I know you’ll be thinking I’m crazy. That it’s impossible to do a whole Iceland trip in 3 days. But IT IS POSSIBLE. I’ve done it. And I’ll explain you here how.
It’s obvious that if you want to see absolutely everything, including the West Fjords and the central area of Landmannalaugar, three days are not enough. I’ll also say here that having lived in Iceland and having visited many times the famous Golden Circle I left outside the itinerary that area (if you want to add it you’ll have to add an extra half day – in the map below you can see it in green). But you can do a round trip around the island, including Snaefellness Peninsula, in 3 days.
Jökulsárlón glacial lake, Iceland
It doesn't matter how many times I visit this place, it still takes my breath away every time I see it.
Massive pieces of ice break from the glacial and travel down to the sea. With the global warming the situation here is not so great though.
What you're going to need
A rental car for 3 days.
It is not necessary to rent a 4×4 as the Ring Road (the main road that circles the whole island) is in good condition, but access to some parts, like Snaefellness lighthouse, may be a bit tricky (I did it with a Yaris so it’s possible though!). I’ve always rented cars in Iceland with Procar, since both the schedule to take and leave the car and the price has always been very convenient.
Accommodation for two nights.
The last time I’ve visited Iceland I’ve seen it’s become popular renting minivans with a bed included, so you can opt for this option and won’t need to worry about having to book at specific bed & breakfasts. Companies like Camper Van Iceland, Kuku Campers or Happy Campers have filled the Icelandic roads with colourful minivans. My experience is that in summer they’re extremely popular, so you’ll need to book way in advance or risk to don’t have anything available. They’re not cheap though. So if you’d rather do like me, renting a normal car and leaving from Reykjavík, you’ll have to plan two stops to sleep. Try for them to be at approx. 1/3 of the trip, so you can have each day more or less the same amount of light hour.
Take into account that some areas of Iceland are not very populated, so finding accommodation in those places is not always easy. I stayed in Hostelling International hostels (the web is https://www.hostel.is/) since the prices in summer are very good and there are hostels all around the island. You can also do the hostelling card with them and receive discounts in the following nights in other hostels.
A lot of light hours.
The more light hours you have each day, the easier and nicer will be your trip, since you’ll have to drive quite a lot. I did it in July, when you can drive until 11 in the “night” without any problem as it’s still daylight. So if you’re planning on doing something like this, try to do it in summer.
Itinerary
This is the itinerary I followed. We started from Reykjavík direction North, but you could also do it anticlockwise, traveling East.
Day 1 (in red)
Reykjavik – Hraunfossar Waterfalls and Barnafoss (approx. 1 hour 30 minutes by car).
Snaefellness Peninsula (approx. 1 hour 30 minutes by car to get to the first interesting part). The trip along this peninsula is really nice and you’ll want to stop everywhere. Arnarstapi, Snaefellnessjoekull National Park, Glaciar Snaefellsjokull, Olafsvik, Kirkjufell, Stykkisholmsbaer. Make sure to leave with time to get to your accommodation.
Accommodation: Sæberg HI Hostel. It’s nothing particularly amazing but in my case it was the best located for us. It also has a small outdoors geothermal swimming pool with hot water in the garden from where you can enjoy amazing views.
Day 2 (in orange)
Akureyri, Godafoss waterfall, Myvatn, Hverarond, Viti, Detifoss waterfall.
Accommodation: Húsey HI Hostel. It’s a hostel run by a family who has horses. It’s really nice and the best part is that it’s in the area where the seals go to give birth, so if you’re lucky and go in the right season you’ll see many seals. In July there were plenty!
Day 3 (in blue)
Egilsstadir, Seydisfjordur, Jokulsarlon glacial lake, Fjallsarlon glacial lake, Vik, Skogafoss waterfall, Seljalandfoss waterfall, and back to Reykjavík. If you stay in Reykjavík to sleep that night you can enjoy the following day and do the Golden Circle (in green in the map)
