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Hi! Most of this is doable with a couple of exceptions:
– Sky Lagoon has a minimum age of 12, and I think Hvammsvik has a minimum age of 10. But there are lots of other places to swim, including local town thermal pools.
– Getting up to Akureyri would probably mean flying up there, unless you’re okay with a 5 hour drive each way. You may want to skip the trip up north and do whale watching somewhere else?
– Yes, you can visit the Westman Islands as a day trip!
– You can see more about our custom itinerary planning here:
https://icelandwithkids.com/itinerary-planning-and-personal-vip-tours-of-iceland/
Thanks!
Hi Cheryl! I haven’t done the Viking Sushi, but I’ve heard good things (as long as you’re excited to feast on scallops and sea urchins!)
In the summer I think any sized car is fine for Ring Road. It’s fully paved, as of 2019 or so! But late in September you can start to have weather and wind issues, so I’d recommend something larger.
Hi Cheryl- sounds like this will be a great trip! Here are some thoughts and answers to your questions:
– Skipping the Westfjords sounds like a good idea. Where would you be looking for a boat excursion? There are some boat tours out of Stykkishólmur while you’re on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, like the Viking Sushi tour or kayaking. Or are you thinking of something else?
– Car rental insurance is always a tough call. On average, you expect to lose money on it. But you also don’t want to pay for repairs if you have an accident! The maximum out of pocket cost for a small car at Blue is 90000 ISK, or about $700 US / £525. You may be comfortable “self-insuring” and just paying up to that amount if you have an issue?
If not, you could purchase the zero liability insurance from Blue, or buy third party coverage from a company like Roamright.
I hope that helps!
Hi, and thanks for reading! I think Snæfellsnes is a good choice. You’re (just) past the period when weather will be an issue, or at least it shouldn’t be a major one.
The choices that come to mind for me are Snæfellsnes, the South Coast, or the Reykjanes Geopark.
But those won’t save you much driving if any. And Snæfellsnes has lots to see once you get there, without too much driving in between stops. So I think your instincts are great!
Hi! I feel like in April, you want to focus mostly on the hiking part. There will still be snow around, but it should be melting. The average low in April in Reykjavik is right around freezing.
So maybe buy good hiking boots for everyone, and consider something like Yaktrax to put over them if needed?
Hi! Here are some thoughts.
– March is a month where the hours of daylight change quickly! See the data here. Or see our post about hours of daylight in Iceland.
On March 1st, you’ll have good darkness from about 9:30 PM until 6 AM. On March 31, it’s only from 11:30 PM to 3:30 AM. If you want to see the northern lights, check the forecast for aurora activity.
– Whale sightings are less common in the winter. But check the Diary of a company in Reykavik when it gets closer to your trip to see if they are having any luck. (And check out our Whale Watching tips too!)
Okay, on to an itinerary. Are you comfortable driving? The Golden Circle and South Coast should be accessible, barring a winter storm. Take a look at our 1 week tour of Iceland with kids. Skip the Westman Islands, keep a close eye on road conditions at road.is and safetravel.is, and be ready to change your plans if they roads don’t look good.
You can see the road conditions from March 2, 2016 here. There are spots of ice in South Iceland, but everything looks easily passable if you’re comfortable driving in winter conditions.
Let me know what you think, and any questions this brought up!
Hi! Are you looking to save money and shop in grocery stores, or eat in restaurants along the way? If you haven’t seen it, you might want to look at my post about Finding food in Iceland
Grocery stores will become smaller and sparser as you leave the greater Reykjavik area. And their hours will be more limited. Here’s a nice map of grocery stores, though I don’t think it’s complete:
https://guidetoiceland.is/travel-info/shopping-for-groceries-in-iceland
There’s a Kjarval grocery store in Vik that’s a good place to stock up. The opening hours picture in my food post above is actually from that grocery store. Note that they close at 6 or 7 PM every day, and they are closed on Sunday. We got there just after 6 on Saturday evening … the grocery store was closed and wouldn’t open again until Monday.
I don’t remember any restaurants on the South Coast that I would strongly recommend. But let me know what else you are looking for and I can try to help!
Hi Katy!
Plenty of locations in the Golden Circle and South Coast are accessible with a push chair. (By the way, I assume you’re from the UK and that a push chair is what we call a stroller in the United States.)
But, locations are not “child proofed” for young kids to visit and run around. For example, at the Geysir geothermal area, there is at most a low rope separating you from very very hot water. Here’s a sample image:
That’s right next to the walkway; if your children are likely to run off and explore, you’ll need to keep hold of them, or keep them in the stroller!
Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss are both very visible from the parking lots, and so you won’t have trouble getting close to them, with or without strollers. But you can walk behind Seljalandsfoss, and it’s a slippery path that again isn’t child proofed. Iceland expects you to be responsible for yourself (and in this case your kids!)
So, you’ll be able to get to most everything on the Golden Circle in a stroller; park in the lower parking lot at Gullfoss to avoid the huge set of stairs. But you won’t want to let the kids run free!
Hope that helps.
Hi! First, I like your approach: Don’t try to see it all!
The South Coast definitely would be perfect for you, except that it’s pretty touristy. Still, I think it’s okay to go for it in the summer. You can choose to hit some of the outdoor attractions early or late, when the crowds are lighter. (Use the 24 hours of light to your advantage!)
If you do choose the South coast, book lodging now! South Coast lodging fills up very quickly.
Another option is to head to the Snæfellsnes peninsula. Here are some of our live updates from there (the first one written by my son!):
https://icelandwithkids.com/2016/06/22/sunday-june-19-update/
https://icelandwithkids.com/2016/06/22/monday-june-20-update/All of that is on the southern part of Snæfellsnes (besides the museum at the end of the second post), and are less than an hour of driving from start to finish. Well, once you get up there.
You could head around to the north, and get some glaciers in on the way:
http://sfn.is/tours/glacier-lava/
(I don’t know anything about that tour, other than it looks great and the ages work for your kids!)
Up north there are some waterfalls too.
You could do Reykjavik, the Golden Circle, and then a few days in Snæfellsnes; I think that would make for a great trip without much driving.
So maybe check out our South Coast of Iceland touring plan and see what you think. Then decide between more time there or heading up to Snæfellsnes.
Either will be great. Good luck, and hope that helps!
Hi! I like the idea of only staying in 2 different places, and I also understand the difficulty of picking what those 2 places are!
First, I’d skip the Westman Islands. The close port (Landeyjahöfn) may not open until mid April, and closures are more common in spring and fall. That would leave you with an almost 3 hour ferry ride each way, which isn’t practical for a day trip.
There’s not right answer. But maybe use day 4 to get past Vik? Since you’re not backtracking, there would be less driving. Cover Seljalandsfoss waterfall, Skogafoss waterfall, Reynisfjara and Dyrhólaey as you drive east, and maybe make Kirkjubæjarklaustur your 2 night base? That would make the roundtrip to Jökulsárlón more reasonable.
One other thought is to make sure you want to head all the way out to Jökulsárlón. Skaftafell is great, but it’s a long uphill hike for a 3 year old. If you decide to make Kirkjubæjarklaustur your terminal point, then staying in Vik can make sense and lessen your total driving.
If you have any time on your last day, consider the Blue Lagoon or other sites in the Reykjanes Geopark.
Good luck!
Hi- glad you found it useful! Yes, there are a lot of options to make it as laid back as you want. You could skip the Westman Islands if you think the ferry ride wouldn’t be good for the kids, and have plenty of time to explore the south coast.
Just make sure you book lodging soon if you haven’t already– it’s tough to find places on the South Coast.
Have a great trip!
Hi! Great question, and one without a single right answer, as you probably assumed!
Here are the areas that come to mind for me, starting from most crowded and touristy to least:
– Reykjavik
– Golden Circle
– South Coast
– Snæfellsnes peninsula
– WestfjordsAny two would make for a great vacation, so I don’t think you can go wrong. The Golden Circle is wonderful, and offers lots of things to do. It will be crowded in September, though not as bad as the summer months.
Snæfellsnes offers my favorite hike for kids in Iceland; see the second picture in this post about Snæfellsnes (written by my son!) It’s not a super long hike, probably under an hour each way even if you go slowly. I’m not sure if you were looking for longer day hikes? There are lots of other hiking options in the national park on Snæfellsnes— you can ask in the visitor’s center what might be a good option for you.
So to try to answer your question, I’d say Snæfellsnes can be one. Then you could add the Westfjords if you really wanted to get off the beaten path, though it would be close to a 6 hour drive from Hellnar to Ísafjörður. Any of the first 3 places above would be a great addition as well: Reykjavik if you wanted a city, the Golden Circle to see the classics, or the South Coast to see more of Iceland’s natural beauty.
Hope that helps?
Hi- I think this sounds pretty good! You will have a very long driving day from Snæfellsnes to Mývatn– much more than 4 hours I think. Otherwise it seems like a good balance between driving hours and multiple night stays.
Hi! You certainly can do all of Ring Road (Road 1.) Remember though that even this doesn’t cover all of Iceland!
I think the question is how many hours you want to drive in a day, vs. how many times you want to spend just a single night in one place. Let’s say it takes about 16 hours to drive all of Ring Road. Add in the trip to and from the airport, as well as time to drive to and from the Golden Circle and other attractions, and you’re at maybe 24 hours of driving. (This is all very rough, of course.)
So if you stayed in a different place every night, you’re averaging a little under 2 hours of driving a day. If you want to stay more than one night in one place, you’re looking at 3-4 hours of driving a day. If your 2-year-old will be happy to be in the car looking at the beautiful scenery, this might be okay?
But my advice is almost always to do less. You can’t cover it all, so cover less and explore more.
Oh, and the weather should be fine in August and September. It will be chilly, though– bring layers, maybe some wool, and good gloves and hats for everyone! (See our post about clothing in Iceland.)
