We almost didn't write this one up. The footage sat on a drive for ages, just clips of waterfalls and a small boy in a series of increasingly waterproof outfits. But it turns out a week in South Iceland with a five-year-old is too good to leave as silent video, so here it is — backfilled, frame by frame, in the order it actually happened.
A quick note on logistics before we start: we did this as a self-drive trip, our own vehicle the whole way, with one ferry crossing to the Westman Islands and a mix of campsite nights and a countryside cabin. The weather was exactly what you'd expect — gorgeous one minute, sideways rain the next. We packed for both, every single day.
Day 1 — The Golden Circle: Faxi, Geysir, Brúarhlöð & the Secret Lagoon
- Faxi (Faxafoss) → Brúarhlöð — 15 min (10 km)
- Brúarhlöð → Strokkur (Geysir) — 11 min (10 km)
- Strokkur (Geysir) → Secret Lagoon (Gamla Laugin) — 23 min (26 km)
Total driving: 49 min · Open this route in Google Maps
We eased in gently. Our first stop was Faxi (Faxafoss), a broad, friendly waterfall with a stepped fish ladder running beside it and an easy parking lot — the kind of place where you can stand close to real power without anyone getting nervous. Mom had her coffee right at the edge of the falls; it set the tone for the trip.
From there we wandered the Brúarhlöð canyon on the Hvítá river, a narrow, rocky cleft that our five-year-old took to immediately, and stopped for a picnic at a gravel rest area nearby. Then on to the big one: Strokkur at the Geysir geothermal field, where you stand in a crowd, phone up, and wait for the column to blow. It does not disappoint, and neither does the smell of the steam, which our kid noted loudly.
We ended the day at the Secret Lagoon (Gamla Laugin) — warm water, an old stone structure at the edge, a beer for Dad and a glass of wine for Mom, and purple pool noodles for the small floating member of the family.
Day 2 — Thingvellir, Þórufoss & Bouncy World
- Secret Lagoon (Gamla Laugin) → Öxarárfoss — 56 min (64 km)
- Öxarárfoss → Þórufoss — 19 min (23 km)
Total driving: 1 hr 15 min · Open this route in Google Maps
Day two arrived cold and rainy, which meant the full kid armor: blue raincoat, orange balaclava, the works. We walked to Öxarárfoss in Þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park, boardwalks busy even in the drizzle, then drove to Þórufoss, a waterfall tucked into a green canyon with a grassy path down to the river.
The masterstroke of the day, though, was Bouncy World — a play park with a giant red-and-yellow inflatable slide. After a morning of being rained on at historic sites, watching our kid go down that slide on repeat was a reminder that travel with a five-year-old works best when you build in something that's just *theirs*.
Days 3 & 4 — Seljalandsfoss & the Westman Islands
- Seljalandsfoss → Vestmannaeyjar ferry — 15 min (15 km)
- Vestmannaeyjar ferry → Heimaey — 36 min (15 km)
- Heimaey → Beluga Whale Sanctuary — 4 min (2 km)
Total driving: 55 min · Open this route in Google Maps
We moved to the south coast and based ourselves near Seljalandsfoss, the waterfall you can walk behind, in tents at a campsite right in view of the cliffs. It was windy enough to rearrange everyone's hair, but the sun broke through, and there was ice cream, which buys a lot of goodwill at picnic tables.
From there we caught the Vestmannaeyjar ferry across to Heimaey in the Westman Islands. This was a highlight reel of a day: puffins on the grassy clifftops, a boat that took us past the island's sea caves and big rock arches, and black lava coastline to walk along.
The real showstopper was the Beluga Whale Sanctuary (Sea Life Trust), where our boy pressed himself flat against the viewing glass and pointed as a beluga drifted up to say hello. If you've ever wondered whether a five-year-old can be rendered speechless, the answer is yes — briefly.
Day 5 — Skógar, Skógafoss & the Black Sand Beach
- Beluga Whale Sanctuary → Skógar Folk Museum — 1 hr 25 min (55 km)
- Skógar Folk Museum → Skógafoss — 6 min (1 km)
- Skógafoss → Kvernufoss — 5 min (1 km)
- Kvernufoss → Reynisfjara / Vík — 28 min (34 km)
Total driving: 2 hr 4 min · Open this route in Google Maps
Back on the mainland, we started at the Skógar Folk Museum, where the turf-roofed cottages drew our cap-wearing kid in immediately, then walked to the thundering base of Skógafoss. Yellow rubber boots were the uniform of the day. We think one of the thinner falls through a mossy gorge nearby was Kvernufoss — foggy, grey, a bird wheeling overhead.
Then the black sand beach at the Reynisfjara / Vík area, with its basalt sea stacks offshore. Our kid stood there grinning in a red-and-white lopapeysa, the light breaking over a windy, dramatic shore. We finished the day at a countryside cabin, golden hour on the porch, low sun over green pastures — the kind of quiet evening that makes the whole logistics-juggle worth it.
Day 6 — Glacier, Canyon & Gluggafoss
- Fjaðrárgljúfur → Gluggafoss — 1 hr 50 min (145 km)
Total driving: 1 hr 50 min · Open this route in Google Maps
A full nature day. We went to Svínafellsjökull, getting close to crevassed glacier ice and standing at a lagoon dotted with small icebergs, the glacier tongue spilling down from the clouds. For scale, that's two parents in bright jackets looking very small indeed.
Then Fjaðrárgljúfur, the serpentine canyon with sheer mossy walls and viewing platforms along the rim. Honest moment: this is where Mom pushed the pram *uphill* on a clifftop trail, which is its own kind of Icelandic adventure. We closed the day at Gluggafoss, a tall multi-tier waterfall in a mossy cleft.
Day 7 — Reykjavík
- Gluggafoss → Reykjavík Fish Restaurant — 1 hr 45 min (126 km)
Total driving: 1 hr 45 min · Open this route in Google Maps
Our last full day was the city. Lunch was fish and chips at the Reykjavík Fish Restaurant, with outdoor café seating. After a week of waterfalls, the big wins were urban and small-human-scale: a ride-on Volvo toy excavator at a playground (operated with intense seriousness), and a Viking dragon-boat ride at a family amusement park — which, given the title of this whole adventure, felt like the right note to end on.
Then the airport: masks on, a dinosaur backpack with a shovel attached, and an Icelandair plane on the tarmac. Trip complete.
Tips for Families
- Drives are deliberately short. We plan road days around the small passenger: 9 of the 14 legs on this trip are 30 minutes or less, and the longest single hop is 1 hr 50 min (Fjaðrárgljúfur → Gluggafoss).
- Pack for all weather, every day. We had sun at the Golden Circle and cold rain on days 2 and 5. Raincoat, balaclava, and rubber boots earned their place.
- Build in kid-only stops. Bouncy World, the Volvo digger, the Viking boat ride — these reset everyone after long stretches of scenery.
- The Beluga Sanctuary and puffins on Heimaey were worth the ferry crossing; budget a full day for the Westman Islands.
- Pram on trails is doable but tough (see: Fjaðrárgljúfur). A carrier may be easier on canyon-rim paths.
- Mix camping with one cabin night. That golden-hour porch was the rest the whole family needed.
- Where to stay: we mixed campsite nights with a countryside cabin — browse stays in South Iceland and Reykjavík .
Budget notes — what was expensive, what wasn't
We keep a spreadsheet for every trip, down to the last króna. We're not going to print the numbers (family policy), but the shape of the spending tells you more than the totals would anyway.
- The car was the single biggest line item. Bigger than our flights, bigger than all of our lodging put together. We hit the 2021 rental-car shortage head on — fleets had been sold off during the pandemic and prices were silly. Rates have come back toward earth since, but assume getting around Iceland costs more than you think.
- The sights were essentially free. Waterfalls, black-sand beaches, canyon walks — no tickets. Kerið crater and the town swimming pools cost pocket change, and the beluga sanctuary and the Secret Lagoon were the only "big" tickets of the whole trip. Neither stung.
- Food was our smallest food budget of any trip in this series. Not because Iceland is cheap — it isn't — but because we shopped at Krónan, cooked at the Airbnb, and treated a restaurant fish dinner as an event rather than a default.
- The sneaky line: card fees. We paid more in foreign-transaction fees than we spent on souvenirs. Get a card with no foreign-transaction fee before you go. Seriously.
One big caveat: this was 2021, and Iceland's prices have climbed steeply since. Treat the proportions as the lesson — getting there and getting around is the expensive part, and almost everything you came to see is free.
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