At the Blue Lagoon after an hour and a half of sleep on the red eye

Last week, we spent four magical nights and three very full days exploring Iceland. I’m finally sitting down to share some photos, our Iceland itinerary, and answer questions you’d submitted on my Instagram.

El bebe from the horseback riding adventure.

Breakfast at Hotel Ranga, fantastic hotel.

Iceland Itinerary for 4 nights, 3 days

Red eye flight to Reykjavik. Land at 7am, rent a car.

Day 1

Blue Lagoon
Explore the town Selfoss. Eat at a place called Food Hall- lots of choices.
See the Selfoss waterfall
Head to AirBnB in Hella (stayed at Afternoon Cottages) and watch for the Northern Lights

Day 2

Drive to Vik and explore
Stop at Skool Beans Cafe
Head to the Great Overlook in Vik
Head to Seljalandsfoss waterfall and eat lunch at the little hut there.
Horseback riding adventure
Drive to Hotel Ranga
Have dinner, see the Northern Lights, and go in the hot tub powered by the geothermal springs at the hotel

Day 3

Get up early, have breakfast at the hotel
Drive to Glacier Katla, do a glacier hike
Lunch at Cafe Freya, nearby
Drive to Skógafoss waterfalls and do a long hike there
Drive to Reykjavik
Dinner at Mat Bar

Day 4

Explore Reykjavik
Breakfast at Kaffivagninn
Walk around Reykjavik for coffee, shopping, etc
Famous pylsur at Islendingar
Explore the city some more
Dinner at Austur-Indíafjelagið

Day 5

Drive to airport

The famous hot dog. Tasted like every other hot dog I’ve had in my life haha. Waited for over an hour for it.

Black sand beach beneath the Great Overlook

Some notes and tips on Iceland:

I strongly recommend getting a red eye flight because landing around 6 or 7am and then going right to the Blue Lagoon was a really special way to kick off the trip. And usually after a red eye, you just feel like garbage, and the Blue Lagoon is really calming, peaceful, and you feel so refreshed afterwards. So, in your carry on, pack your bathing suit and a change of clothes so you can easily grab your stuff and shower at the facilities. Book your pass ahead of time. We did the Comfort Package, and it was perfect. Do not put your hair in the water - it will really mess up your hair. Also, give your swimsuit a good soak in the tap water before putting it in their drying machine. Because of the minerals in the water, my swimsuit feels like sandpaper because I didn’t do that. You don’t need to bring a towel or toiletries - they’ll provide everything you need.
I found the food to be fantastic. Everything was so fresh, so if you’re a bit of health nut like me, you will be in heaven. So much smoked salmon, fresh fish, and just real, quality, delicious food.
I loved all the places we stayed. In Hella, we stayed here and here, and in Reykjavik we stayed here.
It was early October, but it. was. freezing. Whatever you think you’re gonna need, you’re gonna need warmer stuff. I’ll link my suggested packing list below.
Price: Everything was pretty expensive because it all has to be imported in. What are you gonna do? Just budget for it I guess. I unfortunately didn’t buy any souvenirs - I desperately wanted skincare, but it was just way too outta my budget (like $90 for the tiniest tube of moisturizer).

Packing List for October in Iceland

Solid hiking boots (I linked the ones I have. If mine weren’t waterproof, I’d have been miserable)
Slides (you can use them at Blue Lagoon in the showers, but also it’s just nice to be able to slip them on and off in the car as you stop at cafes, etc, rather than have your clunky hiking boots on the entire day).
Hiking socks - You’ll want them to be this height if you’re getting the same hiking boots I have, and also if you’re going to do the glacier hike because the crampons they provide for you need to tuck into the socks
Base layer shirt - I linked what I wore but any old base layer will work.
Leggings or Base Layer Pants - I linked what I wore, but any base layer will work.
Wool hat and/or headband
Rain bib or rain pants - I liked the bib I got. It wasn’t that warm, but I wore it over both leggings and sweatpants and it was PERFECT. Best $52 I’ve ever spent.
Winter vest - I am either freezing cold or dying of heat exhaustion. There is no in between for me, so I liked having my vest and got a lot of use out of it. I’d wear it inside and since I’d inevitably get hot, I’d then take it off and have my base layer on underneath.
Parka - Bring some sort of puffer or parka. If it’s waterproof (not resistant, PROOF), then even better, but if it’s not, just bring a cheap little poncho thing.
Waterproof bag for your phone - So annoyed I forgot mine, but I have this and have used it before in the Caribbean and it’s the best. Would’ve been great for the Blue Lagoon.
Swimsuit - Leave your cute one at home and bring a whatever one piece you don’t really care about because between the minerals in the water, and just how rough the terrain is, you don’t want to have to baby your nice swimsuit.
Sweatpants and/or jeans - Leave your nice stuff at home. No one is going to be dressed up, unless you go out for a nice dinner in Reykjavik, and even then, there’s no dress code anywhere that I saw.
Gloves and Neck Gaiter

Answering your questions from IG:

Favorite thing you did? Anything you wish you hadn’t done? Ugh, it was all good. Even the horseback ride, which was 5 hours long…. I think it was only meant to be 2 or 3, but my horse was stubborn and kept stopping and wanting to go back, which was really fun for my anxiety as someone who hasn’t really ever ridden a horse before, lol. The guide kept having to get off and walk my horse like a dog so I think it took way longer than it was supposed to. But truly, everything I did was awesome and would do again.
Was it kid-friendly? Hell yeah, if your kids are good w the elements! I would say maybe 8 years and older? You could do the Blue Lagoon, horseback riding, the glacier hike, and there are other tours you could do as well. They just have to bring their snowsuits so they’re not freezing cold haha.
Rental car? Oh it’s a must. There are a million places just outside the airport and there’s a shuttle that’ll drop you off in front of whatever place you rent from. Book in advance.
Could someone who doesn’t eat seafood survive? Yes, they do a lot of lamb there!
Was everything really expensive? Yes, but not exorbitantly so. It seemed consistent with, like, the Caribbean. It didn’t feel crazy in terms of the pricing of tours or food or anything - like the Blue Lagoon pass was $62 each, I think horseback riding might’ve been around $150 each… I just didn’t do any souvenir shopping because weeeeeee that was wild. Like $90 for a small bottle of moisturizer. $20ish for a small thing of salt.
Any tips for seeing the Northern Lights? Get the Aurora app - it’ll tell you when you’ll be able to see them. If you’re going this year, they’re supposed to be the brightest they’ve been in like hundreds of years or something. We literally just saw them outside our Airbnb and hotel in Hella. If you’re getting a picture of them, make sure you hold your phone against the deck or something to stabilize so there is NO movement whatsoever from the natural minor shake of our hands, and turn it to night mode. No flash. It actually looks so much more vibrant and cooler on your phone than the naked eye.
Do you use travel agents to plan/book adventures? No. My partner is the ultimate researcher and planner. I don’t really know how he did it because both of us were slammed with work in the month leading up to the trip, but when we landed, he not only had a whole itinerary for us, but he had booked all adventures/tours ahead of time. So thankful.
Realistic budget for eating out? Water will be free (omg and the water is the BEST there. I know that’s a weird thing to say but safe to say your hair and skin will never look or feel better haha). Around $16-20 for a soup, $25ish for a salad with meat/salmon…. I’d say it’s comparable to NYC/LA/Boston/Miami dining. For two people, dinner at Hotel Ranga (pretty sure it’s the nicest, if not one of the nicest in the country) was around $200 for a 3 course meal plus a drink each.

October Iceland Trip