Places to visit from Reykjavik

On our first trip to Iceland, we had a hire car and did a little tour of the south coast (it was winter, when it is harder to go North!).  You can still see a lot by just doing day trips out of Reykjavik, however be prepared for some longer days and some time in the car.  If you have your heart set on getting out on a glacier or seeing an ice cave, I would highly recommend staying in Vik for a night rather than trying to do it in a day from the city.

This trip we did a tour with Icelandic Mountain Guides called Golden Circle and Magical Nights.  I highly recommend this tour over other big bus Golden Circle tours, as it starts out later and therefore you tend to get much fewer people at the main attractions on the Golden Circle.  It also includes lunch and dinner, with an ice cream stop in between, and entry into Fontana Spa, making it a very good value tour.  We honestly had a great day, and were lucky enough to be only a group of four!  We even caught a small glimpse of the Northern Lights, even though they weren't really supposed to be very active that night!  The place where you go for ice cream on this tour (Efstidalur) was one of the places where we stopped for the night on our first trip to Iceland - great views and wonderful food.

If you can get a hire car for the day (4x4 only!), and the weather is on your side, I really recommend taking the ring road (N1) south to find waterfalls - Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss.  Both are just off the main road (Seljalandsfoss you can see as you approach from quite a long way off!).  It's a bit of a drive, but worth it, and you can stop in Selfoss to break up the journey a bit (Kaffi Krus comes highly recommended).  You can walk behind Seljalandsfoss, although it will be quite icy at this time of year so you'd need to be careful!  If you're feeling adventurous, there is also a 'secret' waterfall close to Skogafoss, however you have to walk for around 15-20 minutes to get there.  If you're interested in that then let me know and I will get you the directions!  It's a way to get away from the crowds, as most people don't know it is there!

Skogafoss

Seljalandsfoss

Another good self-drive day trip from Reykjavik is the Snaefellsnes peninsula.  There is a tour if you'd prefer, which will tell you about the places you can see.  I can't personally recommend that as we had a car when we went there, but it sounds like it covers the same ground!  It's a beautiful area, and a bit quieter than the Golden Circle.  You can see mountains (like Kirkjufell), waterfalls, beaches and lighthouses, and pretty little towns.  We stopped in Stykkisholumur at a place called Sjavar pakkhussid.  The scallops I had there were amongst the best I've ever eaten!

Finally, if you do manage to get a night in the south somewhere like Vik, one of the highlights of our winter trip was Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, and Diamond Beach.  I can't describe this place, it was just magical, and you don't need to do a boat trip if you want to save a bit of money - it's good enough just to spend some time walking around there.  You can do a day trip there from Reykjavik, but it is an awfully long way, and you don't get much daylight in winter, so I wouldn't recommend it.
Jokulsarlon



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