This blog is part of a blog series that I made from from our trip to Iceland. Obviously, one of the key elements of the Iceland trip planning was to determine what to see. In this short blog I summarized the list of places that are worth visiting in Iceland. It is a result of my research on the internet while planning our family trip to this amazing northern island.
There are surely many other interesting places in Iceland but this is simply the list I came up with. The order in which the places come in the table below is not random, it follows the road around Iceland, starting from Reykjavik and going clockwise.
There are several places mentioned which are in the Westfjords peninsula. I wanted to visit them very much but it was impossible to fit that area into our two-week itinerary. At least I have a strong motivation to return to Iceland.
As for the Priority column, as I mentioned in the Iceland – How To Plan blog, I divided the places into three categories according to priority, reflecting my desire to see them. Priority 1 means “must see”, priority 2 stands for “go there if possible”, and priority 3 represents “nice to have but can be given up”. As you can see, we were not able to visit any of priority 3 within our timeframe.
So here is the result of my research of what to see in Iceland, and how it ended up in reality.
| Place | Priority | Actually Visited? | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reykjavik | 1 | Yes | As you’ll learn from the blog series, due to flight complications we managed to visit only the famous church in Reykjavik. |
| Glymur | 1 | Yes | This should supposedly be Iceland’s tallest waterfall. |
| Deildartunguhver | 2 | Yes | Hot spring |
| Barnafoss | 2 | No | Waterfall |
| Hraunfossar | 2 | No | Waterfall |
| Borgarnes | 2 | Yes | Tiny cosy town. |
| Eldborg crater | 2 | Yes | |
| towns of Reykholt and Hvanneyri | 3 | No | |
| Gerðuberg Basalt Cliffs | 3 | No | |
| Ytri-Tunga beach | 1 | Yes | A beach with seals. |
| Budhahraun lava fields | 3 | No | |
| Hellnar | 2 | Yes | Black beach with lava formations |
| Londrangar | 1 | Yes | Continuation of Hellnar |
| Sönghellir | 2 | No | Echos cave |
| Arnarstapi | 3 | No | A village. |
| Djúpalónssandur black sand beach | 2 | No | |
| Saxholl Crater | 2 | Yes | |
| Kirkjufell | 3 | No | A hike onto a mountain. |
| Kirkjufellsfoss | 1 | Yes | Waterfall adjacent to the iconic Kirkjufell hill. |
| Snæfellsjökull National Park | 2 | No | take afternoon hike |
| Grundarfjordur or Stykkisholmur | 3 | No | Towns |
| Berserkjahraun lava field | 3 | No | |
| Eiriksstadir | 2 | Yes | A replica of viking longhouse. |
| Hvítserkur | 2 | Yes | Black beach with rock formation. |
| Látrabjarg Bird Cliffs | 3 | No | Westfjords peninsula |
| Rauðasandur Red sand beach | 3 | No | Westfjords peninsula |
| Breiðavík Golden Beach | 3 | No | Westfjords peninsula |
| Gardar BA 64 Shipwreck | 3 | No | Westfjords peninsula |
| Dynjandi waterfall | 3 | No | Westfjords peninsula |
| Isafjordur | 3 | No | Westfjords peninsula |
| Hvammstangi – Icelandic Seal Center | 3 | No | |
| Reykjafoss | 2 | Yes | Natural hotpot and a waterfall. |
| Öxnadalur | 2 | Yes | A valley surounded by mountain ranges. We did a half-day hike there. |
| Hrisey Island | 3 | No | |
| Akureyri | 2 | No | We did stay overnight in yurt near Akureyri but did not visit the city. |
| Goðafoss | 1 | Yes | A big waterfall. |
| Lake Myvatn area (+ Krafla) | 1 | Yes | Touristic area around the large lake of Myvatn, includes a geothermal zone with craters and sulfur springs) |
| Husavik – whale watching tour | 1 | Yes | |
| Ásbyrgi Canyon | 2 | Yes | |
| Dettifoss | 2 | Yes | |
| Hafragilsfoss | 1 | Yes | |
| Borgarfjörður Eystri | 2 | No | |
| Bakkagerdi | 3 | No | “elf and puffin capital of Iceland” |
| Seydisfjordur | 2 | No | |
| Hengifoss | 2 | No | Waterfall |
| take the scenic Routes 92 and 96 (955) | 2 | Yes | Really worth it! |
| Raudanes peninsula | 3 | No | We did travel around by car, it’s a super-scenic coastline. Ther should a lots of seabirds and puffins. |
| Djúpivogur | 3 | No | |
| Jökulsárlón Glacier lagoon + Diamond Beach | 1 | Yes | Here the Golden Circle begins, which you can definitely note by the number of tourists suddenly jumping up. |
| Fjallsarlón | 2 | Yes | A glacier lake. |
| Lomagnupur mountain | 2 | No | |
| Foss á Síðu | 3 | No | Waterfall |
| Laki craters | 3 | No | |
| Eldgjá | 3 | No | Volcano and waterfall |
| turf church at Hof | 3 | No | |
| trail to Svartifoss | 2 | Yes | A waterfall with a short hike. |
| Fjadrargljufur Canyon | 1 | Yes | relatively short hike, very nice canyon |
| Eldhraun | 3 | No | green-moss-covered lava field |
| Reynisfjara Beach | 1 | Yes | |
| Dyrholaey | 1 | Yes | |
| Crashed DC-3 Plane on Sólheimasandur Beach | 1 | Yes | |
| Skogafoss | 2 | Yes | A waterfall. |
| Seljalandsfoss | 2 | Yes | A waterfall, you can walk behind. |
| Kerid Crater | 2 | No | |
| Secret Lagoon in Fludir | 3 | No | |
| Reykjadalur | 2 | Yes | Hot spring thermal river, with approximately 2-hour hike. |
| Gullfoss | 2 | Yes | |
| Geysir | 1 | Yes | |
| Thingvellir National Park | 2 | Yes | You could spend few days in this area only. We made only short stop and enjoyed a beautiful view. |
