If you read my post, “30 before 30,” I mentioned I would be celebrating my big THIRTIETH birthday in ICELAND with M! I thought it was important to share with you our actual Iceland Road Trip in 4 Days itinerary since I already shared our “planned itinerary” with you in the previous post because we all know our “planned itineraries” are different from “actual itineraries.” 🙂
Remember when I said when we booked our flights for Thailand, how I had major anxiety and was growing more nervous as the departure date came closer and closer? But, once I got there it was amazing and literally (one) of the BEST vacations of my life? Well, I wasn’t able to experience that level of anxiety towards our Iceland trip mostly because we booked our flights eight days before we left. Yes, you read that right…EIGHT DAYS.
Now, you all know how much of a planner I am and how booking a vacation eight days before take off is definitely not my style. But, with such little time to plan and schedule things, this surprisingly did not produce a bunch of anxiety for me. Believe it or not, I was pretty calm…like booking our last hotel a day before we took off calm (who am I?!).
OKAY enough jibber jabber, I know you all are like “let’s get to the itinerary already!!” So, here we go. Day-by-Day for you all, enjoy!!
Day One
Friday, 10/11
Our flight landed in Keflavik International Airport around 0630-0700 on Friday, 10/11 after departing from Chicago O’hare airport at 1945 on Thursday, 10/10/2019. The flight was around 6-6.5 hours long and welp we were V sleep deprived when we landed to say the least haha. Passport customs here went SO smooth…maybe because it was 0630 in the morning, maybe they’re just efficient here but I.WAS.IMPRESSED. We then wandered around the airport to receive my checked bag (it was a small plane, and they made me check my carry-on suitcase free of charge). Afterwards, we exchanged cash.
And headed off to receive our rental car. We booked our rental car when we booked our flights so we had it secured before we landed. M and I decided to rent from Sixt Rent-a-Car because one of my friends rented from Sixt and it was one of the cheapest companies to rent a mid-size SUV. Little did we know (it does not say anything on the websitue) we had to wait outside the airport for an airport shuttle to pick us up (which comes “every 15 minutes,” per the airport information desk). We were not prepared with layers to be standing outside for “15 minutes,” I keep quoting that time because it was more like 30 minutes of standing out in the cold, windy Icelandic air. Maybe that was our fault we weren’t prepared but several people standing with us weren’t prepared either.
Anyway, once we got to Sixt Rent-a-Car to pick up our car, the company hiiiiighly pushed rental car insurance and our experience was not pleasant. We luckily have insurance through the credit card we booked our flights/rental car on, but the company was not pleased with this. Sixt strongly pushed car insurance for “sun damage and car protection.” We both looked at each other and though, “sun damage??..C’mon.” We went ahead and did NOT buy extra car insurance, and we were okay with this. Although I will say, when we were driving around on our road trip we did see two cars pulled on the side of the road for flat tires. Car insurance would be EXTREMELY helpful in Iceland if it is not included in your credit card benefits.
As you can tell by our itinerary, we were supposed to hit the ground running and finish the Golden Circle drive because that is what I read on several other blogs.
We immediately drove to Reykjavik (around 45 minutes) to a gas station to “pick up food.” We ended up getting two Subway footlong sandwiches and one water (which cost us $35.00) because our bodies were so “off” and we were so hungry and sleep deprived.
Afterwards, neither of us were safe to drive due to exhaustion so we parked the car at a random hotel parking lot in downtown Reykjavik and took a nap (liiiiiike a two hour nap hahaa). We woke up around 1400 and took off towards the Golden Circle (around an hour and a half drive to our first stop).
As you can see from our itinerary, there are many stops on the Golden Circle Drive and usually takes about 5 hours to complete (if you stop and get out and visit all of the attractions). If you do not want to get out and see attractions, they say it can take around 3 hours to complete. We were pressed due to time/sunset and still not feeling 100% so we did the following:
- First Stop: Geysir Hot Springs and Stokkur
- Strokkur hot spring is about 30-50 feet from Geysir Hot Springs and erupts every 4-6 minutes. *Sometimes, giving you a double eruption 🙂
- Important: the water in Strokkur hot springs (or any hot springs) can be up to 176-194 degrees fahrenheit (hence the steam) and can be dangerous if you are too close. When we were there, the Strokkur erupted up to 100 feet in the air and one of the ladies standing next to the rope got wet and ended up dropping her phone due to the heat. So please, be careful.
- Free parking and bathrooms here. Restaurant on site. Can hike here.
- Second Stop: Gullfoss Waterfall
- This attraction was beautiful. Picture below.
- Free parking, no bathrooms or food/drink.
- About 10 minute drive from Geysir Hot Springs/Strokkur
Due to M and I wanting to check-in to our hotel prior to sunset, we headed towards our hotel (Flosshotel Hekla) and checked-in around 1800. WiFi, breakfast and parking were included in the hotel cost. We enjoyed happy hour (1600-1830; buy one beer, get one free) and ate dinner at the hotel afterwards (1900-2100). We each drank the Icelandic beer (Hull and Buli) and each had a cup of lobster soup ($17.00/cup). We later toured the hotel and went to bed. Some information regarding our hotel:
- Horses on site
- Sauna, two hot tubs and changing room outside of hotel
- Comfortable beds
- Room was very warm and hard to regulate room temperature
- Thin hotel walls
- Check out 1200
- Friendly staff, clean rooms
Day Two:
Saturday, 10/12
We decided ahead of time to try and sleep in on this vacation as we wanted it to be more leisurely. We are breakfast at hotel (0700-1000). Decent spread of food, a lot of homemade breads, hot breakfast (bacon, eggs), waffles and yogurt. We packed the car and took off for our second day of road tripping in Iceland at 1100. We began the Ring Road Road Trip.
- First Stop: Seljalandsfoss Waterfall (~45 minute drive from hotel).
- Beautiful huge waterfall you are able to see from Ring Road
- Parking is $6.00 for the close parking lot (everyone parks here)
- Bathrooms and coffee/quick bite food available
- You can walk behind the waterfall (must do)
- Suggest: waterproof shoes/boots, ponchos, thick waterproof gloves, waterproof or thick pants as it is cold and wet here
- Second Stop: Glijufrabui Waterfall (secret waterfall about ⅓ to the left of Seljalandsfoss Waterfall).
- Walk through the gorge and you will be able to be right in and/or in front of the Glijufrabui Waterfall
- Suggest: waterproof phone case, gloves, shoes (must) and thick/waterproof pants as it is cold and wet in the gorge/waterfall
- Third Stop: Seljavallalaug Hot Springs (aka Iceland swimming pool ~20 minute drive from Seljalandsfoss and Glijufrabui Waterfalls).
- Gravel road off of Ring Road, LOTS of potholes, be careful on this road
- Free parking and around 15-20 minute walk with some incline and rocks to get to the hot spring—beautiful scenery
- Pretty secluded, only around 10 other people there when we were
- Algae on the bottom of pool, kind of gross M said
- Changing rooms provided, kind of old and run down…no bathrooms, doors do not lock
- Bring swimsuit and towel with you if you plan to get in
- Fourth Stop: Skogafoss Waterfalls (~10 minute drive from hot springs).
- Huge waterfall you are able to see from Ring Road
- Free parking and bathrooms on site
- You are able to walk up to waterfall and around the ~1000 stairs to the right of the waterfall (sounds and looks intimidating but you can do it!)
- Once you are up the stairs, you can see the waterfall from above, Ring Road and ocean across the way
- Hike the paths at the top of the waterfall. More waterfalls on the hike you are able to view from above (beautiful, highly recommend)
- Fifth Stop: Black Sand Beach (~30 mins from Skogafoss Waterfall and 10 minutes from our hotel).
- Beautiful black sand/rock beach
- Wall of rocks to take photos of
- Waves are pretty powerful, please be careful
- Free parking, cafe on site (bathrooms available to customers only)
- On the way to the beach, the roads are winding and you are in a mountain
- This is a pretty quick stop
- Sixth Stop: Hotel Kria (located in the town Vik, Iceland).
More modern/new hotel, well decorated. Hotel Kria is V clean with friendly staff. We checked in around 1745 and was able to enjoy happy hour at the bar for 15 mins (1530-1800). We had two beers and went to dinner in the hotel restaurant (connected to hotel bar). This restaurant area had beautiful views of the mountain nearby the hotel but the food was very pricey (like everything else). Since it was my birthday dinner, we decided to eat well. We each got the “house soup” and it was phenomenal. M enjoyed the lamb and my chicken entree was delicious. It is a fancier place, so the food was displayed as such as well (M had like two pieces of lamb for his entree for example hahaha). Anyway, dinner cost us about $120.00. We later went to bed.
- Free parking and Wifi. Breakfast buffet included in our hotel price
- Comfortable beds
- Amazing views of the mountains in Vik
- Checkout 1100
- TV was not easy to use, so we didn’t use it haha
Day Three:
Sunday, 10/13
Woke up around 0800-0830. Went downstairs for breakfast buffet. Buffet included hot breakfast (pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, beans), homemade breads, yogurt, fruit and cereals. Breakfast is from 0700-1000. We left the hotel around 1100 and headed back to Reykjavik (2.5 hour scenic drive). For reference, a half tank of gas in Vik will cost you around $50.00. Gas stations are few and far between, so fill up when you see one. We drove right to our last hotel since check in was at 1400 and that was our estimated arrival time in Reykjavik.
We stayed at 22 Hill Hotel in Reykjavik, Iceland. Review will be on Day Four when we check out.
- First stop: Old Harbour and AEgir free walking tour
- About 15 minute walk to downtown Reykjavik and to our meeting point
- Met at Laekjartorg Square by the green clock at the end of Icelands most popular shopping street (Laugaveguar street)
- Tour is 90 mins long, all outside and ending inside the brewery with your tour guide as your bartender
- Great walk, free, good selection of beer at the end (that you have to pay for)
- Second stop: “Bastard” Restaurant
- Happy hour until 1900, so we chose here to eat
- Good bar food, good selection of drinks
- Outside smoking area, if needed
- Cozy, close quarters
- Third stop: back to 22 Hill Hotel to sleep!
Day Four:
Monday, 10/14
Woke up around 0700 and ate breakfast buffet. This was the saddest breakfasts we’ve had on a vacation. They basically offered homemade bread, yogurt with an option of parfait and scarce options for fruit. I wouldn’t stay at this hotel simply because of the breakfast option, this was not good.
- Checkout 1200
- Comfortable beds
- Unfriendly front staff
- Free parking (we were also there on a Sunday though so it’s free everywhere). Front staff claimed it was free every day, some reviews I read said you had to pay for parking? I would check into this if you plan on staying there
- Unsatisfactory breakfast “buffet” included in hotel cost
- Free Wifi
- Clean hotel
- Elevator was under construction, had to use the stairs (which was fine we were only on floor 2) and prefer stairs anyway
- 15 minute walk from downtown
We quickly went back to our room, packed up our things and were on our way to the Blue Lagoon (https://www.bluelagoon.com) by 0800. Our Blue Lagoon appointment was at 0900 and I will be doing a different blog post on our Blue Lagoon experience, so STAY TUNED!! The drive from our hotel in Reykjavik to Blue Lagoon was around 45 mins.
After the Blue Lagoon, we drove to Keflavik international airport, checked in to our flight, souvenir shopped, exchanged our money back to USD currency and boarded our plane at 1645. Sixt Rent-a-Car staff were not pleasant when we returned the car (even though our car was spotless, clean and no damage). Personally, M and I do not plan to rent from this rental agency again. Poor experience with Sixt customer service. Anyway, Keflavik airport is V clean and easy to navigate.
There it is! Four day road trip in Iceland! 🙂 Overall, we could’ve squeezed more things in and went farther south west, but we also wanted it to be more of a leisure vacation and not jam packed as M was going right back to work on Tuesday, 10/15.
*We downloaded the apps “Aurora”and “Appy Hour” on our phones prior to our Iceland trip. Aurora app was helpful in providing us the percentage/chance we would see the Northern Lights each night. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy to see them when we were there—-huge bummer.) The Appy Hour app lets you now where the best happy hour options are close to your current area, if you are interested in that.
-Are you planning a trip to Iceland? If so, let me know if you have any questions via comment or email! I would love to hear from you. Have you been to Iceland? What was your favorite part? Did you rent a car too or did you do scheduled tours?
-Please do not forget, all photos are my own. Please do not duplicate without proper credit.
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XO
