Annie’s 40th Birthday Trip to Iceland

Five days in Iceland with adventure and relaxation equally mixed. Here’s how it went, day by day.

I’ve been “planning” my 40th birthday trip for about two years now, which isn’t totally surprising to admit, since I plan 40th birthday trips for other people constantly. Maybe ten a year. Some are huge group celebrations; some are just a couple getting away. Being in planning mode for everyone else all year long is exactly why I kept putting off planning my own. I was burnt out. In the past decade: I got married, launched two businesses, birthed two rambunctious boys, and moved twice.

About a month before my actual birthday, I was panicking that I’d not booked anything yet. Travel advisors really may be the worst at planning their own trips. I was building a client’s Iceland itinerary and stopped myself mid-planning: it sounded incredible.

I called my partner and said, “Can we create a similar itinerary? I don’t have the bandwidth to plan my own trip right now.” It also happened to be the middle of summer in North Carolina, and I wanted to go somewhere cold. I wanted to be surrounded by quiet and nature. My only caveat: each day had to include wellness or spa of some sort. I don’t want to come home more exhausted than when I left.

EASY LOGISTICS
Here’s the part people don’t expect: Iceland is an easy trip from Raleigh- and many other US airports. We have a nonstop flight, about six hours, which is actually shorter than flying to my sister’s house in California. There’s only a four-hour time difference. With two small kids at home, a two-week safari (my first instinct) wasn’t realistic, but five days, four nights in the country, absolutely was.

THE PLAN
1 night at The Edition in Reykjavik, two nights at Torfhús Retreat for the Golden Circle, ATVs, and hiking, and a final night at Hótel Ranga before back flying home.

A note before you consider copying my itinerary:

1. This is a shortened version of a trip I’d normally plan for clients to Iceland.
2. Please consider reaching out to myself or another travel advisor, having our in-country contacts is invaluable and also we deserve to be paid for what we help create 🙂

Day 1: Blue Lagoon Retreat, The Edition & a Reykjavik Welcome

We landed at 6:45 in the morning, and our driver was waiting with a warm welcome to Iceland. Forty minutes later, we were checking into the Retreat at the Blue Lagoon.

If the budget allows, I’d spend it here without hesitation. The Blue Lagoon itself will still be amazing if it’s not in the card, but the Retreat is the private, wellness-focused side of it. No phones encouraged. They push you to genuinely unplug and be present, which is exactly what you want after an overnight flight.

We did the package with a private changing area and shower, a drink, and the Blue Lagoon ritual — about 45 minutes of scrubs, mud baths, and masks. It also gets you into the retreat spa (don’t skip the water treatment) plus the sauna, steam room, and outdoor areas. They serve breakfast, there’s also the Michelin-starred Moss, and a main restaurant. When I looked over toward the public Blue Lagoon, I saw security guards managing tour buses — a good reminder of what you’re paying to avoid. It was the perfect way to get off an overnight flight and immediately exhale.

From there, we drove into Reykjavik with our guide, who dropped off our rental for the week: a Toyota Land Cruiser, built for Iceland’s terrain if you plan to go off-road. I saw plenty of smaller cars on the road, but it was fun to drive a tank for a few days.

At The Edition, he walked us through the map (an actual, physical MAP), highlighted our route, and briefed us since we were self-driving. I almost never recommend a self-drive in other European countries, but Iceland is different — it’s essentially a series of highways. I wouldn’t do it in winter, but summer into fall, the roads are easy (a few potholes on the way to Torfhús, easily navigated). Our guide also pointed us to a lobster spot we’d hit on our last day — having a local walk us through the car and the route, without waiting in any rental car lines, made the whole start of the trip feel effortless. I used the same company I use for my own clients’ Iceland trips, and their tours are excellent.

We were upgraded to a corner suite overlooking the water with a huge living room. I was glad we stayed at The Edition, given how short our time in the city was — you’d be fine at a four-star boutique too, but The Edition is really the only true five-star option in Reykjavik. What I loved most was the spa downstairs (sauna, steam, hammam, hot tub). The sound healing session I did the next morning that was excellent.

For dinner, we walked across the way to a food hall with everything from sushi to Italian to pizza. We ate sushi, shared some local Icelandic beers, and every bite delivered. If you need any last-minute gear — a hat, a scarf — 66°North (Iceland’s answer to REI) and North Face are both right across from the hotel.

One thing I didn’t get to: shopping. There’s a design store, art galleries, record stores, and bookshops nearby that I’d researched and never made it to. With a little more time in the city, that would have been the move.

We closed out the first night with a 75-minute Swedish massage each at The Edition spa.

Day 2: Friðheimar Tomato Farm, the Golden Circle & Torfhús Retreat

We started with the buffet at The Edition, which is excellent, then drove about ninety minutes to Friðheimar, a working tomato farm on the Golden Circle.

At Friðheimar, we did the greenhouse tour and learned about the tomato varieties they grow. They started in the 1990s with three greenhouses; today they produce roughly 40% of all the tomatoes eaten in Iceland, and they keep all of it in the country rather than exporting.

The gift shop is tomato-themed down to the last detail: tomato salt, tomato salsa, tomato sauce, tomato soup. There’s a small café inside the greenhouse serving tomato beer and tomato cold brew. But the real showstopper is Vínstofa Friðheimar, the wine bar built into one of the original greenhouses: grapevines climbing overhead, a huge bookshelf, chandeliers, reclaimed wood and one of the most beautiful restaurants I’ve ever eaten in.

Every dish on the menu uses tomatoes. We had the bruschetta and their iconic tomato soup, the same recipe that was the entire menu when they opened in the ‘90s, before they brought in a chef to build it out. We also had squid ink pasta with scallops in a lemony butter sauce, and it was outstanding. More than the food, it’s just a special place to sit and understand what they’re doing there. They also have an Icelandic Horse show you can attend.

From Friðheimar, we kept driving to Gullfoss waterfall and the Geysir geothermal area. Both are stunning and both are crowded. I’d recommend going as late in the afternoon as you can once the tour buses clear out, though even in the late afternoon it still felt busy when we went. The geyser has that same anticipation as Old Faithful; the waterfall is a thundering, two-tiered drop into a canyon that mists you from a distance. Both sites have large gift shops if you need warmer gear along the way.

We arrived at Torfhús Retreat to what felt like a welcome to a Viking ceremony. Inside, an old wooden canoe has been hollowed out into a couch, and Viking details are everywhere. The buildings are modeled after the Þjóðveldisbærinn longhouse, grass growing out of the roofline the way Icelandic buildings were traditionally built. The accommodations themselves are basic, the point here is being in the middle of nowhere, and it delivers on that. It was so quiet and isolated.

The best part: step outside your room and you’re at a natural hot spring you can walk straight into. Dinner rotates through a four-course tasting menu every few nights, and every course that came out was a work of art and truly delicious. We had scallops, an asparagus-and-salmon soup, beef tenderloin with parsnips, and a lemon tart dessert. For my birthday, they brought out a smoking “strawberry brownie” course made with dry ice – dramatic and beautiful. Honestly, the seaweed-salt butter and the bread itself might have been the highlight of the whole meal.

If you’re a foodie, this is an experience. I’ve sent clients here who’ve stayed at some of the best safari properties and ones in Europe, and they’ve told me Torfhús was one of their favorites. They came with extended family and stayed in the two-bedroom villa, which makes this a genuinely good option for families too.

Day 4: Hiking around Þingvellir National Park, Crater and a Chic Lagoon Wellness Visit

Here’s what I like about a self-drive itinerary. The night before I decided I didn’t want to spend 4+ hours in the car so we opted out of the visiting the Mt. Hekla Volcano. Thingvellir National Park is a UNESCO heritage site, you can feel the history and the geological importance of this area. We walked through areas where parliament was formed and public executions occurred. The park sits right on the rift between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, which are slowly drifting apart.

We drove by the Kerið Crater and it was truly incredible site to see. The weather turned on us today and it was frigid with heavy wind gusts, so after the sightseeing and driving I was excited for the relaxing portion. We visited Laugarás Lagoon, one of the newest wellness options in Iceland that overlooks a river. It was so chic – they had a swim up bar, cold plunge, hot tub, sauna and steam room. We’d heard the restaurant was amazing and it didn’t disappoint. Every cocktial and dish was exquisitely prepared with local ingredients.

We also wanted to visit another famous lakeside geothermal spa in Iceland where dark rye bread is baked underground using natural hot springs, but it was sold out.

Day 4: Buggy Riding, Glaciers & the Northern Lights at Hótel Ranga

We were up early for a buggy tour – freezing and raining, which didn’t sound appealing at 7 a.m., but we suited up in full weatherproof gear and goggles and headed out anyway. It ended up being one of our favorite experiences of the trip. If you’re not an adventure traveler, enclosed, heated super jeeps run the same routes and hit similar spots.

Our first stop was a glacier spilling down the side of a mountain, Iceland truly earns the nickname “land of fire and ice,” volcanoes on one side, glaciers on the other. We drove through a stunning, protected valley along a series of streams, and our last stop was a crevice straight out of Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, both filmed here. Our guide spent the ride telling us about the 13 Yule Lads (Iceland’s version of Santa, minus the wholesome part) and what daily life in Iceland is actually like. I’d say this every time: even on a self-drive trip, building in time with a local guide adds a layer of context you can’t get any other way.

That night, we checked into Hótel Ranga. I’ve sent clients here before, and colleagues have stayed here too, it’s a fairly basic hotel. What isn’t basic is what we saw that night: the Northern Lights, in the middle of summer, which is rare. Like Torfhús, Hótel Ranga calls your room the moment the lights appear.

Hótel Ranga is a great stopover, but not an exciting hotel on its own, which tracks with Iceland in general. There are maybe two or three properties in the whole country I’d call true five-stars. You come here for the landscape and the experiences, not the hotel product, though the service was friendly everywhere we stayed.

Day 5: Lobster, Black Sand Beaches & Heading Home

On our last day, we asked our guide for a good lunch stop on the drive back to Reykjavik. He pointed us to a tiny town with a small shop run entirely by female artisans, where we picked up last-minute souvenirs including a pair of rainbow knit pants for my four-year-old, who loves anything rainbow. We sat down to a lobster lunch and one last local beer, and it was the perfect way to close out the trip. We drove past Iceland’s black sand beaches on the way to the airport.

We flew Saga Premium on Icelandair which is their version of business class, but I’d equate it to a domestic business class seat- not lie flat but definitely more room and some in-flight amenities.

If you’re thinking about Iceland for a milestone birthday, anniversary, or just a fast escape from summer heat, I’m happy to help you build your own version of this trip.

-Annie