Recommendations for 5-6 day trip in late May?

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mlael
mlael

My friend and I are planning to visit Iceland for the first time in late May of this year and we are looking for recommendations. We are two females, well-traveled and low maintenance. We are thinking 5-6 days, arriving and departing in Reykjavik, so we think we'd like 3 or 4 trip ideas and we would spend about one day on each trip. (I assume we will rent a car)

Sights/Travel: We both love the outdoors. We would like to travel to villages from which we can base ourselves for a day and sight-see in the area. spend the night at an inn, and move to another area the following day.

Accommodations: We'd like to spend some time in quaint villages and we prefer guest houses or B&B's over hostels. Has anyone stayed in an inn or B&B that they absolutely loved?

Thank you!!

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iviehoff
iviehoff

We'd like to spend some time in quaint villages

The interest in Iceland lies considerably in landscape rather than settlements. Quaint villages are also rather thin on the ground in Iceland. Most Icelanders were living in pretty primitive conditions until surprisingly recently, and their buildings were not easily adaptable to modern conditions and are mainly seen in museums today. Thus the housing stock is largely modern and most villages are just functional grids. But the Snaefellsnes region is fairly well catered for nice villages. Consider locations such as Stykkisholumur, Grundarfjordur, Hellisandur/Rif, and Arnarstapi, though you probably don't want to stay in all of them. It is a sensible distance from Reykjavik for a tour of a few days. Though clearly it is a particular region of Iceland with its own distinctive sights, different from what can be seen elsewhere. A lot of slower tourists really like it - it doesn't have the wows of south Iceland, but it has its own special interest. Read Laxness's novel Under the Glacier for a feeling of the region. And, although its a crime novel, one of Yrsa Sigurdardottir's My Soul to Take is also set there.

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icelandnaturelover
icelandnaturelover

If you like outdoors, camping is the best option, not B&Bs!
Iceland is ideal country to be close/closer to the nature and camping is a way to fulfill it.

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younggod
younggod

If you have between 5 and 6 days I would either follow number 1´s advice and do Snæfellsness plus you should have time for the area around Borgarfjörður which is in between Snæfellsness and Reylkavik (the area around Reykholt and Husafell is beautiful, attractions include the Hraunfoss waterfall)

The other option would be to head East from Reykjavik along Route 1, making Jökulsarlon your ultimate destination. The South East of Iceland is very sparsely populated though, and accommodation is often booked well in advance, but I guess you could try finding places to stay in Vik or Kirkjubæjarklaustur.

If you are going to rent a car then I highly recommend cars iceland..www.carsiceland.com

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