Honeymoon in Iceland - Round Tour in 10 Days

Your Iceland honeymoon begins the moment you land. A private transfer is waiting at Keflavik International Airport and takes you directly into Reykjavík. No shared coach, no waiting. Just the two of you, the lava fields rolling past the window, and Iceland beginning.

By the time you reach Reykjavík, you’ll feel it. The world’s most northerly capital is small enough to feel personal and interesting enough to fill an evening. Stroll up to Hallgrímskirkja for the views over the rooftops, walk along the waterfront past the Sun Voyager, and take in the glass façade of Harpa Concert Hall catching the last light.

Pick up your rental car this morning and you’re on the road together. The Golden Circle is the ideal first day’s drive: big, beautiful sights within easy reach of the capital, each one genuinely different from the last. Þingvellir National Park comes first, where you can walk in the rift valley between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. It’s a genuinely strange and beautiful place to stand together, the ground literally pulling apart beneath your feet.

Then Geysir, where Strokkur shoots superheated water skyward every few minutes. Then Gullfoss, a double-tiered waterfall cascading more than thirty meters into a canyon. On the way south, your itinerary includes a visit to Laugarás Lagoon, a beautiful geothermal pool between Gullfoss and Kerið. Ösp admission is included. The colorful volcanic crater at Kerið makes a striking final stop before the day ends.

The South Coast is one of the most beautiful stretches of road in Iceland, and one of the most rewarding to drive as a couple. Seljalandsfoss lets you walk behind the waterfall together, a wet and memorable experience that most people only ever photograph from a distance. Skógafoss follows, thundering off the edge of the glacier.

From Skógafoss, you’ll head out onto Sólheimajökull glacier for a guided hike across the ice. Crampons on, a guide ahead of you, the black volcanic peaks and white glacial expanse stretching out in every direction. It’s one of those shared experiences that stays with you. If you’d prefer something different on the day, your Travel Consultant can swap it for another activity.

Dyrhólaey comes next, the great rock arch rising from the sea. Then Reynisfjara black sand beach: basalt columns, sea stacks rising from the Atlantic, waves that demand respect. Your Travel Consultant will brief you on the beach safety rules before you go. The ancient Eldhraun lava field and the moss-lined gorge at Fjaðrárgljúfur close out a day that covers a lot of ground without ever feeling rushed.

Southeast Iceland belongs to Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier, and today you’ll spend real time in its shadow. Skaftafell comes first: a birch-lined trail leads through woodland to Svartifoss, a waterfall framed by perfectly geometric basalt columns, dark and precise against the white water. It’s one of those places that photographs beautifully and feels even better in person.

Then Fjallsárlón, quieter and wilder than its famous neighbor, where icebergs drift in near silence and you’ll likely have the water almost to yourselves. A Zodiac boat tour gets you right among them: close enough to feel the cold radiating off ice that has been frozen for centuries.

Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon follows, where the scale changes everything: icebergs the size of houses drifting slowly toward the sea, blues and whites that don’t exist anywhere else. Diamond Beach lies just downstream, glacier fragments glittering on black volcanic sand in whatever light the evening offers. Tonight you stay close to the lagoon.

The Eastfjords reward couples who slow down. The Ring Road winds through a succession of steep-sided fjords, past fishing villages and farmsteads where life has changed very little, each bend in the road opening onto something new. Djúpivogur’s bird egg sculptures make for an unusual roadside stop; Petra’s Stone Collection in Stöðvarfjörður is one of those places you don’t expect to love and then can’t leave; and Fáskrúðsfjörður’s French Quarter still carries street signs in French, a quiet remnant of the Breton fishing fleets that once used this fjord as their Icelandic base.

Seyðisfjörður is worth the extra hour if your timing allows: the Blue Church, the rainbow road, the wooden houses and the waterfalls make it one of the most photogenic places in Iceland. Your Travel Consultant will note it on your map as an optional detour.

The day ends at Vök Baths in Egilsstaðir, floating geothermal pools on the surface of Lake Urriðavatn, surrounded by nothing but water and open sky. An evening visit is when it’s at its most peaceful. The kind of place you find yourselves not wanting to leave.

North Iceland’s answer to the Golden Circle is the Diamond Circle, and in some ways it’s more dramatic. Stuðlagil Canyon, a gorge of near-perfect hexagonal basalt columns, is one of Iceland’s most striking and least-visited sights. Take your time here. Then the route climbs toward Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe: a wall of glacial water so loud you feel it before you see it. Ásbyrgi, a horseshoe-shaped canyon so vast it feels like a different world, follows.

Húsavík is Iceland’s whale watching capital, with some of the best sighting records in the country. In the evening, GeoSea geothermal sea baths are the perfect place to end the day: infinity pools looking directly over the bay and mountains, best visited at dusk or under the midnight sun. Your Travel Consultant will have entry arranged and can advise whether to overnight in Húsavík or continue to Lake Mývatn.

Mývatn is like nowhere else in Iceland: an alien, volcanic landscape of boiling mud, lava formations, and a lake that sits at the center of all of it. Wander the burnt-earth geothermal area at Námafjall, climb the pseudocraters at Skútustaðir, and explore the dark volcanic castles at Dimmuborgir. The vivid blue water inside the Viti crater, the otherworldly geometry of Krafla: this is Iceland at its most elemental.

Heading west brings you to Goðafoss, the Waterfall of the Gods, wide and thundering and panoramic from both banks. The day ends in Akureyri, North Iceland’s largest town and genuinely one of the best places to eat in the country.  

The drive west today is one of the quieter, more personal stretches of the Ring Road. Hvítserkur, a 15-metre basalt sea stack rising from the Vatnsnes peninsula, is one of those sights that stops you in your tracks. Kolugljúfur is a short detour from the Ring Road: a deep, narrow canyon with a waterfall hidden inside it. Grábrók volcanic craters sit close to the road and a short climb to the rim opens up wide views across ancient lava fields.

Then Hraunfossar: spring water seeping from beneath an ancient lava field into the Hvíta river in a long curtain of small cascades. One of Iceland’s most quietly beautiful sights. Deildartunguhver, Europe’s most powerful hot spring, is five minutes further. Borgarnes makes an ideal overnight base before the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.

In the Borgarfjörður area, the Húsafell Canyon Baths are a very special add-on: a natural geothermal pool in a remote canyon, accessible by guided tour only. If you’d like to include it, your Travel Consultant will arrange it in advance.

Some say Snæfellsnes is Iceland in miniature: a peninsula that packs the country’s greatest natural marvels into one long, winding stretch of road. Today is the closing chapter of your Ring Road, and it earns its place.

Bjarnarhöfn Shark Museum comes first, telling the story of a very acquired taste. Then Kirkjufellsfoss, Iceland’s most photographed mountain. Kirkjufell in the foreground tells you why every photographer comes here. Snæfellsjökull glacier, which inspired Jules Verne to write Journey to the Center of the Earth, dominates the western tip of the peninsula. The southern shore offers one remarkable stop after another: the historic fishing cove at Dritvík, the towering rock pinnacles at Lóndrangar, the sea arches at Arnarstapi, and Búðakirkja, the small black church standing alone against the glacier. It’s a view that stays with you.

Take this morning slowly. A coffee at the harbour watching the light on the water, a last walk past Hallgrímskirkja, one more look at the Sun Voyager. Iceland has a way of making you want more time, and you will feel that today.

On the way to Keflavik, you’ll stop at the Blue Lagoon: pre-booked and ready, a last hour of warm water and mineral-blue light before the flight home. The Ring Road is complete. There is only one question left: when are you coming back?