3 days in Iceland: 5 waterfalls, a geyser and a black sand beach from one base

Only got a long weekend? You can’t see the whole country in that time, but from one base in the south you can see a remarkable amount of it. This route covers the Golden Circle, the south coast as far as Vík and a lagoon on the way home, with drive times, where to sleep and what to book before you fly.

Let’s get one thing out of the way: 3 days in Iceland won’t get you round the whole island, and any plan that promises otherwise is really selling you a very long drive. What you can do is pick one corner, sleep in the middle of it and see it properly.

I’ve been three times, and my two south coast trips were both short ones, a matter of days rather than weeks. In May I had a guide; in September I hired a car and made my own route. This is the plan I’d hand a friend with the same few days: one hotel for both nights, no day with much more than four hours behind the wheel, and only the sights that justify the drive.

Expect Strokkur blowing its top on day one, a waterfall you can walk behind on day two and the biggest waterfall in the country by volume on day three. If your dates fall between September and April, there’s a decent chance of the Northern Lights too.

Your 3 days in Iceland at a glance

• Day 1: land, then the Golden Circle: Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss and lunch at Friðheimar (night near Hella)
• Day 2: the south coast: Seljalandsfoss, Gljúfrabúi, Skógafoss, Reynisfjara and Vík, then back to base (night near Hella)
• Day 3: Urriðafoss, then a lagoon on the way to your flight

You’ll drive about 600 km in a hire car. The route assumes you land in the morning and fly home in the evening of day three; there are tweaks for afternoon arrivals and short winter days in the tips at the end.

Where to base yourself

Most short-break plans put you in Reykjavik and send you out and back every day. I’d do the opposite. Keflavík airport is about 50 km from the capital, not in it, so you’re in a car from the moment you land anyway, and both the Golden Circle and the south coast sit within easy reach of the countryside around Hella. Head straight for the sights from the airport and finish the day at your hotel, and the next morning you’re half an hour from the first waterfall instead of nearly two hours.

Two nights in one place also means you unpack once, and out in the dark countryside your chances of seeing the aurora are far better than under the city lights.

Day 1: the Golden Circle on the way south

Pick up your car at Keflavík and go. The Golden Circle is the loop of the three most famous sights inland from the capital, and it makes a natural first day because it curls round towards the south coast. It was my own introduction to the country, too: a guide took me round it the day after I first landed, in May. My Golden Circle guide has every stop and fee if you want to add more.

Stand in the rift at Þingvellir

This is the rift valley where two tectonic plates are slowly drifting away from each other, and the open-air site of the Alþingi, the assembly Icelanders founded here in 930. On a three-day trip there’s only time for the Almannagjá gorge and the viewpoint above it, but give the park a few hours if you come back for longer. When I visited in May, the mountains around the lake were still white. Parking costs ISK 1,000 and is valid all day.

Wait for Strokkur at Geysir

After the geysers of El Tatio in Chile, I’d assumed I was hard to impress. Strokkur proved me wrong. It blasts a column of scalding water up to around 20 metres high every few minutes, right beside the mostly dormant Great Geysir, the original that the English word comes from. My guide to Geysir and Strokkur has the photo tips you’ll need. Parking is ISK 1,080 through the Parka app.

Feel the spray at Gullfoss

A short drive further on, the glacial Hvítá tumbles over two great ledges, 32 metres in all, and vanishes into a narrow canyon. No amount of scrolling through other people’s photos before my trip came close to standing at the railing, and I’ve now seen it under low cloud in May and in sunshine and rainbows in September. Parking is free, and my Gullfoss guide covers the paths and the café.

Lunch in a tomato greenhouse at Friðheimar

On the way back south, Friðheimar grows tomatoes all year under geothermal heat and serves lunch among the vines: tomato soup, fresh bread and a bloody mary made with juice from those same tomatoes. I had one in May, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Book a table ahead; lunch runs from 12:00 to 16:00 daily.

Suggested stay: two nights near Hella

I’ve stayed at Hotel Rangá both times I’ve been to the south coast, and for this route I wouldn’t look anywhere else. It’s a four-star, log-built lodge about 8 km east of Hella, half an hour from Seljalandsfoss and 20 minutes from Urriðafoss, in countryside dark enough for the aurora. On my September trip I checked in, had dinner, popped outside and found the lights already out, on a night when the forecast said the display wouldn’t be up to much. It’s still one of the most incredible nights of my life. Ask for the wake-up call and they’ll ring your room if the lights appear after you’ve gone to bed. Rooms start at around €430 a night at the time of writing; my Hotel Rangá review has the rest.

Check rates and availability

On a tighter budget, Stracta Hotel in Hella has hot tubs and a sauna, and Midgard Base Camp in Hvolsvöllur, 10 minutes further east, has private rooms as well as bunks.

Day 2: waterfalls and black sand to Vík and back

Today is the south coast at its most famous, and the distances are short, so you can take your time. The drama builds as you go east: a waterfall you walk behind, one hidden in a gorge, one you can barely get near for spray, then a beach of black sand and basalt. Then you turn round and drive back to the same bed.

Walk behind Seljalandsfoss

Seljalandsfoss plunges about 60 metres from a cliff that once stood on the shoreline, and you can follow a muddy, rocky trail into the hollow behind the water and out the other side. I’ve done the loop twice, in May and again in September. You will get wet, so put your waterproofs on in the car park. The path behind usually closes when it ices up in winter. Parking is ISK 1,000 and covers Gljúfrabúi too, and my Seljalandsfoss guide explains how to do the loop.

Step into the gorge at Gljúfrabúi

A few minutes’ stroll north of Seljalandsfoss, Gljúfrabúi hides inside a slit in the rock. Pick your way up the stream on the stepping stones and the walls open into a mossy chamber with the fall crashing down in the middle of it. I hadn’t a clue what was in there when my guide led me in, and being right inside it made it one of my favourites of the trip. More in my Gljúfrabúi guide.

Get drenched at Skógafoss

Skógafoss is a 60-metre sheet of water, roughly as wide as it is tall, and on a sunny day rainbows hang in the spray. A few minutes at the bottom in September left me wet through. If you’ve got the legs, 527 steps lead up to a platform at the top. Parking is ISK 1,000, and my Skógafoss guide covers the climb and Kvernufoss, a smaller fall hidden nearby.

Keep your distance from the waves at Reynisfjara

This is the beach on every postcard: black sand, basalt columns stacked like organ pipes, a sea cave and the jagged Reynisdrangar sea stacks rising from the surf. I stopped here in May and again in September, when I sent my drone up for the view from above. The sneaker waves are deadly, so check the warning lights at the entrance, keep well back from the waterline and keep facing the sea. My Reynisfjara guide explains the lights. Parking at the lower car park is ISK 1,000.

Turn round at Vík

Fifteen minutes on, Vík is the last proper village for a while: its little church watches over the rooftops from the slope above, and there’s a supermarket, a handful of cafés and a fuel station. Fill up here before you head back west. Between September and April, keep an eye on the sky on the drive back, and again on your second night at the hotel.

Day 3: Urriðafoss and the road to the airport

Your last day takes you back west along Route 1, with a waterfall most people speed straight past and a long soak before your flight. Check out early: it’s about two hours from Hella to Keflavík without stops.

Have Urriðafoss nearly to yourself

Urriðafoss is only about six metres high, but the whole of the Þjórsá, the country’s longest river, pours over it, and no waterfall in the country carries more water. My visit fell on the final day of that September trip, a Sunday, and apart from a family and a lone fisherman, I had the riverbank to myself. It’s stayed near the top of my list ever since. Coming from Hella, cross the Þjórsá bridge on Route 1 and take the Urriðafossvegur turning straight after it. Parking is ISK 750 for two hours, and my Urriðafoss guide has the rest.

Pick your lagoon: Sky Lagoon, not the Blue Lagoon

Plenty of itineraries tell you to finish at the Blue Lagoon because it’s so close to the airport. It is close, but I’ve never been. On a short trip, I think there are better ways to spend your last afternoon and your money. Mine would be Sky Lagoon, on the waterfront in Kópavogur, a short drive south of the city centre, where a seven-step ritual of warm water, a cold plunge, a sauna with a sea view and a steam room is the best cure I know for two days in a car. Passes start at ISK 13,990, and visitors must be 12 or over.

If the Blue Lagoon is on your list, it suits a late flight best: it’s about 20 minutes from Keflavík, and Comfort tickets start at ISK 11,990. Book a time slot ahead. Be aware that the Sundhnúkur crater row just north of Grindavík has erupted nine times since December 2023 (the latest ran from mid-July into early August 2025), and each time the lagoon was evacuated or shut for a while. Magma is still gathering beneath the area, so look at the lagoon’s own updates and at safetravel.is on the morning you go.

Would you rather keep your swimsuit dry? The steaming mud pools of Gunnuhver, out near the tip of Reykjanes and a short drive from Keflavík, are free to visit, and I walked round them on the last day of my May trip.

Have more time? Add these to your itinerary

• A super jeep day into Þórsmörk: from Hvolsvöllur, Midgard Adventure runs six to eight-hour days (from ISK 39,000) across unbridged rivers into the valley, where I squeezed through slot canyons with a guide in May. I’d been a little nervous about it, but it turned out to be a high point of my first visit. Add a third night at your base for it; my Þórsmörk guide has the details.
• Jökulsárlón: the glacier lagoon is about three and a half hours east of Hella. I drove there and back from Rangá in a single day in September. It made for a very full day, and it left me no time for a boat among the icebergs. With a fourth day, sleep near the lagoon instead. See my Jökulsárlón guide.
• A night in Reykjavik: add it at the start or the end for Hallgrímskirkja, the hot dog stand and a food tour. I stayed at Reykjavik Marina, by the old harbour, and there’s lots more in my Reykjavik guide.
• A full week: my 7 day Iceland itinerary adds two days in the capital, the canyons beyond Vík and a night by the icebergs.

Map

Handy tips for planning your 3 days in Iceland

Book these before you fly

• The car: you won’t need a 4×4 for this route, but the airport desks get busy in summer, so book early.
• Your base: there aren’t many hotels out in the countryside, so book as soon as you have flights.
• Friðheimar and Sky Lagoon: reserve a table and a time slot ahead.
• The super jeep: if you’re adding Þórsmörk, book Midgard well ahead in summer.

What to pack

Pack waterproof trousers as well as a jacket, since three of the five waterfalls here put you right in the spray, plus a swimsuit for the lagoon. My Iceland packing list goes month by month.

Best time to go

You can follow this plan in any month, as long as you adjust it to the daylight. In May I had daylight until late and snow on the peaks, but no aurora. In September there was still enough light for long days on the road, and the Northern Lights were back. In December the sun is up for barely five hours, so land the day before, cut day one to Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss, and expect the path behind Seljalandsfoss to be shut. My guide to the best time to visit Iceland goes season by season, and my Northern Lights timing guide explains why the equinoxes are worth aiming for.

Getting around

Route 1 is paved all the way to Vík, and every stop here is on or just off it. Look at umferdin.is for road conditions and vedur.is for the forecast every morning: in winter, gales can close stretches of Route 1 along the south coast. Most car parks charge ISK 750 to 1,080 through the Parka app or a machine, and unpaid fees reach your hire company with a surcharge. Landing in the afternoon outside summer? Drive straight to Hella (about two hours), keep day two as it is and do the Golden Circle on day three instead of the lagoon: Route 30 heads north from beside Urriðafoss, and Þingvellir is about an hour and a quarter from the airport.

Read next

• Is Iceland expensive?
• Iceland’s Golden Circle
• Iceland waterfalls
• Iceland travel tips
• Things to do in Iceland
• Northern Lights hotels in Iceland
• How many days do you need in Iceland? What three trips in three seasons taught me

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