Iceland is a very expensive country, even for locals, and the conversion rate didn't help us at all. We tried to minimize costs by making our own meals and limiting what we spent on activities. We also reserved the cheapest car rental which had it's limitations. Highway 1 circles the entire country and is a very nice paved road. But lots of the roads in Iceland are called F-Roads and you really need a 4x4 vehicle in order to drive on them (seriously, on some of these roads you have to ford rivers). They are very expensive though so in general you would only rent one when you knew you would need it and not for the duration. But not having one limited where we could go (we didn't end up going to Landmannalauger or Mælifell because of this). Also, depending on what time of year you go a lot of these F-Roads are closed to any traffic.
Overview of our Trip
We spent a total of 9 nights in Iceland. Originally we had hoped to drive around the entire island but in the end we decided we'd need just a few more days in order to do that in a comfortable time-frame. We landed in Keflavík and then spent our first 3 nights just outside of Reykjavík. Then we drove east via the Golden Circle route and stayed near there for one night before continuing on to Hvolsvöllur and spent 4 nights there so we could have easier access to the glaciers and volcanoes in the area. Then we went back to Reykjavík for our last night.
Reykjavík
Our first full day started by doing a whale watching tour which was pretty cool. We got lucky and saw a couple of humpback whales as well as several minke whales. That same day we also explored some of the major Reykjavík places to visit including Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (famous hot dog stand), Laugavegur (touristy street), Hallgrimskirkja (iconic church), and Valdís (amazing ice cream). Later that evening we also went out to the bridge between continents and the famous Blue Lagoon. Both were really cool (the former was free but the latter was crazy expensive). Ideally we would've done these activities either right after we landed in Iceland or right before we flew out since they are very near the airport, but we waited too long to make our appointment at the Blue Lagoon and all the good time slots were taken. It also can get more expensive if you don't book well ahead of time.
The next day we ventured up in to the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. I think this was a doable day trip since we were able to hit all the major things we wanted to see. Here are some of the highlights: we walked into the narrow ravine called Rauðfeldsgjá, we sang our favorite songs in Sönghellir (aka- "Singing Caves"), we admired the beautiful water arch called Gatklettur, snacked at Fjöruhúsið cafe which is worth visiting if only for it's beautiful location, we visited Djúpalónssandur beach which is made up of tiny black pebbles, we climbed up Saxholl crater, and lastly we admired Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall.
Golden Circle
The Golden Circle is also a doable day trip from Reykjavík. We stayed near the end of it though since our plan was to continue east. The Golden Circle includes the Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park, a stop at the geysers (including the Geysir that all other geysers are named after), and Gullfoss Waterfall. In the National Park I was most excited to snorkel the Silfra Fissure which is the space between the two tectonic plates: North America and Eurasian. The water was incredibly clear and swimming between two continental plates is pretty awesome.
Hvolsvöllur
Our first day in the area we checked out some of the waterfalls, including Skógafoss and also walked behind Seljalandsfoss. The next day we did a glacier walking tour which was really cool. We walked on Sólheimajökull, which is what they call the "tongue" of the major ice cap called Mýrdalsjökull. That day we also made it to Sólheimasandur, which is the famous plane crash beach.
The next day we did a lot of driving to and from Skaftafell and Vatnajökull National Park. We were able to do a short hike to Skaftafellsjökull glacier which was really pretty. Then we drove a bit further to Jökulsárlón which is a really awesome glacial lagoon with a ton of floating icebergs. On the way back we also stopped at a cool canyon called Fjaðrárgljúfur. We also stopped at Dyrhólaey to try and see the puffins but it must've still been too early in the day because we weren't able to see them.
Our last day in the area we did a couple of different things. It was a beautiful day so we started by going to the country's oldest pool, Seljavallalaug It was beautiful location but the water was pretty slimy! That day we also took the ferry to Heimaey Island (booking tickets in advance is a must!). There we were able to get a glimpse of the puffins from the Puffin Lookout on the peninsula. We also walked around Eldfell volcano and got to hear about the story of it erupting back in the 70s from some locals who gave us a ride.
Reykjavík
On the way back to the city we stopped at Reykjadalur. After an hour hike we were able to soak ourselves in a natural hot river which was wonderful. There were also lots of hot springs and mud pools but those are too hot to go in. It was very neat and I definitely recommend that. The hike was also very scenic.
We booked a horse-riding tour outside of the city and that was really cool. The Icelandic horse is unique in a few ways and one of them is a unique gait called the tölt which I was lucky enough to experience. It's a 4-beat gait and makes for a very smooth ride for the rider. It was really cool!
Before our flight we were lucky enough to check out the Perlan Museum for only 1 krona (less than 1 cent!) each! They had recently just opened their ice cave and glacier exhibit so they were doing a test run and we caught it on the last day of the special. They had actually recreated an ice cave that we were able to walk around inside and then we walked around the glacier exhibit. It was pretty cool.
Budget
I spent $1,367 total while in Iceland. This doesn't include our international flights since they were bought with the rest of our itinerary. This is per person and in US dollars. The local currency was the Icelandic Krona (ISK), which was about 102 ISK to $1. There were two of us traveling together so most things were split equally two ways.
Ground Transportation: $618. Car rentals and gas were very expensive. The only toll we ran into was the one to and from the Snæfellsnes peninsula.
Lodging: $395. We booked all of our lodging through airbnb, although several of them were actually hostels. We stayed at some great places though so reach out to me for recommendations!
Activities: $212. Most of the tour activities in Iceland are pretty expensive but we were fortunate enough to have several of our activities sponsored, which saved us each about $400 in this category.
Food: $142. We only ate out 3 times while in Iceland since it was so expensive. The rest of the time we bought groceries and made our own meals. We also bought ice cream a few times...
Summary
We loved our visit in Iceland. It's a great place to visit if you want to explore some drastically different environments. There are so many great places to hike and you can see glaciers and active volcanoes all in the same day. During this time of year you can get a lot done in a day since it's always daylight. But I am very anxious to visit again in the winter and see how different it is then.
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