4 Days In Iceland Itinerary – The Ultimate Guide

Our trip to Iceland was last minute.  The beautographer had wanted to go for years, but we had never made it a priority.  Well after we got married, followed by a trip to Thailand, there was just not enough to squeeze in a trip to Greece and Turkey so we opted for a fall trip to Iceland and Paris. Since it was our honeymoon we wanted lots of relaxing time with our Icelandic adventure and we only had a short time, basically only 4 days in Iceland total, so here is my 4 Days in Iceland Itinerary!  Not enough time, but when is it ever! For the flight, we chose Iceland Air because they offer direct flights to Iceland from the DC Metro Area.  Now there’s a trick to this, it’s only direct to Iceland IF you chose Iceland as a “stopover” rather than the final destination.  Paris was our final destination and we were just “stopping over” in Iceland.  This really works out well for anyone wanting to go to Iceland and also explore the other Northern European countries.  As the flights from Reykjavik to other destinations like Stockholm and Paris are quick AND direct.

Here’s a quick summary of our 4 days in Iceland Itinerary of what we did and optional add-on tours, more details below:

• 4 Days in Iceland Day 1:  Blue Lagoon and Blue Lagoon Hotel – Check Prices Here
• 4 Days in Iceland Day 2:  Blue Lagoon and Reykjavik – Check Transportation Prices Here
• 4 Days In Iceland Itinerary Day 3:  Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon – Check Tour Prices Here
• 4 Days In Iceland Itinerary | Day 4 – Northern Lights, Aurora Borealis Small Group Tour –  Check Prices Here

More Tour Options for Iceland

4 days in Iceland was definitely not enough time.  Also we did a rather relaxed trip because it was our honeymoon and I didn’t really squeeze in all the activites I wanted to.  On day 4 in Iceland we really could have added a day time tour before our Aurora Borealis tour.  Here are some of the options I looked at:

The Golden Circle –  Check Tour Prices

I really really wanted to do this tour!  It takes you to all the amazing sites at UNESCO-listed Thingvellir National Park including Gulfoss Waterfall and the Kerið crater lake.  And who doesn’t want to see geysers that reach up to 98-foot?  This is probably one of the most popular activities in Iceland and I’m sad I missed it.

Play with Icelandic Horses – Check Tour Prices

I am a huge animal lover and really wanted to pet and photograph the Icelandic horses!  They are absolutely adorable and we really should have squeesed in this short tour with them.

Live out your Game of Thrones Fantasies – Check Tour Prices

If you are a GOT fan this tour is a MUST!  Be a total fan girl (or boy) and live our your GOT dreams on this tour taking you to scenes where the HBO show was filmed.

4 Days In Iceland Itinerary | Day 1 – Blue Lagoon

We started our 4 Day Iceland adventure with a red eye from DC, landing us at the Reykjavik airport at 5 am, which meant I wanted a full day of relaxation.  So the first stop on our Iceland Itinerary was the Blue Lagoon – Check Prices Here.  Also, the Blue Lagoon is actually only 20 minutes from the airport and pretty much on the way to Reykjavik, so going there either upon entering or departing is ideal and a time saver.  Now, most people only go to the Blue Lagoon as a tour, but did you know they have a hotel you can actually stay at?  And did you know that by staying at the hotel you automatically have full access to not only the main Blue Lagoon but a private lagoon only available to hotel guests in the off hours?  Knowing we were taking a red-eye, I knew a full day of floating around was just what we needed to get our honeymoon off to a great start.

After landing at the airport we had a bit of a wait for the first bus to the Blue Lagoon – Check Prices Here, which meant it was the perfect time to grab a cappuccino and browse on our phones on the free wifi.  We used Reykjavik Excursion – Check Prices Here, for the transfer from the airport to the Blue Lagoon which was the least expensive option on a very comfortable bus.  If you take the bus, do not get off at the first stop, we had a pretty gruelling walk up to the hotel in windy conditions dragging our luggage through GRAVEL walkways.  If we had only asked they would have dropped us off at the hotel.  So I’m telling you now tell them to take you to the hotel! Now the rest of the day was pure relaxation.

We floated around, covering ourselves in the silica-rich mud, drinking beer from the little beer stand in the lagoon.  For dinner, we made reservations at the Lagoon’s restaurant which was excellent.  There’s even a little shuttle that takes you from the hotel to the restaurant. And remember that private lagoon for hotel guests?  Well, it’s open until 10 pm so after our delicious dinner we padded down in our robes and had a little night swim and slathered ourselves in more mud before heading to bed.

Wearing Topshop sweater, similar here, here and here

Vintage Fur Coat similar here and here

4 Days In Iceland Itinerary | Day 2 – Blue Lagoon & Reykjavik

We woke completely refreshed, tucked into the free breakfast, and had one last dip in the lagoon before taking our bus to Reykjavik to start on the second day of our Iceland trip. The bus goes to the bus station, then you are transferred to vans which take you to your hotel.  We, of course, did not book a hotel but opted for a beautiful 2 level apartment right in the heart of Reykjavik with spectacular views from the bedroom balcony. Now it was time to explore the town and get what I came here for the ultimate HOT DOG.  Yes, you read correctly, I went directly to that famed hot dog cart and had the best hot dog of my life.

We each ate 2!  It’s hard to describe the deliciousness, the snappy skin, the tomato sauce, the mustard and the fried onions.  Trust me just order 2 with everything you won’t regret it. We spent the rest of the day wandering around town and exploring the city.

4 Days In Iceland Itinerary | Day 3 – Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon

One of my bucketlist items when going to Iceland was seeing the Glacier Lagoon – Check Prices Here, so we had to sacrifice the Golden Circle tour – Check Prices Here.  As much as I wanted to do the Golden Circle we just didn’t have time to do this tour. I had to make a choice and it was tough, but we opted for the Southern Coast Iceland tour – Check Prices Here instead!  We went just as the season was ending where you could ride the little boat in Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon – Check Prices Here.

The tour didn’t just include the lagoon though, we also stopped by 2 waterfalls, Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss waterfalls.

This is where I’m going to give you a tip.  If you have more time in Iceland I’d recommend renting a car and driving here.  Because we only had one day and the beautographer didn’t feel like driving we opted for a big bus tour – Check Prices Here.  This worked out for us because of our time crunch and the bus was large and comfortable.  Plus the places we stopped for food on this tour were all superb. We still dream about the lamb stew!

Because the coast is a rather extensive area, you don’t get much time at each location.  Just a bit of time to explore a little and take a few pictures.  But for our first time to Iceland that was enough.  It also takes the hassle out of driving, worrying about finding a gas station and finding places to eat.  Some of the gorgeous landscape we drove through was pretty deserted.

4 Days In Iceland Itinerary | Day 4 – Northern Lights, Aurora Borealis

On the last day of our 4 days in Iceland adventure, we wanted to relax because that night we were hoping to check off my other Icelandic bucket list item, seeing the Northern Lights, Aurora Borealis.  We just wandered around Reykjavik and soaked in all the beautiful scenery.  It was surprisingly warm and sunny that day so it was very relaxing just to walk around.

Now keep in mind seeing aurora borealis is completely weather dependent and they can only be viewed in the fall to early spring months.  Tour companies actually do not guarantee that you will see them, because it’s so weather dependent.  We actually almost didn’t get to see them because every single night we were there it was cloudy!  I really thought we were going to miss out.

But luck was on our side and the last night we were there, the skies cleared and we saw the most amazing northern lights!  We did the tour and it was great because you drive out of the city to where there’s no light pollution.  But mother nature must have been on our side because when we got back from the tour we saw them right from our balcony!  It was simply amazing and totally bucket list worthy!

Now again you can totally drive out yourself to chase aurora borealis, but we opted for a tour because we didn’t want to fumble around in a foreign country in the dark.  Here though I would NOT recommend a giant bus tour.  I’ve read horror stories where they take loads and loads of tourists to one location where it’s lit by huge lights and everyone’s trying to use their flash to take pictures!

We used a small tour guide specializing in aurora borealis photography and we ended up being the only people on the tour that night! So basically we ended up on a private tour AND he took these amazing shots of us!

So that was our short trip to Iceland, because we left on a very very early bus to the airport for our next leg of the honeymoon the very next day, Paris!  Hope you enjoyed my 4 Days in Iceland Itinerary!

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