Iceland next week, what are the must sees???

[45K10]

Going to Iceland next week mostly to hike the Laugavegur trail. It should take 7-8 days depending on if I decide to do some day hikes around a particular campsite. I will have 2-3 days to kill after that so what do I absolutely need to see?

I love hiking and camping but I also love a good museum and of course coffee shops. I am not planning on doing any MTBing but I wouldn't mind doing a day of it if I can rent everything.

[Brian Cdn]

Your trip sounds great..


Saw this advertised when I was in Reykjavik airport last month
Not sure if it's a good museum, but it sure caught a lot of peoples attention... :)

[45K10]

That's hilarious!
Thanks for the tip :banana:

[Brian Cdn]

Let us know if you go ?

I imagine the souvenir t-shirts would be totally crazy.

Cheers

[julseas]

Here's what I emailed a friend recently:

****

You don't need a ton of time in Reykjavik. Here's a good coffee shop when you're there: https://reykjavikroasters.is/

Not sure what you're doing for food, but a lot of things outside of Rey will close very early. And they may not be open on Sundays. So do some ahead planning. We ended up eating a lot of gas station hot dogs (but they're actually known for their hot dogs, so it wasn't the worst). The wine/liquor stores are state run, and they have the weirdest hours. So if you plan on cooking for yourself, that's another thing to be aware of.

Here are a few cool things to do if you go south of Rey:

Selfoss is a town with an awesome public bath. After we took a red eye, this is where we came to swim and then shower. It was so refreshing. This could be a stop along anywhere south -- it's one of the first "big" towns south of Reykjavik.

From there, you could do the golden circle. My favorite stops there are:
-Gulfoss (giant major waterfall)
-Secret Lagoon (a hot bath that I liked more than the Blue Lagoon, which is cool but also more touristy)
-There's also Thingvellir, which is a Unesco World Heritage site. You can stand between the shifted plates -- one side you're in Europe, the other you're in North America.

You can also cruise further south along ring road. Favorite spots:
-Seljalandsfoss (waterfall, right off the road)
-Skogafoss (a waterfall, also right off the road)
-Vik (another Unesco World Heritage site). Black sand beach with cool rock formations.
-Skaftafell National Park: We went hiking to a waterfall here. There are lots of hikes and other adventures you can do here.
-Jokulsarlon: A glacier lagoon. You can take a boat tour through the glaciers, and/or do other adventures. I've done both the boat tour and we did an ice cave walk. I think those are only in the winters.

Or if you go to the West Fjords, you should stop at these spots:
-Hraunfossar (a series of waterfalls)
-Djúpalónssandur (a really beautiful rocky sand beach)

[45K10]

awesome thanks!

I would love to make it to the West Fjords but I don't think I'll have the time. I might checkout Vik and Selfoss though

[parco]

I'm pretty sure there's a website for solar activity out there somewhere. Summer isn't always the best time to see the Aurora but I understand there have been some solar flares lately.

[julseas]

you could do all the spots on ring road -- the waterfalls, vik, the glacier lagoon -- in a day (except hiking in skaftafell). they're all right off the road.

[merlinmurph]

We went directly to the Westfjords and loved it. Very quiet and tons of gorgeous stuff to see. When we returned to the ring road just outside Reykjavic, it was culture shock seeing the crowds.

That should be an awesome hike - enjoy! The place is ridiculously beautiful.

[Louis]

Saw this advertised when I was in Reykjavik airport last month Not sure if it's a good museum, but it sure caught a lot of peoples attention... :)

I hope they allow smoking outside the museum Exit...

[d_douglas]

I was there less than a week ago!! We had three days in Reykjavik (with two young uns) and we we hit several of the places that Julseas suggests. One thing to do is to hit the local baths as they are a bit like a pub - people just go to hang out and socialize there. Incredibly boy clean and organized and just fun to relax in at night.

I am a coffee nerd and thought Reykjavik Roasters was above average coffee. There was also a great pâtisserie just about 50m down the same street that makes excellent croissants and breads. I think it was called 'Braud'.

Landscape is bizarre and awesome - it was a great place worth spending a few weeks - enjoy it!!

[moose8]

I'm there now on my fifth trip. You can't go wrong with anything. The hike you're doing will show you the best of the country (it's all awesome). That hike is great - that was my first trip in 2007. They do an ultra marathon there where they run it in one day. We just spent four days in grundafjordur on the snaefellsnes peninsula which was really great and about a two hour drive from Reykjavik. The south is great too. I'd say no matter what you see you will have fun. Bring a bathing suit and go at least once to a public pool to get a slice of local life. Be ready for everything to be super expensive. It's like $50 for two people for a basic lunch pretty much anywhere. Beers are $11-$20 depending on where and what you like. I just had a $14 beer at mikkeler and friends and it was the cheapest large beer they had.

I'd also say just try not to pack too much in. It's all weird and beautiful so you don't need to travel much to see lots of great stuff and you don't want to be in a car the whole time.

[auto_rock]

One of my favorite things on my most recent trip there was to go to a swimming pool in Reykjavik. They're a common social location for locals, and an interesting way to spend an afternoon. Also, a good way to get away from the tourists. About 1:1 tourist to local ratio in Reykjavik...

I biked the Laugavegur on a Fargo with a good friend of mine last year. You're gonna love it.

[djdj]

We were there last Xmas. Lots of nice people and beautiful country. In addition to what others recommended, the Northern Lights Museum in Reykjavik is a good place to spend some time on a rainy day.

Snowmobiling on the glacier was fun.

Be prepared for high food prices and higher drink prices.