This is my first time here in September and it’s been great so far. No northern lights yet but hoping to catch them and should have a decent chance this time of the year. Would love to have seen the puffins but they migrate late August.
Was previously here in May and that was too early for puffins, and too late for the borealis. Personally, I’d like to try early August- lots of daylight, puffins, decent for whale watching etc.
I’d never try to plan for weather in Iceland so daylight hours are probably more important. Personally, I’d avoid November to March- days are much too short when you’re driving around and sightseeing.
For s first trip, I’d focus on the south. Spend maybe two nights in Reykjavik, then rent a car and head maybe as far as Hofn and double back, planning stops around Selfoss, Vik, and Jokulsarlon (diamond beach). Lots of waterfalls on that route as well as the geysers, kerið crater, pingvellir national park etc. Would easily fill 7 days.
I like Reykjavík as a city but, compared to other places in Iceland, it’s not somewhere that I’d dedicate a lot of time to over getting to somewhere else.
While we definitely plan things we want to see, we keep our itinerary loose because we love spotting something and just being able to park up and see what’s around. It’s such a stunning country that you can literally find something breathtaking to see every ten minutes.
Once I’m back from this holiday, I’ll post our all-island itinerary. Just don’t want to out myself while still here!