4 Day Iceland Itinerary (The Ultimate Self-Drive Road Trip)

Planning a trip to Iceland and only have a few days? This 4 day Iceland Itinerary is the perfect self-drive route self-drive route, covering waterfalls, black sand beaches and the Golden Circle — without feeling rushed.

It’s ideal for couples, solo travellers or families looking to see Iceland’s highlights in a short time.

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Quick 4 Day Iceland Itinerary Overview

Short on time? Here’s the quick version of our 4 day Iceland itinerary. Below, you’ll find the full breakdown with driving tips, where to stay and what to prioritise each day.

Day 1: Arrival, grocery shopping, Blue Lagoon & accommodation check-in.
Day 2: Golden Circle – Geysir, Gullfoss, Fridheimar Greenhouse and Þingvellir National Park
Day 3: South Coast – Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss & Reynisfjara
Day 4: Kerid Crater, Reykjavík sightseeing & departure

⬇️ Scroll down for the full day‑by‑day itinerary ⬇️

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Iceland Day 1 – Arrival, Grocery Shopping & Blue Lagoon

You might read that the Blue Lagoon is overpriced, too touristy, not worth it as man-made etc. But we really enjoyed it and totally felt that it was worth what we paid. There are lots of thermal baths and more natural ones that you can visit throughout Iceland, but as we were going with our 7-year-old at the time, we wanted to go to one where the water temperatures were controlled.

I would definitely recommend booking this experience in advance. You can book on the Blue Lagoon Website. We went for the Comfort package, which includes entrance to the Blue Lagoon, a silica mud mask for your face, use of a towel and a free drink of choice. The cost was €84.61 per adult and children are free. Children under the age of 8 are required to wear arm bands. They share a locker with the parent and don’t get a free drink. However, you can buy juice when collecting your free alcoholic beverage. You can choose to eat at the spa itself, but prices were bananas!! We had a few snacks in the car after the Blue Lagoon that we had purchased at the supermarket and then headed back to our cabin to cook dinner!

Top tip: Put a hair mask in your hair and tie it up high when getting into the lagoon. The Sulphur in the water can really dry out your hair.

Iceland Day 2 – Golden Circle Highlights

Each day we got up at around 8am and had brekkie in the cabin then made sure to be on the road for sunrise, this was 9am in November. It was so lovely driving through the Golden Circle as the sun was rising! November is the perfect time of year to complete this 4 day Iceland Itinerary, but it would also suit the summer as you could probably pack more into the longer days!

Geysir Centre

Our first stop was the Geyser Centre. Strokkur is Iceland’s most visited geyser due to its activity, and it definitely will not disappoint!! You will find it in a geyser geothermal area and blasts water up to 40 meters high every 10-15 minutes.

I won’t go into the science behind geysers and why they erupt, but it is definitely something worth reading into if going to Iceland as it’s fascinating!!

Here you will also find the Geysir Centre, which has plenty of information about this rare phenomenon, a lovely gift shop and a coffee shop. We stopped here for coffee and cake and found it to be very reasonably priced.

Gulfoss Waterfall

Next stop was the first of many amazing Waterfalls of our trip:

Gullfoss Waterfall. Did you know that Foss means waterfall in Icelandic, so all of the waterfalls in Iceland will be called something Foss. In this case, Gullfoss, which means golden waterfall.

This waterfall is beautiful to visit and is quite unique in that you will view it from above, compared to the other ones you will see from the bottom. This actually makes it look like the waterfall is going into the ground! This is because the waterfall plunges right into a gorge, thereby looking like it’s disappearing into the earth… How magical is that!!

Here you will find multiple viewpoints for this waterfall, the lower points are open year-round, but some will be closed off in winter. Bear this in mind when trying to decide when you want to go. Also, it can get quite icy and slippery here so definitely wear appropriate footwear and maybe invest in crampons for the kids…the first time you fall on your butt will be funny, but the 3rd and 4th time will literally be a pain in the butt 😉😉

Fridheimar Greenhouse

Next stop… Lunch time!!

For lunch we went to the incredible Fridheimar greenhouse. The theme of this family-run farm restaurant is tomatoes!! From tomato beer to tomato soup to tomato cakes, you can taste all things tomato here while sitting in the greenhouse amongst all the cultivated plants. You can even go on a free tour, where they will tell you all about how they grow the tomato vines and also show you their very hard workers… the bees!!

If eating here I would highly recommend getting the soup buffet! Here you can have all you can eat tomato soup with sour cream, freshly baked bread, cucumber salsa and butter. It was delicious!! We also tried the tortillas with Basel, mozzarella and tomatoes and the tomato beer. It was all 10/10. After your meal you can walk around outside and see the beautiful Icelandic horses.

Make sure to reserve your table for here in advance on their website.

Þingvellir National Park

Our last stop of the day was Þingvellir National Park –

This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the only one on Iceland’s mainland, which is surprising as it is probably one of the sites you will hear the least about, or certainly it’s nowhere near as popular as the Geysers and some of the waterfalls.

But this was definitely one of my favourite stops!! This may be due to my extreme Game of Thrones nerdiness 😉 Remember the ‘Bloody Gates’, the entrance to the Eeyrie where Aunt Lysa lived?? Well, that’s Þingvellir National Park. You will find this on the ‘Oxarfoss trail’, which is the road to the Oxarfoss waterfall.

Remember the brutal battle between Lady Brienne and the hound?? That was also filmed at Þingvellir National Park 🙂

Ok ok, enough GOT, why else is this place worth visiting?

This park is located in an active volcanic area. It’s most famous and most interesting feature is that it is the part of Iceland where you can essentially stand on two different continents. This is because Iceland is divided by the Mid-Atlantic Rift and therefore some parts of Iceland are on the ‘North American Tectonic Plate’ and the rest is on the ‘Eurasian Plate’. How cool is that!

Iceland is actually the only place in the whole world where you can see this rift above sea level and at Þingvellir National Park you can literally walk in it!

As you enter this park by descending a cliff into a valley you are looking at North America and as you go through the park you ascend on the other side at Eurasia. The whole valley in between is known as the rift valley.

Every year these tectonic plates move apart by approx. 2.5 centimeters and have done so for millions of years. This results in the lava fields and this giant gorge that you see when you stroll through this World Heritage Site.

Now don’t worry if Geography and ‘Tectonic plates’ aren’t your thing, there is plenty more to see in this park. From lava fields to an abundance of hiking trails, wildlife to waterfalls, you will not regret spending a couple of hours here!! Be careful not to stay too long though, we had to run the last KM back to our car as we forgot how early it gets dark in Iceland in winter!

Check out Things to do – Thingvellir National Park for a list of things to do and hiking trails in the area.

Day 3 – South Coast Itinerary Iceland

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall

Day 3 of our 4 day Iceland Itinerary was packed full but so much fun! We got up for sunrise again (9am) and made our way to the amazing Seljalandsfoss waterfall. This was my absolute favourite waterfall because you can walk right behind it. When I think of Iceland, this is what I imagine!

DC-3 plane wreckage

Next, we headed to the DC-3 plane wreckage located on Sólheimasandur black sand beach. This is the remainder of a US Navy Aircraft that had to make an emergency crash landing in 1973. There’s something so eerie about seeing this abandoned carcass of a plane in the middle of nowhere resting on top of black sand, it’s also the perfect place for getting some really cool photos.

Previously this site wasn’t as accessible as you had to walk 4km there and back on very rocky terrain to see the crash, so it really was only suitable for very fit people, especially with the unforgiving winds that will push you back. Now though you can book a shuttle through Arcanum tours for €20.18 per adult and €10.44 per child return. The shuttle runs every 30 minutes, but I would definitely advise to book in advance.

This is absolutely worth seeing, especially if you like photography. You will be able to take of this world shots here. I recommend wearing a pop of colour going here like red or yellow. It shows up really good in photographs against the eery black sand.

Warning, it is freeeezing here if you go in the winter. It’s also by the sea so the wind is insane! One of Lily’s gloves actually blew off her hand and we weren’t able to catch it!

Black Sand Beach – Vik

After this windy stop we headed to Vik so we could grab lunch and see the famous Black Sand Beach. Vik was the furthest we travelled on our trip and is outside of the Golden Circle. Vik is 187 km or approx. 2h 30 mins from Reykjavik, so I would highly recommend that you stay somewhere on the Golden Circle if you’re hoping to visit the famous beach.

After we fuelled up, we headed for Reynisfjara beach or better known as the Black Sand Beach. This beach is super famous because…. you guessed it, the sand is black😁! This black sand is formed when volcanic material, such as basalt, rocks and lava is eroded.

This beach has amazing cliffs of basalt columns that look like pyramids and incredible sea stacks right in the middle of the ocean.

Bonus: it’s also a GOT filming location!! This beach is shown in episode 5 and 6 of season 7. You will also see it in ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’.

Note it is windy and cold at this beach so please wrap up warm and be careful, don’t go too close to the water in winter or enter the caves if the tide is coming in.

Skogafoss waterfall

Last stop of the day before we fell into bed was Skogafoss waterfall, one of Icelands largest waterfalls. If you go when the sun is shining, keep an eye out for the amazing rainbows it can reflect due to the constant spray of water, you might even be lucky enough to see a double rainbow!

This is the waterfall in Game of Thrones that John and Dani fly to with their dragons. It is absolutely stunning and enormous!! I would highly recommend walking up the steps (all 370 of them) to see the waterfall from the top. On your way up, keep an eye out for the troll in the cliff edge!

Iceland ItineraryDay 4 – Kerið Crater and Reykjavik

Kerið Crater

We woke up a 8am and checked out of our gorgeous cottages in the Golden Circle. We had one last stop before heading back to Reykjavik to explore the city, Kerið crater. This crater is really impressive to see in person.

The crater is 6,500 years old (young when compared to the other volcanic craters on the Island). Scientists believed that it was once a cone-shaped volcano that depleted its magma reserve upon eruption, causing the foundation to fall in upon itself and create the shape we see today.

Visitors to the crater can hike down the sloping walls to the lake in the centre. We went during winter when it was quity icy and it was still very manageable with a 7 year old. The lake itself is shallow but has a vivid colour due to the minerals from the soil. We went in winter and it was frozen over, so it didn’t have that vivid blue colour it’s known for. I would definitely like to go back and see it in the summer. The admission cost €5 per person and can be paid for at the desk when you arrive.

Reykjavik

We then headed on to Reykjavik to spend the day. I highly recommend you ensure to include some time in Reykjavik in your 4 day Iceland itinerary. We loved walking down the rainbow street and seeing all of the colourful buildings. This street was painted as a sign of joy and support for diversity.

We stopped off in Sandholt Bakery after getting some recommendations from friends and it did not disappoint. It’s the perfect place to stop for coffee and cake and to warm up from the cold outside. They also do breakfasts, sandwiches and hot food if you are looking for lunch.

We then headed over to Hallgrimskirkja church to take some pictures and to wander inside and light some candles (bring a couple of coins for this so you can make a donation). This Protestant Lutheran Church is the tallest church in Iceland and is an iconic landmark of Reykjavik.

It was very cold this day and was snowing so we stopped into a little pub called Kofinn and had a couple of beers while playing cards with Lily. Once we were warm again, we headed down to Harpa Concert hall. This is a Concert Hall and Conference Centre designed by a Danish-Icelandic artist. The building is a dazzling glass landmark on the waterfront and is absolutely worth walking down to see. We were very lucky to have a view with the snowy mountains in the background as you can see below.

To end our day in Reykjavik, we strolled along the harbour up to the Sun Voyager. Sólfarið – An ode to the sun, is a viking ship created by artist Jón Gunnar Arnason. Standing here you can get some gorgeous views and photots with Mount Esja in the background.

After this we drove to our airport hotel and had dinner there. We flew home early the next morning.

This was the perfect 4 day Iceland itinerary and the perfect introduction for us and our 7 year old. We will 100% be back to explore further.

Let me know in the comment if you would like to visit and make sure to read my list of the Top 10 Places to see in Iceland.

Thanks for reading,

Jess x