Ever since I started travelling I’ve always wanted to visit Iceland, the land of fire and ice. The incredible waterfalls, breath-taking geysers and a chance of seeing the famous Northern Lights bring in over two million tourists every year. It really is a place you must visit at least once in your life!
Iceland is one of my favourite places I’ve visited and I plan to go back to explore more one day. But for now, I’ve put together this blog about how you can spend four days in Iceland.
Day One
Luckily, our flight was early, so we touched down in Iceland around 10 AM and therefore had the majority of the day to explore. We booked a package with TUI, which included transfers to our hotel. It takes around 50 minutes to get to Reykjavik from Keflavik International Airport, so we arrived around 12 PM to check into our hotel, Skuggi.
Do A Walking Tour
When I’m exploring new countries, I always find that free walking tours are one of the best ways to learn about the place you’re in. Like every other country, Iceland has a free walking tour too.
CityWalk offers a variety of walking tours, including the free one where you donate at the end of the tour. They offer two walks per day which last two hours, at 11 AM and 2 PM, and you meet in front of the Parliament house. It’s essential to book which you can on their website five days before the date.
We attended the 2 PM tour, and thoroughly enjoyed it, it was cold so be sure to wrap up warm as you’re outside the majority of the tour. We learnt a lot about Iceland and even received some pointers to make the most of our time!
Fuel Up
If you had an early flight as we did, it’s probably a good idea to fuel up! Lamb is one of the main meats which they eat in Iceland, so we knew at some point we had to hunt out some lamb. We found Brass when searching for places to eat, and decided this would be our first place to eat in Iceland!
We both opted for the lamb burger which honestly, melted in your mouth! It was also happy hour, so we washed down our burgers with a few glasses of prosecco!
Hunt For The Northern Lights
With TUI, the Northern Lights tour is included in the package, if you didn’t see them on your first night you could go again. You can see them slightly in the picture I took, but in person, you couldn’t really see anything. Unfortunately, when we visited a storm hit, and so the rest of the nights the tour was off.
Day Two
The Golden Circle Tour
The Golden Circle Tour was included within our TUI package. When you book a package break with them, this tour will always be on the second day.
There are three stops on the tour; Geysir Geothermal Area, Gullfoss Waterfall and Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park. The Golden Circle tour is an absolute must when you visit Iceland, whether you partake in an organised tour or do the route on your own!
Geysir Geothermal Area
With boiling hot geysers which explode over 30 meters every few minutes, the geysers are one of the most visited sites in Iceland. This was the first stop we visited (although all tours will differ in the order they do them), we arrived around 10 AM and for a while, there weren’t too many other tourists there, before it became packed!
Also, Ed Sheeran actually burned his foot in one of the geysers when he visited. So, be careful as they are extremely hot, so stick within the boundaries.
Gullfoss Waterfall
The next stop and probably my favourite was Gullfoss Waterfall (which means Golden Falls). The waterfall was formed when there was a flash flood and created two waterfalls. The views are absolutely breath-taking and I don’t think the pictures even do it justice!
There’s also a restaurant situated at Gullfoss, which is where we stopped as it was included in our tour. We had a traditional Icelandic meat soup followed by a chocolate cake! The soup was very tasty, and if you’re on the Golden Circle it’s a great option to stop for a bite to eat.
National Park
Last up was Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park, there is SO much to explore and we were a little sad that we only had around half an hour to walk around, as you can imagine you could spend hours exploring the National Park.
The Golden Circle tour usually lasts around six to seven hours and during this time you’ll cover around 155 miles!
Head For A Cocktail
After a long and very cold day, before heading out for some food, we decided to head for a cocktail at Jungle Cocktail Bar. Iceland is quite expensive, including alcohol, so I’d recommend downloading Reykjavík Appy Hour which will tell you where the happy hour deals are!
We love a cocktail and therefore, Jungle Cocktail Bar had to be on our list of places to drink. The décor is incredible, making it the perfect Instagram backdrop, as well as boasting some incredible cocktails too!
Get An Italian
Despite being in Iceland, Italian is one of my favourite cuisines. So, we sought-after some pizza! We went to Primo Ristorante, we’d seen a deal which got us some discount in one of the books in our hotel, which helped save us a bit of money in one of the most expensive cities in the world!
Day Three
Unfortunately, because of the storm when we visited our South East Iceland tour was cancelled. I’d recommend the South East tour which takes you on a journey discovering the famous Diamond Beach (black sand!) and Skógafoss waterfall (which you can walk behind!) in addition to other stops on the way.
We booked the tour with Get Your Guide, and as it was cancelled they refunded us very promptly. So, instead, we spent the day exploring Reykjavík.
The Icelandic Philological Museum
A penis museum!! Yes, you read that right, there is a very big collection of phallic specimens which belong to a variety of animals. It was an interesting visit, I’m not entirely sure I would recommend it as we were only in there around twenty minutes for the £10 cost, but it was an experience to say the least!
Whales of Iceland
I’d love to go whale watching one day, and the second-best thing is to visit Whales of Iceland! On arrival you’ll get a headset which guides you through the tour, exploring a variety of whales!
Doughnut Stop At Deig
Making our way back from Whales of Iceland to the centre, we spotted some amazing doughnuts in a shop window. They were incredible, so if you’re looking for something sweet to get you through the day, seek out Deig!
Cocktails at Sushi Social
We’re lovers of cocktails as I mentioned earlier, and Sushi Social was another place which has a happy hour running. So, we stopped here before heading for food. As well as being known for their sushi, they’re also known for their cocktails and if there was only one place you could stop for a cocktail in Reykjavik, I’d recommend Sushi Social first.
Eat Some Fish
I’m a lover of fish and of course, in Iceland, they’re also lovers of fish, so it’s basically a necessity to try some fish when you’re here! There are so many seafood restaurants in Reykjavik; Fisherman Fish Shop & Kitchen, Gallery Fiskur and Tapas Barinn are just a few!
Day Four
Visit Hallgrimskirkja
The largest church in Iceland is of a unique shape! You are able to go in to explore for free, but if you’d like to head to the top for incredible views over Iceland, you’ll have to buy a ticket!
Relax at the Blue Lagoon
Other than the Northern Lights and the incredible waterfalls, the Blue Lagoon was one of the other reasons I’d wanted to visit Iceland. Honestly, it’s as amazing as it looks in photos, maybe even better!
The Blue Lagoon is one of the 25 wonders of the world, and it’s where geothermal seawater has turned the place into a spa. It’s essential to book the Blue Lagoon in advance as it does sell out, there’s the option to visit at any time of the day, whether you fancying watching the sunrise or sunset at the lagoon.
It’s expensive, it cost around £110 each which included the visit and return transport to our hotel. It is most definitely worth the price though, within the visit you get your first drink free as well as a free face mask!
We thoroughly enjoyed the Blue Lagoon and could easily spend longer here as it was super relaxing after a very busy few days. TUI did offer this as an additional booking, but we opted to book our own tour as we then got to decide how long we wanted here. We were picked up around 12.30 PM and got back to our hotel around 8 PM, spending time in the lagoon from 2 PM to 6.30 PM.
It was a shame that because of the storm some of our activities were cancelled and we were unable to head out every evening to see the Northern Lights, but all the more reason to head back to Iceland again!
Honestly, it was one of my favourite places I’ve visited. Everything about Iceland made me fall in love with the country! Hopefully, my four days in Iceland itinerary has helped inspire you to visit the land of fire and ice, you definitely won’t regret it!
Have you been to Iceland before? What was your favourite thing to see or do? I’d love to know, let me know in the comments!
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