Iceland in 48 Hours

May 20 & 21, 2025

Honestly, spending two days in Iceland is pure tragedy. This small country has SO much to offer and see. I would gladly spend several weeks here, and still miss something. However, when your husband is a pilot and gets a two day layover, complete with paid hotel? It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

I’ve gone on a few 48 hour trips, and while it might seem extravagant, it’s a good use of resources. The plane is going anyway, and the hotel is already paid for. In total, it’s a four day trip, including flights on either end. I’ve been to Atlanta and Barbados this way. Both are interesting places to visit, but I probably wouldn’t plan my vacation to these destinations. Iceland is the exception – I would love to spend more time here, so this is a great introduction.

Flying to Iceland

I’ve flown over Iceland several times on my way to the UK, but it’s usually hidden by cloud cover. I got SO lucky on this trip, because we had clear skies over northern Canada, Greenland, and landing in Iceland. Not everyone is going to geek out about this frozen landscape seen from 36,000′, but I know some of you are going to love it.

The hardest part of this trip was the time change. We took the red eye from Calgary, arriving in Keflavik at 8:30 am. This is 2:30 am our time. I maybe slept an hour on the flight, so coffee was in order – Stat! For a normal vacation, I would go sight-seeing in town, get an early bed, and be 100% by the next morning. We were on a deadline, so no sleeping for us.

The Keflavik airport is not very big, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in stairs. For some reason, we went up and down the stairs – twice – before making it through customs and baggage. No biggie as there were escalator and my bag was checked, but just interesting. Customs was great. There were probably 6 or 7 agents, but only one flight. I sailed through.

We picked up our car rental at the airport. Pro tip: there is a ticket dispenser so everyone is served fairly. They will call your number based on the car rental agency. We booked with Budget, and were quoted $138.95 for two days, with their smallest car. Usually, when we rent the smallest car, we get an upgrade. Not so in Iceland. If you want a bigger vehicle, book it.

We drove into Reykjavik, and made a quick stop at our hotel to get changed. We stayed at the Parliament Hilton, which is right in the heart of downtown Reykjavik. By 10:30 am, we were checked in, changed, and heading for the famous Golden Circle route.

Parking downtown is a bit tricky. It is split into areas. The further out from the core, the less expensive. After 9:00 pm, it’s free. If you overpay, the money is automatically applied to the next morning’s meter. We parked in the P2 zone, which was maybe a 3 minute walk from our hotel.

Weather and Clothing

For mid-May, the high was supposed to be 14 degrees. I thought it would be on the cooler side, damp, with overcast low clouds. You know – typical Atlantic weather. Nope! It was pushing 30 degrees, clear blue skies, and barely a breeze. I packed gore-tex, wool sweaters and umbrellas. I didn’t even have a pair of shorts. I noticed no one else was wearing shorts, so I asked a local if this was usual? Hardly. He said they maybe had one day this nice last August.

I wore trail running shoes. This was ideal for any slippery or wet terrain, and provided more grip than the average running shoe. We walked many short trails over the two days, but runners would probably have been okay. Iceland has no shortage of glaciers, and if that’s your bag, you’ll need proper mountaineering boots and crampons.

For clothes, no shorts, but I did wear hiking pants and a long-sleeve hiking shirt. I noticed a lot of people in jeans, which did not look comfortable. I believe many of these people were from the cruise ship, but maybe they were general tourists as well. The wool sweaters, toque and mitts came in very handy when we visited a long lava tube cave.

Food, Gas and Driving

Iceland is very expensive, especially when eating out. We had one ‘fast casual’ dinner – one order of fish and chips, seafood soup, and two local beers. Total was $85 Canadian. Ouch. Our hotel had a fridge, so we got stocked up on Icelandic yogurt and fresh fruit.

Gas prices seemed to be on par with other European nations. Expensive compared to Alberta, but nothing too shocking.

Driving is very nice, and despite being an island, it is right hand drive (switched in the 1960s, I believe). Most of the highways are single lane. We drove several gravel roads, but they were fairly smooth with no washboard. No problem for our micro car.

Important to note – rental cars come with advice. Advice that I wish our Canadian car rental places would also share.

Speeding is highly discouraged. There’s a big sign IN the car asking you not to speed. The road from the airport to Reykjavik was highly patrolled. I thought sections of the highways had photo radar, but don’t quote me. The highway speed limit is usually 90 km, and most drivers were happy with this speed. This made for a relaxing drive for us gawking tourists, and it saved a tonne of gas.

Lollygagging is also discouraged. The other in-car warning was to NOT stop on the highway to look at something. THIS is what we need in Canada. Don’t park on the highway because an elk is on the side of the road… So dangerous.

Walking Around Reykjavik

We were so thankful to stay in a downtown hotel. Everything was a close walk, and there’s so much to see and do. There are several worthy museums and cultural attractions, including the Penis Museum. Normally, I make museums a priority, but with our limited timeline, they’d have to wait.

Not to worry. Iceland is covered in public art and statues, so I didn’t feel like I missed out too much. The waterfront area has shallow reflecting pools, and the modern buildings are very well done. We walked uphill to the Hallgrimskirkja (Church of Hallgrímur), and took in as many sights, sounds and food as possible.

Stay tuned. Next up are highlights from:

• Reykjavik
• Golden Circle Route
  • Þingvellir National Park
  • Bruarfoss Waterfall
  • Geysir – active geothermal geyser fields
  • Bruarhlod Canyon – giants anyone?
• Víðgelmir Lava Cave – impressive lava tube
• Grábrók Crater – ancient craters and sheep corrals

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Alisen