Iceland is a beautiful place to explore! And road trips in Iceland are the best way to explore all that Iceland has to offer. Sure the Ring Road is the pinnacle of Iceland road trips, but not everyone has the time or energy to drive around all of Iceland staying in a different hotel each night. So if a long road trip is not your style, we’ve put together some of the best day trips from Reykjavík. This way, you can stay in Reykjavík each night and explore some of the best destinations in southern Iceland by day.
Why Take A Day Trip From Reykjavík?
Taking day trips from Reykjavík is also a great way to explore Iceland in the winter. However, roads in Iceland frequently close in the winter due to hazardous conditions. So staying in Reykjavík gives you the greatest access to safe and open roads.
Also, basing yourself in Reykjavík and taking day trips is the best option for exploring Iceland if you only have a few days. Iceland has done an excellent job creating a tourist hub via the extended layover. So if you want to stop over for a few days on a transatlantic flight, these day trips from Reykjavík will be your gateway to Iceland.
However, if you choose to base yourself in town and take day trips from Reykjavík each day, these will be long days. You’ll spend a good chunk of time driving each day. But the inconvenience of extra drive time each day maybe outweighed for you by the connivence of staying in the same place each night.
While we love the self-driving option, all of these days trips from Reykjavík can be booked as part of a tour. There are so many tours that leave from Reykjavík and go to all of these destinations. Additionally, if you’re visiting in the winter, you may want to go with guided tours simply to avoid driving in winter weather.
As you’re planning your Iceland vacation, remember that while Reykjavík is the capital city and we think you should definitely spend a day or two there, there isn’t much to to. The best thing to do is take one of these day trips from Reykjavík!
Golden Circle Road Trip
This is by far the most popular day trip from Reykjavík! A journey around the Golden Circle route will take you to Thingvellir (more on that below), Gullfoss waterfall (a massive waterfall), and a geothermal area complete with a regularly erupting geyser. Since the Golden Circle is such a popular tourist route, you’ll also find plenty of farm to table restaurants and geothermal soaking areas on the route.
Highlights of the Golden Circle:
- Gullfoss
- Geyser Geothermal area
Reykjadalur Hot Springs Hike
If you want to spend a beautiful day hiking through the valley, surrounded by rolling Icelandic hills and then bathing in this picturesque place, Reykjadalur Hot Springs is the place. This is our favorite hot springs in Iceland and is well worth the 2.5 hours of hiking you’ll have to do to visit it.
Highlights of Reykjadalur Hot Springs:
- Hot springs for viewing
- Hot springs for bathing
- Beautiful hiking
Thingvellir National Park and the Silfra Fissure
If you don’t have time for a full day trip around the Golden Circle, consider just visiting Thingvellir National Park. Thingvellir National Park is the first National Park created in Iceland and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A few unique things make this park a great place to visit. First, it is the site of the first Icelandic parliament. Plaques along a boardwalk will take you on a self guided tour of these important sites. Second, Thingvellir is the site where you can actually see the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates separating. So you can see the river and cliffs created from this tectonic action. You can even snorkel in between the two plates. The Silfra Fissure snorkeling or scuba diving tours leave from Reykjavík or you can save money and meet the tour at Thingvellir (by booking from our link, we’ll earn a commission at no extra cost to you). Lastly, Thingvellir is home to one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Iceland, Öxaráfoss.
Highlights of Thingvellir:
- Öxaráfoss (waterfall)
- Silfra Fissure (tectonic plates meeting up in a river)
- Ancient Parliament (old rocks)
Skógafoss And The Waterfall Way Hike
Skógafoss’ Waterfall Way Hike is one of the most beautiful day hikes in southern Iceland. This easy half day hike is located a few hours from Reykjavík and it makes for a perfect day trip. This day trip is for the more adventurous and is one of the less popular areas to visit. (Probably because of the hiking you have to do;) )
However, for those willing to go on this relatively easy hike, you’ll be rewarded with waterfall after waterfall. About two dozen of them if you complete the whole hike!
Highlights of Skógafoss:
- Skógafoss (waterfall)
- Beautiful Green Hills and Cliffs
- Lots of Waterfalls
Iceland’s South Coast
If you want to visit Iceland’s South Coast and see all of the top tourist destinations, you can easily do that with a full day drive complete with many jaw dropping sights. While many people may say you can drive all the way to Jökulsárlón Lagoon, we think the farthest you should drive in a day is to Vík. Driving beyond Vík is a stretch and you won’t have time to enjoy the stops.
On the way to Vík, you’ll be able to visit Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss, two of the most popular waterfalls in Iceland. You’ll also be able to see the black sand beaches and basalt columns at Reynisfjara.
Highlights of Iceland’s South Coast:
- Seljalandsfoss (waterfall)
- Skógafoss (waterfall)
- Seljavallalaug swimming pool
- Reynisfjara Beach
Reykjanes Peninsula
The Reykjanes Peninsula one of the popular day trips from Reykjavík because it is home to the Blue Lagoon. This peninsula is located under an hour southeast of Reykjavík. You can spend a full day here with a little hiking and a little relaxing. It’s a well balanced day! The main attractions on the Reykjanes Peninsula are all geothermal in nature, from geothermal bathing pools to brand new volcanic lava fields, and a bridge between two tectonic plates, this is a great day trip for rock nerds like us.
Highlights of the Reykjanes Peninsula:
- Blue Lagoon (bathing hot spring)
- Reykjadalur Hot Springs (bathing hot spring)
- Active Volcano (semi-dormant in 2022)
Snaefellsnes Peninsula
Just a few hours west of Reykjavík is the beautiful Snaefellsnes Peninsula. This area of Iceland was made famous in Game of Thrones when Krikjufell mountain was used as a backdrop. However, there is so much more than Krikjufell to see on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. In addition to Krikjufell, you’ll find black sand and black stone beaches, towering cliffs, beautiful caverns, underground lava tubes and charming seaside villages.
Hightlights of Snaefellsnes Peninsula:
- Gatklettur (hike in cavern)
- Lóndrangar roack formations (big rock on a beach)
- Vatnshellir Cave tour (inactive volcano tubes)
Glymur Waterfall
The hike to Glymur is a 7 km hike. This is a perfect half day trip from Reykjavík! It takes a bit more than an hour to get to the trail head and the hike takes 3-4 hours. This fun hike will take you over a well worn but not well maintained path into the hills to see Iceland’s second tallest waterfall.
Highlights of Glymur:
- Glymur waterfall
- Fun hiking
Barnafoss & Hraunfossar
Hraunfossar is our second favorite waterfall in all of Iceland. Because it is clearly made by a wizard. There is no river above the waterfall. Instead, the water is flowing from the underground rivers that run through the lava fields. So what you see is a waterfall coming out of a cliff. Pure Icelandic magic! A short hike up river and you can see the more traditional, yet still impressive, Barnafoss.
Highlight of Barnafoss & Hraunfossar:
- Magic
Guided Tours From Reykjavík
In addition to all of the self-drive day trips from Reykjavík, there are two worth mentioning that you’ll need to do with a guide.
First, puffin and whale watching is one of the best things to do in Iceland. While we went puffin spotting in the north, you can do combo puffin/whale spotting tours outside of Reykjavík, some of which even leave from the docks in town.
Lastly, my favorite thing we did in Iceland was hike on a glacier. While it’s not realistic to drive all the way to Vatnajökull National Park and back in a day, there are plenty of glacier tours operating out of Reykjavík. These tours typically take you to the closer Langjökull glacier, though some will drive you all the way to Vatnajökull glacier with a 14 hour tour. If we were going to choose one of these tours, we’d pick a Langjökull glacier tour that combines with a visit to Landmannalaugar, a beautiful section of the Icelandic Highlands.
Tips for Day Trips from Reykjavík
You can take these day trips via public transport or a guided tour. However, we think that renting a car and driving yourself around is the best way to explore these destinations and explore Iceland! We rented our car at the airport and made sure to stay at a place with free parking in Reykjavík.
For more info on driving in Iceland, check out our post here.
The roads along these routes are beautiful. However, they are not populated. So make sure to stock up on snacks or picnic lunches in town. This includes packing plenty of water as water bottle refill stations are non-existent.
If you’re driving a tiny car that is fuel efficient, like we were, you’ll be able to do each road trip on a single tank of gas. Which is great, because gas in Iceland is shockingly expensive to American’s like us.
We really enjoyed getting out of town and experiencing the wild nature that Iceland offers. We think all of these day trips from Reykjavík are great ways to immerse yourself in the land of fire and ice. Choose one or choose them all to create your own Iceland itinerary all from the hub of the capital. If you have any questions about any of the day trips from Reykjavík, please leave them in the comments section below and we’d be happy to help.
Absolutely loved your post, this is extremely helpful. I could really use your advice if possible. My wife and I are extremely outdoorsy and will be in Iceland, staying in Reykjavík because of remote work for 6 full days. One will be spent at Blue Lagoon, but the rest are wide open. We need to be back between 4-5pm each day except for one day where we have absolutely no time restraints.
With all that info, I’d love to hear which of these day trips you’d recommend we take?
Thank you so much!
I think you could do the golden circle in two days-instead of the traditional one. There is a longer hike to Reykjadalur hot springs which was one of our favorite stops in all of Iceland – it’s a very wild outdoorsy type experience (there’s a link above if you’re curious). You could do this and the Southern part of the golden circle in one day. Then visit Thingvellir, Gullfoss and Geysir in one day, preferably a weekday as these are busy stops but still amazing. One day in the Snaefellsnes Peninsula – Iceland in miniature with tons of outdoor stops. I would actually do a day in either Reykjavik exploring – it’s not the best big town but it’s still fun to wander. OR if your want another outdoorsy day, I would suggest a guided tour of a glacier or Landmannalaugar, you could even find a tour with both. However, these require a tour as logistics driving there/getting on a glacier require a guide.
On the day with no time restraints, I would for sure drive the southern coast to Vik and back. This will be a long day but with the extended sunlight and amazing stops, this is totally worth it in our opinion. This was the most “Iceland” part of Iceland – moody, wild and green. This road trip is the way we imagined Iceland before visiting.