Episode 2: 48 Hours in Iceland (Summer)

[VIDEO] 48 Hours in Iceland: Complete Road Trip Guide

48 Hours in Iceland: Midnight Sun, Roadtrip and Volcanoes (Summer Edition)

Iceland, the land of the midnight sun, volcanoes, vikings and more recently, football stars.

We got to explore this beautiful country a couple weeks ago, and it quickly became one of our favourite places on Earth. Here's our complete video guide to 48 hours in Iceland! 

Iceland, the land of the midnight sun, volcanoes, vikings and more recently, football stars.

We got to explore this beautiful country a couple weeks ago, and it quickly became one of our favourite places on Earth. Here's our complete video guide to 48 hours in Iceland! 

In summer, the sun doesn’t set, meaning daylight lasts 24 hours, which allows you to make the most of a long weekend and experience a real change, especially coming from Dubai.

If you’re ready for beautiful greenery, refreshing temperatures, gorgeous landscapes and incredible wildlife, it’s time to plan your 48 hours in Iceland.

48 Hours in Iceland

Day 1 - Reykjavik by foot, tours and buggy ride

48 Hours in Iceland: A Complete Video Guide
48 Hours in Iceland: A Complete Video Guide

The first day of our trip was mainly focused on the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik. Only 300,000 people are living in Iceland, making Reykjavik one of the smallest and least populated capitals in the world.

Once we checked in at the Radisson Blu hotel in the city centre, we started walking around, checked out the beautiful Hallgrímskirkja church and got lost in the colorful and incredibly cute winding streets.

We sat down for a drink in the center of Reykjavik and really appreciate the 15 degrees celsius after a month of June in Dubai! In the afternoon we went on a puffin tour to observe the birds omnipresent in the country, and finished off with an adventurous buggy ride in the green countryside of Reykjavik - an absolute must when you visit.

Absolutely make sure you stop by the Visit Reykjavik tourism office right on the main square downtown where you'll find an abundance of helpful maps and a staff that is extremely warm, friendly and happy to answer any question you have - no matter how absurd. (yes Jeff asked them a lot about Vikings)

Also make sure to grab a couple Reykjavik City Cards while you are there, they're cheap, easy to use and will get you endless discounts and other perks around the city. They start at 25Euro for 24 hours.

Our evening was spent sitting outside at the various bars and cafes downtown and enjoying some of the amazing Icelandic beer and food - which lasted way later into the night as we intended it to, as it never got dark.

48 Hours in Iceland

Day 2 - Road Trip and Midnight Sun

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After indulging in the amazing Radisson Blu super breakfast to get ready for a long day, we climbed aboard our Outlander and got on the road! Iceland is amazing to discover by road, and the coast drive allows you to stop and enjoy natural waterfalls, volcanoes and even snow!

We drove the road from Reykjavik to Olafsvik, stopping here and there along the coast, hiked up a waterfall, went down a volcano and even had a snowball fight!

Make sure to include the Blue Lagoon, the shark museum in Bjarnarhöfn and the Snæfellsjökull volcano in your road trip!

Everything we did was within a 2-3 hour drive of Reykjavik so while you can easily head out for the day and then come back to the “city” to sleep, there are countless cute quiet villages with charming hotel options if you opt to get a bit more off the beaten path.

Plan your trip in Iceland: 

How To Get To Iceland:

Fly to Reykjavik with WOW! Airlines

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Wow Airlines offers flights to Reykjavik from major cities such as Paris, Amsterdam, NYC and more for a very competitive price.

Reliable and efficient in a proper Icelandic way, Wow Airlines is your best bet to fly from and to Reykjavik at the best price possible. 

Where To Stay In Reykjavik:

Radisson Blu 1919 Reykjavik for a central and comfortable stay

48 Hours in Iceland: A Complete Video Guide
48 Hours in Iceland: A Complete Video Guide

We can’t help it, we have a thing for Radisson Blu hotels all over the world. The one in Reykjavik is a true gem in the middle of the small capital, right by the pedestrian areas and central square, and you WILL have to force yourself to leave the almost-too-comfortable bed. Luckily, the thought of the amazing Super Breakfast (who said bacon??) helps to get up in the morning!

Getting Around Iceland:

Rent a car with Blue Car Rental and enjoy the coastal roads

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Conveniently located at the airport and downtown, Blue Car Rental provided us not only with an amazing SUV specifically cut for Iceland road trips, but also with a Wifi Hot Spot device allowing us to be online at all times… Yes, they are to thank for the Snapchats!

We are worried about how much we'd spend on gas driving around so much but in the end we only used a tank and a half, not bad at all!

Iceland Best Tours:

Puffin tour, whale watching tour, buggy ride - Golden Tours

We had the chance to embark on a puffin tour and to do an epic buggy ride in the beautiful Icelandic country side and needless to say that we were blown away by the greenery and the feeling of sheer freedom, especially coming straight from Dubai.

48 Hours in Iceland: A Complete Video Guide
48 Hours in Iceland: A Complete Video Guide

Iceland is the ultimate outdoor adventure hotspot for the nature lover in all of us and if you make it to this beautiful island, you’ll need to plan your time wisely to see everything there is to experience. With countless tour companies, we opted for Golden Tours, who sat us down, asked what we were in to and come up with a perfect bespoke itinerary during our short stay and contacted and scheduled everything with all the tour providers for us - an extremely helpful and time saving service.

You only have a short time in this adventure paradise, let the professionals handle the tour planning.

So there you have it, every single thing we packed in to 48 hours in Iceland. Sure, most people think of visiting the land of Vikings in the winter to see the incredible Northern Lights, but a trip to Iceland in the summer made for one of our most memorable adventures yet.

There are few places, if any, left on Earth that come close to Iceland so do yourself a favor and book a trip to this magical land of ice and snow before it gets too late. You won’t regret it.

48 Hours in Iceland: A Complete Video Guide
48 Hours in Iceland: A Complete Video Guide

Special thanks to our amazing partners for making this adventure a truly once in a lifetime experience. As always, while we work on certain projects with some of our favorite brands around the world, our thoughts are always our own - we promise.