3/4 nights ICELAND

[goldpendant]

Hello

I'm thinking of taking DH to Iceland for his 40th. I'm planning Reykjavík for 2 nights followed by a night at a spa type place near the blue lagoon. Is this long enough?

We'd like to get out into the landscape, but it will be winter, so maybe cross country skiing, snowmobile activity type stuff.

Would also like a day mooching around shops/cafes, and a day at the lagoon/spa.

Hoping to throw in a special dinner too.

Can anyone recommend an itinerary, hotels, tour guide/activity guide, or special restaurant?

TIA

Hi
I loved Blue Lagoon. If you time your flights right you can go there straight from the airport or on the final day before heaidng home. (We did that. It was such a relaxing way to spend the last monring. I could spend lal day there but the rest of our family (all men and boys) had enough after 2-3 hours.
I recommend the Golden Circle tour (You see the Geyser, the waterfalls, the place where the earth's two tectonic plates meet and the first parliament ever was formed). We picked a version that also stopped at the Secret Lagoon for a swim by starlight. It's veyr basic there, not touristy, but has a bar and the water is so warm. It was gorgeous.
If you book a Northern lights tour, do it for the first night. Then if you don't see them you can try again next day.
For good food, we loved Resto It was one of the nicest meals I've ever had. In a really plain building in a side street but lovely menu and laid back atmosphere.
Loved Reyjavik for browsing coffee and musc shops, buying Icelandic socks and sweater, climbing the church tower and swimming in the outdoor pools.
We went in winter too and I fell inlove with the place. Very cosy and romantic. And the people are so lovely - all smiling and welcoming.

Thank you! This is great advice! I've seen that I can get day passes for the fancy spa rather than having to stay there so that's great!

Can't decide on whether to take excursions to the north or to the south of the island now. North looks more remote and less chance we'LL be sharing our sights with thousands of others, but the south seems to offer more variety. Any thoughts on this much appreciated!

For 3/4 days you will find plenty to do in the south. The island is bigger than you think and the north can be pretty inaccessible in winter. You might find 'no travel' days in the south if you're really unlucky.
A Golden Circle tour will cover all of the main sights for you. Remember to book early for the Blue Lagoon as it does get fully booked at peak times.
Reykjavik is 40km from the airport at Keflavik so you'll need to consider transfers too.
We absolutely love Iceland and have visited in the summer and winter. Gorgeous and expensive! Have an amazing time.

Just back from a week in Reykjavik and it was awesome. We easily filled 8 days and are planning to go back in the summer sometime to explore the more remote areas. However I am disabled so need to pace myself with rest days etc so you'll fit more into your days. Blue Lagoon was expensive but a great experience, however we also went to our local swimming pool which was outside and geothermally heated with 6 hot tubs, a plunge pool, lane swimming, slides etc and cost £6 for adults and £1 for children so a very reasonable option.

Definitely recommend the golden circle. We hired a 4x4 and did it ourselves split over 2 days. We also stopped at a volcanic crater (Keflik I think) which is on the route but often missed out if you're on an organised tour. It was busy at the sights but not horribly so and the roads were quiet. It was icy and snowy when we were there but all the main roads were clear. We also drove down to the Blue Lagoon on route 42 (past lake Kleifavertn) which is not the main road but was clear and really spectacular and we saw more hot springs etc.

If you're going in winter take layers! The temperature wasn't too bad when we were there (around -2) but the wind makes it feel much colder. However the buildings are very well insulated so when you go inside for food etc you quickly get overheated. Our air bnb was so warm we had windows open and had to email the host to find out how to turn off the heating!

Go and enjoy! We went for DH's 50th and it was probably our best ever holiday.

So glad you enjoyed Iceland and yes do go back in the summer as you can access so much more and the daylight means that your whole day is extended. We often didn't get back to our cabin in the middle of nowhere until 11pm.
Love the place, we plan on doing the whole ring road once the teenagers have decided that they no longer want to come away with us. 🤣

Book a Northern Lights too for the first night so if it is cancelled you have another night for an opportunity!

We did 3 nights over Christmas it's such an amazing place! Wouldn't go for any longer as we were ready for home the 4th day. We did blue lagoon, nothern lights (didn't see because of cloud and weather), waterfalls, ice glacier tour, lots of walking around town, and the golden circle. It's just so peaceful but it's very cold!! Restaurants and people are lovely just very expensive especially alcohol but well worth it. Wouldn't go again as we feel we've done and seen all that we could but was a once in a lifetime experience ticked off the list. X

Blue lagoon is amazing! We went straight from the airport as they do transfers to the lagoon then to your hotel.
Don't book a northern lights tour until you get there. We were there 4 nights and they were cancelled every night due to the weather.

It's an amazing place!

Instead of the Blue Lagoon book a Hot Golden Circle Tour with Gateway to Iceland, they take you to the 'secret lagoon' which is very quiet and more 'natural' than the Blue Lagoon. I did 2 tours with them, both excellent and in 16 seater minibus rather the packed coaches that some others use.