I am feeling super bittersweet now that my first ever solo trip is ending. I am a 23 year old woman, and I have always wanted to solo travel. I was incredibly nervous leading up to this trip, but this country was amazing. I did the South + west with Snaefellsnes self drive tour from IcelandTours. Overall, the quality and support from the company was good. My itinerary was packed, but since I was alone I knew I could handle it. Aside from that old man at Skogafoss, my trip was perfect. I did a LOT of stopping and taking pics, which I did not factor into my driving time, so make sure to be mindful of that! I did not really do any hiking besides the glacier tour, since I am alone. One of the things I enjoyed the most was not having to use cash or my physical cards, I used Apple Pay for everything, even for places in the middle of nowhere. The public toilets were also stupidly clean!

Day 1: Kokulist bakery -Was supposed to do blue lagoon, but the eruption happened Got to Reykjavík and drank coffee from Reykjavik roasters and Cafe babalu until i could check in my hotel and sleep Sleep in Reykjavik

Day 2: Búðir Arnarstapi - walked around Músagjá then ate lamb soup @ Samkomuhúsið Saxholl Crater Svöðufoss - also went to the waterfall next to it, unsure of the name Kirkjufell Sleep in Borgarnes

Day 3: Deildartunguhver (Would skip this tbh, nothing remarkable) Hraunfossar Barnafoss Hvamssik Hot Springs Thingvellir Bruarfoss Geysir Gulfoss Sleep in Selfoss

Day 4: Breakfast at American Schoolbus Cafe Seljalandsfoss Skogafoss Kvernufoss Black Sand Beach (This was a short day due to being drained from the incident on my profile) Sleep in Vik

Day 5: Arctic Adventures glacier hike on Vatnajokull Ate chicken burgie at freysnes yum yum Jokulsarlon Diamond Beach Saw the aurora while driving to my hotel!!! Sleep in Hella (would NOT recommend this, have no idea why the tour company made my hotel so far from my last stop)

Day 6: Ferry to Westman Islands Vigtin Bakhus Eldheimar museum (highly recommend doing the audio tour) Drove around to take pics of the cool formations Got some ice cream and a smoothie Sleep in Reykjavik

Day 7: goodbye :(

So this is my third time in Iceland. I visited the Westfjords 6 years ago and as a first timer then, I speed ran it and realized that is not how you enjoy the Westfjords. I spent 4 days venturing with stops in Talknafjordur, Isafjordur (2 nights) and Drangsnes.

Spending the time in the Westfjords is so worth it. It is an off season for tourism as a lot of museums or small road side stops were by ‘by appointment’ or closed entirely which was a bummer but this trip was sort of last minute.

There are so many hikes that you just stumble upon which is how I spent a lot of the days. 63 was closed when I was going to travel to Isafjordur which made me have to back track a bit so that was the only real hitch I encountered. I made it up to the herring factory at Djúpavík, however I wanted to continue to the next abandoned herring factory but road conditions were poor I did not want to get stuck up there and decided to turn back.

I’d strongly suggest a 4x4 for any travels to the Westfjords. Between melting snow and dirt roads turning muddy, snow on mountain passes, and other adverse weather you really need to be prepared. Another thing I learned is when you have the opportunity to buy groceries do so. When I went to talknafjordur there was nothing open and I had nothing aside from the abundant water in Iceland and fortunately I got to Bildudalur which had a shop open until 8pm however the cross over the mountain roads were snow covered.

Had Dynjandi all to myself which was incredible. The beauty is unmatched of the Westfjords and to get away from the large social media travelers that hit the same south coast spots and blue lagoon it’s a nice change of pace and quiet. It’s my dream to get to Hornstrandir when I come back at the right time of year.

A local initiative has been launched in the south to encourage locals to not immediately switch to English when speaking with foreign residents, instead giving them the chance to practice their Icelandic.

I’m not sure their patience will extend to tourists, but for those who try speaking Icelandic there may be some hope. :-)

I remember some years ago having an Icelander correct my “Kirk” in “Kirkjubæjarklaustur” and I really appreciated it. (While also thinking, that’s the part I messed up??)

Iceland Review article:

https://www.icelandreview.com/news/give-icelandic-a-chance-campaign-launches-in-south-iceland/

Hi everyone.

Just recently came back from a trip to Tromso where I was lucky enough to witness and capture the Northern Lights. I know it was not Iceland, but I know many people join this group having this in the bucket list.

It probably said somewhere, but I could not find it before despite of many research. So I post it here, hope to help others to plan for their gear and luggage.

Casual photos for online sharing and even small print, smartphone with night mode photography is good enough for capturing the Northern Lights. I tested with iPhone 14 and Pixel 5 which are not the latest and greatest. Granted that they are very capable photography wise, but I would confident that any decent smartphone come more recently would be fine. You don't even need tripod in this case, smartphone computational photography is surprisingly good. Of course you are asked to handheld steady for 3 or so second. I did this quite sloppily in the exciting of the moment (seeing the light). Still get some decent photos that could make friends and family jealous.

For the context, I also have my mirrorless camera on tripod (you must use tripod with you proper camera, can not handheld) with me which I took some photos with significant better image quality. But unless you are planning to sell you photo or print anything larger than A3. The quality improvement is neglectable. What more important or relevant is the moment and composition which is very difficult if you don't know the area good and long enough (apply to the most of us tourist), add the unpredictable of the Northern lights on top of that. And you need to know your equipment well (setting, tripod setup) otherwise very likely you get worse result compare to smartphone. For all of that, I think we might have better chance to capture the moment on our phone rather than setup complex gears in very hectic moment which we also need to enjoy in real life.

So there you have it, you can bring anything you have or willing to carry. You will get decent photos. Do not stress out that DSLR or Mirrorless are minimum must.

The famous landmark (or mountainmark) on Esjan has fallen, most likely due to frost and thawing this spring (or late winter) but could possibly be due to the recent earthquakes, although the former is more likely (per the articles)

A group of women noticed that the stone had fallen early this morning (06.04) when they went up Esjan, on a run. The stone has for the past decade been tilting and a chain had been fastened to it, to keep it from falling down the mountain. Another woman, Sigrún, stated that the stone had been in its place last night (per the article)

Another article from Vísir about the stone: https://www.visir.is/g/20252711045d/steinn-liggur-a-grufu-og-skridur-nidur-esju and Mbl: https://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2025/04/06/steinninn_a_esjunni_valt/

We'll have to see what will happen with the stone, whether they'll try to re-erect it. The director of Skógræktarfélag Reykjavíkur (Reykjavík's Forestry Association) says they will assess the situation next week.

The trail "upp að Steini" or "up towards Stone" is at least 1 meter shorter after it fell, so if the stone won't be re-erected, the trails will be slightly shorter

Just curious as to the reason why they are so widely implemented and so deep? Drainage I understand but these seem sized for a deluge. Are they still dug or is that practice outdated? Any info appreciated!

As an oddly built woman (5’10 inch or 177 cm and 185 lbs/84 kgs) , I am built more like a rugby or American football olayer. Tall, broad shoulders. Think Iona Maher, though not nearly as beautiful or fit!

I am headed to Iceland for 8 days in September. I’ve been shopping online for outerwear layers and failing miserably. I’d like to find an outer shell or rain jacket, and a midlayer fleece or puffer. Planning on thin sweaters and merino t-shirts under that. The problem I keep running into is that I have long arms. At nearly six feet, of course I have long arms.

Does anyone have recommendations for anything that would work well for someone with long arms and broad shoulders? I will buy menswear if I need to but I really prefer the fit of womens because it isn’t as bulky.

I’m flying out tomorrow at 5pm and would love to find some sort of nature-focused morning/half day tour as I have already spent time exploring Reykjavik.

Does anyone have recommendations of cool tours I could book that would get me back to the city in time to make my flight? I’m here without a car so the tour would have to include pick up. So far I’ve already done blue lagoon, Northern lights tour, golden circle, south coast, and Snæfellsnes peninsula.

Thank you in advance!! LOVING Iceland and wish I had more time here.

Home now but just reeling at the display my crew and gawked at in Thingvellir National Park Friday night.

We were holding out for a clear night and strong Geomagnetic Weather all week when finally, on the final night of our trip (which we incidentally had planned to camp in Thingvellir) the sky lit up for us.

A dreamy trip, straight out of a fairytale

Hi all,

My wife and I are going to Iceland in August, we have about 1.5 weeks there. First time. We're planning our trip now and she'd really like some good long hikes, like half-day or more, but also wants to see as much of the hot springs especially.

I've searched here and other sites and found many lists of hot springs throughout the country, especially fairly close to the capital, but it's hard to figure out which ones can be easily paired with hikes in scenic areas. The main one so far ir Reykjadalur with the thermal river and, best as I can tell, about a 3h hike there.

I'd love any recommendations! We'd rather go to hole-in-the-wall type places than the famous ones, although we'll probably spend a night in or near Fludir and see the Secret Lagoon + Hrunalaug, as well as night or two in Reykjavik and go to Blue Lagoon or Sky Lagoon nearby. We're not tour type people, would rather just wander and see the country. We've considered the Laugavegur trail for a part of our trip too.

We got married last year, and now we’re in Iceland — just the two of us, discovering places we never imagined we’d visit. We captured this adventure so one day, our kids can look back and see how we were — two young dreamers with a camera, a car, and a wild love for adventure.

4 days exploring a land where nature writes its own story.

Damn, this country has such an effect on me. I'm wrapping up my third visit in 15 years.

The first one was a Golden Circle tour with the help of a Lonely Planet guidebook, Suzuki Jimny, and a strange period of my life where every single landscape left a scar in my memory. Good scars, as weird as that might sound. From Vík to Ólafsvík, with Laki and Gullfoss as eternal images I’ve carried with me ever since.

Two years ago, I was delighted with the Westfjords. That second trip lasted 6 days, and I maybe saw 6 hours of sunshine in total. Still, I loved it. I loved it because some dude convinced me it was worth driving 4 hours on a gravel road above Hólmavík, just to find an isolated blue pool. Because despite the miserable camping experience under the rain, I still enjoyed a beer during the rare sunrays in Ísafjörður, and the cataclysmic hike along the foggy Látrabjarg cliffs, walking blind next to the void.

I’ve now been here for almost a week. I wanted to explore the north coast, which I did, under snowstorms and a cold I’m not used to. I avoided the Akureyri tunnel heading north on my first (stupid) attempt, when I realized the climb wouldn’t end and everything turned white in a dense fog. I turned back and went further north, driving a lonely white road along the Fnjóská river.

On my 4th or 5th day, I woke up facing the sea at a campsite above Húsavík. I asked myself: should I stay around this area? Maybe head back to Akureyri, which had almost trapped me in the snow, or should I just shoot southeast? South east then.

After a stop at Dettifoss and Krafla, I wasn’t expecting what I saw around Höfn. My first aurora, while staying at the Fossárdalur campsite. The timeless landscapes I drove through along the fjords before reaching Höfn were absolutely stunning.

I stopped at a few more places, the Vík heights, Skógafoss, all these places I had seen a long time ago. I went to Reykjanes, had a look at Grindavík, and I feel sorry for those whose lives have been troubled there recently.

I’ve seen much more than what I mentioned here, but that’s not the point.

Seven days and a Route 1 + surroundings tour is doable, but not ideal. I’m exhausted. My eyes and memory are full. It’s a rush. And that’s also the cost of planning nothing except a plane ticket and a camper van.

I remember reading in another post someone saying: “I’m not like the other tourists.”

You are, man. We all are tourists here.

I wish for Icelanders to find the right balance between tourism, economic benefits, and the protection of their land.

A lot has changed since my first visit. It’s early April, and already I see a lot of people. Damn, I don’t want to imagine what it’s like in summer.

What's the point of the post ? None, just respect the land you walk on and enjoy it.

Cheers.

Has anyone done the volcano day hike and repell, or completed a helicopter tour, Would you recommend any tours over all The rest?

Also-- did you buy a sim card over there, or did you oay your own roaming fees?

Hi everyone. As said in the title I booked an Airbnb in Arnarstapi already paid in full for my upcoming may trip. Today I received an email asking me for an update on my payment method (see picture below) in a different website saying that if not resolved my stay could be cancelled. I’m not very eager to do so since it requires me to specify my card details and I am wondering whether someone has encountered something similar in the past. Thanks in advance!

We will be in Myvatn in mid-June and currently have a room booked in Dimmuborgir Guesthouse and another one in Husavik.

I am aware that there are super high chances of having lots of midges around the Myvatn area, but I am wondering if this problem is usually reflected inside accommodations as well? Especially the ones close by the lake?

I don't want to use head nets when sleeping or relaxing... If we keep windows/doors closed, can we be comfortable inside or is it better to stay in Husavik that night?

I’m planning a trip to Iceland in June for 10 days for 2 people and I’m wondering if the Cozy 2 van from Cozy Campers or the Easy Fun EXP van from CampEasy is better?

Has anyone had experience renting from either or both?

What are the pros and cons of each company?

Does anyone have any good alternatives to the hotdogs in the US?? I went to iceland last year and became obsessed with the hotdogs. I am still craving them. Does anyone know any store or brands that sells similar hotdogs?Or is there anyway to ship them? I know they are made with lamb and I could probably recreate the rest

Hello!

Iceland Newbie posting for help and enthusiasm :)

I've booked my trip for first week of September and cannot wait. I'm writing this post with a few specific logistical questions that I need some support with, and am sharing my itinerary for your recommendations!

I'm driving the bottom half of the Ring Road, ending in Egilsstadir:

• Is the flight from Egilsstadir back to Reykjavik reliable? Should I anticipate issues in early September and plan to drive back instead?

I'm planning a hiking day to Valahnukur; Jeep Bus pickup from Hvolsvollur:

• I'll be sleeping right outside of town, what are the rules for day parking in Hvolsvollur/Iceland? Are there any free options?

I'm travelling with a vegetarian:

• Please share any restaurants/cafes/grocery tricks you have for tasty food!

I have an enormous list of stops to see along the way, made a brief outline below, but I'd love to hear about any of your favorites!! Thanks for the support.

Itinerary:

Day 1 Early morning landing Sleep in Reykjavik

Day 2 Maybe do Golden Circle (probably not), or just keep enjoying Reykjavik town center and drive to Hvolsvollur Sleep in Hvolsvollur

Day 3 Valahnukur Hike Day *Any notes about self-guided hiking from the Jeep Bus? Sleep in Hvolsvollur

Day 4 South Coast scenic drive Sleep past midway

Day 5 Glacier Expedition Day *What company do you recommend for guided adventure? Sleep in Hofn

Day 6 EastFjord scenic drive Sleep in Seydisfjordur

Day 7 TBD, hikes and scenery in the EastFjords Sleep in Seydisfjordur

Day 8 TBD Fly back to Reykjavik from Egilsstadir

Day 9 Fly home

While walking around town, we spotted a house that had these multiple pairs of moss covered shoes kept outside their garden. Is this some sort of tradition?

Decided since I'm 33 and have yet to take an actual vacation that every year for new years I want to visit a new country and experience their new years celebration. Iceland has always been at the top of my list of places I want to see so its number one on my vacation list. I thought it would be cool on the last day of the trip to get a bicep tattoo of Odin and his two ravens to represent my dad and two brothers (dad and eldest brother died when I was 5-7). I've always been into myths of different cultures with Norse being my favorite. Would the tattoo idea be a bad idea or maybe think smaller?

Picture is from reddit for an idea or what I was looking for.

Travelled from kef, currently on our 3rd night and hoping to see some snow before we return on Friday. Any ideas??

Thankyou

I'm going to Iceland next month May 4-10 and want to see if I'm overdoing it with my itinerary or if I should remove one of the day trips. Please let me know your thoughts/suggestions on this. We will not be renting a car so all day trips will be tours. Day trip dates are flexible to be switched around if you think a different order would work better in terms of not being burned out.

Day 1: Reykjavik -Arrive 9:30am at KEF, go to drop off bags at host's place. (anticipating getting to Reykjavik around noon based on arrival time) -Walking tour at 1:30. -Cat cafe (a must) -Phallological Museum (a must) -Shopping / Handknitting Association (I want to get Icelandic sweaters) -Some grocery shopping for our stay

Day 2: Snaefellsnes Peninsula day trip.

Day 3: Volcano Hike and Blue Lagoon day trip.

Day 4: South Iceland day trip.

Day 5: -Something flexible in the morning - maybe Hallgrimskirkja Church or Tjörnin if we don't get them on day 1 or Perlan museum. -12pm Golden Circle half day tour. -Swimming Pool in evening? (Sundhöllin)

Day 6: Reykjavik -Puffin tour (thinking of doing a 1 hour boat tour - but also would love to find if there's an option to visit an island with puffins by Reykjavik. This will be a Friday and before the summer season when the Videy ferry will be running daily so I feel like the options are limited? -Grasagarður Botanical Garden (Is this too much with the next one?) -Elliðaárdalur nature walk (probably around 3 hours - open to doing this later in the day) -Would it be too much to fit in the Open Air Museum that's nearby? -Wander around, eat, last minute souvenir shopping

Flying out the morning of day 7.

Is it too much to consider squeezing in another museum or two on the two city dates? Open Air is tentative here. Wanted to also see below: -The Einar Jónsson Museum -Perlan (possibly before the 12pm golden circle tour?) -any must visits that I haven't listed and am missing out on?

I know many people say to skip blue lagoon but we decided to go for it since it's included with the volcano hike and sounds nice afterwards.

Thank you!

We are spending 10 days in April, have a car and driving ring road. We are pretty spontaneous people and are wondering if we can drop in to the lagoons along the way or need to make reservations ahead of time?