A mere two and a half hour flight from the UK, Iceland is surprisingly the perfect destination for a short break. It would, of course, be entirely possible to spend far, far longer here and still only scratch the surface. But with many sights are within easy reach of the capital, a four-night trip is ideal to catch the highlights.

Budget-wise, in my opinion and very roughly speaking, you need to allow at least £100-a-day if you intend to go on excursions and eat out for dinner, without doing any shopping and self-catering for breakfasts.

Iceland Three-Day Itinerary
With three full days in Iceland, my trip took this shape:
Day 1: Explore Reykjavik, Northern Lights excursion
Day 2: Golden Circle tour, dinner in Reykjavik
Day 3: Blue Lagoon, explore downtown Reykjavik

Getting There
Both Easyjet and Iceland Air offer very reasonable flights. I’d definitely recommend taking a look at their prices for each individual flight – I flew out with Easyjet and back with Iceland Air since that worked out the cheapest.

Iceland Air are a fairly new airline and have a very cute/quirky brand tone (right up my street), plus there is the added bonus of having your own screen with a good selection of films/TV. I went straight for the Icelandic offerings, watching two music documentaries: Electronica Reykjavik and Sigur Ròs’ Heima.Keflavík International Airport is about 45 minutes from central Reykjavik. Airport transfers are easy to arrange on arrival or in advance. I booked mine online through the Reykjavik Excursions (here) before setting off which made things very easy. Through Reykjavik Excursions it is possible to arrange bus transfers direct to your accommodation for 550ISK extra (about £3) – you are taken to the main bus station and transferred to a mini bus that goes on to individual accommodations. Just be sure to ring and confirm your return journey the day before.

Getting Around
Since public transport isn’t really a thing in Iceland, there are two main options for getting out of the city and into the countryside. Many people opt to hire a car, giving a lot of freedom to stop wherever you please and take your time. This would be a great option for a group of four or five, where splitting the cost and the possibility to split driving duties. However, as we were only two people and I don’t can’t drive, we decided against hiring a car.

The other option is to take bus tours. Depending on your budget, you can take a coach or mini bus but the price does rise sharply for a smaller bus. I do prefer smaller excursions but to stick to a budget in Iceland, it made sense to go with the larger buses. I was happy enough with this decision as it never felt too overcrowded upon arriving in places.

When to go
What time of year you go, depends very much upon what you want to see.
The Northern Lights are only (potentially) visible from September to Mid-April, whilst many national parks will be far more accessible during the summer months. I visited in late February – optimum time for seeing the Northern Lights, still cold but past the worst of any ice or snow.

Accommodation
I stayed in a studio apartment in Welcome Apartments – ideal for two people and with enough facilities to comfortably make toast and coffee in the mornings. Only a minute walk from Laugavegur, a central street lined with restaurants, cafés and shops, it was also a minute in the other direction away from the Sólfar monument and waterfront. I found a pretty good deal online and paid £20 each per night for the studio here.

More in my Iceland Diary:

Ways to Explore Reykjavik

Vegetarian Reykjavik

Reykjavik’s Street Art

The Golden Circle

The Blue Lagoon