Most visitors to Iceland settle into a home base, typically Reykjavík, and see most of the countryside on day trips. The destinations in the following chapters—all in western or southern Iceland—are all doable as day trips from Reykjavík, whether you rent a car or join an excursion.
Two of the best side-trips for getting a glimpse of Iceland’s dramatic landscape are the Golden Circle (linking historical and geological wonders, in the country’s lava-rock interior) and the volcano-and-glacier-lined South Coast (where you can hike up to the face of a glacier, stroll along black sand beaches, and walk behind a thundering waterfall).
There’s also the famous Blue Lagoon spa—a serene, milky-blue oasis in a volcanic landscape—and the West Iceland region around Borgarnes, with an eclectic variety of sights. My favorite “Back Door” destination is the Westman Islands, just off Iceland’s South Coast, where you can see the effects of a recent volcanic eruption and perhaps meet a real, live puffin.
Below, I’ve given you a few tips for planning side-trips on your own with a car, as well as your options for joining guided excursions.
Summer Bonus: In summer you’ll enjoy very long hours of daylight; from early June to mid-July it never really gets dark. You can pack a day full by sightseeing close to your home base in the morning, then setting out on a side-trip in the late afternoon. In the peak of summer, for example, it’s possible to leave Reykjavík for the Golden Circle as late as 16:00, see most of the sights along that route, and be back in town before the sun goes down.
Winter Wake-up: In winter, daylight is brief (as short as 4 hours). If roads are clear, it’s smart to leave Reykjavík in the dark and time your arrival at the first attraction for sunrise. Be alert to weather conditions, as roads may close due to snow, high winds, or ice.
Car vs. Excursion: Although a car rental may seem pricey (roughly $350 for a one-week rental in summer, plus insurance, fuel, tolls, and parking), consider this: Per person, the bus transfer to and from the airport is $40; you’ll pay $100 for a basic Golden Circle excursion and $150 for the South Coast. If you’re in Iceland for three nights, and take two day-trip excursions, you’ll spend close to $300 (double that for a couple). Suddenly a rental car doesn’t seem that expensive.
For travelers day-tripping on their own by car, in each chapter I’ve outlined detailed self-guided driving tours with suggested hour-by-hour schedules and opinionated descriptions to help you assess your options and plan your drive.
My directions assume you’re staying in Reykjavík. But if you prefer sleeping outside the city, you can drive to these day-trip destinations from a home base anywhere in the southwestern part of the country—for example, from along the South Coast; from the Reykjavík suburb of Hafnarfjörður; or from Keflavík, near the international airport.
Before heading out, be sure to read the tips on driving in Iceland in the Practicalities chapter.
A variety of companies offer excursions around Iceland. These are great if you want to sit back, enjoy the scenery, and learn from a knowledgeable guide (or, in a few cases, a well-produced recorded commentary). With careful planning, you can cobble together half- and full-day excursions that will get you to many of Iceland’s top sights.
The most popular excursion destinations are the Golden Circle, the Blue Lagoon, the South Coast, the Snæfellsnes peninsula (north of Reykjavík), and the Reykjanes Peninsula (south of Reykjavík). In winter, you’ll find evening trips in search of the northern lights. Some tours run all year, but winter offerings are generally sparser.
Most excursions start in Reykjavík, but there are also options from Akureyri, Mývatn, and other small towns around the Ring Road (see the Ring Road chapter for specific recommendations).
You may see tours advertised for the glacier lagoons and Skaftafell National Park in Southeast Iceland; while these are amazing sights, they’re too far from the capital for a reasonable day trip (at least 10 hours round-trip from Reykjavík)—you’ll spend far more time in the bus than at your destination. Save these for another trip...when you come back and drive around the Ring Road. Or, if you’re serious about glaciers, add an overnight or two in the southeast and do it right.
The two biggest players are Reykjavík Excursions (www.re.is, owned by Icelandair and promoted on their flights) and Gray Line (www.grayline.is). Their offerings are slick and consistent, but the 50-seat buses are typically jam-packed (though Gray Line offers some minibus departures). An advantage, though, is predictability and price; what these tours lack in intimacy they make up for in efficiency and lower ticket costs.
Several smaller outfits are more personal, generally use smaller vehicles—and charge a little to a lot more. Well-established and respected companies include family-run Nicetravel (www.nicetravel.is); environmentally focused Geo Iceland (www.geoiceland.com); small-bus, small-group Iceland Horizon (www.icelandhorizon.is); and pricey, boutique Season Tours (www.seasontours.is).
Choosing an Excursion: For starters, look at each company’s brochure and website. As the offerings are constantly in flux, check reviews on TripAdvisor.com (in the “Things to Do” section) for recent firsthand accounts. Guide to Iceland (www.guidetoiceland.is), a consortium of several travel outlets, can be a good one-stop source for tours; they also have a booking desk at the Reykjavík TI.
Add-on Options: Beyond the standard sightseeing loops, excursion companies mix and match a staggering variety of add-on activities: hiking, caving, horseback riding, snorkeling, glacier walking, and snowmobiling. The possibilities are endless: You can do the Blue Lagoon on the way to the airport; add the Fontana baths in Laugarvatn, snorkeling, or an ATV ride to a Golden Circle trip; or go on a tour of Game of Thrones shooting locations.
Prices: Excursions run from about $80 to $250 (more for boutique experiences). For example, an express, six-hour Golden Circle tour costs about $100; a 10-hour South Coast tour costs around $150; and a bus trip to the Blue Lagoon, including the hefty admission, runs at least $120.
When to Book: For the standard tours—such as the Golden Circle or South Coast—you generally don’t need to book a seat more than a day or two in advance, so you may want to wait until you arrive in Iceland—and can check the weather report. One exception is the Blue Lagoon, which can fill up faster than other excursions. Your hotel may be happy to book these tours for you (be aware that they get a commission).
More specialized tours (ice caving, glacier hikes) can book up quite a bit earlier; for these, keep an eye on online booking calendars, which typically count down the number of slots available for each tour. If it looks like they’re selling fast, book yours before it’s too late.
A number of private companies run regularly scheduled buses throughout Iceland’s countryside—offering transportation to otherwise difficult-to-reach, remote areas, but without any guiding. Developed primarily to get hikers to trailheads, some of these buses can also work for independent travelers who want to put together day trips on their own. For more information, see the “Transportation” section of the Practicalities chapter.