Iceland in April
Day 1:
Leave Denver 4:30 PM. Fly 7 hours.
Land in Reykjavik at 6:30 AM
Pick up baggage & rental cars.
Highly recommend Blue Car Rentals as you cross a parking lot rather than get on a shuttle to drive roughly 10 minutes away.
Recommend purchasing a few duty-free alcohol options if you partake so you have a cheaper option while traveling within Iceland. We grabbed a nice bottle of Scotch and wine which came in handy at the Airbnb.
Head to Blue Lagoon for 9 AM reservation. About 30 minutes from airport.
Stop at the Northern Light Inn to eat at Max’s Restaurant (5 Min. from lagoon) to eat a buffet breakfast.
12 PM Reservation at Lava Restaurant in Blue Lagoon.
This was delicious, reasonably priced comparatively to other Iceland eats, and you get to sit beside the lagoon!
After head to Reykjavik (1 hr drive) to check into Grandi by Center Hotels.
Highly recommend. Great area, really good and comfortable rooms with included breakfast!
Head out to check out the area and stop in at the SlippBarinn for drinks and snacks.
Awesome Aviation cocktail!
We then went further into the downtown area, and stopped at the Apotek Bar for more drinks, macarons, and parmesan fries.
We also stopped and purchased some SIM cards to have cheaper service all over Iceland. We capped this all off with a nice Icelandic Hot Dog before getting a good nights rest!
Day 2:
10: 30 AM meet with tour guide for South Coast tour with the 5 Million Star Bubble Hotels.
We chose South Coast because our Airbnb was in the middle of the Golden Circle for later in the week.
The tour heads towards the south of Iceland and you stop at a gas station + liquor store for snacks, and drinks before taking off.
Fun fact: Iceland has no open container rulings, so as long as the driver isn’t drinking then everyone can have a road beer!
We stopped first at Seljalandsfoss
You get 45 minutes to walk under it and explore the nearby gift shop.
Next we headed to the Black Sand Beach, our guide pointed out a nearby glacier.
This stop was so cold, it was raining, snowing and so windy! Have gloves!
Final stop was Skogafoss
You can climb the stairs to see from above, as well as walk right up next to but it will soak you!
Finally, our guide took us to an awesome food mart in Seljafoss to eat dinner.
We then headed to “Bubbleland” the bubbles are heated with heat pads.
It was utterly amazing! It snowed so we didn’t see any lights but it was so pleasant and cozy.
Day 3:
Wake up cozy in bubbles and meet at 8:30 AM to head back to hotel.
Get breakfast along the way at a small mall with bakery, you can look at gift-shops as well as see where they built over a tectonic plate break!
Get back to hotel and head to lunch at a conveyor belt sushi place called OSUSHI The Train.
Finish up with some light shopping, as well as Guinness at an Irish pub (The Dubliner) before heading to the Iceland Phallological Museum.
Part of us tried Hakkar (fermented shark with black death) but you can also get a nice pint to drink and you are allowed to bring it with you!
Following this we returned to the Dubliner for another pint and to plan our dinners.
We split up for dinner and then headed out to bar hop which was wild because the British Royal Navy was in town.
The pubs are all within the same area so experiencing them all was very easy, and it was well worth the hangover the next day!
Day 4:
We visited the Hallgrimskirkja Church
Parking was very easy here.
Check out the Rainbow Road which is directly down from the church.
We didn’t know so we drove around with different addresses found online, when we finally realized we felt so dumb.
6:30 PM dinner at Òx Restaurant which is a speakeasy-type restaurant nominated for a Michelin star!
Dinner was incredible although parking was a bear.
18 courses with drink pairing and it’s as much as you can drink! Courses change with the seasons and we all had a hard time choosing what was our favorite.
Day 5:
Shopping on the famous Laugavegur street.
The candy shop was amazing and the truffles were to die for!
We then capped that off with a stop at the Saga Viking Museum which is fairly short but interesting!
Dinner at another Michelin recommended restauarant within the Saga museum called Matur Og Drykurr which was a 6 course meal.
NOTE: Eat and drink everything because Iceland is very good at both those!
Day 6:
Leave hotel and Reykjavik. Stop at a grocery store nearby for Airbnb staples.
Drove to Fridheimar Tomato Farm to see greenhouses and eat lunch.
They serve all you can eat tomato soup, other tomato options as well as Bloody Mary’s and other green drinks
We then went to Geysir.
This was neat but not a complete miss out, if you don’t make it.
This gift-store was one of the best we’d been to though.
Next stop Gullfoss.
This was a quick stop we made, and didn’t need very long to view.
Finally through Thingvellir National Park to our Airbnb at Hvammur Farm.
It is off of Hvalfjördur and was an old British Navy communication point during WWII and Winston Churchill was there!
Day 7:
12 AM saw the Northern Lights tonight!
Snorkeling in the Silfra Fissure with Troll Expeditions.
It is the only place you can snorkel between the tectonic plates, the water is crystal clear as well as drinkable!
This takes roughly 30 minutes in water but the tour is 3 hours because it takes at least an hour to get in the suits.
We capped off the snorkeling by sitting in the hot tub at our Airbnb as well as the geothermal pool on the grounds!
Day 8:
Wake up and say goodbye to Iceland as we drive to airport.
Load plane and wish we were staying longer for more good eats and nice drinks!
Final notes of what we’d change:
Save Blue Lagoon soak for the end before airport
Make a reservation to eat at Dill restaurant as well as find time to eat at PUNK
Devote more time to spend at farmhouse airbnb
