Iceland Travelers Recommend

Just because its name evokes images of snowshoeing and glacier hiking, doesn’t mean Iceland is only a winter destination; in fact, the summer months are one of the most popular times to explore with extended sunlight hours providing the opportunity to continue tours late into the evening. Here are a few suggestions for what to do in Iceland in summer.

For a relatively small city, Reykjavik is practically bursting with things to do. On the first day of a three-day trip, you should book a city tour; these run about 2.5 hours, which is plenty of time to catch the best of the city’s sights. You’ll see the modern Hallgrimskirkja church, the Presidential Residence at Bessastadir, the famous Fish Market, the Open-Air Museum Arbaer and the recreational valley of Laugardalur. You can pair this tour with a trip to famous Blue Lagoon Spa in the afternoon, relaxing in the spa’s blue-green waters and its geothermal steam baths. Add a spa treatment for a reinvigorating experience, and then hit the town for dinner and drinks. With over 100 bars (open until 6 am), Reykjavik is a reveler’s dream come true. If you went to bed at a reasonable hour, spend your next day touring the famous Golden Circle in an Icelandic Super Jeep. This all-day tour is a breathtaking ride past Iceland’s best-known natural wonders.

With hundreds of tourists taking to the route each day, Iceland’s Golden Circle route isn’t the place to get off-the-beaten-track, but there’s a reason why is so popular. The 300 km tourist road loops around some of south Iceland’s most spectacular scenery, including the Thingvellir National Park and the famous Geysir and Strokkur geysers. If you’ve only got one day to spend in Reykjavik, touring the Golden circle should check a few must-sees off your to-do list, but even with more time to explore, there’s nowhere in Iceland where you can see so much topographical variety on one short trip. The easiest way to explore the route is to take a Golden Circle tour from Reykjavik, but it’s also possible to hire a car and drive yourself, although weather conditions can make the roads difficult to navigate. Starting out from the capital, tours head east and the first stop is the UNESCO World Heritage listed Thingvellir National Park, once home to Iceland’s first parliament.

Reykjavik’s is the world’s northernmost national capital that offers the greatest lightshow on Earth. The Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis has a spectacular display of swirling colours which appear at winter in Polar Regions. Iceland has the perfect conditions for viewing this breathtaking natural phenomenon as its hung on the Arctic Circle, so its dark between the autumn and spring equinoxes. According to the Vikings, the Northern Lights represented the glinting of Valkyries’ armor. Modern science has in the meantime unlocked the mechanics of these apparitions, which occur when solar storms send particles to collide with Earth’s upper atmosphere, concentrated at the poles. Of course there are no guarantees, but a clear night without a full moon in the colder months will heighten your chances. You’ll be picked up from your hotel and taken in an air-conditioned coach to a prime viewing spot, accompanied by an expert, English-speaking guide.

From eerie lava fields to frozen glacial passes and thundering waterfalls, Iceland’s otherworldly landscapes have always felt lifted from the pages of a fairytale, so it was little wonder that location scouts chose it as a film location for HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones. Even if you’re not a diehard fan, touring Iceland’s Game of Thrones sites from Akureyri is a great way to discover some of the country’s most beautiful off-the-beaten-track locations. Doubling up on-screen as the icy wilderness North of the Wall, the picturesque Lake Mývatn region in North Iceland is equally bewitching and foreboding – the perfect setting for scenes with the wayward Wildings and the much-feared White Walkers. Here, fans can follow in the footsteps of the Jon Snow, Ygritte and the Free Folk as they journeyed to the Wall in Season 3; stand on the spot where the Night's Watch men were attacked by White Walkers in Season 1; and marvel at the glacial landscapes.