Reykjavik:
Icelandic Air flies non-stop from Boston to Keflavik. If you plan on renting a car from the airport, make sure the pick up location is Keflavik airport, not Reykjavik airport.
Stay : BB 44 guesthouse is about 35 mins drive from the airport in a town called Kopavugar. Great hospitality.
Highlights:
- Past mid-night sunset and view from lighthouse.
- Evening view of Reykjavik from mount Esja. Slippery but beautiful hike.
- Drive to Þingvellir national park to see the geologic rift.
- Gulfoss waterfall
- Geysir
- Glymur waterfall and hike up the mountain near it.
- Drive up north on Route 1 just randomly with no specific destination in mind and taking in the beauty.
- Reykjavik night life.
Duration : 3 days
Thorsmork:
Stay : Vik
Highlights:
- Drive from Reykjavik to Seljalandsfoss and catch a bus at 10:45AM to Thorsmork. ( checkout the bus schedule.) and back to the seljalandsfoss parking lot the same day.
- Drive to Vik for overnight stay
Duration: 1 day
Vik:
Stay: Vik Hostel
Highlights:
- Puffins watching
- Black-sand Beach
- More hiking around the neighborhood
Duration : 1 day
Skaftafell National Park :
Stay: Smyrlabjörg in Suðursveit
Highlights:
- Drive from Vik to the park for day hikes
- Glacier lagoon on the way
- Glacier hiking
Duration: 3 days
Reykjavik:
Long drive back to the same guest house just outside the capital.
Highlights:
- Night life
- Blue Lagoon
- Fly back home
Duration: 2 days
Food: Icelandic food is very expensive at restaurants and not necessarily something that is not to be missed. I ended up buying grocery and cooking at the hostels everyday.
Money spent in total : $1700/person (I travelled with another person and shared hotel/hostel and car rental with).
Time of Travel : August 2009
If I did this trip again:
- Take a tent with me and camp. There are campsites with full facilities close to pretty much all the attractions.
- Use the money saved from hotel stay, and rent 4×4 to go on f-roads.
- Of course, add extra days. But, that comes with a cost as Iceland is not really that cheap.