Iceland – A tour of Iceland with the family

In 2023, I took a short tour of Iceland with my family. My husband and two boys aged 11 and 13. Iceland is large and consists largely of wild nature. So in 8 days you can only see a small part. We explored the west of this special island with several impressive natural phenomena. In this blog I like to share my travelogue with you. Who knows, maybe it will help you get inspiration for your own trip to this beautiful country.

Day 1 – Arrival day

At 3:30 local time we get off the plane and pick up our rental car. Then we drive to our hotel at the tip of the peninsula near Reykjavik. Once installed, we take a walk to the restaurant by the lighthouse. There we enjoy a delicious meal of lamb, chicken and fish & chips – just what we were in the mood for after the trip. Let’s relax for a while, because tomorrow the real adventure starts!

Day 2 – Reykjavík

Today we left on time and took a scenic drive along the coast. Then we visited the volcano Fagradalsfjall. This one erupted as recently as March 2021. We walked along the ridge past the lava fields and climbed as close as we could to the crater. A beautiful and impressive hike of about 3 hours.

in the afternoon we checked into a hotel. While the boys chill out in the hotel room, we head downtown to relax and explore fun places. in the evening, we end the day in a cozy food court – nice and casual and tasty.

Day 3 – Geysers, waterfalls and Black Beach

Today the Geysir and Strokkur geysers and the Gullfoss waterfall were on the program. On the way there, we passed the Pingvallavant valley, where we had beautiful views of the lake. The Strokkur was very special to see rising and spouting and the waterfall was mighty.

Because we had left early, there was still time to visit my youngest son’s big number one hotspot: Reynisfjara Black Beach. It was very special there, almost otherworldly, with the black sand beach, the black rocks in the sea, but also the special mountain wall and caves of basalt rock. And also on the way back again enjoyed the varied and special landscape. It was a long but beautiful day. Tomorrow we will take it a little easier to our next overnight stop.

Day 4 – Barnafoss waterfalls and Laugarbakki

Today we had a relaxing day planned. Get up a little later, have a leisurely breakfast and visit Barnafoss Falls on the way to the next overnight stay. So far, so good. But we finished the visit before lunch, so we decided to drive the drive to Laugerbakki through the backcountry.

Those gravel roads come at a price: after 4 hours and 80 kilometers of hotseating, my husband and kids felt like adventurous travelers, but I like a broken twig 😂. Still what a beautiful ride with beautiful and special nature. And the day ends fantastically with a hot jacuzzi at the hotel – that makes up for a lot!

Also, news came to us today that the volcano Fagradalsfjall, where we took a hike on the crater ridge earlier this trip has erupted. The entire area is currently closed due to toxic gases released in the process.

Day 5 – from Laugarbakki to Akureyri

Got up with fog for the first time today. We are halfway through our journey from Reykjavík to Akureyri. Fortunately, today’s trip is only on normal roads and we can drive nicely. It is quite chilly, 9 degrees, which takes some getting used to after 4 days of sun with 15-20 degrees. But the scenery is very beautiful.

Around lunchtime we arrive in Akureyri, where we quickly eat a sandwich to continue to the waterfall Godafoss with a beautiful canyon and then the Fumaroles of Namafjall Hverir. These are openings in the earth’s crust where volcanic gases come out. An extraordinary and futuristic phenomenon, but the smell is unbearable…!

On the way back to Akureyri we drive past Lake Muvatn. This is a very large lake with many beautiful islands and vegetation in the water. The next 3 nights we will stay in a penthouse apartment in the center of Akureyri. But from here we will take several trips, including a whale watching trip tomorrow. Hope we will encounter some more unusual fish… 🤞

Day 6 – Whales and the Blue Lagoon of the north

Today we got up early because we had booked a trip on a sailing ship to look for whales. We had already been told that you have to be lucky to see a whale on such a trip, so our expectations were not high. The guide was talking a lot at the beginning of the trip about the typical Icelandic puffins (puffins) so this only confirmed this feeling that we would miss the whales.

Suddenly we ran into a couple of dolphins, so luckily we saw a few fish after all. But then….! Turned out we had not 1, not 2, but 3 humpback whales around our boat!!! As we understood it, these fish were known to the crew. 2 adults and a 9 month old baby. They kept swimming very shallow so could see them passing by regularly. Our youngest even had one very close to the boat and in front of his camera! Really special and spectacular!!!

After this special boat trip we went to warm up in Jardbodin, the nature baths of Myvatn. The Mývatn Nature Baths are centered around a large lagoon, which has a temperature of about 36 to 40 degrees Celsius. The water here is full of minerals, especially sulfur, which is said to be good for respiratory and skin problems. Then back to the apartment in Akureyri to chill out and eat a home-made pasta and to bed on time. Two more days to go.

Day 7 – Cold huh!

Today there were 3 waterfalls on the program. The Dettifoss is a waterfall in northeastern Iceland. It is 44 meters high and over 100 meters wide, and is the most powerful waterfall in Europe in terms of water displacement.

Close to the Dettifoss are two smaller waterfalls; about 2 km downstream the Hafragilsfoss (27 meters high), and about 1 km upstream the wide Selfoss (11 meters high) which consists of about ten adjacent waterfalls. They are in Iceland’s second largest, 206 km long, glacial river Jökulsá á Fjöllum, which comes from the Vatnajökull. Only today it was no more than 3 degrees and felt water cold. So we decided to skip the hike to the Selfoss and only visited the Dettifoss and Hafragilsfoss.

Then we drove back to Akureyri to have a cup of coffee and hot chocolate to warm up. Tomorrow is our last day of travel. A few more waterfalls on the program and maybe catch a glimpse of the volcanic eruption.

Day 8 – From the north back to the south

Our last day in Iceland. There were a lot of miles on the schedule. From Akureyri we left for the last 2 waterfalls of our program all the way south, about 700 kilometers away. Skogafoss, the highest waterfall in Iceland. This waterfall was my son’s number 2 must see.

The Seljalandsfoss is a waterfall you can walk behind. We left in the cold and overcast but gradually the clouds disappeared and the sun came through. And these two waterfalls were a wonderful finale! And honestly, the Seljalandsfoss is my absolute favorite!

After this we drove to the Fagradalsfjall volcano because we had been notified that the area was accessible again. But upon arrival there was a lot of smoke and the parking lots were closed by the police. There appeared to be new eruptions and thus dangerous to enter. But still special to have been fairly close to it.

Iceland is an absolute must!

All four of us were surprised and impressed by everything we saw on this tour. We are aware that we were only able to explore a small part of this beautiful island. We certainly hope to be able to come here more often to admire other parts of Iceland.

Credits photos: OpstapmetLisa