After disembarking the Celebrity Silhouette, we had one full week to explore Iceland by car before flying on — and we packed in almost everything the south coast is known for. This isn’t a trip we sell or a package you can book through us. It’s the itinerary we planned and drove ourselves. We love helping others travel, so we’re sharing it here in case it’s useful for planning your own. If you’re doing a similar post-cruise week or a standalone road trip, here’s exactly how our days broke down.
Updated November 2026. We did this road trip in July 2026.
Iceland 7-Day Itinerary at a Glance
| Day |
Highlights |
Overnight |
| 1 |
Reykjavik: Rainbow Road, Hallgrímskirkja, Harpa, The Bookstore Band |
Reykjavik |
| 2 |
Silfra snorkel at Þingvellir, Öxaráfoss, Efstidalur II, Brúarfoss |
Reykjavik |
| 3 |
Vík lunch, Diamond Beach, Jökulsárlón RIB boat and seals |
Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon |
| 4 |
Falljökull and Virkisjökull two-glacier hike |
Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon |
| 5 |
Fjallsárlón lagoon float, Stjórnarfoss, Yoda Cave, Dyrhólaey puffins |
Vík Cottages |
| 6 |
Katla ice cave, Vík Church |
Vík |
| 7 |
Seljalandsfoss, Gljúfrabúi, Blue Lagoon |
Courtyard by Marriott near the airport |
Day 1: Back in Reykjavik
We’d been to Reykjavik before, so this wasn’t about getting oriented — it was about hitting our favorite spots again. We walked up the rainbow-painted Skólavörðustígur (Rainbow Road) to
Hallgrímskirkja, then rode the elevator to the top for the view over the city.
From there we walked to Le Kock for lunch, one of our favorite spots in town, then took a stroll past the Reykjavík Ferris wheel and Harpa concert hall before checking into our hotel.
That night we had dinner at Sumac, one of Michelle’s favorite restaurants in town. We already knew where we were headed after:
The Old Bookstore / Hús Máls og Menningar, to listen to live music from
The Bookstore Band. We’ve been several times now, and they’re genuinely talented — the place packs out fast, so we got there an hour early just to get a seat.
Day 2: Snorkeling Between Two Continents
Silfra Fissure Snorkel at Þingvellir
We drove from Reykjavik out to Þingvellir National Park, where Jody snorkeled the Silfra fissure with
DIVE.IS — a rift in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that sits right between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. He said the water was the clearest he’s ever seen and truly enjoyed the whole experience.
Afterward we walked the trail through Almannagjá gorge to see Öxaráfoss waterfall, watching the plate boundary the entire way — the two plates pull apart by about two centimeters every year, and you can actually see the fissures and rifts it’s created in the landscape.
From there we were ready for ice cream, so we drove to our favorite spot:
Efstidalur II, a working dairy farm where you eat your ice cream looking straight into the barn at the cows that made it. They had a popcorn flavor that was out of this world.
Brúarfoss
Next stop was Brúarfoss. It’s not a tall waterfall, but the color will blow your mind — it’s fed by glacial meltwater off the Langjökull glacier, and the fine glacial silt in the water is what gives it that impossibly bright turquoise-blue. We drove back to Reykjavik for dinner at Caruso Ristorante, which was excellent.
Day 3: Icebergs, Seals, and a RIB Boat
The drive from Reykjavik to Vík was beautiful in its own right — the road cuts through farmland where you can spot Icelandic horses grazing along the way. We stopped in Vík at The Soup Company for lunch, served in a bread bowl made from rúgbrauð, Iceland’s traditional dark rye — dense, slightly sweet, and black from the long, slow bake.
Diamond Beach and Jökulsárlón
Back on the road to Diamond Beach, and we have to be honest — we were disappointed. There were only two large chunks of ice on our side of the beach. Across the river, we could see the other side had way more ice.
Still, we walked up the river toward the lagoon, which is always stunning — icebergs drift out to sea right in front of you. This time we actually got to watch one start to flip over and settle into a new position. That was a special moment.
Jökulsárlón RIB Boat Tour
Then it was time to gear up. We suited up at
Ice Lagoon Adventure Tours, boarded a big 4×4 bus down to the water, and got on our RIB boat. It’s a magical excursion — freezing cold air blowing around you as the boat zooms out toward the icebergs. Our guide got us close to the icebergs and right up to the glacier wall, but not too close. After that, we went searching for seals and found three of them, each napping on their own iceberg — round, fat, and cute, one looked like he was smiling. They were as curious about us as we were about them.
From there we checked into
Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon, which had a restaurant on site that was very, very good. Our room was small but nice, with a genuinely comfortable bed.
Day 4: Two Glaciers, One Nervous Hiker
I, Michelle, didn’t really know what Jody had signed us up for — just that it was a five-hour hike. I was already a little concerned about the length, and once we got there and they handed me a helmet, an ice axe, and crampons, I started to freak out a bit.
The tour bus drove us out to the glacier with
Arctic Adventures, and it turned out we weren’t hiking one glacier — we were hiking two, Falljökull and Virkisjökull. This company was the first to offer a two-glacier hike.
After a 45-minute walk from the bus to the base, our guides taught us how to put on and walk in crampons. It felt strange at first, but within minutes it became second nature, and I ended up really enjoying it — I felt steady, like I wasn’t going to slip no matter where I stepped.
The hike itself was amazing. We crossed crevasses, walked past ice tunnels, and drank from streams of the purest water we’ve ever tasted. After a couple of hours we sat right on the ice for a snack break and watched a chunk of the glacier calve off high above us — beautiful and loud at the same time. I should never have been scared going in; it was incredible, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The views over the valley were amazing too.
We headed back to the hotel for happy hour, another great dinner, and a good night’s sleep.
Day 5: The Glacier Lagoon Float
Fjallsárlón Glacier Lagoon Float
The lagoon float at
Fjallsárlón was the highlight of the entire trip. When we arrived, there was a mix-up — our booking through Viator hadn’t come through, and the team couldn’t get us out on the water until 10:30. We had other plans that day and couldn’t wait that long, so we started to leave. That’s when one of the guides came running out and said they’d take us right then. The owner himself ended up taking us out to the lagoon personally.
They handed us our dry suits, which we had to carry down to the lagoon in a backpack. Once there, we stripped off our boots and outer layers and pulled on the flotation suits — we felt like lobsters. We waddled down to the water and got in.
What surprised us most was that we were never cold. The water around us was icy, but the suits kept us warm and floated us so well it almost worked too well — we barely had to do anything to stay afloat. Lying back and drifting past the icebergs, moving yourself along at your own pace, is one of the most peaceful things we’ve ever done. At one point we noticed tourists on the beach taking pictures of us floating out there. Afterward, they bring you up to their café for a hot drink. If you do one thing on a trip to Iceland, this is it.
From there we stopped at Stjórnarfoss to stretch our legs and see a waterfall we hadn’t visited before, then headed to the Yoda Cave (Loftsalahellir) — it’s a gravel road to get there, but it’s worth it, because the rock formation genuinely does look like Yoda.
Lunch was in Vík at
Black Crust Pizzeria: black crust pizza, not your ordinary pie. The crust gets its color from activated charcoal mixed into the dough, and it was delicious.
Dyrhólaey Puffins
After lunch we drove out to Dyrhólaey to see the puffins, the sea arch, and the black sand beach — but really, we went for the puffins. Dyrhólaey is one of the most accessible spots in Iceland to see them up close, nesting right in the cliffs during summer. Michelle loves puffins, no question. Jody, on the other hand, kept loudly announcing that all he wanted to do was eat one, just to see how people would react — and people really do eat puffin in Iceland, so it wasn’t as outrageous as it sounded.
We headed back to Vík for dinner at
Smiðjan Brugghús and stayed the night at
Vík Cottages — nothing fancy, just clean and comfortable.
Day 6: Into the Ice Cave
This was a genuinely cool day, in every sense. We booked a Katla ice cave excursion with
Katlatrack and got picked up in a 4×4 van with a guide who kept us laughing the entire ride. She drove us out past Hafursey, the site where background scenes from Rogue One were filmed, and on to the ice cave itself.
At the cave, we got out and hiked across volcanic rock to reach the entrance. Once inside, being surrounded by ice on every side was amazing — that whole stretch of Iceland genuinely feels like an alien planet, like something out of Star Wars.
Afterward we headed back to clean up, stopped to see the famous Vík Church, and went right back to Black Crust Pizzeria for dinner — twice in two days, and worth it both times.
Day 7: Waterfalls, a Hidden Cave, and the Blue Lagoon
Seljalandsfoss and Gljúfrabúi
Seljalandsfoss is one of the coolest waterfalls in Iceland because you can actually walk up behind it and see the water from behind. Get there early — it fills up fast with tour buses. We arrived about ten minutes before the first bus pulled in. If you plan to hike up behind the falls, wear waterproof gear; you will get wet.
Just a short walk down the path is Gljúfrabúi, a waterfall hidden inside a small canyon — you have to walk through a stream to reach it. It’s worth getting your feet wet, because it’s stunning once you’re inside, and there’s a large boulder you can climb up on for a photo right in front of the falls.
Blue Lagoon
Our last stop was the
Blue Lagoon. We booked the package that includes entrance, a robe, two cocktails, and three of their silica masks to put on while you soak. The Blue Lagoon is well run and limits how many people they let in at a time, so it never feels crowded, even though it’s one of the most popular spots in the country. It was the perfect way to close out the trip before we flew onward to the Faroe Islands. We stayed that last night at the Courtyard by Marriott near the airport so the morning flight was easy.
Worth Knowing Before You Go
A week is enough to cover Reykjavik and the south coast well, but it’s a lot of driving — plan for long days.
Book glacier hikes, ice cave tours, and the lagoon float well in advance. Confirm your reservation with the operator ahead of time, too — third-party bookings occasionally get lost, and it’s worth a phone call the day before if you can.
Weather changes fast on the south coast. Build in flexibility rather than a fixed hour-by-hour schedule.
Arrive early to popular stops like Seljalandsfoss and Diamond Beach — both get busy with tour buses as the day goes on.
What we booked
These are the official pages for the paid pieces of our week. Book direct when you can.
Some links go to places we booked ourselves. If you use them later through a tracked link, we may earn a small commission. It doesn’t change your price, and it doesn’t change what we recommend.
If you’re planning something similar, take a look at our
Faroe Islands post for where we went next, or head to our site to see what’s bookable for your own cruise — you book yourself, keep your cruise-line perks, and we add extra onboard credit.
