2 full days in Iceland?

[Pigsmightfly31]

Does this work…
Arrive late Thursday evening
Friday guided tour of Geysir Geothermal park, Gullfoss Waterfall, Thingvellir national park followed by evening (5pm-10pm) at Sky Lagoon with dinner there.
Saturday city sightseeing, museums etc
Sunday afternoon fly home.

Any recommendations for Sunday morning activities as flight not til 4pm? Recommendations for hotels or B&Bs in Reykjavik?
Restaurant recommendations?

Thank you!

Are you hiring a car or doing bus tours?

Bus tour I think, what would you recommend?

I think you’ll be pushed at getting to the sky lagoon for 5 if you’re back from the other tour as you’ll be back at 4ish from that one. If it’s the same one I just did. There’s not a whole lot in the city of Reykjavík to be honest. An hour to walk around the shops is ample. You could do northern light on Friday evening/night. Sky lagoon or blue lagoon on the Sunday morning.

Are you doing the Reykjavik Excursions tours? They pick you up from all over the city and at the bus station you get on your coach. Trying to do the Sky Lagoon same day as the Golden Circle does feel unnecessarily stressful tbh.

When are you going? We were there in winter so enjoying the snow and the Northern Lights tour less likely to be of interest if going now.

We did this tour as well as Golden Circle. https://www.re.is/tour/south-shore-adventure/

We went in summer so it was wasn’t cold and we really
enjoyed walking around Reykjavik. Any city guide can steer you on things to see and do and you can choose which appeals most. Lots of sculptures and museums and the main church is definitely worth seeing

there’s a delicious coffee shop just off one end of the main shopping street called Hygga- all the food was amazing.

while it is expensive we found the portions big and shareable in lots of places.

We’re thinking if going in mid May next year so won’t be dark until 10pm ish, fencing thinking and evening at Sky Lagoon might be a nice idea with sunset etc. Hiw ling would you give for Sky Lagoon? Is it a couple of hours or more like a half day plus time to eat?

I was looking at Reykjavik Excursions , specifically this one to maximise the short time we have:

https://www.re.is/tour/golden-circle-and-sky-lagoon/

@Kitchenbattle thats useful info re time needed to look around the city.

We found the South Coast much more interesting / stunning (and less touristy) than the Golden Circle so would do South Coast instead if you only have time
for 1 of them. But we did the South Coast with Mike and I think that also made a huge difference. Fabulous guy! He was recommended by a friend who’d used him previously and we found he was worth every penny. Other friends have since taken trips with him and loved him too.

https://arcticmike.com

We did the Golden Circle on a small bus tour and that wasn’t in the same league. I think Mike ruined us. 😂

We stayed at the Sand Hotel right in the very centre of Reykjavik and loved it. The most comfortable beds ever!! Breakfast is included and amazing (as much of it comes from Sandholt Bakery next door which is one of the best bakeries in town, and also a handy lunch spot).

https://www.keahotels.is/sand-hotel

Our favourite / best meal was at Apothek. Such good food, just wow! (And we’re spoiled, picky Londoners who know good food). We still talk about the dinner we had there! You’ll need to book though as it’s VERY popular with locals. Seems to be quite ‘in’ with the hip local crowd when we were there.

https://apotekrestaurant.is/en/

That's two different RE tours sandwiched together with up to an hour at the bus station (which is small and not particularly picturesque - I wouldn't be desperate to eat there!) , and the buses often drop off at a few places around town on the way back so you will have been stuck in traffic round Reykjavik. I would be tempted to separate them out and do separately even if it costs a bit more. Doing it all in one day feels like it is set up for tourists who only have one day, and you have two and a half!

we spent a couple of hours in Reykjavik and that was enough for us 🤣. There’s not much there x x

Useful to know!!

There's plenty to do in Reykjavik! As a quick Google will tell you.

I’ve been to Iceland many times and actually I really love Reykjavik! For a city day, I would start with Hallgrímskirkja, make sure you go up to the top.
The Perlan and the Phallological museums are both very interesting. Walk around the older and newer parts of the town. Walk along the harbour front for sunset. Lots of good shops, restaurants, bars. See if there is anything on at Harpa that interests you.

The day tour you’ve picked is a good one. The tour of the south coast is also good. I also recommend the trips that take you inside volcano lava tubes. The blue lagoon and sky lagoon are both great, I think the blue lagoon is often closed lately because it’s in the path of volcanic eruptions.

For the two day itinerary you’ve set out, I would perhaps move the sky lagoon to the city day so that you are not coming back from one trip and joining another straight off. Two days is a really short time in Iceland, there’s so much to see and do and it’s all amazing. But if your budget and/or time is limited, two days is still better than none!

Ah we were there yesterday and saw all the main sites before lunch. 🤣 Chatting to people on our tour today and the general consensus of others was that it wasn’t a full day so it’s not just me.

I spent so long googling before I went and had a great list of things to see - we walked around all in a few hours. The only place on my list that we didn’t do yet was Perlan.

I love Iceland but Reykjavik was very underwhelming in my opinion. Others will love it but I definitely couldn’t have spent the full day in the city x x

OP - maybe plan a full day there but have a back up plan in case you’re done. With such limited time, you don’t want to waste the day if you’re ready to move on.

Thanks so much everyone, really helpful suggestions here, very much appreciated.

We went a few years ago but in Dec and were there maybe 3-4 whole days. We used both grayline and reykavik excursions bus companies. MUCH easier than hiring a car IMO, but we went in very heavy snow.

Within Reykjavik itself, DH and I wandered along the main road, went to the Phallological (Penis) musuem, saw the famous church, sun voyager viking boat sculpture and the National museum in 1 day. We also went in the opera house and a few other places during our time, but unless seeing a show, I wouldn't bother with the opera house.

We stayed here https://ok-aparthotel-reykjavik.hotel-ds.com/en/#main
It was very central and easy to walk to everything. It also had a kitchenette, so we could get bits from the nearby supermarket for breakfast, reheat snacks etc. A word of warning though, 'sunny milk' is not milk for tea/coffee but some sort of soured milk similar to a liquid yoghurt or buttermilk that curdles in tea 😝

We did it on the cheap (well relatively cheap obviously) and we did not do the tours you suggest so can't really comment - but knowing the distances, you will be travelling for a while, especially if you do the two tours back to back. We stayed in the Hilton Nordica with access to the Exec lounge. It is fine enough, but it is out of town, and by the time you arrive the lounge would be shut (we actually found it to be really good because we arrived at 9.30am, they stowed our bags and gave us a token to go into breakfast (unexpected), and in the evening the lounge was good with drinks and food, we had a ridiculously early flight back 3 days later, and they let us stow bags again, and have the evening in the lounge (again, unexpected) before we went to an airport hotel (soulless) I would not "particularly" recommend the Hilton (sauna area was not great) but our room was nice and we got good value out of the lounge and the breakfasts. If I had tips they would be: If you have to get in from Keflavik to Rejkavik, we booked a car in advance, it was about 85e (and whereas that sounds expensive, getting the airport bus was at least half that, and the "proper local" bus that stops everywhere isn't even that cheap. The landscape is stark / barren. A normal taxi is eye watering. We went to Laugardauslarg thermal pools in Rejkavik rather than trekking out to Blue Lagoon, it is nowhere near as insta or picturesque, but we were happy with it. We went to see "The Clock" by Christian Marclay at one of the museums, it was brilliant but it won't be there next year i think. We went to Videy Island, which again, would not suit all, be we liked it. If I went back we would do more of Iceland, not just Reyjavik. We did a lot more than the above, main church, maritime area, most museums, and it was all OK. If you have a generous budget, you can do more still, but maybe not in the time you have. Glad I went though, but I am not sure I would rush back. Surprisingly quick flight times from Edinburgh. Hope this helps in some way, have a great time x

If your Golden Circle and Sky Lagoon day is booked together as in the link, I think it will be fine. If you're hanging around at the bus station, there's a Sbarro, which sells pizza by the slice and is nice enough.

There's also at least one in a convenience store in Reykjavik and is a good option for a not too expensive lunch, certainly better than the hot dog stands that everyone raves about where you're basically paying £6 for what you get at Ikea for about 50 p.

There's plenty to do/see in Reykjavik, we were there for 4 full days, we did the Golden Circle tour and went whale watching for half a day but the rest of the time just wandered around the city and weren't bored or running out of things to see.

We went in Perlan and the cathedral including taking the lift up the tower. Also looked inside the concert hall and wandered along the waterfront. There's nice little parks and you can see the wildfowl at the pond. Also if you go in the town hall there's a big relief map of the whole island that is interesting to look at.

Other things we could have done but didn't was the city museums, swimming pools or get the bus to somewhere nearby where you can swim in a hot river. If you're interested in these, look at the city card, where you can get free access for a fixed price.

I think Reykjavík is definitely one of those places that is nicer to live in than to visit but it is a stretch to say that you can't fill half a day in the capital area! You could easily spend half a day in the National Museum, for example, which is a very good museum. You can walk around the very centre of downtown quite quickly but there is actually more than that. 🙄

I recommend the open air history museum at Árbær, a bike ride or scooter ride around the coastal path, visiting a public swimming pool, a walk in Heiðmörk or Elliðaárdalur, yeah and a stroll around 101 as well.

You should do Reykjanes on the Sunday, OP. See Kleifarvatn and Krýsuvík and maybe go to Grindavík and if you have time, you can walk up to see the recent eruption sites. They are very interesting. And then you're close to the airport.

I would get a car and DIY if you can. You will have more freedom and be able to see things at your own pace. May is generally lovely and driving in Iceland is very easy. Just remember the unusual roundabout rules when you're in the cities and towns - inside lane has priority.

Oh and in mid May it won't be dark at 10 pm. It won't actually get fully dark at all. In the middle of the night it will be 'nautical twilight' - darkish but there is zero chance of seeing the northern lights. Just so you know.

Watching as a trip to Iceland interests me. Do people going in winter Really see the northern lights? I thought utterly was difficult?

If it's a good night and they're happening, it's not difficult to see them. It basically just has to be cloudless (or few clouds) and completely dark. That's not ever guaranteed because especially in winter there is a lot of stormy weather, which means a lot of clouds. But if you get lucky with some clear nights, you just find a place with low or zero light pollution and wait and it's not unlikely you'll see them. They look stronger on film than with the naked eye but on a good night you can see strong colours and movement with your eyes.

You can always check the aurora forecast to see predicted strength/likelihood before you commit to going out. So if I check for tonight I see that there is moderate activity (3 on a scale of 0-9 but I've never seen higher than 7 irl) but it is completely overcast where I live, so I will definitely not see them tonight. But I do see them a lot every winter and so do tourists if they happen to come at a good time. It's just luck, really, with clouds being the main problem.

We much preferred the Secret Lagoon to the other more commercial thermal baths. And as I have a family of geographers, we also spent time exploring the coastline and other waterfalls.

We were there in the summer and food is eye wateringly expensive but it is a stunning country. I would also recommend hiring a car and doing some of south Iceland. The thermal river was amazing. I'd definitely recommend horse riding too. There are plenty of stunning waterfalls too, one you can get behind. In the city we enjoyed seeing the concert hall, walking out to the big mound statue in the bay, the cathedral( can't remember the name!) I would absolutely recommend public swimming pools, hardly any tourists go to them. They have hot pools, cold plunges, sauna etc and are all outside . Best value for money activity ( be warned you do need to shower naked first though, you can usually find a shower with a curtain) We didn't bother with blue/ sky lagoon at all.