Iceland is full of beautiful scenery and natural attractions: waterfalls, volcanoes, geysers, glaciers, and of course the northern lights! And you can actually see all of these in one five-day visit to Iceland’s south coast. On top of all this, for us it was only a 5 hour (direct) flight from Baltimore! The decision to go to Iceland was a no-brainer for us. If you’re looking to plan a trip to Iceland, read on for some insider tips!

What you need to know when planning a trip to Iceland:

- In the summer months, the sun only sets for about 3 hours per day, vs in the winter, there’s only about 5 hours of daylight. Take this into account when planning your trip. If you want to see the midnight sun, plan to go between June and August. If you want to see the northern lights, plan to go in October or March in order to maximize the amount of daylight you’ll have. We really wanted to see the northern lights, so we went in early March.

- The weather is unpredictable and changes very quickly. You are likely to get wet, whether from rain, snow, waterfalls, or geysers, so a waterproof outer layer is a must. Make sure you pack enough warm layers to keep you comfortable and dry!

- Don’t overdo it with your itinerary. Our itinerary (see below) was very ambitious and if I could go back and do it all over again, I would’ve allowed at least one more day to accomplish everything we wanted. Five days is sufficient if you just want to see the Golden Circle and southwest part of Iceland. However, I did leave this trip feeling like there was still a lot more I wanted to see and do. Also remember to take into account things like stopping to see the Icelandic horses, exploring hidden waterfalls, or getting stuck in snow storms (yes, that actually happened, but don’t let this scare you away from planning a winter trip to Iceland – this was totally avoidable and hey, we got a great story out of it!).

- While many of the sites along Iceland’s south coast can be completed as a day trip from Reykjavík, I highly recommend spending at least part of your trip outside of the city. This will allow you more time to explore since you won’t need to back track every day.

- Consider using a self-guided tour company. You get the advantage of stress free travel while also being able to go and explore at your own pace. We used www.icelandroadtrip.com and they worked with us to customize our self-guided road trip. They took care of all our booking, transportation and accommodations and provided us with a wealth of information on the areas we were visiting. I normally prefer to book everything on my own, but I didn’t exactly know where to look for accommodations outside of Reykjavík. The price was more than reasonable and we were happy with all of our accommodations, so this is something I definitely recommend looking into!

- Stock up on food before you leave the city. It felt like we ate peanut butter and nutella sandwiches for breakfast lunch and dinner almost every day, but at least we had that on us because our options were very slim throughout the trip.

If you’re looking for the northern lights, watch the forecast, drive, and wait! We watched the forecast every day and it wasn’t until our last night that the aurora activity level was high. The skies were mostly cloudy, but we watched the radar and drove until we found a clearing, parked and waited. Fore more, check out my post on how to see the northern lights.

Our Itinerary Around Iceland’s South Coast:

Iceland Road Trip on Roadtrippers

Day 1: Explore Reykjavík.

We flew into Reykjavík on a red-eye flight and spent the first day exploring the city. We walked along the coastline, saw the City Pond, Harpa Concert Hall, the Old Harbour and Hallgrímskirkja Church. For dinner, we ate at a cozy little seafood restaurant near our hotel, called Resto. I ordered lamb and Chris ordered fish and we both loved our meals! Overnight: Hotel Klettur.

Day 2: The Golden Circle. [Reykjavík to Hella: 135 miles, 3.25 hours].

Our first stop on the Golden Circle was Þingvellir National Park. If you’re a diver, I would definitely recommend diving at Silfra, where you can swim between two continents! Next, we stopped at Strokkur and the Geysir Geothermal Area. This is a good place to grab a bite to eat, because there aren’t many other options along the road. Our next few stops were Gullfoss Waterfall, Faxi Waterfall, and Kerið Crater. We drove through Selfoss, stopped at Pysluvagninn for the famous Icelandic hot dogs that are made from Icelandic lamb. Make sure you try these at some point while in Iceland. They were as delicious as hot dogs can possibly be! Then, we made our way to Hella where we spent the night. Overnight: Guesthouse Nonni.

Day 3: The South Coast. [Hella to Vík, then Vellir: 80 miles, 2 hours].

We drove along the south coast enjoying all of the majestic waterfalls along the way. Our first stop was Seljalandsfoss, which is a massive waterfall that you can actually walk behind during the summer months. I had read about a hidden gem nearby this area and so I talked Chris into exploring a little bit with me. It didn’t take long to find Gljúfurárfoss, and it was by far the highlight of our trip (and not only because this is where Chris proposed, but that definitely helped)! Many people get back on road 1 after Seljalandsfoss and miss out on this waterfall, but this is definitely a must see.

Next, we headed to Skógafoss. We walked to the top and hiked some of the trail along the river. I definitely recommend exploring part of this trail, as you don’t need to walk very far to be rewarded with numerous smaller waterfalls along the Skoga River. It’s well worth a quick stroll!

Next, we headed to Sólheimajökull glacier and the Sólheimasandur plane wreck. I have to say, the plane wreck was underwhelming to me and not worth the 2.5 miles each way along nothing but black sand and rocks.

Last, we headed to Vík. I expected Vík to be a decent size town with some more food options, but boy was I wrong. I didn’t even know we were in Vík until we were past it and had to turn around and go back. The only place we were able to find to eat was basically a lodge/cafeteria. We stopped at the basalt columns at Reynisdrangar, drove up a steep dirt road to Dyrhólaey which was worth it for the amazing views of black sand beaches. We then back-tracked a little bit to Vellir, where we spent the night. Overnight: Vellir Guesthouse.

Day 4: Fjaðrárgljúfur [Vellir to Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon and back to Reykjavík: 208 miles, 4 hours].

The plan for this day was to go to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and Skaftafell for an ice cave tour before heading back to Reykjavík. This would have been an ambitious plan even in the summer months at 365 miles and probably about 8 hours of driving. Instead, we got stuck in a blizzard for 5 hours and missed our tour. In an attempt to not have the entire day go to waste, we hiked in the blizzard at Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon (don’t ask me how to pronounce this one) and then drove back to Reykjavík. After we got back to the city, we went on a (successful!) northern lights hunt and spent our last night in Reykjavík at Hotel Klettur again.

Northern lights in Iceland — aurora borealis

Day 5: Blue Lagoon [Reykjavík to the Blue Lagoon to the airport: 32 miles, 1 hour].

I’m glad we saved the Blue Lagoon for the last part of our trip. It was the perfect relaxing ending to our trip, especially after the crazy day we had the day before. Some people might say that the Blue Lagoon is a tourist trap and too expensive. Yes, it’s man-made and not natural. Yes, it gets really crowded and yes, it’s a bit pricey. However, I really enjoyed it and didn’t mind paying for the experience, especially since we didn’t pay for any of the other experiences of the trip. I mean, it might be man-made but where else can you swim in a massive outdoor hot tub with turquoise waters rich in minerals, surrounded by lava. Oh, and with a facial mask and a swim up bar? I’ll take it.