10 Days in Iceland: Our Real Itinerary

Iceland itineraries are everywhere – think of this one as another option to spark ideas rather than the definitive way to see the country.

This isn’t an “ultimate Iceland itinerary” that squeezes in every corner of Iceland. It’s simply how we chose to spend ten days on the road, based on what appealed to us.

Our priority was the landscapes – waterfalls, canyons, glaciers and those jaw-dropping views that had us constantly pulling over to say “wow” yet again.

I hope following along with our route helps you shape your own trip and pick out a few stops that feel right for you.

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Day one – Arrival & Reykjavik 

We landed in Iceland to sunshine – I couldn’t believe it! 

We used the FlyBus to get us from Keflavik Airport into Reykjavik. It takes about an hour and dropped us off at the main bus stop, with was only about 10-minutes walk from our accommodation.

We got to the Guesthouse Aurora about 7:45pm, dropped everything off and headed out again immediately – I wanted to take advantage of the sun.

Read my review of Guesthouse Aurora here.

We quickly visited the iconic Cathedral, Hallgrimskirkja which was right nearby. We walked in at 7:57 for a couple of minutes when closing time was 8pm, so just time for a glimpse inside.

While there was still some great even light we continued down to the Sun Voyager for some lovely photos there.

Next we made our way into the centre, picking up Simon’s Hard Rock Café t-shirt and eating a traditional hot dog for dinner at the popular Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur.

We had a bit of a look around the city centre before returning to our room at almost 10 o’clock – and it was still kinda light!

Day two – Reykjavik

We only have a few hours today to explore Reykjavik some more before we pick up our camper van and hit the road.

I thought a good way to see some of the city was to search out some of the street art.

I found a map to get us started – you can see it here – but it wasn’t the most reliable.

While it doesn’t have a date, I’m guessing it’s a few years old now, and as with everywhere, the art comes and goes.

It did get us out of the main tourist area for a bit, and we saw parts of the city we probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise, so we had a great day.

We stopped into another popular Reykjavik institution for lunch – Brauð & Co has some delicious pastries. There are three Reykjavik locations for you to choose from.

As a tip, we found a good, free place for views over the city. I’m not exactly sure if it’s allowed, but no one questioned or stopped us, so act confidently and I’m sure you’ll be fine too 🙂

Go to the Centre Hotels Plaza and head up to the eighth floor. There will be a door on the right out onto a walkway around the building, where you will be able to see all over the city.

The rest of the day was spent picking up our camper van, which was a complete shemozzle and took 3 hours longer than anticipated.

We then had a quick stop at Costco for some supplies before driving an hour to our first stop in Selfoss, arriving about 9:30.

Tomorrow we really start exploring Iceland 🙂

Day three – The Golden Circle

After a decent night of sleep in our camper van we were on the road pretty early, excited to be driving the Golden Circle.

This drive is very popular as a day trip from Reykjavik, so it’s busy with visitors who are only staying in the capital, tour groups and others like us who are travelling further afield.

There are so many different possible stops along the way, but these were my choices.

Laugarvatn hot springs

This was more of a driving break for us because the hot springs baths were not open until later in the day, but it was fun taking a short walk around the town and seeing our first bubbling water while being encased in sulphur-steam!

This area has been traditionally used to cook bread in the ground. The sign said a rock is placed on top of the mounds, and we saw some like that, so maybe there was bread cooking.

Brúarfoss Waterfall (incorporating Midfoss & Hlauptungufoss too!)

This was our very first waterfall of the trip, and while it may not be as wide or as high as some of the others, it was a beautiful shade of blue.

We then continued on, walking to two other downstream waterfalls, Midfoss & Hlauptungufoss – making sure we got our steps in for the day!

Strokkur Geyser (and others)

The geysir area is home to a dozen or more of them, but there are two here that are notable.

The Strokkur Geysir regularly erupts every 8-10 minutes and shoots water up to 25 metres in the air. One of the eruptions we saw was a double one.

The second notable geysir is, well, Geysir!

This is the origin of the word and gave it’s name to all geothermal water spouts. It is now considered dormant, rarely erupting, just once in a while, usually after nearby earthquakes – most recently in 2016, and before that in 2000.

Gullfoss

Gullfoss is one of the more spectacular waterfalls in Iceland due to its double cascade – and it’s very popular! There are multiple view points, and of course, we had to check them all out.

Bru Horse Farm

We spotted this place on the way to Gulfoss and came back afterwards to have a look. It’s basically just an opportunity to see the Icelandic ponies up close.

It’s free, but you can buy some “horse candy” to feed to the horses if you like.

Friðheimar

This is the insanely popular tomato farm that has branched out into tourism by selling tomato soup to visitors in their greenhouses.

To eat here you need to book weeks in advance, and I missed out on getting a booking – but decided to take a look anyway.

As it works out, there is a bar for drinks – some of them look, let’s say, interesting! – which also serves a cup of tomato soup too.

So we got to try the famous soup anyway. I’m not really a tomato soup fan, but this was tasty enough, and you should stop in here and take a look. It’s worth it just for the setting.

Skálholtsdómkirkja – Skálholt Cathedral

This was going to be another very quick stop, but we arrived to hear the bells ringing and suddenly a whole group of people piled out the church – it was a wedding!

This Cathedral was once the centre of religion in Iceland, and it has a small museum underneath it and some lovely geometric stained glass windows, so worthy of a short stop.

Kerið Crater

An almost perfectly circular crater with a lake at the bottom. It reminded me a lot of the Blue Lake at Mount Gambier here in South Australia, just a lot smaller and not quite so blue.

After we finished our lap of the Golden Circle we were back in Selfoss where we did the rest of our grocery shopping. We grabbed some things from Costco last night, but still needed some other bits and pieces.

From there it was on to Hvolsvöllur, where we are staying tonight before continuing on tomorrow.

Day four – Hvolsvöllur to Vik

We were on the move again by about 8:30 with awesome weather for what was another busy day (25k+ steps and counting!).

Seljalandsfoss

Our first stop was Seljalandsfoss, a huge waterfall with the claim to fame of being able to walk behind it. Wet weather gear is 100% recommended here.

We continued along the path about 500m to the hidden Gljúfrabúi, which required careful balancing on rocks to access – and another nice soaking, just when we had dried out a bit!

Seljavallalaug Swimming Pool

Next up was Seljavallalaug Swimming Pool. I had been reading up on it the day before and decided not to swim (the pool is only cleaned once a year so full of algae) but it was still recommended to take a look because it is in a stunning setting.

I didn’t realise how far the hike to it from the car park was. While it is spectacular, I wouldn’t recommend this if your schedule is tight.

I didn’t even get great photos of the pool due to the topless swimmers and the couple in the corner doing who-knows-what – I didn’t think they would appreciate it.

Skógafoss

Next was another big waterfall – Skógafoss. This is widely considered one of the most beautiful in Iceland due to the almost-permanent rainbow – and the crowds attested to its popularity.

We first walked up above the waterfall, and hiked a little to see two more upstream falls.

Once we came back down, we joined the throngs at the base of the waterfall. We found a way to get close to it for some great solo pics – and we got drenched again, but this time we didn’t have the wet-weather gear on.

Sólheimajökull Glacier

After lunch, it was on to Sólheimajökull glacier. We debated about this because it’s almost opposite to the famous plane wreck on the beach – which one should we do?

We’ve seen and walked on glaciers before, be we again loved seeing this one, even touching it. It was probably another 20-minute hike each way.

Dyrhólaey Peninsula

It was on to the Dyrhólaey peninsula where we had a secret hope to see puffins but knew they were all back out to sea. 

There are some spectacular views here, especially from the lighthouse, even if parking was a nightmare.

Reynisfjall Black Beach

The parking nightmare continued at Reynisfjall Black Beach. We ended up paying twice, and almost had an altercation with another visitor over a car park – but that also may have been our lack of a common language.

The beach is made up of black, smooth, round pebbles with some dramatic basalt columns and interesting caves.

It’s a dangerous beach though, with sneaker waves a common occurence, and sadly only earlier this month a young girl was washed out to sea and drowned – so be careful when you visit.

From there, it was into Vik where we are spending tonight, recharging and getting ready to do it all again tomorrow.

Day five – Vik to Höfn

Even though we don’t have a set itinerary, I took a look last night and though we could probably get to Hofn today, even if it did mean a bit more driving.

Sadly our sunshine had disappeared and we left Vik in the rain, but while there were a few showers on and off all day, they mostly all managed to happen while we were in our van.

We had considered stopping at Gígjagjá, or Yoda Cave, but with only a passing interest, the schedule, and the rain, we gave it a miss this time.

Eldhraun Hollow

Our first brief stop was at the mossy lava fields at Eldhraun Hollow where we marvelled at the lumpy green landscape – and some tress, a rare sight in Iceland!

Stjórnarfoss

From there it was on to Stjórnarfoss, a nice waterfall only a short walk from the road – and no crowds.

Now that we were past the day-trip-from-Reykjavik distance, there were noticeably less people around.

Dverghamrar

To mix things up a little, our next stop was Dverghamrar, which translates as “Dwarf Cliffs” because legend has it that these are the homes of the dwarves.

The rock formations are, in fact, basalt columns just like the ones at the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland.

We walked down the road a little to get a closer look at Foss á Síðu, a waterfall falling from high up the cliff face we had passed just before we parked.

Vatnajökull National Park – Skaftafell Glacier

It was about now, the driving views started to get extreme. We were being blown away just by the scenery, even more so when the first glaciers of the Vatnajökull National Park came into view.

We had plans to visit another popular waterfall, Svartifoss, but when we parked, we discovered we could hike one way to the waterfall, or go in another direction to the Skaftafell glacier – and the glacier won out.

It was incredible seeing the black glacier edge – the ice here was covered in volcanic sand.

We had lunch there in the car park, eating with a view of the glacier, certainly not something I get to do every day.

Hofs Church

Hofs Church was our next quick stop. This was the last turf church built in the traditional style. It’s no longer accessable inside, but it’s a nice photo opportunity and a chance to see this style of building.

Mulagljufur Canyon

We almost skipped Mulagljufur Canyon. It was raining as we approached and we were starting to think about the time. 

If I had known what to expect, I certainly would have kept driving, but that would have been a big mistake.

This was easily the hardest hike I have done since finishing chemo, and it was almost all straight up, along a muddy path, across small streams and along tracks that mountain goats would approve of. 

I just checked my photos, and it only took us 40 minutes to reach the canyon, but it felt longer at the time. 

The views down the canyon were spectacular – so much so that my photos look fake, but I promise they are real.

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon/Diamond Beach

We had one final stop for the day, Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon/Diamond Beach. If Mulagljufur Canyon was spectacular, I can’t think of another word to describe this.

Diamond Beach is a black sand beach (yes, sand this time, not pebbles) covered in pieces of icebergs. From icecube size right up to chunks the size of cars sitting out in the waves.

The icebergs come from the Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, which is just a short walk away and breathtaking in its own way, with bigger icebergs floating here.

The incredible blue colour of the super-compressed ice can be seen here, with the glacier it comes from in the background. We also spotted some seals playing in the lagoon too.

It was almost 6pm when we left there, with an hour to drive to Hofn. We’ve settled in for the night and looking forward to tomorrow. Surely it can’t get any better, can it?

Day six – Höfn to Húsavík

We had an even earlier morning than usual today, trying to beat the rush to the showers and wanting to do some washing before leaving town.

The campground here didn’t have a washing machine, so by 6:30am we were at the local laundromat.

It was clean, warm and the machines worked really well – but it was also the most expensive laundry we’ve ever done, costing around $40AUD for the washer then dryer!

By about 8:30am we were on the road, but the weather was looking atrocious. Constant rain and wind were to be our companions today.

We decided then we would stop a little less and drive further than I initially planned, ending up in Húsavík.

Skútafoss

There were a few stops along the way, starting, of course, with a waterfall, Skútafoss.

We donned the wet-weather gear for the walk, which only turned out to be about 500m from the car park, ending with a nice little waterfall with a cave.

Our next adventure was not necessarily an attraction, but about 17km on a very dodgy gravel road, filled with potholes. Even now I’m not sure we were meant to be on that road with our camper van.

It was slow going, and half the time we were in the clouds, but the other half, wow, the views were amazing!

Reindeer Park

Next we visited the Reindeer Park to learn about and feed some reindeer. There were only four reindeer, but they were all rescues and had been hand-reared, so they were good around people.

This had been recommended by a local when we picked up our camper van, and for $20AUD, it was a nice stop.

Rjúkandafoss

As we continued, we saw another impressive waterfall. The rain had slowed to a drizzle right then so we climbed up the hill to take a look.

Rjúkandafoss is 139m tall and was putting on a good show with all the rainfall

Hverir

Our final stop was Hverir, a geothermal area filled with impressive colours, bubbling mud and a god-awful smell, somewhere between rotten eggs and sewerage.

It was fun to walk around and take a look, but it was so cold!

I had hoped to also stop at the Mývatn Nature Baths, but time was getting on and we still had an hour to drive.

Day seven – The Diamond Circle, Húsavík to Hamrar (Akureyri)

We woke this morning to more rain! It was that continual steady downpour that is here to stay and I figured a few minutes extra in my cosy bed was a good idea!

Geosea

We eventually came up with a plan. If we’re going to be wet, we may as well do it properly. So we spent the morning at Geosea, the geothermal sea baths in Húsavík.

It was the perfect thing to do and we could then face exploring for the rest of the day in the rain.

We were going to do our best to drive the Diamond Circle, the North of Iceland’s answer to the Golden Circle.

Ásbyrgi Canyon

We started with Ásbyrgi Canyon, which was completely different to the canyon we saw a couple of days ago. Instead of being narrow, this one was wide, leading to Botnstjörn, a small, pretty lake at the end.

Dettifoss

From there we ended up on another horrible gravel road on the way to Dettifoss, the largest waterfall by volume in Europe.

It can be visited from both sides and I chose the east, which may not have been the best choice in terms of the roads. I’m not sure though if the west side is any better. (Anyone else know?)

Here we saw some of the worst tourists – the kind that jump over the barrier and do stupid poses for photos right on the edge of the waterfall.

We had to leave because we were sure one person was going to end up over the edge.

Dimmuborgir

Next was a quick stop at Dimmuborgir, some impressive lava fields at the foot of a pile of volcanoes.

We didn’t have time to walk too far, but there are lots of hikes in the area, including to the top of the nearby Hverfjall volcano.

Lake Mývatn

We were really starting to run out of time, it was about 6pm now so we just had a quick photo stop on the edge of Lake Mývatn to admire the lava columns and islands the volcanoes have created.

Goðafoss

There was one final stop at Goðafoss where we didn’t have to worry about spray from the waterfall as we were already dealing with the rain.

Tonight we are in a campground near Akureyi, but we haven’t yet been into the city – the second largest in Iceland – that will be on tomorrow’s schedule.

Day eight – Akureyri to Snorrastaðir

We didn’t have a lot of big plans for today. The goal was to simply get across the country to be ready to explore the Snæfellsnes Peninsula tomorrow.

Akureyri

Before we left the area we wanted to take a look around Akureyri and pick up a couple of things at the grocery store so we headed into town.

We quickly learned nothing opens here until 10am, so we enjoyed a stroll through the centre of town while we were waiting.

We finally left town a bit after 10:30, knowing we had about four hours of driving, and knowing us, nearly that much again in random stops and detours.

Hörgarsveit

Our first stop was in the Hörgarsveit area to take a look at a pretty river canyon (I’m sure there’s a better term than that) along the road.

There was a hiking trail, but no signage. We decided we had better keep moving.

Varmahlíð

We stopped again at Varmahlíð to use the toilets and grab a servo hotdog for lunch.

We had heard these were tasty enough and not too badly priced (529ISK or about $6.60AUD) and that was right.

I’d be happy to say that the servo (gas station) food is a reasonable option as you drive around, especially if you’re trying to stick to a budget.

Hamarsrétt

We stopped at another road side stop to use the toilets and I saw mention of Hamarsrétt on a sign so I just had to go take a look.

These are sheep yards. I know, I know, why would I want to see sheep yards?

Well, at this time of year the rural communities of Iceland go up into the hills to bring all the sheep back for winter.

They are all mixed up and brought to these yards where an event called réttir occurs – basically, the sheep are sorted into family groups so they can be taken back to the correct property for winter housing.

These yards are particularly scenic so I just had to take a look, even if it was a bit of a detour.

On the way we spotted the Skarðsviti lighthouse too.

Hvammstangi

We also made a brief stop in Hvammstangi, a nice little town I had flagged as a possible overnight stop, but it didn’t work out with our itinerary this time.

Hvammstangi is home to the Icelandic Seal Centre and a pile of cute little rock people.

From there we high-tailed it to Snorrastaðir campground where we will be spending the night.

This campsite is run by a local farming family with the facilities in their barn.

It’s actually not a bad setup, paid on the Parka App, just turn up and enjoy.

As we arrived, so did the rain otherwise we would have gone for a walk. A hike leaves from here to the nearby Eldborg Crater – but we weren’t so keen to do it in the rain.

Day nine – Snæfellsnes Peninsula 

After the continual downpour last night, it was so nice to see some sunshine this morning.

We knew we had a lot to see today, but it was also our coldest morning yet, which didn’t make it easy to drag myself out of bed.

What I found with the Snæfellsnes Peninsula was that there are dozens of things to see and do, but most of them are quicker to visit than the hour or more we needed at some of the south coast attractions.

Having said that, we knew we had a lot to squeeze in, so we did bypass some places I had flagged and forego some of the longer hikes I likely would have done if time wasn’t an issue.

It would be easy to spend 2 days in this area to slow down a bit.

Here are the places we stopped at during the day

Gerðuberg Cliffs

These are a ridge of basalt columned cliffs. We climbed to the top for some fabulous views back towards the sea. I can’t get enough of these views!

Ytri Tunga Beach

This is said to be the best place to see seals. It was the only place we paid for parking today.

We probably saw a dozen seals, but from a distance. This time of year (mating season), visitors are to stay 100m away from them, although I think we were sometimes closer.

Búðakirkja

The Black Church was a quick little photo stop. It’s a cute working church with a small graveyard in the middle of nowhere. It’s apparently popular for weddings.

Bjarnarfoss

There was just a short (10-minute) walk to see this waterfall. Some people were going up much higher, but we stopped at a bridge that gave us good views.

Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge

A small gorge we should have avoided 😂

To get into the gorge, we needed to use rocks as stepping stones through running water – I managed to step in water deep enough to go over the top of my waterproof shoes!

So one wet sock and shoe for the rest of the day. It was fun to explore apart from that though.

Arnarstapi

This is a great little town with a few things to see. We had lunch here (in our van) enjoying the sea views.

Saxhóll Crater

This is a small volcanic crater with steps up to the top so an easy climb with great views.

Skarðsvík Beach

A rare “golden beach”, even though all the rocks lining it were black. Looking at the sand, it was easy to see the black mixed in with the gold.

Gufuskálar

We only stopped here for a quick look and decided not to explore. This is a historic site with old homes built amongst the lava.

Murals of Hellissandur

I love street art, so it was no surprise I was going to check out the town that claims to be the street art capital of Iceland. Like everywhere, there were some great murals, and some not quite so good.

Kerlingarfoss

Ólafsvík

Another cute little Icelandic town. Nearly every decent town in Iceland has a colourful road near the church, and Ólafsvík was no exception

Kirkjufellsfoss/Kirkjufell

This is the mountain/waterfall combination made famous by Game of Thrones.

It was bucketing with rain when we arrived and once we got to the waterfall, we discovered the bridge over the top was closed. 

We could not get to the other side to replicate the popular shot of the waterfall with the mountain in the background – at least not with a 1-2km walk around. If it wasn’t raining, I might have talked Simon into it, but he was having none of it in the rain.

It was about 5pm by then, and time to head to our campground in Borgarnes – except when we arrived, we discovered it was very basic. Just parking in a field with one set of toilets.

We’re going to be in Reykjavik tomorrow, and I didn’t want to spend the day in the city without a shower, so we decided to keep driving to find another place to spend the night.

We ended up at a campground in Reykjavik – we won’t have to go far in the morning now 🙂

There was a food truck at the campground, so we splashed out on a serve of fish and chips (2850kr or about $35AUD), which was plenty for us to share.

One more full day left in Iceland tomorrow. It’s almost time to go!

Day ten – Reykjavik & Keflavík 

We had a bit of a slower morning today, partly because we were out late looking for the Northern Lights, and partly because we were packing up and sorting ourselves out to return our camper.

We then made our way towards the city centre, looking for somewhere to park. The Parka app is great for this.

There are different zones for parking, and we could choose the cheapest one and work out where it was from the app.

Parking is also well signed, and when we arrived, we discovered it was free on weekends, so that was even better.

We had some time to kill, so we went for a wander and eventually ended up in a coffee shop where we grabbed a coffee and a sneaky cupcake I didn’t approve! 😂

Then it was off to lunch (see why I didn’t approve a cupcake lol) where we were meeting up with some friends from Adelaide, all the way here in Reykjavik! They had just jumped off a cruise ship and were beginning their Reykjavik adventures.

We met up at Icelandic Street Food and I tried the traditional lamb soup in bread, while Simon had a seafood soup.

I love talking with other travellers, and this was no different as we shared tales of our travels, past, present and future.

We said goodbye as they went off to enjoy a walking tour, and for us, it was time to return the camper van.

As we left Reykavik, we refilled the camper van at Costco to save a few dollars. Diesel here was 277.7kr.

As a comparison, we had seen it up to 316.8 as we were driving around, so it’s a good saving and worth doing if you have a Costco membership (yes, foreign memberships work here).

We could check into Kef Guesthouse at 3pm, so we dropped off our luggage first and went to the car rental place second. 

We had decided we would walk back to the guesthouse. It would take about an hour (or more if we dawdled), but we would have a chance to walk through Kelflavik and take a look on the way. 

The weather had been beautiful in the morning, now it was alternating between rain and shine. We hadn’t walked five minutes before it bucketed down.

I had my rain jacket on, but I was wearing jeans, not my waterproof pants, and I got soaked through.

We soon forgot that as we arrived in the main street of Keflavik, to discover a festival occurring. There were sideshow rides, food vans, music pumping and a stage set up for an event tonight.

A quick search told me that today is the biggest day of the year in Keflavik with the Ljósanótt (Night of Lights) festival. There will be a big concert tonight with fireworks and more.

It’s tempting to go back, but we have to be up at 4am for our flight, so it’s probably not a great idea.

Are you looking for accommodation near the airport? Read my full review for Kef Guesthouse here.

Day eleven – Goodbye Iceland

It was a very early morning with a 4:30am transfer from our guesthouse.

I thought getting to the airport about 2.5 hour before our flight was overkill, but the airport was busy.

I also thought it was a bit disorganised and chaotic, so I was glad of the time, even if in the end we had heaps of it.

So if you are used to relatively calm, organised airports, do as we did and give yourself at least this amount of time so that it isn’t incredibly stressful.

Planning the Next Trip?

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve probably noticed we skipped huge sections of the country, many headline attractions and most of the “must-eat” and “must-do” experiences that fill other Iceland guides.

You’ve also probably noticed we didn’t exactly sit around doing nothing. Our 10 days in Iceland were full, even without ticking off every famous stop.

I’d love to come back in puffin season one day and focus on completely different regions.

With another 10-14 days, we could easily design a whole new itinerary without repeating a single place – there’s that much to see.

We stayed in a different campground almost every night, and if you’re planning a similar road trip, you might find my roundup of Iceland campsites helpful for working out where to base yourself.

So go in knowing you won’t cover it all in a week (or even two), and that’s perfectly okay.

What you can do is build a trip that feels right for you, enjoy an incredible few days or weeks, and spend very little on tours or pricey activities.

Iceland’s nature alone will keep you busy, amazed and already plotting a return visit.