Our 4 day Iceland Trip, July 2026
About us: two friends from new york city who love to travel and decided to get out of America over july fourth weekend :) We’re big walkers and foodies. We used reddit heavily for our trip planning so we decided to give back to the community with our full itinerary and tips below!
Day 1 (Thursday) - Arrival, Sky Lagoon, Reykjavik
- Our flight arrived around 9:30am and it took way longer than expected to get through passport control so we were an hour late to our Sky Lagoon reservation. We called and they were understanding.
- Picked up our Blue Car rental which was quick and easy, a few steps from the airport. Quick drive to the lagoon.
- Sky Lagoon was AMAZING! Definitely order the morning moments breakfast package. Don’t sleep on the rituals, the scrub was divine.
- We got to Reykjavik around 3pm to check into the City Center hotel. Funky cute hotel but excellent location. We explored the city for a few hours and did some light shopping.
- Dinner at Skal! was absolutely incredible. We booked a few weeks out. Best beef tartare and roast lamb ever.
- Passed out early this night from the long travel / jet lag.
Day 2 (Friday) - Golden Circle pt 1, Westman Islands Overnight
- Started the morning with coffee from Reykjavik Roasters and a bakery crawl. Braud & Co for cinnamon bun and chili cheese twist. Sandholt for hot cross bun - this one was so good we ended up coming back.
- We began our drive along the golden circle towards the Landeyjahöfn ferry port. Beautiful views everywhere! Obsessed with the roadside purple flowers all over.
- First we stopped in Hveragerdi for waterfalls and thermal pools, though we didn’t hike all the way up. We drove to Selfoss and stopped for a late lunch at the Mjolkurbuid food hall. Fish and chips were solid.
Next stop was Uridafoss waterfall. We continued driving and had to pull over to take pics with stunning roadside horses! Last waterfall of the day was Aegissidufoss, then we loaded with our car onto the ferry.
- The 5pm ferry to Westman Island was charming and very easy. When we arrived we checked into Hotel Vestmannaeyjar and then quickly turned around to explore the island before dinner. We hiked around the Flakkarin area which had absolutely stunning views.
-Made our way to Naes for dinner - we did not have a reservation but we were very lucky to get a table around 8:30pm. They had a special tasting menu for the 53rd anniversary of the end of the volcanic eruption. It was incredible! Really nice fine dining vibes but also felt very local - everyone there seemed to know everyone!
- Lastly took advantage of the midnight sun and explored the island some more. Got in our car and drove up towards the puffin lookout, not the best at night for spotting birds, but still had amazing sunset views. We ended the evening at Brothers Brewery and watched the world cup with the locals. Their local brew was crisp and delicious.
Day 3 (Saturday) - Golden Circle pt 2, Reykjavik
- We had a quick hotel breakfast (included!) and then did some heavy island exploration this morning starting with elephant rock and heading all the way up to the puffin lookout. Pro tip - we had better puffin viewing at the spot half way up (near the “tractor in the cliff” on google maps.
- Finished the morning with an amazing coffee and fresh pretzel at Vigtin Bakhaus - do not miss this local spot!
- Took the 1pm ferry back to the mainland and headed straight to Seljalandsfoss. WOW this was like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Wear your rain gear here.
- Decided on a whim to drive to Fridheimer tomato greenhouse for some afternoon tomato soup and bruchetta. So delicious and very cool to walk through the huge greenhouses.
- Last stops of the day included Kerid Crater and Thingvellir National Park. Both beautiful site seeing and photo ops.
- Made it back to Reykjavik by about 8pm to check into Hotel Eyja. This hotel was very nice but a bit further from the city center. Dinner at ROK was tasty - we had mixed opinions on the cured reindeer but the salmon was incredible.
Day 4 (Sunday) - Departure
- Another trip to Sandholt for more coffee and pastries before heading to the airport. Sad to leave but fit a lot into a small amount of time!!
Overall Tips
- Rent a car
- Make dinner reservations
- Bring layers, more types than you think you need. We got lucky with mostly 50° sun, but some areas of wind made it chillier than expected.
- Bring an eye mask to sleep! The midnight sun, while stunning, is no joke. Only one of our hotels provided them so do not count on that - the “blackout” shades at the hotels were also a little iffy so the mask was extra crucial.