Itinerary · 10 days · 44 places
10 Days in Iceland
Ten days around Iceland: from Reykjavík via the Golden Circle and the south coast to the glacier lagoon, the Eastfjords and Mývatn, then back via Akureyri and Borgarfjörður to the airport. Each day has a manageable stage, followed by time for waterfalls, steaming springs and a hot soak in the evening.
Open in the appThere you can adjust the plan to your dates, your pace and your interests.
Photo: Edoardo Colombo · Pexels
The route on the map
The plan, day by day
Day 1Arriving in Reykjavík
Arrival in Reykjavík
Hotel check-in
Your base is in the 101 district around Laugavegur, from where everything in the city centre is within walking distance.
Sólfar (Sun Voyager)
The steel Viking-ship sculpture on the Sæbraut waterfront, with views across Faxaflói bay to Mount Esja.
Harpa Concert Hall
You can wander freely behind the glass façade of hexagonal basalt-like cells, and the upper foyers look out over the old harbour.
Evening: Laugavegur
Iceland's main shopping and bar street, with bookshops, wool shops and bars open late into the night.
Day 2Golden Circle: geysers and Gullfoss
Onward to Geysir
Hotel check-in
Strokkur in Haukadalur
Every five to ten minutes this geyser shoots a turquoise bubble of water 20 metres into the air, with sinter pools steaming all around.
Gullfoss
The Hvítá plunges 32 metres in two tiers into a gorge; the lower path leads right to the edge of the spray.
Faxi (Vatnsleysufoss)
A broad, little-visited waterfall on the Tungufljót with a salmon ladder at the side.
Evening: Secret Lagoon in Flúðir
Iceland's oldest natural pool, from 1891, at 38 to 40 degrees, with a small geyser at the edge of the pool.
Day 3Waterfalls and black sand
Onward to Vík
Hotel check-in
Skógafoss
The Skógá's 60-metre-high, 25-metre-wide waterfall; 527 steps lead up to the edge, with views over the outwash plain.
Kvernufoss
Twenty minutes' walk behind the Skógar Folk Museum, this waterfall hides in a gorge, and you can step behind it too.
Sólheimajökull
A tongue of the Mýrdalsjökull, reached in 20 minutes from the car park; glacier walks start here every hour.
Dyrhólaey
A rock arch and lighthouse above the black beach, where puffins nest in summer.
Evening: Reynisfjara
A black basalt beach with hexagonal columns and the Reynisdrangar sea stacks, at its most impressive in the long evening light — never go near the water, the sneaker waves are deadly.
Day 4Glacier tongues at Skaftafell
Onward to Skaftafell
Hotel check-in
Skaftafellsstofa
The Vatnajökull National Park visitor centre, with trail maps, the weather situation and an exhibition on the glacial flood of 1996.
Svartifoss
The waterfall pours over a ring of black basalt columns; 1.5 hours there and back via the S2 trail.
Skaftafellsjökull
A flat 1.8 km path up to the crevassed glacier tongue with its blue-grey meltwater lake.
Sel turf farmhouses
Grass-roofed farm buildings of 1912 on the slope above the campsite, with a farming family's living quarters inside.
Evening: view over the Skeiðarársandur
From the roadside near Freysnes, the largest outwash plain on Earth lies in front of the Vatnajökull, bathed in low evening light.
Day 5Icebergs at the glacier lagoon
Onward to Jökulsárlón
Hotel check-in
Fjallsárlón
A smaller, quieter lagoon directly below the Fjallsjökull glacier tongue, with icebergs almost within reach of the shore.
Jökulsárlón
Iceland's deepest lake, where calved icebergs drift towards the river mouth; amphibious boats sail between them.
Diamond Beach
On the black beach of Breiðamerkursandur, clear chunks of ice from the lagoon wash up and glitter in the surf.
Þórbergssetur in Hali
A museum for the writer Þórbergur Þórðarson, its façade built as a bookshelf, with an exhibition on life beneath the glacier.
Evening: the glacier lagoon at night
Once the coaches have gone, the lagoon lies still; in summer the ice shimmers in the bright summer night, and in autumn the northern lights hang above it.
Day 6Eastfjords and Seyðisfjörður
Onward to Seyðisfjörður
Hotel check-in
Bláa kirkjan and the rainbow street
The pale blue wooden church of 1922 at the end of rainbow-paved Norðurgata, Iceland's most photographed street.
Gufufoss
The uppermost waterfall of the Fjarðará tumbles over a basalt step beside the pass road and steams in cold weather.
Tvísöngur
Five walk-in concrete domes on the hillside above the fjord, each tuned to a note of Iceland's traditional five-tone harmony.
Skaftfell Centre for Visual Art
A contemporary art gallery in an old merchant's house, with a library and works by Dieter Roth.
Evening: Seyðisfjörður harbour promenade
Fishing boats lie at the quay, and in summer the Faroese ferry Norröna, while the mountain walls rise 1,000 metres all around.
Day 7Volcanic land at Mývatn
Onward to Mývatn
Hotel check-in
Hverir at Námafjall
An ochre solfatara field with bubbling mud pots and hissing steam vents — the smell of sulphur stays in your jacket.
Grjótagjá
A lava fissure with a turquoise thermal pool inside; at over 40 degrees the water is too hot for bathing, but you're welcome to look.
Dimmuborgir
A labyrinth of solidified lava towers and arches; the marked Kirkjuhringur loop takes just under an hour.
Skútustaðagígar
A field of grass-covered pseudocraters on the lake's southern shore, formed by steam explosions beneath the lava.
Evening: Mývatn Nature Baths
Milky-blue silica-rich water at 38 degrees with views over the lake, much quieter and cheaper than the Blue Lagoon.
Day 8Akureyri, capital of the north
Onward to Akureyri
Hotel check-in
Akureyrarkirkja
Guðjón Samúelsson's concrete church at the top of 112 steps, with a stained-glass window inside from the bombed cathedral of Coventry.
Lystigarðurinn
A botanical garden just 100 km south of the Arctic Circle, where 7,000 species from all over the world survive the summer.
Kjarnaskógur
A replanted forest on the edge of town with soft paths, berry bushes and views over the fjord.
Sundlaug Akureyrar
The municipal open-air pool with a 25-metre pool, three hot pots and a slide — the quintessential Icelandic living room.
Evening: Hafnarstræti
The pedestrian street with a bookshop, an ice-cream parlour and bars, plus a view of the illuminated church on the hillside.
Day 9Hot water in Borgarfjörður
Onward to Reykholt
Hotel check-in
Deildartunguhver
Europe's most powerful hot spring: 180 litres of boiling water per second, piped all the way to Akranes.
Hraunfossar
Along a kilometre, countless clear rivulets seep out from beneath the Hallmundarhraun lava field into the Hvítá.
Barnafoss
A few steps upstream, the Hvítá forces its way roaring through a narrow rock channel, to which a dark legend is attached.
Snorrastofa in Reykholt
A research centre at Snorri Sturluson's farmstead, with his 13th-century stone bathing pool, Snorralaug.
Evening: Krauma thermal baths
Six pools fed by water from Deildartunguhver and a glacial stream, plus two steam saunas.
Day 10Borgarnes and flight home
Landnámssetur Borgarnes
Two exhibitions in the oldest house by the harbour: the settlement of Iceland and Egil's Saga, both with an audio guide.
Skallagrímsgarður
A small park around the burial mound of Skallagrímur, father of the saga hero Egill, in the heart of the old town.
Departure from Keflavík
Make it your trip
Viatro AI opens this plan in the app — with map, travel times and opening hours. You change the days, pace and places yourself.
