Okay sure, most people don’t just hop a flight to Iceland and stay for only one day.

But we did.

Chris got assigned a layover in Keflavík, and I HAD to go with him! Iceland is one of those places that I’ve wanted to see with my own eyes. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to join him on a trip, and this time I left the kids at home.

We arrived at the airport in the morning, picked up our rental car around noon and were on our way! With just a day to explore, we had to choose just a few adventures for the day.

We chose to head towards the southern coast, knowing there were a few popular sites to see along the way.

So, without further ado, here is our itinerary for one day (and on tight a budget!) in Iceland!

1. Hallgrímskirkja Church

We happened to be visiting Reykjavík on a Sunday, so services were going on and the tower was closed. It was still beautiful to observe from the outside. For respect to the church goers, we opted not to go inside the church. If you go on any other day of the week, you can go up the tower for a small fee and have great views of the city!

2. Seljalandsfoss.

Heading south along Route 1, our first stop was Seljalandsfoss. First off, you should know that any word in Icelandic that has “foss” at the ending means it’s a waterfall. And a waterfall in Iceland is worth seeing!

Seljalandsfoss is a popular waterfall in Iceland because visitors can enjoy walking BEHIND the falls! Isn’t that awesome?

Here are some helpful tips for visiting Seljalandsfoss:

-The parking lot fee is $1200 ISK (about $5.70 USD). Pay before you head off to explore.

-There is a café, gift shop, and toilets on site. The café sells coffees, drinks, sandwiches, and pastries. Makes for a great pick me up if you are fighting off jetlag!

-Make sure you bring a poncho or rain jacket when venturing to waterfalls, the spray from the falls will leave you wet!!

-You should plan for about 45 minutes or more at this waterfall. There are neighboring waterfalls close by, but due to time we chose not to visit these.

3. Take pictures with giant puffin statues.

Okay, maybe this isn’t high up on anyone’s list. But I love stupid touristy things like this and I love puffins! We found a few of these along the highway.

4. Skógafoss

About 45 minutes southeast of Seljalandsfoss, is another popular waterfall called Skógafoss. Visitors can trek up many, many steps and take in views from the top of the falls. The climb to the top of the falls is HARD. It’s kind of fun to watch people as they struggle to catch their breath as they make the climb up. But the views are worth it!

Even if you don’t go to the top, the views on the bottom are pretty impressive as well.

Here are some helpful tips for visiting Skógafoss:

-Parking is free.

-Toilets are a small fee to use.

-Again, wear a rain jacket or poncho when going near the waterfall to avoid getting totally wet.

5. Sólheimasandur Plane Wreck

This place is becoming a more popular attraction thanks to social media and a Justin Bieber music video (which are not the reasons we came here!) *eye roll*

It IS a really cool place to see. HOWEVER, it is not particularly easy to get to.

A few miles heading south past Skógafoss, on the right side of the road, is a small parking lot. There isn’t a big sign or indicator of this place, and you cannot see the plane wreck from the road. We relied on our phone navigation to help us know we were in the right spot.

History Snippet: This plane is a US Navy DC-3. It crashed after running out of fuel in 1973. No worries! Everyone survived the crash.

You can make a choice to walk the 2 miles out to the plane wreck or take the shuttle bus. The road marked and flat, but still a bit rocky. If you are traveling with kids, or have health issues perhaps the shuttle is the way to go. (see rates below) We were speed walking and it took us 45 minutes to walk out to the wreck.

This place is desolate, and a bit eerie. You can almost hear complete silence. The visual eye-candy of an aluminum plane against the black sand and grey sky is a monochromatic masterpiece.

There are usually a few people around but everyone seems to cooperate with “sharing” the place for pictures. If you feel up to trekking further (we did not) you can walk down to the water.

TIP: Wear good walking shoes if you plan on walking. Plan for at least 3 hours for this experience (if you are walking to and from the site.) Bring a snack/water because hiking makes one hungry!

Here are the details for the shuttle to the plane wreck: Runs 10:00-17:00 daily. Cost: 2,000 ISK for adults, 1,000 ISK for ages 6-14, and children under 5 are free.

6. Dinner at Gamla fjósið

This restaurant is very close to Skógafoss and the plane wreck. After the 4 mile hike to and from the plane, we were SO HUNGRY! We saw this place on this side of the road and it had a cow sign on it, we figured that meant food. I don’t recommend this place only because the service was TERRIBLE. But, if you are desperate and hungry like we were, it does the job. The place is super cute inside and the food is great, but the staff apparently don’t like to serve Americans. Literally, they will serve everyone else but you until it is apparent that you aren’t leaving without eating.

We did take a super cute selfie in front of the restaurant…

7. Stop and play with horses.

There are farms all over Iceland. We happened to be driving by and saw some ponies at the edge of the fence by the road, so we stopped to pet them. Iceland ponies are magical.

8. Enjoy the sunset in the summer

I’m pretty certain that the sun never sets in Iceland in the summer. We watched the sun officially set below the horizon at around 11:30pm, but the golden glow remained in the sky well past midnight. With a late sunset you can plan to extend your adventures until late into the night! Since Chris had to fly the plane home the next day (and he didn’t sleep the night before, as he was flying the plane) we were in bed by 12:30am.

And THAT is how you jam pack a fun day of exploring Iceland into 12 hours! There are, of course, so many more places we want to visit in Iceland! Next time we would love to explore the Northeast!

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