12-DAY ICELAND ROAD TRIP WITH A BABY – PART I. SOUTHERN ICELAND (with my tips)

I have many travel dreams. This year we were thinking about spending our summer holiday in the West of America or in Iceland. Since our son Emil had just turned 1 year and he had never flown before, we decided for a closer destination. The second reason for choosing the other plan was that a new airline launched a direct flight from Prague to Reykjavik and they got introduction prices we just couldn’t resist. The decision was clear to us!

Of course, it wasn’t without worries:

• Due to my husband’s work we had to postpone our flight and schedule it in October instead of July . The weather in autumn is usually rainy in Iceland.
• We weren’t sure how our son will cope with a 3-hour flight.
• Iceland is really expensive, so many people recommended surviving on hotdogs but I have a gluten allergy. We did not know what we were going to eat there.☺

But I love to prepare in advance and make plans – Monica Geller from Friends kind of syndrome.☺

Our Preparations For Traveling With A Baby

Our trip had begun 2 months before the take-off.
I had read many travel blogs and browsed Instagram for the most beautiful places. Many of the itineraries I had found were for shorter stays with a long driving and too little time to enjoy the places. Furthermore, Emil had started to walk just a month before the trip so carrying him around was out of question and we wanted to give him some space to move. I made a ‘win-win’ itinerary – less driving and more enjoying. (I will share it with you below).

Iceland Is Cheaper Off-Season

The good thing about traveling to Iceland anytime but in summer is that the prices are lower.
It is still expensive (since Iceland has to import almost everything) but bearable. We could rent a better car (for 70% of the summer price) and we could stay at better hotels (with our own bathrooms which isn’t very common in Iceland).

A Normal Car Is Normally Enough

There are many discussions about what kind of car to rent.
I think it is not necessary to rent a huge expensive off-road car as some tourists do. If you drive to traditional places a normal car is all you need. If you plan to drive on gravel roads, a normal SUV with 4×4 drive is helpful. Check this map to see what kind of car you will need and if your planed roads are open. We had a 4×4 diesel Renault Kadjar and it was more than sufficient and not as pricey as the bigger cars. At places like Haifoss waterfall, it really helped us to drive over the steep rocky road (they are marked as F roads). We booked our car in advance, to save time at the airport.

Weather – Don’t Be Cheap On Clothes

The one distressing thing about Iceland is the weather.
Once we stepped out of the plane we understood what Icelandic weather is all about. It changes very quickly, you can get everything from a heavy rainstorm to clear sun in one hour. We were thankful for our jackets and clothes. I really recommend investing in good waterproof clothes. Wet shoes or underwear can ruin the day.☺ Emil wore also functional thermal bodysuits and winter clothes and he were happy and dry all the time.

Baby Food

We bought a lot of baby food back home (actually one of our suitcases was almost full of food), which saved us a lot of money.
In the stores around Iceland there is a poor selection of baby food and it is usually expensive. We brought an electric heater with us to heat up the food in the car but in every restaurant, they were happy to help us heat the food too.

Gluten Free Iceland – No Worries

The gluten free selection surprised me in a good way.
In every hotel, they offered gluten free bread for breakfast and during the day I could get gluten free soups and fish everywhere. I recommend the traditional lamb soup which I ate with the gluten free bread brought from home.

Long Long Flight

The flight was really long for Emil. We made a mistake of booking the seats next to the window. Surprisingly, Emil wasn’t interested in the view, he wanted to walk. So we walked with him in the aisle or were carrying him in Manduca holder for the most of the flight. After the flight, he had many friends around us.☺

Iceland Is Not That Empty

From the airport, we drove to Golden Circle directly. The southern Iceland is quite crowded with tourists.  Every main attraction is full of people from all around the world. We were lucky that we arrived to some place later when the tourists had gone.  

Taking Pictures Is A Challenge

Iceland was a test of my photography skills.
With the ever changing, cold and foggy weather, photographing northern lights at night and keeping my camera dry next to waterfalls was a really hard task. I was lucky that I brought a tripod and a zoom objective. Next time I won’t let my extra battery at home, because I made a lot of pics every day and in cold weather my battery ran out of juice quickly. Luckily, I could recharge it at places where we ate the lunch.

Even Natural Baths Can Be Enjoyed With A Baby

Thanks to the geothermal sources there are many natural baths and swimming pools in Iceland. For some people it is the main reason to travel here. You can check the map of them here.
Some of them are located in free nature. With a baby, I recommend the ones with dressing rooms.☺ The most famous one is Blue Lagoon but it is fully booked almost always and the babies under 2 years are not allowed in. Therefore, we enjoyed a smaller and cheaper Natural bath in Myvatn (more about it in my next blogpost) and Secret Lagoon in Fludir.

Be Prepared To Change Your Plans

Due to the weather sometimes we had to change our plans. For example, when it was too windy, we could not see the famous plane wreck on the black beach Solheimsandur, because Emil was afraid of the wind. And during our trip the water cut off the only road around Iceland (it was closed for 1 week), so we could not continue the circle and we had to change our itinerary.

The story to be continued in my next post… ☺

Here are some pictures and itinerary below. 🙂

Our Itinerary:

1. Day:
   • Arriving at the airport and taking the car
   • Golden Circle: Þingvellir National Park where you can literally walk between continents, Geysir and Gullfoss waterfall. It’s a tourist attraction but they are all must-see’s. And they have a good selection of soups in a nearby restaurant
   • Accommodation: Guesthouse Fludir in Fludir (with view on the Secret lagoon)
2. Day:
   • Haifoss waterfall – it’s good to have 4×4 car
   • Traditional houses in Þjóðveldisbærinn
   • Seljalandsfoss waterfall – you can walk behind the waterfall
   • Skogafoss waterfall (we had a picnic here and saw a rainbow in the waterfall)
   • Accommodation: Welcome Holiday Home in Lambafell (nice small cottages)
3. Day:
   • Black beaches
   • Dyrhólaey peninsula
   • Lunch in Vik
   • Reynisdrangar cliffs on Reynisfjara black beach
   • Accommodation: Hotel Laki in Kirkjubæjarklaustur (great dinner)
4. Day:
   • Jaðrárgljúfur Canyon
   • Vatnajökull Glacier
   • Glacier lakes Fjallsárlón (we had lunch here) and Jökulsárlón (the bigger one)

Then we wanted to continue to the East of the island but the road was closed.

The story to be continued in my next post… ☺