After a fantastic girls trip taken to the land of fire and ice, here are my top recommendations for the best things to do in Iceland that you just can’t miss out on!
Road trip
My top tip is: Don’t just stay in Reykjavik and/or take a one day trip with a tour company. Get out and see Iceland for yourself! You can explore so much more on your own time instead of being held to a schedule on a tour!
However I won’t say don’t do a tour – Icelandics know their country better than you so it could pay to get on board a tourist van and see the things with a guide!
You can read about the Roadtrip my 3 gal pals and I took here and here!
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
This place is 100% the best & coolest place I saw whilst Road-trippin around Iceland!
The lake is close to the ocean and sits in-land. The lake is also full of thousand year old icebergs AND it blew my mind. How is it possible? I had lots of thoughts during my visit to Jokulsarlon!!
I enjoyed holding the ice, kissing the ice, gazing at the ice & gazing some more. It was here I felt so small & never experienced such an extreme feeling of how great Planet Earth is.
The Golden Circle
Within the Golden Circle are three primary stops: Þingvellir National Park, Gullfoss Waterfall and the original Geysir!
The geysir was amazing to see – as it erupts almost on cue every 5 minutes! I tried to film it many times and failed.
Gullfoss is the most powerful waterfall I have ever seen! There is quite a lot of areas you can view the falls from however my favourite vantage point was climbing over the guide ropes that say “Do Not Pass – Danger” and getting up close and personal with the beautiful beast.
Stay in a Cabin
My favourite evening of the trip was staying in a cabin, somewhere within the Golden Circle. Our cabin was built in a remote area with no street lights and we were in complete darkness and quietness. Coming from London, this is heaven.
An evening with your 3 best mates in a cabin in the woods is bound to be entertaining! That’s all I’ll say about that 🙂
Go to the Top of Hallgrímskirkja
I don’t quite know how to pronounce the name of this church – but who cares! All you really need to know is – ride the elevator to the top for views of Reykjavik!
The views are just gorgeous and as Reykjavik is so small, it’s really easy to see all of it from above – and what’s not to love about the colourful houses 🙂
The church itself is also stunning and was designed to resemble the basalt lava flows of the landscape in Iceland. Go check it out!
Soak in the Blue Lagoon
On day one in Iceland, I took a tumble. I fell down, hard. My friends thought it was hilarious & it was even caught on tape. On my own phone via my selfie stick.
So, along with the fall I got a nasty scrape on my knees and lots of blood. However I knew on our last day we were planning on soaking in the healing waters of the Blue Lagoon so I had no worries about my knees.
The Blue Lagoon is super touristy. Everyone in Iceland is there. And it is a money making machine. It’s not cheap, and the building and change rooms and cafes etc are all very fancy.
The water is turquoise and warm and steaming. Around the sides there are mud masks that you can just swim up to and apply as much mud as possible. I myself had a face mask and neck mask, and shoulder mask and I masked my knees in order to help with the recovery process!
I think my knees definitely healed quicker because of the mystical blue waters, and so for this reason, I think everyone must make a visit to the Blue Lagoon when in Iceland.
Hit up the beaches
We discovered the black sand beach in Vik during our Road Trip and as Australians we were thrilled to be on a beach frolicking in the sand – especially since it comes from lava…!
The stretch of beach goes on for as far as our eyes could see, so there’s plenty of beach to frollick on in Vik.
This is just a list of some of the amazing things I had the opportunity to do while I was in Iceland. What are some of your favourite things to do in Iceland?
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Australian expat, married to a Dutch guy, living in Amsterdam. Previously lived in London for 3 years, too! Lover of travel, coffee, brunch, beaches, fresh flowers, and family. Now a new mum, navigating life with a baby!
0 thoughts on “What You Simply Must Do In Iceland”
the best trip EVER