Three Days on the South Coast of Iceland Itinerary- Iceland is an easy location to see a lot on a long weekend visit for 3 or 4 days or a quick layover stopover or weekend trip along the South Coast. I think the best way to see Iceland in a short time would be to head to the South Coast along Ring Road 1. Here you can see waterfalls, glacier lagoons, black sand beaches and all the other best stops along the South coast in Iceland. Especially in the long summer days you can see quite a bit in a short time in Iceland. Here is my itinerary for 3 days in Iceland for spring, summer or fall.

This route is best for the summer months, where the daylight hours are long. We went in June. The itinerary below is also best for someone having a rental car or campervan, which we did with Go Campers Iceland. I designed this itinerary for someone who doesn’t mind moving fast and enjoys short hikes.

If looking for what to pack for Iceland, check out my Summer Iceland Packing List.

Overview

Where to Stay
Waterfalls
Golden Circle
Geysirs
Tectonic Plates
Glacier Lagoons
Black Sand Beaches

Where To Stay

We used a campervan to explore Iceland. I favor this mode of staying in Iceland. This is because it let’s you move quickly, you do not have to back track, as there are tons of campgrounds in Iceland. My second reason is because we could easily cook our own food, food is extremely expensive in Iceland.

To utilize your time the most it is better to move accommodations each night. But this route could be completed staying in one place, you will just have longer drives. If wanting to stay in one place I would recommend Selfoss or Hveragerði as it gets you much closer to sights than Reykjavik. Iceland has lots of options on AirBnb (use this link for $55 off your first stay) or booking.com has tons of options as well.

The Route

Day 1

Golden Circle

Thingveller National Park

When exploring Thingveller National Park, many people dedicate a whole day here but I don’t believe it is needed. You can spend more time here if you decide to do the famous scuba diving between tectonic plates at Silfra. But we did get to see Silfra from above, Þingvellir church, Öxarárfoss, and take a walk through the Langistígur rock formations. We saw all these sights in less than a few hours.

Kreid Crater Lake

Our first stop on the Golden Circle was about 20 minutes away from our campsite at Kreid Crater Lake. After a short walk around the crater and down to the lake we hoped back into our car to head to the Bruarfoss Waterfall, a 37 minute drive away.

Bruarfoss

Trying to find some unique areas along the Golden Circle we found Bruarfoss Waterfall. This milky blue waterfall was well worth the 1 hour each way hike. Parking can be tricky to find so make sure you read How To Find Bruarfoss Waterfall to get there the correct way without trespassing.

Geyser Park

Our next stop was at Strokkur Geyser Park, this was a very crowded area as it is one of the main attractions along the Golden Circle, but we were not super impressed although still cool to see.

Gullfoss

After here we drove 9 minutes to stop at the ever so famous Gullfoss Waterfall, again this was very crowded. Although a very big and powerful waterfall we loved Bruarfoss more than this one. If short on time I would go to Bruarfoss before here.

Hot Spring

After getting situated our activity for the evening was to hike to the Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River. This hike takes about 40-60 minutes one way and is 3 kilometers long. They have changing rooms at the spring and a great first authentic Iceland experience. Guide To Iceland’s article on this hike, if is a great one to read on the entire hike and experience.

Brewery

We did have plans to go back and make food in our campervan but the day was super rainy. So cooking outside did not seem like the best activity. We did end up eating at Ölverk Pizza & Brewery. We ordered a pizza and tried a few beers. Eating in Iceland is very expensive, like VERY expensive. So this was one of the few meals we ate out, and it cost a lot, but a hot meal was great after a long rainy hike.

Another brewery option would be Ölvisholt Brewery. Ölvisholt Brewery doesn’t have food options and has limited open times but we really enjoyed the beers here! Grab a hot dog at the gas station and call it a meal. Iceland hot dogs are a must try.

Where To Stay:

We camped at Reykjamörk Hveragerði RV Park. It wasn’t anything more than a place to park our van, get a hot shower and a nice area to make food in the morning.

There are also AirBnB’s and hotels in this area:

Day 2

Waterfalls

Seljalandsfoss

After a quick breakfast we drove 28 minutes to Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, this is a waterfall you see many pictures of people walking behind, it is right off the road and you cannot miss it! We got here early enough to miss the crowds, but many tour buses do stop here. Next we walked over to Gljúfrabúi Waterfall it is a short walk to the left of the waterfall near the campground. Be prepared to get your shoes wet as you walk through a short small cave-like area before finding this waterfall.

Skogafoss

Hoping in the car to drive 26 miles next we stopped at Skogafoss Waterfall. Again another site you cannot miss as it sits right off the main Road 1. Many people stop to see this waterfall from the ground, and many even climb the stairs to see it from above, but I would leave time to hike the trail along the stream to see many more waterfalls, you can read about our hike and how long we hiked before turning around at The Skogafoss Waterfall Hike: The Hike Above the Falls. If looking for a meal in this area I heard good things from Sveitagrill Miu Food Truck.

Kvernufoss

Snice hiking more than we thought we would behind Skogafoss we had to skip this next stop, but if good on time you could complete the 20 minute hike to the Kvernufoss Waterfall.

Sólheimajökulll

From here we headed straight to the Sólheimajökulll Glacier. Here you can book a tour to walk out on to the glacier, but we decided to just see the glacier from land and the first part, we didn’t venture too deep onto the glacier without the proper equipment.

Sólheimasandur

Next we headed across the road to hike to the Sólheimasandur plane wreckage. This walk is pretty easy as it is completely flat but is quiet the boring walk. The walk is 2 miles one way and takes most people 40 minutes to 1 hour to walk. Once there you can take pictures, but if I had to remove one item from this day I would pick this. Just not as interesting as the other natural sights we saw and took up a lot of time.

Dyrhólaey

Just 20 minutes from the place wreck parking lot was Dyrhólaey overlook and lighthouse. I thought looking down on the coast line above was the best part about this stop. The parking lot is tricky to get to but we made it by going slowly in our campervan. There is parking down below and you can take the scenic walk up to the lighthouse area as well.

Reynisfjara Beach

You can see Reynisfjara Beach from some viewpoints at Dyrhólaey but to get there you have to go around the water and will take about 25 minutes by driving. This beach is another famous site in Iceland, and is often filled with tour buses. Although the rock formations and black sand beach is awesome to see this area is one you should be very cautious in. Do not get too close to the waves, as they have ‘sneaker waves’ in which they have claimed several lives on this beach. You are now in the town of Vik, this would be a great stop for dinner or stopping at the Kronan to buy groceries.

Fjaðrárgljúfur

We were making dinner late at our campsite so we drove 50 minutes at Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon. Check before you make this a stop as I have heard that they sometimes close this area down for weather and to let the moss grow back from people walking in areas that they are not permitted to.

Being late but still long daylight hours is was almost 10pm, we next drove 1 hour to our campsite to make dinner and go straight to bed.

Where To Stay:

We camped at Skaftafell Camping for the night.

There are also AirBnB’s, Hostels and Hotels in this area if not travelling in a campervan:

Day 3

Glacier Lagoons

Svartifoss

We woke in the area that is considered the eastern region of Iceland. Once up and moving we decided to move our car in the Vatnajökull National Park parking lot which was right next door. From here we hiked to Svartifoss Waterfall, this waterfall is known for its tall ballast columns. The National Park visitor center is about 1.5 kilometers or 45 minutes (one way).

You could walk back to the visitors center or take the trail to Sjónarnípa glacier and back to the visitor’s center. This look should take you about 3 hours. This hike will take you to a view above the glaciers. And then we decided to walk down to see the glaciers from eye level.

Just in a ten minute drive you can see Svínafellsjökull Glacier.

Fjallsárlón

Next was a quick stop at Fjallsárlón Iceberg Lagoon, about a 40 minute drive. This is the less popular glacier lagoon so it was nice to see this one without as many people around.

Jökulsárlón & Diamond Beach

And right down the street in about 10 minutes you will come across to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon with Diamond Beach right across the street.

Even though there are not a ton of long drives in this area it is packed full of different types of attractions.

Back to Reykjavik

By now you are about 4.5 hours away from Reykjavik. So it is probably about time to start heading back to end your 3 days on the South Coast. If ahead on time you can hit up some of the stops you may have missed before since you will be making the same route back.

We only spent a day in Reykjavik and it was a perfect amount of time, see what we did here.

If you have more than 3 days you can easily add on to this route by taking a day to see the Vestrahorn Mountains or my favorite area in Iceland, Thakgil Hiking Area. Or check out my post on 9 Days in Iceland.

Places to stay near Hofn if staying in this area:

Places to stay in Reykjavik:

3 Days on the South Coast of Iceland Itinerary