Private South Coast Tour with Airport pick up
Airport pickupPrivateWi-Fi on board
Meets you in the arrivals hall, keeps your bags in the car all day and drops you at your Reykjavik hotel. Day one of a Stopover.
From $631 per person
Iceland Layover vs Stopover
Short answer. A layover is the gap between two flights that your schedule hands you: a few hours, with a check-in deadline at the end. An Icelandair Stopover is a stay you choose when booking a transatlantic flight: up to 7 nights on most fares and 21 on Flex fares, at no additional airfare, with the hotel paid separately. Under about fourteen hours, tour the layover. Longer than that, book the Stopover.
Layover or Stopover: the difference in one table
On an Icelandair ticket the two words mean different things, and the difference decides what you can see.
| Layover | Icelandair Stopover | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sets the length | Your flight schedule | You, when you book |
| How long | The hours between your flights | Up to 7 nights on most fares; up to 21 on Economy Flex and Saga Premium Flex |
| Extra airfare | None: it is your connection | None added, though the total can move with the date of your second flight |
| Where you sleep | Nowhere | A hotel you book and pay for separately |
| The deadline | Back at the terminal 2.5 to 3 hours before your onward flight | The same, at the end of your stay |
| Tours that fit | Arrivals-hall pickups of 4 to 6 hours | Full days from a Reykjavik hotel, plus the aurora in the dark months |
| How you get it | It comes with your ticket | Pick “Stopover in Iceland” when booking, or add it later through the service center for a change fee |
How the Icelandair Stopover works
Icelandair has offered transatlantic passengers a stop in Iceland at no additional airfare since the 1960s: “stay for a day, or up to a week”. The rules you need before you book:
- It comes with a transatlantic Icelandair trip that already connects through Keflavik International Airport.
- Up to 7 nights on most fares, and 21 on Economy Flex or Saga Premium Flex. Online booking takes up to 7; for longer you go through the service center.
- You choose it while booking. Select “Stopover in Iceland”, then pick how many days you want in the country.
- It covers flights only. You book and pay for your accommodation separately.
- You can add it later. If you have already paid, the service center can add a Stopover; a change fee applies and the fare may differ.
Did you know? No additional airfare is not the same total. Your second flight leaves on a different day and fares vary with demand, so try a few date combinations.
When the layover is enough
From about four hours up to about fourteen, the connection you already have is the better tool, and it costs you nothing extra. The terminal is about 50 km southwest of Reykjavik on Route 41, and the airport asks you to be back 2.5 to 3 hours before departure; the Iceland layover timing rules work the rest through.
Under six hours: stay on the peninsula the airport sits on
The airport stands on the Reykjanes Peninsula, so a short tour never needs Reykjavik. The Reykjanes tour with airport pickup meets you in the arrivals hall and runs 4 to 5 hours.
Six to fourteen hours: a full loop, if you land in daylight
At six hours the Reykjanes layover experience fits, with crampons lent when the ground needs them. Iceland layover plans by the hour shows what each extra hour reaches. With all the layover tours from Keflavik Airport, your clock starts the moment you clear arrivals.
Touring the layover?
The Reykjanes departures meet you at the airport, so none of your hours go on a transfer.
When the Stopover wins
Past about fourteen hours, book the night. A bed and a morning show you more than an endurance day with a departure hall at the end of it, and Iceland layovers of six hours or more sets out where that line falls.
Winter makes the case sharper. Around the December solstice Reykjavik gets about four hours of daylight, so a long winter connection is mostly a night drive; in June your day runs to roughly 21 hours. Iceland layovers through the year has the months between. The full-day tours only fit around a hotel night: the Golden Circle loop alone runs about 300 km from Reykjavik and back.
Useful tip. Give the aurora more than one night. The Northern Lights tour departs only when viewing conditions are favourable, and is otherwise cancelled and refunded or postponed, so several nights give you a second attempt.
Which tours fit a layover, and which fit a Stopover
Where a tour starts decides which stop it belongs to: arrivals for your connection, a hotel lobby for a night in Reykjavik.
Built for a layover: tours that meet you in arrivals
Each Iceland airport layover tour here starts at the airport, so your time goes on the landscape, not a bus.
- Reykjanes tour with airport pickup: Keflavik International Airport arrivals hall, 4 to 5 hours, per group of up to 7. Drop-off at a hotel or back at the airport.
- Reykjanes Peninsula Private Tour Iceland Layover Experience: Keflavik International Airport, Reykjavik or the cruise port, 6 hours, per group of up to 5.
- Private South Coast Tour with Airport Pickup: the bridge. It meets you in arrivals, keeps your luggage in the car for 10 hours and drops you at your Reykjavik hotel: the first day of a Stopover, not a layover filler.
Built for a Stopover: tours that start at your hotel
- Private Golden Circle tour from Reykjavik: your Reykjavik hotel lobby, 7 hours, per person. Kerid Crater admission and the Thingvellir and Faxi parking fees are included; lunch is not. Rated 5.0 from 122 reviews.
- Private Tour: South Coast of Iceland by SUV or Van: from your Reykjavik hotel, apartment or the cruise port, 8 to 10 hours, per person.
- Golden Circle Experience Private Eco Tour: a pickup point of your choice in the Reykjavik area, 10 hours, per group of up to 5.
- 4 Hours Northern Lights Private Luxury Tour: pickup at your accommodation in Greater Reykjavik, 4 hours, per group of up to 10, and only on nights with favourable viewing conditions.
- Horseback riding from Reykjavik: you meet at the Ishestar Horse Riding Centre in Hafnarfjordur for 2 hours, gear provided, in a shared group of up to 30. Reykjavik pickup is an option you add, not a default. Rated 4.8 from 1,269 reviews.
Passport control and bags, either way
Iceland is in the Schengen Area but not in the EU. If you arrive from North America or the UK, you pass border control before you can leave the terminal, on a layover or a Stopover alike; a Schengen-to-Schengen connection has no check at all. Common Iceland layover connections shows which direction hands you which gap.
For hold bags on a layover, Keflavik Airport on a layover covers what happens to them. On a Stopover, Icelandair says several baggage-storage options exist, and the South Coast tour with airport pickup keeps your luggage in the car all day.
A 24, 48 or 72-hour Stopover, built from real departures
Icelandair shapes its own Stopover ideas in 24, 48 and 72-hour blocks. Here is how you can fill each one.
24 hours
Let your first day be the tour: the South Coast with airport pickup, or a Reykjanes tour on the way in. Sleep in Reykjavik, and be back at the terminal 2.5 to 3 hours before your flight.
48 hours
Add the Golden Circle, 7 hours from your hotel lobby. In the dark months, keep an evening free for the aurora tour.
72 hours
Add the south coast by SUV or van, 8 to 10 hours from your hotel, or the 2 hours horse ride in Hafnarfjordur if you want a gentler third day.
Iceland layover vs Stopover: common questions
Is the Icelandair Stopover free?
It adds no airfare: Icelandair offers it at no additional airfare on transatlantic trips. The total can still change, because your second flight leaves on a different day and fares vary by date. The hotel is yours to book and pay for.
How long can you stop over in Iceland?
Up to 7 nights on most Icelandair fares, and up to 21 nights on Economy Flex or Saga Premium Flex. The online booking takes up to 7 nights; for a longer stay you contact Icelandair’s service center.
Does the Icelandair Stopover include a hotel?
No. The Stopover covers your flights only, and you book your accommodation separately.
Can I add a Stopover after I have booked my flight?
Yes, by contacting Icelandair’s service center. A change fee applies, and the fare may differ for your new dates.
Can I leave Keflavik Airport on a layover?
Yes. Arriving from North America or the UK you pass border control first, since Iceland is in the Schengen Area; a Schengen-to-Schengen connection has no check. Plan to be back at the terminal 2.5 to 3 hours before your onward flight, as the airport advises.
What is the difference between a layover and a stopover?
A layover is the connection your schedule gives you, measured in hours, with a check-in deadline at the end. A stopover is a stay you choose when booking; with Icelandair it runs from a day up to 7 nights on most fares.
Tours for a Stopover in Iceland
Private Golden Circle Tour from Reykjavik
PrivateWi-Fi on board
Seven hours from your hotel lobby, with Kerid admission and the park parking fees already paid. Day two.
From $435 per person
Private Tour: South Coast of Iceland by SUV or Van from Reykjavik
PrivateWi-Fi on boardGuide
Eight to ten hours along the south coast from your hotel, apartment or the cruise port. The long day, for a third night.
From $820 per person
Still weighing it? Read whether an Iceland layover tour is worth it, or see Iceland Layover Tours for every departure side by side.