How to Spend a Weekend in Iceland

Iceland is known for its “out-of-this-world” landscape. From the moment you step out of the airport, Iceland looks like something picked out of an alien movie. From their mighty volcanoes to the slick glaciers Iceland is often referred to as the land of fire and ice.

With new adventures around every corner, Iceland is rapidly growing as a popular tourist destination. And people are traveling all throughout the year. If you have the time and can afford it I would recommend driving the ring road that goes all around the island, however, if you have limited time and you are struggling to decide what to prioritize – here’s my ultimate guide on how to spend a weekend in Iceland.

The best way to explore Iceland is with a rental car. You’ll find that most tourists who want to explore the country on their own will do the same. This way you can beat the crowded tourist busses and it’s easy to get around on your own terms.

If you’ve landed in Keflavik, about half an hour outside of Reykjavik stopping by The Blue Lagoon on your way to the city will be a great start to your trip. There are also transfers from Keflavik to Reykjavik that includes a stop at the Blue Lagoon.

The Blue Lagoon is an otherworldly wonder in the heart of a volcanic landscape. The Blue Lagoon is open all year but I find the magic of the place truly comes to life when you’re swimming through the hot spring water with snowflakes flying through the air. You can relax in the mask bar or have a drink in The Blue Lagoons pool bar.

Finish of the day with a dinner at Perlan, one of the main landmarks of Reykjavik. The revolving glass-domed restaurant offers a 360-degree view of Reykjavik.

Waking up fresh and ready to experience Iceland it’s time to travel the Golden Circle. The Golden Circle is a tourist route covering about 300 kilometres looping from Reykjavik into the southern uplands and back. This is one of the most popular destinations so make sure you get an early start to beat the crowds. The busses tend to arrive at the first destination around 9 am.

The first stop will be Thingvellir national park, the site of Iceland’s parliament from the 10th to the 18th centuries. The park is also situated on a rift valley caused by the separation of 2 tectonic plates.

The road continues on to Geysir and Strokkur, a spring that is characterized by intermittent discharge of water. Geysir is one of the largest geysers in the world but is however rarely active. Strokkur on the other hand erupts every five to ten minutes with a height of 20 to 40 meters.

The last stop on the tour is Gullfoss, an iconic waterfall that plummets down 32 meters in two stages into a rugged canyon whose walls reach up to 70 meters in height. So remember to pack your raincoat. You can get pretty close to the falls so you’ll also get splashed by the mist.

As a bonus, you might want to add the following locations to your route; Oxararfoss (waterfall) as you make your way from Thingvellir to Geysir. And the Kerid crater as you loop back to Reykjavik.

Kerid is a volcanic crater lake. Even today we are not sure how the crater was shaped, although it is believed that Kerid was a cone volcano which erupted and emptied its magma reserve. Walking alongside the edge of the crater along the volcanic landscape, looking down at the blue water below that is a deep contrast to the red earth around gives one the feeling of being taken back in time.

Read more: The Ultimate Guide to Driving Iceland’s Golden Circle

Prepare for another early start – for the next day you’ll find yourself on a bit of a road trip. Even though it is a couple of hours’ drive outside of Reykjavik you’ll want to do a trip to Snæfellsnes. This region in western Iceland is known for its dramatic landscape. Here you’ll find small local fishing villages, and black beaches situated around the majestic Snæfellsjokull Volcano which is topped by a glacier. Snæfellsnes National Park is in my opinion the perfect place to go if you want to experience all the sides of the Icelandic landscape. Make sure to bring warm clothes because this part of Iceland is characterized by rough weather!

As you make your way through to Snæfellsnes National Park you’ll want to stop by one of the fishing villages – Arnarstapi or Hellnar. Get an impression of how the locals live out in the rough weather in this alienated landscape. For our trip, we decided to stop by Hellnar which is mostly just a cluster of old houses and buildings.

As soon as you get into the National Park you’ll find that there are plenty of things to see, meaning you’ll have to choose what you “must-see” and plan your route from there before you set off. Sadly as you only have a day and the drive to and from the National Park is about 2 hours one way from Reykjavik you won’t have time to stop by every attraction. We chose to stop by Hellner – Londrangar – Djupalonssandur – The glacier – Kirkjufell.

Londrangar is a pair of rock pinnacles. They are made from volcanic plugs of basalt. From a distance, it looks like the ruins of a castle out on the cliffs above the sea. The volcanic landscape shapes in all kinds of forms and gives the country its out-of-this-world look. Imagining how these formations are standing for years and years is incredible.

Djupalonssandur or the Black Lava Pearl Beach used to be the home of sixty fishing boats and a great village but is today uninhabited. As much of Snæfellsnes stepping onto Djupalonssandur is like stepping out into a lava wonderland.

Since we had a 4×4 we also wanted to travel the rocky road up to the glacier. A lot of the road going up to the glacier is an off-road track and you’ll need to have a vehicle built for this to get to the glacier. Even with our 4×4 car, we could not get all the way up to the glacier because of the rough conditions.

The last stop on our trip was Kirkjufell. A 463-meter-high mountain on the north coast of Snæfellsnes. Because of its unusual shape and beautiful surroundings, Kirkjufell is rumoured to be the most photographed mountain in Iceland.

Read more: The Ultimate Guide to Driving Snæfellsnes Peninsula in a Day