Iceland has been right near the top of my travel wishlist for a long time now. Every time a friend travels there they end up raving about it. Plus their photos are usually incredible.
Northern Lights in Iceland by Where’s my Passport
Iceland 7 Day Self Drive Itinerary
I have read a lot of blog posts about Iceland and browsed hundreds of travel photos. Each one religiously consumed added to my insatiable desire to travel to the land of fire and ice.
As I was browsing through my emails a couple of months ago, one of the many travel deal sites I am signed up to sent through their latest weekly list. Most of the time I am too busy to read them but feeling like a little bit of procrastination was in order, I took a quick read.
A combo travel deal for Iceland immediately caught my eye and within minutes I was researching my own trip. Using my extensive travel resources I found I could book a package for cheaper, plus it would give me more freedom to do and see what I wanted.
And since Iceland is likely to be my last European adventure for a few years, I wanted to make sure I did it right.
Iceland 7 Day Self Drive Itinerary – Photo by Javier Iosa
Adela and I have booked our accommodation as well as a rental car, so we have a rough plan of what we are going to see and do. We also have a few exciting adventures planned which we can’t wait to experience as well.
We will start our Icelandic adventure in Reykjavik where we are basing ourselves for 3 days. Not only will we be exploring the world’s most northerly Capital city, but we will also be taking day trips from the city.
While we have snorkelled with dolphins and whales in New Zealand before, we have never actually been on an organised whale watching tour. That is why we are super excited to partner with GetYourGuide for a Whale Watching tour in Iceland. The bonus is that if we don’t see a whale (unlikely) then we get to go back for free until we do!
When we started researching our trip I wanted to see what were some of the craziest adventures you could do in Iceland. I immediately spotted diving and snorkelling in Iceland.
“Diving in Iceland?! You have got to be mad. It’s freezing!”
Yup, that is the reaction we have been getting when we tell people that we are doing . But with dry suits provided to keep us warm, and the awesome guides from Dive.is giving us hot chocolates us after our dives. One of the coolest things (excuse the pun) about this adventure is that we will be swimming between the American and Eurasian continents!
Diving in Iceland – Photo by Dive.is
From Reykjavik we will explore the Western and Southern coastlines with accommodation in Selfoss and Vik along the way. While we probably had time to drive the entire Iceland Ring Road, we didn’t want to spend our entire trip in the car. We would much rather be out hiking to remote waterfalls or ice climbing on glaciers than clocking up the km’s.
But this is also where our plan has fallen apart.
While we will tick off the epic Golden Circle, hopefully before the tour buses get there, we also want to see as much as possible along the Southern coast as possible. This is where we need a little bit of your help!
Tell us, what was your favourite waterfall in Iceland? And what is another must see highlight in Iceland?
As long as it is within a couple of hours drive then we will do our best to get there!
Thanking our other travel partners:
Of course our Iceland 7 day adventure wouldn’t be possible without the extraordinary help of our travel partners in Iceland. If you are planning a self drive itinerary around Iceland then definitely use them to your advantage!
HiHostels – HiHostels have over 4,000 hostels worldwide catering to every budget and every traveller. Whether you want a private room or a massive shared dorm, they have it all. We can’t wait to check into our Vik HiHostel and Reykjavik City HiHostel so that when we are exhausted from exploring we have somewhere relaxing to put up our weary jandals.
HostelWorld – We teamed up with HostelWorld on our incredible Italy adventure last summer, so it is only fitting to work with them again. We are going to be staying 2 nights in Selfoss at the stunning Vatnsholt farmstead. Apparently it’s location is one of the best for viewing the Northern Lights.
CarRentals.co.uk – Everyone we spoke to recommended that we have a car to explore Iceland. We have partnered with carrentals.co.uk to provide us with our wheels while we are on our adventure this week. They have a huge range of vehicles including 4wd cars if you want to go off-road in Iceland.
Do you have any recommendations for us in Iceland?