Iceland Summer Itinerary | 3-days to see Waterfalls, Puffins, and more!

Iceland is a remote Nordic island in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is by far my favourite trip destination to date. While Iceland is best explored by car travelling the Ring Road, it’s an easy destination from North America and Europe, and a fantastic stopover destination between the two. The country has everything I love about travelling: amazing natural attractions, fun city adventures and a manageable itinerary! The country is a great destination year round. It offers 24 hours of sunlight in the summer and unique winter adventures. This Iceland Summer Itinerary is filled with waterfalls, day trips, tips for visiting Blue Lagoon, what to eat, and where to stay in Iceland.

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When to Visit Iceland

The best time to visit Iceland is year round and summer is a beautiful time to visit the country. The summer is mild, with temperatures reaching around 10-15 °C. With almost 24 hour daylight there is loads of sunlight to enjoy outdoor activities and stretch your days out. While the winter months offer unique experiences like visiting in Ice Cave, the summer months bring wildlife and natural wonders to life.

What to Wear in Summer in Iceland

July is the hottest month in Iceland. Temperatures average around 10-15°C (50°-59° Fahrenheit) so you will still want to pack some layering options. Because the weather changes so frequently in Iceland, having options to strip layers during the day will make your trip better. In the summer, Pack a mix of tshirts, sweaters and pants (comfortable outfits to do a lot of walking in). Make sure to pack a waterproof jacket and shoes that can get wet (or bring extra changes of socks). Don’t bother with an umbrella in Iceland because of the wind!

Where to Stay in Iceland

You can easily spend the 3 days in Reykjavik and plan to do a day trip from the city either by renting a car or booking tours from Reykjavik. This itinerary spends both nights in Reykjavik with some options for the best day trips in Iceland. If you’re up for driving, you can still stay in Reykjavik and return nightly. I like staying in one place rather than moving every night so a 3-day/2-night itinerary is ideal!

Travel Iceland on a Budget

BudgetYourTrip.com is an incredibly handy and accurate tool to determine a budget for a trip. I use this to plan all my trips to set a specific budget for my trip. See my post here about travel budgeting. While Iceland sustainably sources their groceries, and many fruits and vegetables are grown year-round in greenhouses using geothermal energy (of which there is an abundance in Iceland), Iceland imports a lot of food/farming equipment and has a 14% VAT tax on food which makes food very expensive.

Ways to save: shop at the BONUS Grocery Store to stock up on food. Shopping at local grocery stores and making your own food is always an easy way to save on food. Another tip is to eat out for lunch instead of dinner to save a few bucks. Stop at the natural hot springs that are on the side of the Ring Road instead of visiting Blue Lagoon to save.

3-day Iceland Summer Itinerary

There are an abundance of day tours from Reykjavik, such as visiting the Golden Circle, southeast Iceland, westfjords, and more! Blue Lagoon is a wonderful option for those who don’t mind spending a bit more on a relaxing day at the spa, or if you’re on a road trip you can stop at the natural hot springs on the side of the Ring Road.

Day one: Arrival, Blue Lagoon/Golden Circle

The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa in southwest Iceland with a range of prices: comfort (cheapest), premium (mid-range) or luxury (most expensive). The Golden Circle is an area in southwest Iceland with three of the top tourist attractions: Thingvellir National Park, the Geysir Geothermal Area, and Gullfoss waterfall. If you’re looking for a relaxing visit, start at the Blue Lagoon but if you’re looking for an adventurous start, head to the Golden Circle.

Blue Lagoon: To start, the Blue Lagoon is about a 20 minute drive from the Keflavik airport or 50 minutes from Reykjavik. In the interest of saving time, I recommend either spending your first day or last day at the Blue Lagoon to minimize travel time. Book an airport transfer from the airport to Blue Lagoon, spend a few hours at the lagoon and then book a transfer to Reykjavik for the night. Is Blue Lagoon worth it? If you enjoy spas and taking time to relax, absolutely! The comfort package allows you to visit without breaking the bank. If you plan to have lunch/dinner at the Lava Restaurant, I do recommend the Premium package for 2,000 ISK more (about $20 CAD).

Golden Circle: You can book a tour or rent a car and drive to the Golden Circle yourself (about a 2 hour drive). A tour is easy to book and allows you to sit back and enjoy the drive; however, you have much more freedom renting a car and driving yourself. You’ll find there are a lot of places to stop along the way for scenic pictures and a beautiful drive. Most tours include a stop at the Gulfoss waterfall, Thingvellir National Park and Geysir Park.

Reykjavik: After the Blue Lagoon or the Golden Circle, head back to Reykjavik to stay for the night. There are plenty of options and staying anywhere west of Highway 40 is a reasonable walk to downtown. Anything close to the Hallgrimskirkja (Church) is in the centre of downtown and the hustle and bustle of Reykjavik. If you didn’t grab dinner at the Lava Restaurant in Blue Lagoon, or went to the Golden Circle, stop for dinner on Laugavegur Street: Old Iceland Restaurant is fantastic (try the shark – Hákarl), or try Messinn for fantastic seafood dishes and a charming atmosphere.

Day two: Southeast Iceland (Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, Vik, Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Diamond Beach)

This makes for quite a long day, but it will be worth it to make it to all the stops! You can book a day trip through Arctic Adventures or another tour company, or rent a car and see more for yourself. Self-driving in the ring road allows for greater flexibility to see more places, as well as avoid crowds. I recommend stopping at Seljalandsfoss (the waterfall you can walk behind) and Gljufrabui (the waterfall through the crevise), Skogafoss, Vik to stop for lunch, the Diamond Beach and Jökulsárlón Glacier. This makes for about 8 hours of driving total, but you’ll have lots of sunlight to get through the day. One thing to note is if you do rent a car, make sure you hold on to your doors!

If you have time, you can stop at the Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach or Sólheimasandur airplane wreckage: This epic 1973 plane crash is on the black sand beaches in southeast Iceland. Everyone on the plane survived! It’s only accessibly by walking about an hour from the road on the black sand beaches but it’s worth the adventure! Be cautious and watch the weather: high winds may cause sand storms and it’s hard to find on the best of days. The coordinates are (63 27.546-19 21.887).

Day two (option 2): Unique Day Excursion

If you’re planning on doing a day excursion, I recommend picking something that is unique to Iceland (and there are a lot of options!) There are so many unique experiences to choose from, finding one depends on your budget and interests! You can snorkel in Silfra (between two tectonic plates), go whale watching, see Elephant Rock, go puffin watching or walk through a Lava Cave.

Day three: Reykjavik

For breakfast, stop at Brass Restaurant or Sandholt. (For the super budgeter, grab some food at BONUS to save some money on eating out.) Reykjavik is a very walkable city. Put on your comfortable shoes and spend some time getting to know Iceland’s capital city. There are a variety of murals to search for, museums to enjoy, free attractions like the Sun Voyager and Harpa Concert Hall.

The City Card is worth it if you are spending most of the day in the city. My personal favourite museums are the Settlement Exhibition and the Icelandic Phallological Museum. The Settlement Exhibition is a museum that was built on an archaeological dig that uncovered a viking longhouse. The museum is very interactive and offers a great overview of the settlement of the vikings in Iceland.

If souvenir shopping is more your style, shop along Laugavegur. If you didn’t get to the night before, stop at Hallgrímskirkja for panoramic views like the photo below.

Read this post to add an additional day to your Iceland Summer Itinerary, or this post for a 10-day Ring Road itinerary for inspiration!