ICELAND ITINERARY 10 DAYS – updated 2023

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We visited Iceland in September and we felt like it was the best time to go to Iceland. The weather was cold but perfect for exploring and the crowds were much smaller than during peak season. If you want to see the Northern Lights, visit between September and April. You’ll have the best chance to see the Northern Lights since the days are shorter. With that said, I don’t recommend visiting Iceland in January and February since they’re the coldest months. If you’re planning to drive the ring road, you don’t want to be limited by the weather conditions. A few of my friends visited in January and lost a few days due to a snow storm.

There are several things to keep in mind when you’re planning a trip to Iceland and traveling Iceland. Especially if you rent a campervan, motorhome, or car! Below I’ll go through my top travel tips for your Iceland Itinerary 10 days.

• If you’re traveling by campervan, you used to be able to park and sleep anywhere but this is no longer the case. Since there are a lot of new rules about wild camping, I suggest staying in designated campsites. There are a ton of reasonably priced campsites located along the ring road.
• Double check the driving laws in Iceland with the company you rent a vehicle from as there are hefty fines. Speed cameras are everywhere especially when you’re driving through tunnels so be sure not to speed.
• We also filled up on gas pretty much every time we saw a gas station. There were honestly more gas stations than we anticipated in the remote areas of Iceland however, it’s still a good rule of thumb!
• Restaurants and groceries are expensive in Iceland. I highly recommend visiting a big grocery store like Bonus prior to leaving Reykjavik. Larger grocery stores are few and far between once you get outside Reykjavik.

As I mentioned, we rented a camper van to travel Iceland. We rented from Campervan Iceland and had a great experience. We felt like it gave us a little more freedom throughout our trip. While we planned a loose Iceland itinerary, we were able to drive a little further if we were ahead of schedule. If you prefer a more luxury camping experience, you can also rent a motorhome.

Booking –

• Camper van – we rented through Campervan Iceland
• Motorhome – you can also rent a motor home through Campervan Iceland
• Hotels – we didn’t stay at any hotels in Iceland however I always have the best luck with booking.com in Europe!

If you’re planning a trip to Iceland, make sure to grab the travel planners linked below. There are a total of 8 templates. The templates are separated by region in Iceland. There is also a place for you to add your travel information as well as blank templates. They’re a great way to plan your trip and stay organized.

We arrived around 2 pm and spent the day exploring Reykjavik Iceland. Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland and is such a cool city. We kept it pretty mellow the first day since we knew we had a busy week planned! While in Reykjavik, I recommend visiting the Hallgrímskirkja Church which feels like the focal point of the city. After grabbing some food and exploring the city, we decided to drive toward the Golden Circle in order to get an earlier start in the morning!

The Golden Circle is approximately a three hour drive however, it took us pretty much all day since we had so many stops on our list. Since we drove toward the beginning of the Golden Circle the evening prior, we were able to have a lot more time to explore the sites along the Golden Circle. One of my favorite stops was Laugarvatn Fontana which was our first Iceland hot springs of the trip. It felt a lot more off the beaten path than the others we visited. While there are a ton of stops along the Golden Circle Iceland, here is a list (in order) of the stops we made along the way!

DAY 2 STOPS –

• Pingvellir National Park
• Oxararfoss (waterfall)
• Laugarvatn Fontana (hot springs)
• Efstidalur II (ice cream)
• Bruarfoss (waterfall)
• Strokkur Geysir
• Gullfoss (waterfall)
• Skaholt Cathedral
• Kerid
• Urridafoss (waterfall)

We made it a goal to at least make it to Hella after The Golden Circle. We made it slightly past here which made for a shorter drive on day 3!

On day 3, we drove toward Skaftafell Glacier, which was less than a three hour trek. We made a ton of stops along the way seeing some incredible Iceland waterfalls! Our day started with Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss, which were two of my favorite waterfalls throughout our trip. Skógafoss Iceland was easily the most impressive waterfall throughout the trip. With that said, I loved Seljalandsfoss Iceland as well since you’re able to go behind the waterfall. From there, we headed toward Vik Iceland to grab lunch and check out the black sand beaches. If you want to check out the abandoned plane, it is about 15 minutes before Vik. We decided not to see the plane because it takes awhile to get down to the plane. We wound up going to Dyrhólaey Lighthouse instead which was a bust! It was too foggy to see the Lighthouse so I would have rather seen the plane. Keep this in mind if you’re debating between the two. We decided to make a stop at Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon last minute and it was epic!

We booked a tour with Mountain Guides on day 4 so drove to Skaftafell and set up camp with a view of the Svinafellsjokull Glacier!

DAY 3 STOPS –

• Seljalandsfoss
• Skógafoss
• Dyrhólaey Lighthouse
• Vik
• Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon

Day 4 was filled with a glacier trek, a Zodiac tour on Fjallsárlón Glacier Lagoon, and a visit to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon with Mountain Guides. I highly recommend this tour if you are interested in checking out the glacier! This tour is a great way to check out Skaftafell Glacier. The Zodiac tour on Fjallsárlón Glacier Lagoon was incredible and such a unique experience! While we absolutely loved the Zodiac Tour, we didn’t have the best weather as it was pretty foggy during the boat ride.

Our goal was to make it to Hofn, however, after we ate dinner, we decided we could make it to our next stop, which was Stokness! This ended up working out perfectly, since there is a camp ground at Stokness. It was about 20 USD per person to stay at the camp ground.

Checking out the East Fjords was one of my favorite parts of our trip! While we didn’t have many stops planned along the way, it was such a gorgeous drive. We stopped at a few small towns tucked away in the Fjords that were absolutely adorable! This was another day to experience the beautiful waterfalls in Iceland as there are so many to see along the ring road. Basically if we saw a cool waterfall, we pulled off the side of the road to check it out!

We ended our day at Seydisfjordur Iceland, which is literally the most magical and adorable town! I highly recommend grabbing a bite to eat and enjoying this one of a kind town!

DAY 5 STOPS –

• Stokness
• Djupivogur (seaside town)
• Seydisfjordur (seaside town)

SO I am not going to lie, this is a long day. For the first time throughout our trip we found the drive to be boring as there wasn’t as much to see. With that being said, Mývatn is worth the drive! Our morning started with Litlanesfoss and Hengifoss; the hike to these waterfalls will be about two to three miles round trip. Our next stop was Dettifoss and Selfoss which are a short walk from the parking lot. From there, we made our way to Mývatn to check out the thermal baths, caves, and set up camp for the night! We found Mývatn to be a hard city to find a place to camp as most pull off streets will say there is no camping allowed. I recommend trying to find a place to stay before dark.

DAY 6 STOPS –

• Litlanesfoss/ Hengifoss (waterfall)
• Dettifoss (waterfall)
• Selfoss (waterfall)
• Grotagja cave
• Mývatn Nature Baths

We decided to take it easy on day 7 and spend the majority of our day checking out Akureyri Iceland. We planned on checking out more seaside towns along the north portion of the island, however, decided we wanted to skip a few of these towns and spend more time in Akureyri! Our day started with Goðafoss; from there we actually drove about thirty minutes past Akureyri to check out Dalvik. Dalvik actually wound up being one of our favorite cities in Iceland so it was worth the drive. After lunch in Dalvik we went back to Akureyri for the night. We set up camp at the Akureyri camp ground which is within walking distance to the city which was perfect!

DAY 7 STOPS –

• Goðafoss (waterfall)
• Dalvik (small seaside town)
• Akureyri (city)

On day 8 we drove straight from Akureyi to Snæfellsnes Peninsula. There are not that many stops along the way, however, the drive is gorgeous! Note – if you are coming from Akureyri a good portion of the drive will be a gravel road. We stopped at Kolugljúfur Canyon and Kirkjufell. From there, we spent a little time in Olafsvik which is a seaside village on the peninsula. We ended up setting up camp relatively early this night because there was a chance we could see the Northern Lights! The best time of year for the Northern Lights Iceland are mid-September through April. We ended up getting lucky and saw them in early September!

DAY 8 STOPS –

• Kolugljúfur Canyon
• Kirkjufell
• Olafsvik (seaside village)

Drive back to Reykjavik and explore the town! The drive from Snæfellsnes Peninsula is a quick two hours, so there will be plenty of time to explore Reykjavik. We took the toll road on the way back, which was crazy because the tunnel is underground! In Reykjavik we made sure to check out the Hallgrímskirkja Church and grab a hot dog from Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur. Icelandic hot dogs are a must after all! Reykjavik is known for their great food and nightlife, so be sure to check it out!

You can also do a tour of the Northern Lights from Reyjkavik. Most tours leave late in the evening but if you’re traveling between April and September it’s definitely worth the tour!

Booking –

• Northern Lights Bus Tour from Reykjavik (large group up to 65 people)
• Northern Lights Midnight Adventure from Reykjavik (small group up to 16 people)

 

The Blue Lagoon is the perfect way to end your Iceland Itinerary 10 days. We actually flew out on our 10th day but our flight wasn’t until 5:45 pm, which gave us plenty of time for The Blue Lagoon. We planned on heading to The Blue Lagoon around 10 am and spending a few hours there. We ended up staying about 5 hours and, honestly, wished we had more time! I recommend setting aside a day for The Blue Lagoon Iceland because there is so much to do there! It is such a relaxing experience! For more on The Blue Lagoon and other Geothermal Pools in Iceland click here.

I hope you enjoy Iceland as much as I did! It is such a remote country with some of the most stunning scenery. It is truly unlike anywhere I have ever been. I hope this Iceland itinerary 10 days helps you in your upcoming travels!

For more on Iceland:

• Food Guide
• Geothermal Pools of Iceland

Safe Travels,

Sarah :)

I’ve linked a few of my favorite travel essentials below! See our travel shop for more essentials including my favorite baby travel gear. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below, I’m happy to help!

If you’re planning a trip to Iceland, make sure to grab the travel planners linked below. There are a total of 8 templates. The templates are separated by region in Iceland. There is also a place for you to add your travel information as well as blank templates. They’re a great way to plan your trip and stay organized.