So you want to go to Iceland like all the cool kids, but don’t know where to start? Perfect! You’ve come to the right place. I’ll help you get your bearings with the country as well as plan an itinerary and hopefully answer all your logistical questions. After that’s out of the way, I’ll be posting on the areas my family visited in 3 separate posts. So to quote the great philosopher, will.i.am, let’s get it started.
Why should I go to Iceland?
Iceland is truly a land of fire and ice. Iceland sits on the fault line created by the North American plate moving away from the Eurasian plate. Therefore, it is the home to a ton of geothermal activity, past and current. Iceland’s landscape is subsequently replete with rift valleys, hot springs, pools of bubbling & sulfuric ooze, endless fields of dried lava, and cones of volcanoes past. That’s the fire part. Iceland is also just south of the Arctic Circle and therefore has plenty of ice as well. The country has several icecaps and glaciers, including the largest icecap in Europe: Vatnajokull. The coolest thing about Iceland’s ice is that it is pretty easily accessible. There are several places where you can drive right up to the face of a glacier.
The above should make you want to visit. But couple this with the fact that the island is relatively small (about the size of the US state of Virginia), has plenty of AirBnB’s, and everyone speaks English, and I believe you have just about a perfect recipe for a European travel destination.
How do I get there?
Iceland is a small, island country in the far northwest of Europe that is considered part of Scandinavia. The island nation is essentially in the center of the North Atlantic, halfway between the US and Europe. There is only one international airport in Iceland and that is Keflavik International Airport (airport code: KEF). It is located on the Reykjanes Peninsula about 30 miles southwest of Reykjavik, the capital and largest city in Iceland. There are several airlines that fly non-stop from North America to KEF. Below is a map of all the non-stop flights between North America and Iceland:
I flew to Iceland via JFK on Delta. From New York, it is about the same distance to go to Iceland as it is to go to Los Angeles. Flight time is about 6 hours both directions.
How do I get cheap tickets here?
Iceland is the perfect candidate to employ a method I introduced in part 2 of my cheap airfare series: two tickets, one trip. Due to Icelandair (and WOW Air before they went under) flooding the market with cheap tickets to Iceland, you can usually find a very cheap fare from the Northeast US to Iceland. I found tickets that were under $300/person in basic economy and ~$400/person in Main Cabin on Delta. It is absolutely not unusual to see prices like this from PHL, EWR, or JFK to Iceland on a regular basis.
Do I need to rent a car?
I’m sure there’s someone in the world that has seen Iceland via public transit. Buses do exist there. However, I’m assuming this mythical person is a single dude traveling with nothing but a backpack and a drone. For families, you HAVE to rent a car and that car should be a 4×4. Why? Because some of the best sites in Iceland are accessed via “F-roads” that are gravel and very rough.
What else do I need to know?
- Entry requirements: Passport only for US and Canada passport holders, no VISA required
- Currency: Icelandic Krona, worth about 130kr to 1 USD
- Time: Iceland is 5 hours ahead of EST and 4 hours ahead of EDT. Iceland does not observe daylight savings time
- Tipping is not necessary in Iceland
- Cash is not needed. I used a credit card for everything, including pay toilets in the South (more on that in another post)
Where should I go?
Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, where should you go in the country? I’m glad you asked. First, let’s get you familiarized with Iceland. Iceland can be split up as follows:
- Reykjavik/Reykjanes Peninsula
- West Iceland
- Westfjords
- Northwest Iceland
- North Iceland/Myvatn
- East Iceland
- Southeast Iceland
- South Iceland
- Highlands
Iceland is a beautiful country, but you can’t see all of it. Let’s start with the areas to not go. East Iceland and the Westfjords are both beautiful places; however, they are a long way from Reykjavik so they are difficult to reach. Additionally, once there, these areas are fairly light on sites to see and places to stay. Therefore, my recommendation is to skip them. The best areas in Iceland are: South Iceland, North/Myvatn, and West Iceland, in that order. These areas have plenty of AirBnB’s and plenty of sites that are easy to reach from Route 1 (more on Route 1 in a minute). My family saw all the rest of these areas and then some, so I will give you a thorough breakdown in the subsequent posts on Iceland. If you want a quick rundown of the top sites in Iceland, click here.
Itinerary Options
Iceland has a road named Route 1. You may have heard of this road by it’s nickname: Ring Road. This is quite a fitting name as it’s a road…that loops across the entire country….like a ring. Here’s the route it takes:
You could drive the entire distance, but it’s a long drive. Additionally, between Myvatn and Jokulsarlon the road is fairly devoid of sights and population. So I definitely recommend against doing the entire ring road. Nonetheless, the Ring Road will inevitably be a central part to any Icelandic adventure your family will take.
As far as itineraries, my perfect itinerary recommendation would be 10 nights split up as follows:
- 3 nights in West Iceland, staying in Stykkishólmur
- 3 nights in North Iceland/Myvatn area staying in Akureyri
- 4 nights in South Iceland area, staying somewhere between Selfoss and Hvolsvöllur
My family essentially did this itinerary except we stayed only 2 nights in West Iceland and I regretted that as I felt that area deserved more time.
Obviously, not everyone can stay for 10 nights. So at minimum, I would do 4 nights in South Iceland. There’s a lot of sights, tons of places to stay, and the most services. But it will be mobbed. So the further away from Reykjavik you get, the better your experience will likely be. If you can stay a week, then do 3 nights in West Iceland than 4 in the South.