Whether you’re going to Iceland for the first time or the fifth time, there are some must-see things in this beautiful country. People are always asking me what my favorite things to do are, my favorite tours, and why I keep going back. My mom thinks I’m crazy for spending all my money and time going north into the cold. I keep telling her that age-old saying: from the inside looking out, you can never explain. From the outside looking in, you could never understand. But if you’ve finally made the plunge and booked the trip, you’re going to want to know what the best things to do in Iceland are. Here are the top things that made my list!
Snorkeling Silfra
I’m not a big snorkeler, especially in 33°F (1°C) water. Actually, I think I’ve only been snorkeling three times in my life. Whether you’re a water person or not, a cold weather person or not, or a snorkeler or not, definitely do this tour! You’re going to need to hire a tour company, unless you happen to own your own dry suit and travel with it. Going with a guide is a good idea anyway because they can help you get your suit on right, take pictures of you snorkeling or diving, and show you secret underwater caves to explore. Let the pictures do the talking! It’s worth the addition to the Golden Circle tour or a special trip to Thingvellir National Park to snorkel Silfra.
We booked our snorkeling trip with Adventure Vikings because they’re the only company in Iceland to offer snorkeling Silfra in a wetsuit (even though we eventually chose the dry suit). Read more about snorkeling the freezing waters of Silfra here.
Ice Cave
This is another tour you’ll have to hire a guide for; going into the glacier isn’t something you can do on your own for safety reasons. Getting to the glacier is half the fun! You get to drive over deep snow drifts through flood plains in a super jeep with huge tires. Get up close and personal with the mountains, listen to quirky tales and fables from the guides, and get some beautiful photos surrounded by nature.
Once you get to the ice cave, it’s a whole different story! The ice cave is incredible. You actually go inside the glacier so you’re surrounded by tons and tons of ice. The walls and ceiling and floor are ice. Luckily, you’re wearing crampons so you don’t slip, but you can even climb up parts of the walls that have fallen away. Parts of the ice cave are so blue, other parts are crystal clear, and other parts are black from ash from the volcano Katla that sits under the glacier. Make sure you bring a high quality camera to capture those intricate details of the ice cave!
We booked our tour with Katlatrack Adventure Tours. See more about the ice cave in this post.
Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach
Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon and diamond beach are super far from Reykjavik, like a five-hour drive. It’s exhausting to do in one day. For this recommendation, I’d suggest getting a hotel in Vik or Hof to avoid driving back west after a long drive out to the lagoon. Also, there’s only one road to get out to Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon: route 1 (the ring road). Some of the best waterfalls are right off this road! Check out the famous Seljalandsfoss, which you can walk behind on nice days, Gljufurarfoss, the secret waterfall inside a cave, and the 82-foot-wide (25-meter-wide) Skogafoss, where Justin Bieber made part of a music video. Check out all the chase-able waterfalls in here.
The glacier lagoon is like a bay. It’s not the ocean, but the ocean is just across the street. The glacier lagoon is surrounded by hills or mountains, giving it a gorgeous backdrop for photos. In summer, you can take a boat ride around the bits of glacier floating in the lagoon. You can even see the big glacier that the pieces broke off of right across the lagoon.
Diamond Beach is just across the street. It’s called Diamond Beach because when pieces of the glaciers that float out on the ocean break off, the waves carry them in to the black sand beach. When the sun hits the pieces of ice on the black sand, they glimmer like diamonds, and the contrast is incredible. I’ve heard there are days when there are no “diamonds” on the beach though, so try to plan for the days following a storm or after a windy day. It’s much more impressive with lots of huge chunks of ice on the beach!
Kirkjubaejarklaustur
That’s a long word even in Icelandic. We couldn’t find this magical place and stopped at a gas station in the village of Kirkjubaejarklaustur to ask where the canyon was. Just for fun, I asked the 2 guys and a girl who worked there to say the name for me. It sounds even more complicated than it looks. But don’t let that stop you, this place is a gem!
Summer is the best time to see the canyon. It’s covered in green grass and, once you get to the top, as far as you can see is green lowlands. There’s a blue stream that runs through the canyon that contrasts well with the green grass. You can either walk the bottom of the canyon or climb to the top to see from above. As tired as we were, we climbed to the top and were not disappointed. I’ve read that the bottom route takes you through the stream, and it is very cold water. I recommend the top route. This is also a spot where Justin Bieber took his life in his hands and ran down a thin piece of land above the gorge. I don’t recommend following in JB’s footsteps.
There are ropes to tell you where not to go, but of course tourists don’t listen. I saw an Italian guy climb out on the farthest, highest rock, all for the Instagram pic, and drop his water bottle off the cliff when a big gust of wind came through. It took a loooong time to hit the ground. I was worried I’d see a suicide that day. Don’t go past the ropes! Unless the ledge is very wide, and you stay low. Get the picture, but keep it safe! And find this hidden magical spot, you won’t regret it. You’ll probably only see about 6 other people visiting since the tour buses don’t go here!
Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar)
I’ve always seen that little island just south of Iceland, and if you put the destination into Google maps it gives you a time estimate for getting there. One day I figured, let me just drive to Vestmannaeyjar and see what’s there. But Google maps said Vestmannaeyjar was only 16 miles (26 km) off the ring road and it would take an hour to get there. Then I realized there’s a 30-minute ferry. I had to replan that trip with an actual plan. But it’s worth adding this stop into your plan if you have a day (or even a half day) to explore!
So I wanted to go to Vestmannaeyjar mostly to see the famous Icelandic puffins. There are puffin colonies on the island and it’s common to see them flying around or hanging out. Unfortunately, I was just a few weeks too early. Luckily, there is a tiny aquarium in Vestmannaeyjar with a live puffin!
The puffin was hurt and stranded as a baby, so a family took it in to care for it. After a certain amount of time in captivity, law says puffins can’t be released back into the wild, so the puffin now calls the aquarium home. Don’t stress about a puffin living in an aquarium though; the aquarium is actually just two rooms of the house the family lives in that was converted into a makeshift aquarium for visitors to come see the puffin. There are a few fish and some stuffed animals (the taxidermy kind, not the kind you give to babies), but the main attraction of the aquarium is the live puffin that will sit on your shoulder or head!
There is a volcano on Venstmannaeyjar you can hike, where you’ll get some great photos of the small fishing village. There are some other hiking trails as well. And there are rocks to climb and rope swings if you dare. There’s a volcano museum to see pictures of the night the volcano spontaneously exploded back in the 1970’s. There is a really amazing healthy restaurant called Gott, which translates to “good” in English. There’s the puffin colony on the south end. And there’s a golf course!
My recommendation if you visit Vestmannaeyjar: bring your car on the ferry. It’s a very small village so you probably won’t find taxis or too many tours. Without a car, you won’t get far! Also to note: the ferry is awesome. There are two movie theaters, a restaurant, two bars, lounge areas, and lots and lots of viewing decks! Enjoy the ferry ride and look for whales or dolphins playing in the waves on the 30 minute boat ride. Don’t let the cold weather keep you inside!
Icelandic Horses
Even if you’re not a horse person, Icelandic horses are just so cute! They’re smaller than regular horses but sturdy and full of hair to stay warm in the cold Icelandic winters. Interestingly, horses not born in Iceland cannot be brought into Iceland because the breed of Icelandic horses is so pure that an outside disease that a normal horse could easily fight off might kill an Icelandic horse. Also, once an Icelandic horse leaves Iceland, like for a horse show, it can’t return. Must be a real bummer to the farmers who raise these babies since birth and know one day they may never see their horse again. But also an compliment to know your horse is good enough to compete in a world-wide competition!
In summer, Icelandic horses roam the green countryside. At the end of summer, the farmers all get together to help round up the horses and deliver them back to their rightful farms. Locals will include tourists if you happen to plan your trip during this fun event in late August or early September, and there is a huge thank-you party afterwards!
A tip if you plan to buy a horse-riding excursion: don’t book the ride in advance. The weather in Iceland is so volatile and unreliable that you may end up riding in an ice storm, which is no fun for anyone. Plus, with the crazy daylight/darkness hours that Iceland keeps, you might forget that 10:00 a.m. in winter is still dark, and there won’t be anything to see! Wait until you decide the day of or the day before when you can confirm the weather and make sure it’s a perfect riding day. See if you can plan a ride out to Seljavallalaug, the natural hot pool in the mountains near Vik, or Reykjadalur Valley, a geothermal river warm enough to bathe in close to Reykjavik!
Conclusion
The popular tours of Iceland, like the Golden Circle or the South Coast, are great tours and perfect for someone who only wants to see the basic and most common sights of Iceland. But it’s like going to Italy and only seeing the Colosseum or going to Spain and only seeing Madrid. You’ll see the most famous places to take pictures, but you won’t feel that draw to Iceland that I feel. Look beyond what they want you to see and find the real Iceland and you won’t be disappointed. In the activities above, you’ll find less tourists and more locals. Fewer people crowding your pictures. And less pictures all over the internet of the things you’re taking pictures of. These are the best things to do in Iceland in my opinion, and I hope you will try them and agree!
What are your favorite things to do in Iceland? Have you tried any of the things I mentioned above? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
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P.S. You might also enjoy Tips to Decide Whether to Rent a Car or Take A Tour Bus In Iceland or When Is the Best To Visit Iceland