My Iceland Bucket List
/For all my friends, or friends of friends or people that contact asking for my recommendations of things to do in Iceland - I've put together an Iceland Bucket List to share with you. These are places, sites, restaurants, hotels that I recommend or, yup, still want to try. Click the names for links. I recommend self-driving so you have the freedom to come and go as you please but there are lots of wonderful tours on offer too.
Near Keflavik (iceland international) Airport
Blue Lagoon - book tickets in advance, go for the option with marks, and drink at the swim-up bar
Gunnehver Geysir - near Blue Lagoon, amazing but smelly landscape
Reykjavik, iceland
Harpa - concert venues, worth looking at inside and out, a tour of building on offer
Hallgrimskirja - view from the top, service in English last Sunday of every month
Perlan - ice cave exhibition, view from the top - still to do (newly opened)
Seabarren / Sægreifinn - lobster soup
Íslenski barinn - Meat soup, shark, beer
Cafe Loki - rye bread ice cream
Laundromat - a great breakfast, I love the pancakes
Fish Market - for a special meal, try the epic taster menu
National Museum - still to do (shockingly)
Icelandic Phallological Museum - still to do
Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarhús - still to do (shockingly)
Settlement Exhibition - still to do (shockingly)
Reykjavík Art Museum - a great big space with some mad exhibitions
National Gallery of Iceland - still to do (shockingly)
Nauthólsvík Beach - hot pool, nice walks, cafe
Grotta Lighthouse - great for Northern Lights spotting, small hot pot, beach walks
the Golden Circle
Pingviller National Park - tectonic plates, amazing landscape
Geysir - erupting every few minutes, the cafe is good here (free soup refills)
Efstidalur - farm serving homemade ice cream, eat a steak in the restaurant overlooking the barn
Gulfoss Waterfall - powerful waterfall, wrap up as can get wet
Fontana - geothermal spa - still to do
Secret Lagoon / Gamla Laugin - fab hot pool, walk around the site after
Mika Restaurant - a lovely family-run place with lobster and handmade chocolates
Fridheimar Greenhouse - eat tomatoes soup amongst the plants in this greenhouse - still to do
Bruarfoss Waterfall - still to do
Kerid - Walk around the edge of a crater
Hveragerdi, iceland
Reykjadalur hot river - 1 hr hike, well worth it though to bathe in the hot river
the South Coast trail
Seljalandsfoss Waterfall - walk behind the waterfall
Gljúfrabúi - 2mins walk after Seljalandsfoss
Seljavallalaug Natural Pool - amazing pool, can be cold if it's been raining/snowing
Skogafoss Waterfall - huge waterfall, not worth the stairs to the top
Skogafoss Bistro - soup and a view
Sólheimajökull - Glacier, you can walk up to it but you'd need to join a tour to go on it, amazing experience
Plane wreck - a long walk, only do if you really want to
Reynisfara / Black Sand Beach - be careful of the waves
Dyrhólaey - dramatic coastal landscape
Vik - Service Station burgers to tide you over
Skaftafell - Glacier + Ice Cave tour
Jokulsarlon / Glacier Lagoon - stunning, enough said
Diamond Beach - just over the road from Jokulsarlon, epic for photography
Snaefellsnes Peninsula, iceland
Snæfellsjökull National Park - self-drive and see some amazing landscape
Djúpalón Beach - the beach where fishermen lifted stone weights to show their strength
Snæfellsjökull - glacier
Kirkjufell - most photographed mountain in Iceland but stunning
Norska Húsið - traditional houses, architecture
Súgandisey - orange lighthouse, lookout point
Helgafell - mountain
Malarrif - coastline and lighthouse
Saxhöll Crater - drive into a crater
Stykkishólmskirkja - futuristic church here
Accommodation in iceland
KEX Hostel - great budget-friendly options, good food too
Canopy by Hilton - newest hotel in Reykjavik, nice bar
FossHotel - a popular choice
Bubble - sleep in a Bubble under the stars and Northern Lights, inc tour
Silica Hotel - The Blue Lagoons hotel
…and on my bucket list:
The West Fjords
Landmannalaugar
Fjaðrárgljúfur
Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands)
Akyreri
Myvatn Nature Baths
An Ice Cave
The Ring Road
