Best Things to do in Iceland Solo Travel

I’ve solo traveled all over the world and seen many different places and sights, but one place that really stood out to me was Iceland. I’m already day dreaming of the day I can go visit again, it’s truly breathtaking.

Iceland is truly one of the most magical places I’ve ever been with some of the most diverse and incredible landscapes in the world. You can’t possibly get bored and there are so many incredible things to do in Iceland. It is also very safe for solo travel and very manageable.

Where to Stay For Iceland Solo Travel

There are a lot of great places to stay in Reykjavik if you are making the city your home base like I did. I stayed at the Center Hotel Plaza and it was right in the heart of downtown Reykjavik. There were many food options and shops that were easily walk-able from the hotel.

I also liked this hotel because all of the tours I booked picked me up right outside the front doors. This made traveling around Iceland so nice and convenient. I didn’t really have to worry about a thing.

The hotel also had a really cozy lobby, friendly staff, WI-FI and a breakfast buffet. You can book the hotel I stayed at here.

Getting around Iceland

Renting a Car:

If I visited Iceland again, I would possibly rent a car. Renting a car would obviously be nice because then you can stop whenever you want and most likely avoid other tourists. A con of renting a car is that a lot of the cars are in manual and if you are traveling in the Winter, you might have to travel in treacherous conditions.

Public Transportation:

The public transportation in Reykjavik is quite good and there is a great bus system. You can also ride bikes, rent a taxi or even just walk because Reykjavik is quite a walk-able city.

Taking Tours:

I decided to book tours on my stay because they are all very handy and pick you up right from your hotel in Reykjavik so the ease is really nice and they take you to all of the main places you would probably want to go, but then you also learn a lot of interesting information about Icelandic history and geology.

Best Things to do in Iceland Solo Travel

Soak in The Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon is one of the top things to do in Iceland. There are many hot springs all through out Iceland, but this one is the most popular, but also the most expensive. I had a great time soaking in these hot springs, however, and I highly recommend them!

One of the things that makes the Blue Lagoon so unique is the way it looks. It’s a huge milky blue hot spring fed by minerals from the nearby geothermal plant. It is also surrounded by black lava rocks making for the most interesting contrast! If you like photography- this is a great place for photos. It is also such a great place to relax and spend the afternoon after a long afternoon of exploring Iceland.

Read my post all about The Blue Lagoon here!

See Icelandic Horses

One of my all time favorite things to do in Iceland is see all of the horses. The Icelandic horse is a breed developed in Iceland and often times they are as small as ponies. These animals are majestic and goodnatured and you can see a lot of them while touring the Golden Circle area.

Discover Black Sand Beaches- Reynisfjara

When visiting the Reynisfjara black sand beach, I took this tour. I highly recommend it because it was a tour of the whole South Coast including the main waterfalls, glaciers and more! The tour picks you up right from your hotel in Reykjavik so it’s very easy and convenient. The tour was also 10 hours long and we were seriously able to see so much and learn a lot about the history and geology of the area.

Reynisfjara black sand beach was by far one of my favorite places in Iceland. It was incredibly unique, especially with the basalt columns that we had fun trying to climb up. This beach is also incredible for photography, but make sure to use caution as this beach is actually incredibly dangerous so make sure you don’t get too close to the water.

Best Things to do in Iceland Itinerary

Tour the Golden Circle

The Golden Circle is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. I absolutely loved this area and there is seriously so much to see! There is Pingviller National Park, Geysers at Haukadalur and the famous Gulfoss Waterfall. The drive to the national park is quite short and it only takes about 40 minutes from Reykjavik.

The tour I booked also stopped at an Icelandic horse stable which was a huge highlight for me to see these animals up close. This area is truly breathtaking and you won\’t want to miss it on your trip to Iceland. You can combine your Golden Circle tour with other tour options as well which is nice like a northern lights tour or a hot springs tour.

Another popular and unique activity you can do at Pingviller National park is actually snorkel between two tectonic plates. Here you will find the clearest water in the world and you will actually be swimming between two continents!

See a Glacier in Iceland

By far one of the coolest places I’ve ever been is the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. It is a bit of a trek from Reykjavik, but so worth it! Some tours even include boat rides on the lagoon which looks really amazing. There is an incredible beach nearby the glacier lagoon as well that has huge ice shards right on it. This beach is often nicknamed Diamond or Crystal Beach.

Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in Iceland

Solheimajokull Glacier in Iceland

Best Things to do in Iceland Itinerary Winter

Marvel at the Northern Lights

If seeing the northern lights is on your bucketlist at all, Iceland is the perfect place to check that off. There are many different tour options to see the lights, most of them leaving pretty late in the evening from your hotel, but don’t worry, most include hot coffee or cocoa and seeing the lights is so worth it!

Most hotels will have a board right in the lobby that shows the condition of the northern lights and whether you’ll be able to see them that evening or not. Another nice thing about the northern lights tours in Iceland is that if the conditions aren’t good for the day you booked, you will be rescheduled for another day that week.

I highly recommend booking your tour for the beginning of your trip for this reason so you are more likely to have the chance to spot them. This is the tour I booked.

West Side Fjords

Most people visit the South coast on their trip to Iceland, but many people miss the impressive West Fjords! The Snaefellsnes Peninsula is definitely worth visiting and you will find a lot less people on this side of the island. I booked this tour and really enjoyed it! It was a small group tour so it was much more intimate and casual.

We visited many impressive sights, but my favorite has to be the incredible Kirkjufell mountain with the three waterfalls beside it. This mountain can actually be seen on Game of Thrones season 7! We visited many small towns on this tour and it gave us a real feel of the culture which I absolutely loved. We also got to see some impressive basalt columns, bird cliffs and beaches.

Soak in Hot Springs

There are many incredible hot springs all over Iceland. If you rent a car, you’ll be able to visit many different spots. However, I didn’t rent a car on my trip to Iceland, but luckily a trip to a hot spring was included in my Golden Circle tour. We visited the Fontana Geothermal Spa, which was most recently featured in the Zac Efron “Down to Earth” Documentary.

This spa and hot spring dates back to the 1920s and is quite the spectacular place to relax because it’s located right on the ocean. Our tour also included dinner at the Fontana Restaurant which was quite nice.

Fontana included many different hot tubs and steam baths that are naturally heated by Icelandic hot springs. One of the most unique parts was walking to a nearby natural hot spring which is actually used as the local bakery for the village. They taught us all about how they bake loaves of bread in the hot spring and then sure enough, they dug out a loaf of Icelandic rye bread from the ground!

We got to sample some of it and it was actually quite good. I highly recommend this unique and relaxing experience while visiting Iceland.

Explore Reykjavik

There are so many things to do in Iceland, but you can’t pass over the capital- Reykjavik! This kitschy and hip city is definitely worth spending at least an afternoon in. The city is very walk-able and feels more like a town. There is incredible street art, colorful architecture, yummy cafes and lively pubs and some pretty quirky museums to visit.

**Best Things to do in Reykjavik Iceland solo travel**

The Hallgrimskirkja Church-This Lutheran church is on top of one of the main streets in the center of Iceland. It is 245 feet and is the largest church in Iceland. The architecture is truly incredible, but the best part is a visit inside to get the incredible panoramic view over the city. A ticket to get to the top costs 900 ISK or $6 USD per person.

Harpa Concert Hall- Harpa is a concert hall and conference center in Reykjavík, Iceland. It’s worth at least a quick visit for its beautiful and notable architecture and its colorful glass facade was actually inspired by Iceland’s basalt landscape.

Whale watching-

A really fun thing to do in Reykjavik is to head out on a whale watching tour! You might even see minke whales, humpback whales and dolphins! The peak season is between April and October. There are literally over 20 different kinds of whales that migrate to the North Atlantic. Book the whale watching tour I did here.

Cafe hopping

There are some amazing little cafes, smoothie shops and coffee shops all over Reykjavik. Some of my favorite places to stop for a smoothie were Joe and the Juice and Lemon Cafe.

Street Art

You will see amazing street art all over Reykjavik while walking around. It’s really fun discovering it all over the buildings!

Museums

There are many different museums in Reykjavik like the Art museum, Open Air museum, National museum and a few other peculiar ones including a Phallological one.

The Hallgrimskirkja Church in Reykjavik

Iceland Colorful buildings are all over Reykjavik

Hunt for Waterfalls- Must See Waterfalls in Iceland

Iceland is famous for their amazing waterfalls and hunting for waterfalls is one of the best things to do in Iceland. If you are renting a car, you have the freedom to stop any time you want if you see one that piques your interest! However, if you are on a tour, you will still see plenty of them.

Seljalandsfoss

This waterfall is perhaps the most famous in Iceland and for good reason- you can actually walk behind it! You might want to bring a poncho if you don’t want to get wet! This waterfall is the first stop on many South Iceland tours. I highly recommend this tour I took of the South Coast of Iceland which included this waterfall and many others. It also included visiting glaciers and black sand beaches and it made visiting these popular areas very convenient and easy since my friend and I weren’t sure about renting a car while in Iceland.

Skogafoss- Waterfalls in Iceland

Skógafoss is perhaps the most iconic waterfall in Iceland and has actually been featured in many films including The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. I loved this waterfall so much and while we were there, you could see a rainbow in the waterfall making it even more magical. If you have time and are wanting an adventure, you can even hike up to the top of this waterfall for a really unique and beautiful perspective looking down at it.

Gulfoss

Gulfoss is another very popular and must see waterfall while in Iceland. This waterfall is included on most Golden Circle tours. I booked this Golden Circle Tour while in Iceland and I really enjoyed it. Our guide was very good and we were able to see all of the main sights of the Golden Circle. I also liked it because it didn’t feel rushed and we were able to spend a lot of time at each destination including the Gulfoss waterfall.

Adventure to an Abandoned Airplane

You might have seen pictures of this popular abandoned airplane before because it has become quite popular on Instagram in recent years. This abandoned airplane on a black sand beach is definitely one of the most unique things you can do in Iceland. The airplane has been there since the 70s and visiting it is quite the adventure.

Unfortunately, it is more difficult for solo travel as you can’t drive right to the site, you actually have to go on a 2.5 mile walk. There is not a sign on the road for this spot so you will want to make sure to use your GPS and type in “Plane Wreckage Site.” but in my opinion it is still worth it to check out!

Discover Incredible Canyons- Fjadrargljufur Canyon in Iceland solo travel

If there was ever a place straight from a fantasy book, it would be this canyon. This unique canyon is one of the most majestic in the world. You might even recognize it because it made an appearance in a Justin Bieber music video. This canyon was included on the Glacier lagoon tour I booked here. Note, the road to this canyon may be closed in the Winter months based on the weather.

fjadrargljufur canyon looking really green

Meet Adorable Puffins- Puffins in Iceland

A very fun and unique thing to do in Iceland is see puffins! If you have a little bit of extra time during your day in Reykjavik, you can actually book a short boat tour to see adorable puffins! A nature guide will actually take you on a boat to nearby Akurey Island to see these animals in their natural habitat.