæfellsnes Peninsula

• Highlights: Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge, Svöðufoss and Kerlingarfoss
• Had lunch at Stapinn in Arnastapi.
• Kirkjufell was a beautiful sight and as we drove away we kept discussing whether we should have planned to hike/climb it.
• Grabbed a hot dog from Mastro in Grundarfjörður for dinner and it was both of our favorite Icelandic dogs of the trip.

Day 6: City Day

• This was like our “rest” day where we slept in and just walked around Reykjavik.
• We loved Mjúk.
• Obviously we had to check out the Phallological Museum. It was interesting but a lot.
• We enjoyed a midday bath in our hotel's spa, a happy hour drink, and then walked to Skal!
  • Review: I made the reservation 2 months in advance and one week before, they emailed me that they were going to be doing a special event with a local winemaker. They allowed us to do the tasting menu without the wine pairings (because I don’t really drink). We were skeptical because we’ve gone to a lot of nice places before but Skal lived up to expectations. Amazing meal. We would love to go back without the limited menu offerings. Rating: 4.5/5, once every table was filled for the evening, it got so stuffy in there my husband got a massive headache and was not okay for the rest of the night. Maybe it was because of the event, there were many diners who were friends with the restaurant staff or winemakers and they were just standing between tables drinking and chatting.

Day 7: What did we miss?

• We originally planned to do the Glymur hike and after seeing more and more posts about it, we will definitely do it next time. However, we learned about Laugarás Lagoon the day before and were so curious we pivoted our entire last day plans to check it out.
  • Review: Laugarás Lagoon was perfect. We went in the morning so it was quieter and maybe fewer people know about it yet. Rating: 5/5 lagoon experience. The facility was beautiful. And the cherry on top was Ylja, the restaurant attached. Easily the best meal we had. No notes.
• We decided to give Þingvellir another drive through. Still not our favorite spot of the trip.
• Did a walk through the Geothermal Exhibition which was cool but definitely less exciting unless you’re very into the subject.
• Did an evening soak at Hvammsvik (we had already booked it in advance). It was a different experience from Secret and Laugarás and we’re glad we tried them all. It was fairly cold out so walking between the various pools was not the most fun but the views here were unbeatable. We ended up eating at their bistro for dinner as well.
• We had also planned to go to the Reykjadalur River at some point in the week but the lack of facilities made me hesitant as well as the hike. Do you change at the bottom? Change when you get to the river? Logistically I just didn’t want to deal with it since the weather was changing so often.

Day 8: Departure

• Grabbed a bagel from DEIG Workshop, got gas at Costco on the way, then to the airport.
• Security moves slowly so make sure you allow yourself plenty of time. We had to go through passport control a second time in our terminal as well but there wasn’t really a queue for that.

Other Comments

• Weather: It wasn’t that cold, but the wind definitely makes it feel more biting. There is always a threat of rain. Being prepared made for a more comfortable time for us.
• Roads/Driving: In general, roads are gravelly and the speed limits are lower than in the US but it wasn’t challenging to drive. The country is breathtaking (and there are so many sheep in June) that we were never bored on the road. Slower speeds actually allowed us to enjoy the scenery more and it didn’t feel taxing to drive the long distances. We highly recommend renting a 4x4 for flexibility of going on the F roads. Blue was very easy for our car rental.
• Gas: We had no issues with this. We were able to use a credit card everywhere. Maybe this is different in other parts of the country. 
• Food: Yes, food is expensive. We didn’t have the option to cook but we were prepared to spend. If you’re camping or have a kitchenette in your lodging accommodations, that would definitely help with food costs. I’m sure this will bother literally nobody else but we kept seeing “paninis” on the menu and they are not paninis. As a lover of grilled sandwiches, this was disappointing.
• A/C: Basically no A/C anywhere. We kept the windows open until we went to sleep. Would have left them open if the birds weren’t screaming (we love them). In some places, it did feel a bit stuffy after staying awhile because we’re not used to the lack of air circulation. I wish we brought a travel fan.
• Coffee: According to my husband, okay at best. We stopped getting coffee after a few days of disappointment. I am not a coffee drinker so I have no comments myself.
• Midnight sun: Amazing; it was never truly dark the entire time we were there. Really helps you maximize your trip.

Thank you so much to this community for sharing helpful information. We changed our trip destination multiple times for various reasons and planned this trip in about a week, just 2 months before the trip - which is very tight for us but it worked out only because of this subreddit. So big thank you to all of you guys, and we’re so grateful to have been able to experience some of Iceland. Can’t wait to go back!

P.S. I am aware our photos are way inferior to many we’ve seen on here so I apologize for that but wanted to share some anyway. We took the most photos on this trip than anywhere else we’ve gone before and it's making us laugh how poor quality many of our snaps were. We for sure did not do the views justice.

ETA: corrected a comment about soups haha.

Garden party attire for a June wedding, outdoor venue. I just don't want to be that guest. Both dresses are from Sugarlips.