Nordic Countries - Help me plan 5 day Iceland itinerary!

Arriving in KEF 12:25 on Aug 8 (Monday), leaving 07:10 on Aug 13 (Saturday). I'm trying to plan my trip, and I'm wishing I had 5 weeks instead of 5 days! There's just so much to do! I'm thinking I'd like to see Reykjavik and the West Fjords, and possible take the ferry up to Grimsey to cross the Arctic Circle. :D I don't know if I can do all that in 5 days though!

So far, I'm thinking this:

Monday: Reykjavik, museums, etc.
Tuesday: Golden Circle
Wednesday: Drive (bus? fly?) to Isafjordur, short hiking
Thursday: Hiking all day? Drive (fly?) to Akureyri?
Friday: Akureyri/Grimsey, fly to Reykjavik in the evening (or drive/bus overnight?)
Saturday: Depart.

I feel like that's too much traveling around and not enough sightseeing/hiking...suggestions? Thanks!

I would plan to do the Blue Lagoon as a part of your transfer into Reykjavik or back to the airport (nice way to start or end the trip and it's a ways in the wrong direction from the city).

Golden Circle, definitely a must - hopefully your weather is better than the driving rain I got!

When in Reykjavik doing the museum run I definitely recommend the national museum (near-ish to the city center airport) and Exhibit 942 (I think that's what's it called, downtown) - the national museum has lots of pretty cool history and the Exhibit is underground, the actual stonewalls etc from a settlement from the first people of Reykjavik.

Enjoy your time, I went for 4 days in April 2010 (to see the airspace closing volcano... which was AWESOME ... helps that I got out 2 days before everything was shut down in Europe) and that was not nearly enough!

Blue Lagoon is a must do.

Isafjordur is worth the hop but I don't think you can do it in one day by driving, you'll need to fly. Consider doing the boat trip from Isafjordur to Vigur Island (takes about 30 minutes) and doing your hiking there, you will be literally surrounded by puffins

Blue Lagoon is a must do.

Isafjordur is worth the hop but I don't think you can do it in one day by driving, you'll need to fly. Consider doing the boat trip from Isafjordur to Vigur Island (takes about 30 minutes) and doing your hiking there, you will be literally surrounded by puffins
The blue lagoon just seems like a $40 pool with blue water. What's so special? Aren't there free natural hot springs all over the country?

I'll take a look into the boat, thanks!

Would I want to drive to the West Fjords, just for the convenience of having the rental car? Can you rent one there? Or are the buses convenient enough that you don't need one?

Yes, there are free hot springs in lots of places, lots of them however are muddy just a tiny bit bigger than your bathtub back home but crammed with lots more people than I guess you invite into your home bathtub ;)

Blue Lagoon is massive in size and as a result you have a lot more changes in water temperature. It can go to barely warm to melt your bones hote. Trust me, it's a great experience. I was skeptical myself before trying it. Did it as a sort of stopover on my way to Keflavik on departure from Iceland and the sense of wellbeing lasted through the many hours of flight back home.

Driving across the Western Fjords takes quite a bit of time. You have to go up and down and up and down if you want to see some scenery. I thought it worth (still dreaming of Dinjandi falls) but I had considerably more time than five days and was also able to do Landmannalaugar and one of the internal tracks where the astronauts trained before their moon walk

Since you're going in summer, when the sun never really sets, I would set aside Friday night for an all-night pub crawl, if that's your thing. It's a Reykjavik tradition.

It really is all night - I left for the airport at 5 am and the streets were still full of people.