How many days do you need in Iceland? What three trips in three seasons taught me

Three short trips in three seasons taught me exactly what fits into a few days in Iceland, and what doesn’t. Here’s what every trip length really gets you, from a long weekend to two weeks, where to sleep and what you’ll have to leave for next time.

How many days do you need in Iceland? Ask around and you’ll hear the same answer again and again: seven to 10 days for the Ring Road. It’s what I was told on my very first trip, and as a rule of thumb for the full loop it holds up.

The trouble is that most people don’t have 10 days. I certainly haven’t. I’ve been three times, in three seasons, and every one of those trips was a short one. In early May I had three nights based in the countryside near Hella. Around the September equinox I had a few days with a hire car. In December I had three nights in Reykjavik and never left the city.

Those short trips taught me a lot about what fits into a few days and what doesn’t. So rather than one number, this guide goes length by length: what each one buys you, where to base yourself and what you’ll have to skip. For the day-by-day routes, follow the links to my itineraries.

How many days you need, at a glance

Trip length	What realistically fits	Where to sleep	What you’ll skip
3 days	Reykjavik, or the Golden Circle and the south coast as far as Vík	One base: the city, or the countryside near Hella	Jökulsárlón, the east, the north, the west
4 to 5 days	The south coast as far as Jökulsárlón, plus the Golden Circle	Two bases, one near Hella and one further east	The north, the Westfjords, Snæfellsnes
A week	The south coast at an easier pace, plus a day or two in Reykjavik	Three or four bases	The north and east, the Westfjords
10 days	The full Ring Road	A new bed most nights	The Westfjords, the highlands
Two weeks or more	The Ring Road plus Snæfellsnes, the Westfjords or the highlands	As many as you like	Very little

If you’re torn between two lengths, take the longer one. Distances here look short on paper, the weather can cost you a day without warning, and in the winter months the light runs out long before you do.

A long weekend or 3 days: one corner, done properly

Three days is enough for a proper taste of the country, as long as you accept that you’re seeing one corner of it. There are two ways to spend it, and I’ve done both.

The first is the countryside. On my May trip I stayed near Hella for all three nights, which put the Golden Circle and the south coast waterfalls within easy reach. One full day went on Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss and the farms around them, and the other on a super jeep ride across the dunes to Landeyjafjara beach, then on into the canyons of Þórsmörk. On my last day I stopped at the steaming ground at Gunnuhver on Reykjanes. Staying in one place meant I never had to pack up between days.

My 3 days in Iceland itinerary turns that into a self-drive route with one base, and my Golden Circle guide has every stop on the loop.

The second is a city break. In December I flew in on a Wednesday and out on the Saturday, and I spent the whole of it in Reykjavik: Sky Lagoon on my first full day, FlyOver Iceland, the Omnom chocolate factory and the old harbour at Grandi on the next, and a Christmas food walk around the centre before dinner at Hnoss in Harpa. I didn’t drive anywhere, and with only about four and a half hours of daylight at that time of year, there wouldn’t have been much of a day to drive in. For more ideas, see my guide to things to do in Reykjavik, and Sky Lagoon has its own page.

What you’ll skip: Jökulsárlón. The glacier lagoon is close to five hours’ drive from the capital before you stop for anything, which makes the return trip a marathon on a three-day break. Leave it, and the north, for a longer visit.

4 to 5 days: the south coast as far as the icebergs

Four or five days is where the south coast opens up, and it’s what my own September day at the lagoon was missing. I spent a few days based at Hotel Rangá with a hire car and drove out to Jökulsárlón and back in a single day, stopping at Skógafoss, Reynisfjara and the Reynisdrangar sea stacks on the way out and the Svartifoss trail on the way back.

It’s a day I remember better than almost any other from my trips, but it also showed me where the limits are. It’s roughly 280 km each way from Hella to the lagoon, and every stop along the coast wants an hour of your time. I was tight for time when I got there, so I passed on a boat among the icebergs, and by the time I walked over to Diamond Beach it was late in the day and there was very little ice on the sand.

With four or five days, you don’t have to make that choice. Spend the first nights near Hella for the Golden Circle and the western half of the coast, then move east and sleep near Vík, Kirkjubæjarklaustur or the lagoon itself. You’ll have time for the boat, the walk up to Svartifoss and the beach while the light’s still good. My Jökulsárlón guide covers the boat tours and the best places to stay nearby.

What you’ll skip: the north, the east beyond Höfn, the Westfjords and Snæfellsnes. A fifth day could also go on Þórsmörk instead, by super jeep or highland bus in season.

A week: the south coast without the rush

A week is a popular length for a first visit, and it’s a good one, as long as you don’t try to drive the whole Ring Road in it. You can, technically: the loop is 1,322 km. But that means three hours or more behind the wheel almost every day, before you’ve stopped for anything.

The better use of seven days is the south and the capital at a sensible pace. That means a day or two in Reykjavik, the Golden Circle, the waterfalls and black sand around Vík, and a night or two out east by the icebergs. On my short trips, the south coast only ever got one fast day at a time; a week gives each stretch room to breathe. It also leaves you a spare day for bad weather, which is worth more than any extra sight.

My 7 day Iceland itinerary is built on exactly that shape, with where to stay each night.

If you’ve done the south before, a week also works for a different corner: the Snæfellsnes peninsula, about two and a half hours north-west of Reykjavik, takes two or three days on its own, and it pairs well with the Golden Circle.

What you’ll skip: the north and east, and the Westfjords.

10 days: the Ring Road

Ten days is the classic length for driving the full loop, and it’s where the seven-to-10-days advice comes from. Kay, one of the site’s contributors, drove it in 10 days, and her Ring Road guide follows her route night by night. She found the weather could swing from a blizzard to a sunny beach from one minute to the next, and she built a quieter driving day in after the most intense stretch, which is a good idea on any loop.

The shape is roughly this: the south coast to Höfn, the Eastfjords, Mývatn and the north around Akureyri and Húsavík, then back down the west side to Reykjavik. That’s a different bed almost every night, so book ahead in summer, when rooms outside the towns fill early.

Go between June and August if you can. The north and east see snow and road closures from autumn to spring, and some mountain passes on the loop close in bad weather. With seven days you can still get round, but you’ll drive most of every day and see the north through the windscreen.

What you’ll skip: the Westfjords and the highlands. Snæfellsnes gets a day at most.

Two weeks or more: the Westfjords, Snæfellsnes and the highlands

Two weeks lets you drive the Ring Road without counting hours, then add the parts that the loop misses. The Westfjords sit well off Route 1 and need three or four days of their own, on long, winding roads where some stretches are still gravel. Snæfellsnes is worth two days rather than a dash. From about late June to early September, the highland interior opens up too, for Landmannalaugar, the three-to-four-day Laugavegur trek and the F-roads, which you can only drive in a 4×4.

If you’d rather not drive the highland roads yourself, a guide will take you. My super jeep day into Þórsmörk crossed rivers that no hire car is allowed to, and it was some of the most fun I had on my first trip.

What you’ll skip: with two weeks in summer, very little. With two weeks in winter, the highlands are closed and the north takes longer, so plan on covering less ground.

What changes the answer

The table above assumes a self-drive in the warmer months. These are the things that move it up or down.

Season and daylight

Daylight changes how much a day can hold. Around the summer solstice, Reykjavik gets about 21 hours of it, so a long driving day is easy. In early May I had well over 16 hours. Around the September equinox it’s about 12, which is still plenty for the south coast, and it’s properly dark at night, so the aurora is back: I saw it on both nights of my September trip. Early December gives you about four and a half hours of daylight, and by the winter solstice it’s down to just over four.

So in winter, add a day or two to whatever length you were planning, or plan to see less. My guide to the best time to visit Iceland goes month by month, and if the aurora is on your list, read up on the best time to see the Northern Lights before you fix your dates. I’ve also written about Iceland in May and Iceland in September.

Self-drive or tours

I’ve done both. My May trip was guided, so I didn’t have to drive or plan, and I got to places like Þórsmörk that a hire car can’t reach. In September I had a hire car, which let me make my own route and stop wherever I liked: that’s how I stumbled on Stjórnarfoss.

The catch with tours is that most day trips start and finish in Reykjavik, so everything further than the Golden Circle and the western half of the south coast becomes a very long day on a coach. A Jökulsárlón day tour from the city lasts around 14 hours. If you’re relying on tours, either base yourself somewhere out of the capital and book local ones, or add a day for every far-flung sight. My Iceland travel tips cover hiring a car and the roads you can and can’t drive.

Budget

Every extra day adds a hotel night, a day of car hire and three meals, and none of those is cheap here. Kay’s guide puts a small hire car at roughly ISK 9,000 a day in the low season, rising to around ISK 22,000 in high summer. If money is tight, a shorter trip done well beats a long one where you can’t afford to do anything. For what a typical day costs and where to save, see Is Iceland expensive?

The weather buffer

Build in a spare day, especially between October and April. Winter storms can shut parts of Route 1 along the south coast, and the passes in the north and east, sometimes for a day or more. When a road is closed, it’s closed. Check umferdin.is for the roads, vedur.is for the forecast and safetravel.is for alerts every day. Don’t plan your longest drive for the day before your flight home: keep the last day close to the airport.

Read next

• 3 days in Iceland
• 7 day Iceland itinerary
• Iceland Ring Road guide
• Iceland’s Golden Circle
• Best time to visit Iceland
• Things to do in Iceland

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