Iceland is the perfect adventure holiday for families in North America and Europe. Easy to fly to with great amenities and amazing natural sights, Iceland with a baby can be an unforgettable first holiday with your little one.

Travelling with a young baby might sound daunting and with a little planning and preparation, it can be extremely smooth and hassle-free.

Don’t believe us? Check out our popular post:  11 Reasons your Baby is the Best Travel Companion Ever

Iceland with a Baby: Our Top Highlights

Iceland’s magical landscapes will keep the whole family enthralled – only the grumpiest of teenagers (and sleeping babies) won’t gasp at the other-worldly sight of blue icebergs, sky-high geysers and glistening waterfalls. Here were some of our favourite moments.

Iceland Highlights #1: Road-tripping around the ring-road – the landscape is extremely diverse and beautiful. Definitely one of Europe’s top road trips with babies and toddlers

Iceland Highlights #2: A day around the Golden Circle, taking in the powerful Gullfoss waterfall, eerie Pingvellir views and the novelty of the Geysir eruptions.  If you don’t have a hire car then www.viator.com often has discounted Golden Circle tours.  It also sells tickets to the Blue Lagoon, somewhere we didn’t manage to get to this time around.

Iceland Highlights #3: The blue-tinged iceberg lake at Jokulsarlon

Iceland Highlights #4: Akureyri was a pleasant surprise after our touring, a relaxing and family friendly town to spend a couple of days

Iceland Highlights #5: Our favourite waterfall was an unplanned stop at Seljalandfoss.  Not only was H happy to pose for photos, but we got to walk behind the waterfall, always a fun experience.

Our Iceland with a Baby Travel Tips

As you would expect from one of the world’s most female-friendly nations, it’s exceptionally baby-friendly too. You’ll find high-chairs, cots, toys, a plethora of baby food and products in supermarkets. Even waitresses who give you free coffee when your baby knocks your drink over as you’re too busy gawping at the actor Michael Gambon! (true story).

Here are our Iceland with baby travel tips:

Introduce baby to Skyr. It’s the perfect baby food. Skyr is an Icelandic dairy product, like a fromage frais. It comes in lots of flavours, is tasty, creamy and high in protein. A kids’ favourite!

Take a baby carrier or sling – it’ll come in handy when you see a volcano/ glacier and have to climb it.

See what festivals are on – we were lucky enough to come across the Fisherman’s Festival in Reykjavík. Festivals are a great way to learn about the local community.

Take your battery-powered baby monitor so that you can relax in the hot tub during the long bright summer evenings whilst baby sleeps.

If you’re going in the summer months, it can stay light until after 11 pm. We found a black-out blind invaluable. We used blackout material purchased online and decorating tape that doesn’t leave marks behind or adversely affects paintwork

Long daylight hours in the summer also mean more time for sightseeing which makes things less rushed. It is also safer to drive during daylight hours.

Iceland is renown as an expensive destination so save money by taking most of your nappies/diapers and formula milk with you. A bottle of duty-free vodka could also save you some pennies – especially if you’ll be in most evenings!

Breastfeeding is socially accepted everywhere so feel free. Read our post on Getting your Tits out! Breastfeeding whilst Travelling to find out how we travel and breastfeed. 

Where to stay in Iceland with a baby

For our 12 days in Iceland, we did a road-trip around the ring road, stopping at many, many attractions along the way.  This worked perfectly with our 7 month-old H, who slept in the car for most of the longer journeys.

All our accommodation was of a high standard and every place provided a cot for us to use.

Our best evenings were spent having a beer in the hot-tub with the baby monitor nearby.  We stayed in guesthouses, cabins, apartments and farms along the way – basically anywhere that was in the right location at a reasonable price (and preferably with a hot tub!).  We used Booking.com for our accommodation in Iceland.

Our 12 day Iceland with a baby itinerary

Our Iceland road trip with a baby itinerary included the Iceland highlights described above. The Ring Road loops 133okm around Iceland past waterfalls, glaciers, geysers and breath-taking landscapes.

Transport used: We hired a car at Keflavik Airport using www.carhiremarket.com. We brought our own baby car seat with us. Legally, you must use one in Iceland at all times.

Day 1: Our flight arrived in the afternoon so we chose to go straight to a local guesthouse so that we could get on the road early the next day.  If you have time, the famous Blue Lagoon is nearby.

Day 2: Golden Circle highlights: Pingvellir was a great walk before the mighty Gullfoss waterfall and the spouting Geysir, before relaxing in our guesthouse’s hot-tub.

Day 3:  Driving East along the south coast, we visited the picturesque Seljalandfoss and stopped for a breastfeed overlooking the black sandy beach near Vik.  After these Iceland highlights we managed another one – driving for a few hours to reach the Jokulsarlon glacier lake.  What a day!

Days 4 and 5:  After quite a bit of car time, we had a slower day around Hofn.  Finding not much to do, we nipped back for another look at Jokulsarlon – it really is quite spectacular.

Day 6:  Our drive north took us through a snowy landscape before enjoying a walk around and a beer at the pretty village of Seyoisfjorour.

Day 7:  Whale watching at Husavik.  We saw a few but they proved hard to catch on camera!

Day 8: The volcanic landscape around Krafla was like being on another planet and we hiked up a volcano in the snow.  Afterwards, we stayed in a cute lodge near Myvatn, where we drove around the lake and took another walk.

Days 9 and 10:  Downtime in Akureyri was enjoyable as it allowed us to leave the car and meander around the town’s cafes and bars.  One of our favourite pastimes (before kids anyway!)

Days 11 and 12:  Unfortunately Reykjavik was a bit wet, but we still managed to enjoy its restaurants and watched a weight-lifting demo at a Fishermans’ Festival that was on when we were there.

Iceland: The leading #girlpower destination

As far as girl-power destinations go, Iceland should absolutely be at the top of your list!

Not only can you inspire young girls with tales of the 1975 Women’s strike, over 150 years of women’s rights and the more recent #Freethenipple campaign, but Iceland’s rugged and unique landscape of volcanoes, geysers and glaciers will surely turn many young girls into avid geologists or outdoor adventurers.  Breath-taking and other-worldly landscapes plus this feminist tradition, makes Iceland a top destination for girls.

DID YOU KNOW?  For eight consecutive years, this tiny windswept island at the edge of the Northern Atlantic and Arctic Oceans has ranked Number 1 in the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap Index. Both mothers and fathers are entitled to paid parental leave and there are two women in parliament for every three men..

If you’re feeling inspired by this road trip around Iceland with a baby article, check out some of our other favourite road trips with babies and toddlers.

Cyprus Road Trip with a Toddler: The Whole Island

The Perfect Montenegro Road Trip (with or without kids)

Road-Trip: Northern Spain and Andorra with a Toddler

Crete with Toddlers: An amazing road trip

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