We are taking a family trip in early July, and plan to do a stopover in Iceland on the way back (arrive Friday afternoon, flight out Sunday late afternoon).
What I would like is to stay somewhere (preferably a town) no more than two hours from the airport.
I’m envisioning a town with great views / scenery, which is a good spot from which to take a few outings.
Ideally, we would get rooms in a small guesthouse / B & B / family homestay where our occupancy of three rooms would mean that our family fully occupied the premises.
A son just did this in November. He and his friends ( 3 people altogether) stayed in an Airbnb. He really enjoyed it. Said he wished they had rented a car.
sister stopped there on way to london in dec in a major storm. she rented a car and went to the blue lagoon. Loved it. Her Pix were amazing. we enjoyed seeing more about iceland in a movie we just watched: the secret life of walter mitty.
Isn’t Reykavik within 2 hours of the airport? From there, you can easily see gullfoss, geyser, and thingvallir (excuse my spelling). They are all free, easy to get to, and relatively uncrowded (compared to trying to see geysers at Yellowstone or some other American site). There are also 7 public pools, all different, and all filled with the natural hot to superhot water that is piped up from underground. Basically, it’s the same as the Blue Lagoon without the mud and the power plant and for less money and less wait time.
It is a thing in some Scandinavian cities to have an unofficial parade of classic American cars go down the main drag on a Saturday night in the summer. You’ll be there for Saturday night and it will definitely be happening in Reykavik, probably on the Laugavagan (again, excuse my spelling). H went to a really good Argentine steakhouse there. I went to find veg food with D2. It’s not a good country for vegetarians!
Hveragerthi has little plumes of steam coming up everywhere and lots of commercial greenhouses that are heated by the steam. There are some nice views but I think there’s more potential in Reykjavik with the water view and the higher hills they have there. Unless you want more of a countryside. Reykjavik means “smokey bay”.
Try cruising around on google maps and seeing what the views look like.
We went to - Skógræktarfélag Mosfellsbæjar Hamrahlíð - which is just northwest of Reykjavik on route 1 before you get to Mossfellsbaer… You can pull over into a small parking area on the side of the road and hike up into a pine forest and fields of lupine (which should be blooming) and see wonderful views over the water.
We did Christmas in Reyjavik with excursions and the finale of New Years…awesome! It was very close to the airport and a great experience. My son wants to go back in the summer and explore the black sands.
I spent 9 days in Iceland in February on a photographic trip. For your limited time, I would suggest you stay in Reyjavik which is just under an hour from the airport. The city itself is lovely and interesting. Spend at least one day walking the city to explore it’s iconic church as well as the stunning music hall.
You have limited time but would spend one day going to Guilfoss. I didn’t go to the blue lagoon, but the icelanders refer to it as a tourist trap. YMMV.
There are beautiful views in Reykjavik, especially if you are near the fjord at the northern edge of the city center. Reykjavik is a perfectly nice small city, and a reasonable place to stay if you are only going to be there for a few days. It is less than an hour from the airport, and you can do the "Golden Triangle" sites (Thingvellir, Gullfoss, and Geysir) as a single day trip by tourbus or in a rental car. Bear in mind, too, that in early July a "day" is pretty much as long as you want it to be. It will never really be dark. And none of the natural sites there is ever actually closed.
If you decide to stay outside Reykjavik, don't focus too much on staying in a town, because the towns aren't anything much to speak of. If you are staying outside of Reykjavik, you will need to rent a car.
If I were doing only one thing in Iceland, it would probably be visiting Thingvellir (and I'd go to Geysir and Gullfoss, too, because why not?). But if I were doing one other thing, it would be hiring a guide and taking the hike up the river from Seljalandsfoss into Thorsmark, through a pass between two glaciers with active volcanos. We did part of that trail last summer. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and we had to turn back long before we got to what was supposed to be the best part. Seljalandsfoss was a really pretty waterfall, too. But there are probably 8-10 similar sensational hikes you could take within a few hours' drive of the airport.
I am a dissenter on Blue Lagoon. Artificial, expensive, touristy . . . in a place where usually none of those three adjectives applies to much.
If memory serves me, Reykjavic is about 45 min bus ride from the airport. Lovely city ! But be aware that their nightlife is pretty active in the sense that they tend to party until the morning at some of the clubs. We were advised to stay at a hotel that was owned by the airline…walking distance to the center of the city and we could sleep without disruption…gorgeous view of a snow covered mountain and fishing boats
I wound up staying in the Best Western in Reykjavic. Seems odd, but it was recommended by my Icelandic photographer guide. Good location in the city and a decent breakfast included. I walked all around the city from my hotel even though we were having a blizzard.
The other thing I meant to say: Early July is absolutely the high tourist season in Iceland. You should try to make your arrangements ASAP, because things will fill up.
It’s been about 4 years, but I would second everything JHS said, except that we didn’t do that particular hike.
One caution about hiking…stay on the path! Remember that most all of Iceland is lava fields, covered with a layer of organic material and plants. If you step in the wrong place your foot can drop through the organic layer into a hole between lava chunks.
It’s a magical and beautiful place. You will love it!