Part 1 of our 4 part series on planning the ultimate road trip in Iceland. We will cover every aspect – itinerary, accommodation, packing, driving, shopping – of planning an unforgettable drive on Iceland’s Ring Road
Read Part 2 – Rapturous Abodes : Where to stay in Iceland (opens in a new tab)
Read Part 3- Packing for a trip to Iceland (opens in a new tab)
Read Part 4- How much will that Road Trip in Iceland cost (opens in new tab)
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Thanks to the endless information on the internet, most travellers reach Iceland expecting surreal landscapes and picturesque panoramas. But nothing, we repeat NOTHING, can prepare you for what lies in store on a road trip through Iceland. It is surreal to say the very least!!
A lot of people visit Iceland during winter months to catch the elusive Northern Lights (UPDATE 2018: Even we visited Iceland and drove the ring road in winter months and it was amazing – read all about a winter road trip itinerary for Iceland) but we think the best time to plan an Icelandic road trip is during summer. Iceland is famous for being The Land of the Midnight Sun – it is so close to the Arctic Circle that the sun almost doesn’t set during summer months (Late May – August). 24 hour days are perfect for a driving the 830-mile Ring Road that circles Iceland.
The adage ‘The journey matters more than the destination’ is nowhere truer than in Iceland. We spent long days driving around the country and slept at a different hotel every night. Here’s a suggested itinerary for a road trip based on our experience in Iceland. It can be very seductive because it involves exploring volcanic lava fields, marvelling at majestic waterfalls, hiking glaciers, bathing in natural hot springs, and dancing on snow-capped mountains, so consider yourselves warned 🙂
Day 1 – Renting a car for your Iceland road trip
Our flight landed at Keflavik Airport and we proceeded to collect our rental car soon after collecting our luggage. We had pre-booked a sturdy 4X4 – although in summer months you don’t necessarily need a 4X4, but if you can go for it, then it’s always a plus. It was a beast of a car and it served us in good stead. The folks at SixT’s office, were so jovial that we spent a large part of our evening chatting with them (does that ever happen to you? 🙂 ). They gave us tons of tips about tiny offbeat gems that made our journey much more exciting.
This was way back in 2014, so if you’re travelling to Iceland now, you can also look at Lava Car Rental. They have a good selection of cars, unlimited mileage, and include insurances.
A small car isn’t a good option in Iceland because any detours to offbeat villages or li’l waterfalls involve gravel roads. Here’s a few things to consider when renting a car in Iceland
- Make sure you rent a car that includes snow and ash coverage. Iceland is notorious for its unpredictable weather (remember the volcanic ash disaster from 2010?), which could wreak havoc on your rental vehicle
- Heated seats are always fun. Remember how excited we got about renting a car with heated seats in Switzerland. In Iceland, they’re a necessity, especially after a glacier hike or two 🙂
Sleep – Spend your first night in/around the Keflavik Airport gearing up for the driving that lies ahead. We stayed at the Airport Hotel Smari. Make sure you stock up on groceries at one of the large supermarkets in this area because there aren’t too many of them once you set out on your drive.
Day 2 – The Ring Road fun begins at The Golden Circle
We saw vast expanses of untamed wilderness almost as soon as we left Keflavik Airport. We spent the day exploring the famed Golden Circle. The Thingvellir National Park, the site of the ancient Icelandic Parliament, is the first stop on this day. But what fascinated us more was the fact that the tectonic places of North America and Europe meet at the Thingvellir National Park. The rift is clearly visible and you can actually cross over from one continent to the other. How cool is that?!
Next up, the Geysirs hot-spring area of Iceland. The original Geysir, after which all other geysirs of the world are named, is dormant but there are a number of hot springs and geysirs in the area. Make sure you wait for Strokkur, the highest Geysir in the area, to erupt while you are there.
The third attraction on the Golden Circle Tour is the Gullfoss Waterfall. We’re not sure adjectives of the English language can do justice to the waterfalls of Iceland – it’s funny how something as simple as water falling off a cliff can create a thing of such immense beauty. Wrap up this extraordinary drive by stopping at a couple of other waterfalls – Skogafoss or Seljalandsfoss. It’s even possible to take a walk behind Seljalandsfoss to absorb its grandeur.
The best part? All attractions in Iceland are free. Parking is also free in Iceland, which is such a respite from overpriced parking lots all over Europe.
Sleep – Sleep in the Skogar/ Eyjafjallajokull area. We spent the night at Country Hotel Anna. The hotel is set in an amazing location, not far from the mighty Skógafoss waterfall.
Day 3 – Hiking on a Glacier, say what?!
We spent this day pursuing something straight out of our wildest dreams. We went hiking on the Sólheimajökull Glacier with Arctic Adventures. It began pouring cats and dogs almost as soon as we drove to the parking lot of Sólheimajökull Glacier. The Arctic Adventures’ guides brought a smile back to our faces by telling us typical Icelandic weather is essential for a typical Icelandic experience 😉
The next four hours were spent hiking on the gorgeous blue ice of the glacier lightly dusted with volcanic ash. Seeing a glacier up close was such an incredible experience that we would highly recommend it to everybody. Make sure you’re wearing warm waterproof clothes because it rains over 200 days/year in this area. We had so much fun on the Glacier Hike in Iceland that we even made a video about it with our GoPro (which, by the way, was the best way to film our road trip shenanigans :-))
Sleep – Drive through the Icelandic countryside after the Glacier Hike and sleep in the Jökulsárlón area. We slept at the gorgeous Guest House Hali. Their freshly made meat soup was to die for.
Day 4 – Floating Icebergs at Jökulsárlón
This day was spent driving through majestic lava fields and the incredible Vatnajokull National Park. Glacial rivers, rugged landscapes, and towering mountains were the order the day. Vatnajokull is home to Europe’s largest ice-cap and the area offers a number of hiking opportunities.
The highlight of the drive on Day 4 was the Jokulsarlon Glacial lagoon. It is one of Iceland’s most visited landmarks and the highlight of a road trip. There are a number of floating icebergs at this huge lagoon and if you stand there long enough, you are bound to see a chunk of ice break from the neighbouring glacier to join other floating icebergs, big and small. Jokulsarlon is spellbinding – we stood transfixed for the longest time before reaching out for our cameras to try and capture this un-capturable (is that even a word?!) sight!
Next, we drove to Egilsstadir via the Eastern Fjords. Here narrow cliffs, jagged peaks, and hairpin bends are punctuated with tiny fishing villages. We frequently went without seeing a single person, car, or shop for dozens of miles in Iceland, so it was good to see slightly populated villages for once. Make sure you drive on the gravel road F939 after the fishing village of Djupivogur – it’s an adrenaline rush like no other. This was one of the best (and bumpiest!) stretches of roads we drove on. Do make sure you check the road conditions in Iceland before you set off every morning.
Sleep – Sleep in the Egilsstadir area. We slept at Eyvindara II, just 2 kms away from Egilsstadir town centre.
Day 5 – Stunning Icelandic Waterfalls and Volcanic Craters
We continued our drive towards Dettifoss, a stunning waterfall. Even at the end of May, the road leading to Dettifoss was snowed under. We asked a farmer for an alternative route and took a longer (more scenic!) route to the waterfall. We parked our car and walked towards the twin waterfalls – Dettifoss and Selfoss.
[box] Now these waterfalls have been compared to the Niagara Falls- that’s how big they are. But imagine the Niagara falls without information centres, raincoats, cameras, or fencing. Imagine being just a centimetre away from the falls. Imagine a colossal rainbow sprouting right in front of you, so close that you could almost reach out and touch it. Now imagine being the ONLY one to witness this spectacle unfolding right in front of your eyes. Yes, that’s Iceland. We were the only ones around at Selfoss Waterfall the day we visited and we spent over 3 hours just marvelling at its beauty[/box]
But that’s not all. Our next stop was the Viti Crater in the Krafla Volcanic area. The volcanic crater is famous for its turquoise lake in the middle. The lake was still frozen when we visited, but that didn’t stop the vibrant turquoise colour from peeking through the layer of snow covering the lake.
Sleep – Sleep in the Myvatn area. We slept at Narfastadir, a scenic country hotel
Day 6 – Myvatn Area: Volcanoes and Sulphur Springs (Our favourite!)
One would imagine that days full of such extraordinary scenic beauty would make us numb. But this wasn’t the case because Iceland believes in surprising its visitors. The landscape changes so frequently that one can’t help but be stunned by what’s on offer. The glacial rivers of Southern Iceland give way to the red volcanic mountains and earthy sulphur springs in North East Iceland. The Krafla Volcanic area turned out to be one of our favourite places on our Iceland road trip.
The boiling mud pots, sulphur springs, and fumaroles at Namafjoll Hverir might be smelly (hydrogen sulphide is produced at these hot springs, so the area smells like a chemistry lab!) but it is still tough to tear oneself away from them. High temperatures produce such strong acids in the area that both rock and soil dissolve in the acid water at these springs.
You could go hiking to the Dimmuborgir area but we went hunting for Grjótagjá – a lava cave with a natural hot spring inside. The inside resembles a giant bath tub with perpetually warm water. We’re not complaining!!
Sleep – Sleep in the Myvatn area. We slept at Narfastadir, a scenic country hotel
Day 7 & 8 Drive To North Iceland and Akureyri
Now we could pretend to be superhuman and tell you we went Whale Watching in Husavik (great place to spot whales) and explored Akureyri (it’s a small yet interesting town) while we were in North Iceland. But we would be lying. We stayed in this stunning cottage with Icelandic Farm Holidays right next to the sea, snow-capped mountains, and miles of greenery. The cottage was kitted with a private hot tub and a BBQ – as you can imagine not much sightseeing was done but a LOT of wine was consumed and the BBQ was used a fair few times. Look at the cottage, can you blame us?
Sleep – Sleep in the Akureyri area. We slept at Ytri Vik cottages aka heaven. This is a good place to stock up on groceries for the remaining duration of your road trip because Akureyri has quite a few large supermarkets and restaurants
Day 9 and 10 – West Iceland and the Snæfellsnes Peninsula
Snaefellsnes (pronounced sny-fells-nes) Peninsula is a long drive away from Akureyri. A majority of Day 9 was spent driving through snow-clad roads, gurgling streams, and woodlands. This route is lined with idyllic fjords – Grundarfjörður (a small town that even the orcas love to visit in winters 🙂 ) is so peaceful that it deserves a mention on any itinerary of Iceland.
We spent Day 10 driving around the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. It is possible to go for a short hike up the Saxholl Crater. This is a fun walk but it can get VERY windy, so be extremely careful. Make sure you visit the Hellnar Arch, a natural rock formation comprised of basalt sheets. The rock arches over a lagoon and it is populated with dozens of screeching birds. Have a meal/coffee at the cafe right opposite the Hellnar Arch as you contemplate this surreal natural monument.
Another place that is perfect for a meal is the Kirkjufell mountain. This famous mountain is the highlight of a drive around the Snaefellsnes area. Pack a picnic and enjoy it next to the waterfall by the Kirkjufell mountain – aah bliss!!
Sleep – Sleep in the Snaefellsnes/Grundarfjörður area. We slept at a working farm called Sudur Bar.
Days 11 – 13 – Reykjavik : Urbanity, volcanoes, and whales
It was both disappointing and exhilarating to get back to Reykjavik (and civilisation) at the end of the long Icelandic road trip. It was good to see restaurants, people, and toilets (yep that ol’ essential is kinda non-existent on Iceland’s ring road 😉 ) but part of me just wanted to curl up with a book in a remote cottage with hundreds of wild flowers for company.
We tried reconnecting with nature by going for a whale-watching tour with Special Tours. It was so much fun donning those super-warm onesies. We felt like we were about to embark on a Arctic mission, no less! We spotted a few whales, monkeyed around a bit and had a great time.
Vid gets claustrophobic in closed spaces so I left him behind for the crazy Volcanic Veins tour with Extreme Iceland. I went caving inside lava tubes and magma chambers with a small group of people and saw stunning rock formations. There was a lot of crouching and crawling involved and I came out with a couple of bruises and cuts, but it was completely worth it. Seriously, how often does one get to go inside volcanic lava tubes? 🙂
If you don’t enjoy adventurous excursions, you could unwind at The Blue Lagoon, one of Iceland’s most famous geothermal spas.
Reykjavik has a dynamic culinary scene and vibrant night-life. We hit the pubs to make up for all the early nights in the countryside. Of course, no Bruised Passports itinerary is complete without a mention of speciality coffee. Reykjavik Roasters offer scrumptious third-wave coffee, according to Vid (our resident coffee geek!). Make sure you visit this cafe, tucked in a tiny by-lane of Reykjavik, for a fantastic cuppa!
Sleep – Reykjavik has a variety of options, ranging from budget hostels to luxury hotels. Pick one that suits your budget.
Day 14 – Lake Kerid and Keflavik Airport
We couldn’t resist the temptation of witnessing just one more marvel of nature before we hopped on the flight back to London. Presenting Lake Kerid – yet another vibrant lake in the middle of a volcanic crater. The neon greenery that surrounds Lake Kerid, the vibrant blue colour of the lake, and flaming red lava rocks strewn all over the place ensure an unforgettable goodbye to Iceland. You can easily combine a visit to Lake Kerid on the day you drive The Golden Circle, but we wanted something spectacular for our last morning in Iceland 🙂
Where to stay on your Iceland Road Trip
Well, it’s a tricky question and the answer depends on your own personal choices and circumstances. On this trip, we stayed in local farm stays and B&Bs and each one of them is listed in the individual itinerary points above. If farm stays are not your preferred choice of accommodation, then you can find plenty of other options by comparing the options here.
If farm stays and local B&Bs pique your interest, then you can read a detailed description of each of the places we stayed at in our post on ‘Accommodation in Iceland‘.
As travel bloggers, we’re not allowed to play favourites. Over the years we’ve come to dread questions that involve picking a “favourite country” or “prettiest country”. But it’s safe to say that we’ve now found the definitive answer to that question and it’s ICELAND. If you’re planning to visit one new country this year, make it Iceland – you won’t regret it.
Photos can’t ever capture the beauty of Iceland. The land here emanates a smell that is hard to capture in photographs or on video – it’s the smell of raw, unexplored vistas. It’s places like Iceland that make travelling special.
If you need more information on planning, budgeting, accommodation, and packing for your Iceland road trip, have a look at all our Iceland articles collated in one place. These articles should answer all your questions – if you have more, please leave us a comment and we’ll get back to you 🙂
And before you go, check out this video diary of our trip to get a glimpse of what gorgeousness you should expect when heading to Iceland 🙂
Has our itinerary managed to persuade you into planning a Road Trip to Iceland? 🙂 Read about our favourite Road Trips from around the world.
First of all, I truly missed reading your posts.
Absolutely loved this post. Pictures are amazing and yes this place must be much more beautiful than all the pictures. Would love to go on a road trip like this.
Sukriti it’s so good to be writing again. We will be posting regularly now. Iceland was gorgeous, you should plan a trip there sometime 🙂
Hey Savi, did you hire a driver in Iceland or was it just you two?
Just us two but Vid was the only one driving!
You said photos couldnt Capture , Well i Must say , You have done an awesome Job in clicking and putting these pictures.
The instagram journey of your iceland . those fabulous places you stayed , Hot springs, lava caves, the rainbows.I was just waiting for you to be putting up the posts .
I’m Awestruck ( Well thats the maximum i could come up with the word in english 🙁 ) with the beauty of this place. and its definately in my list .
By the way , if you dont mind me asking , How much was the total cost from the time you landed and for ten days ? I justwant to know how much it will cost me 🙂 . Thank you.
Savi : A very happy belated birthday to you !! And we kind of share the birthday month. 🙂
Thanks Sonal. Happy Happy Birthday to you too – May and June babies are the best 😉 So glad to hear you’ve been enjoying our journey through Iceland. We will be putting up a detailed post on budgeting for a road trip to Iceland with a break down of costs within a next fortnight. Hope you find it helpful
Welcome back guys:) was waiting eagerly for this post.
I am speechless after seeing the pics,its nature at its best,and your post wants me to live Iceland very soon.
Thanks Priyardarshini. We’ll put together a post on budgeting for a road trip to Iceland soon, so that we can spoon feed everyone into visiting the country. It needs to be seen to be believed 🙂
Love it !!! Got hooked to your blog a while ago – and have already a huge list of places to travel and in style :)) Thank you for the inspiration 🙂
Thanks Beena. If you’re all inspired, our work here is done 🙂
wow!! . 14 days seems to be a long time for a vacation !!! and Iceland seems MAGNIFICENT .. !!! u guys must have had more fun than visible in the pics !!!! 😉
This is it guys. This post has out-done it all. Reading this makes me want to plan and make a budget like right-now!. Your writings and the photos are simply stupendous. A superb post guys. Iceland tourism can make this their official ‘visit iceland’ spiel’
Nakul thanks a million 🙂 Just your comment made the hours we spent putting this post together worth it! BUT don’t exhaust your superlatives yet, we have another cool post on Iceland coming soon
We wanted to drive around the entire Ring Road in Iceland, so 14 days it had to be 🙂 We had a lot of fun
Kushagr we did 😉 We wanted to drive the entire Ring Road at leisure, so 14 days it had to be
Ultimate is right! This is an amazing itinerary and there are some excellent tips in here. I’m looking at Iceland for next year so this has been filed away safely for my future planning.
Hey Jen, glad we could be of help. We compiled this itinerary of Iceland after talking to a number of locals, so hopefully you will find some unique things here (highly recommend the Hellnar Arch which doesn’t feature on too many itineraries of Iceland) 🙂
every day i used to visit your site in hope of a new post and finally its here !!!!!
Have been following instagram and fb and i must say ur post and pics are so inviting, that want to be there right now on a road trip -> #Iceland
yup we are road trip junkies too 😉
Aww, sorry for the break. We usually schedule blog posts to be published while we’re away but life kinda got in the way this time around 😉 You guys must plan a Road Trip to Iceland, it’s an amazing country
Wow, some spectacular photos! Looks like an absolutely fabulous time!
Frank (bbqboy)
Hey Frank, long time! Thanks a ton, we had a great time 🙂
OMG! You guys are back! Those photos are just surreal…I am just scrolling up see them again…
The place IS surreal Soujanya. Did you have any favourite photos? 🙂
I loved the iceberg one, the rainbow one, the cute cottage and the mountain waterfall…oh I loved them all…I thought such places existed only in LOTR movies 😛
Thanks Soujanya 🙂 You’re right – the landscapes of Iceland are straight out of a sci fi film
Picturesque indeed. There is no doubt that you guys are avid travelers, but you also inspire the rest of us who otherwise do not realize how important it is to have fun and how beautiful this world is. So thank you and happy traveling.
Thanks for your li’l note Rupa. That’s the reason we started writing a travel blog in the first place. You get one life, there’s no reason not to enjoy every second of it 🙂
I so soooo wish to go on a trip like you guys..someday. And i do know that the chances are pretty low. 🙁
But I will keep on wishing 🙂
And thank u so much for putting on breathtaking pics.
Hey Kika, We’re sure you’ll go for an epic trip super soon 🙂
I completely agree about going in the summer – I went last summer for the same reason and was blown away by the scenery! In fact, I was so overwhelmed by the beauty of Iceland that it was on the plane journey home that I took out a pen and began my travel blog! It was the country that inspired me to write about travel 🙂
Shikha let’s drink to that shalt we?! Iceland definitely inspires the writer in everyone, which is why I got a bit carried away talking about rainbows in this article 😉
What an array of different things to see and do there is! Iceland has never been particularly high on my list of places to visit, but the most articles like this the read the more tempted I am…watch this space!
Catherine you must visit Iceland, there’s a surprise at every corner 🙂
What a thorough resource! And yes, you’ve inspired me to take a road-trip through Iceland. It’s been high on my list for a while now, but the more I see of it in photos, the more I want to go. Amazing.
Thanks Jenna, pretty sure you would love it 🙂
What an epic trip. That is great that they have a road that circles the island. Would love to do this trip someday.
Ted Iceland is a magnificent country – hope you get there soon 🙂
Great review! I plan to do the full Ring Road tour of Iceland at some point as well. I believe there’s an option in the summer that includes the Westfjords region as well.
As far as a 4×4 vehicle goes, I don’t know that a gravel road justifies the extra cost. Unless you’re off roading or experiencing winter weather, that is. I was just price comparing a rental car (because I AM going to Iceland in the fall for the Horse Round-up that Icelandic Farm Holidays offers). The price difference between a compact car and the cheapest SUV is like $100 PER DAY!!
Hey Shaun- We’re sure you’ll love Iceland. We stayed with Icelandic Farm Holidays too (detailed review coming soon) and had a great time. As for the 4X4 you can definitely get a better deal if you shop around. Try looking at Car rental websites based in Iceland. We booked with SixT Iceland and the difference b/w a small car and 4X4 was around £30, but that could have been because we went in off-peak season.
We’ve driven around in small cars in a lot of countries but Iceland cries for a big car. We did a fair bit of off-roading but we would recommend a 4X4 even if you aren’t planning on doing that. Keep in mind that there are no supermarkets or shops for miles and the weather is extremely unpredictable, so a part of the car will be overrun by groceries, hard-core woollen outerwear, and other such 🙂 That said, if you are going in summer for a shorter trip (say 4-5 days) and are going to stick to the main ring road, you’ll be fine with a small car 🙂 You’re going to have an amazing time, whichever car you choose. All the best
Where did you do off-roading? Everywhere it says that off-roading is strictly prohibited with fines almost like $800. So where are the good places to / did you go off-roading (and not get into trouble)?
Hi LB,
We drove on some F-roads and that’s what we mean by off-roading. We drove on F939 which helped us shorten the route and also was a great experience – we have mentioned this in the article as well.
Please consult the website that lists real-time road condition in Iceland before you set off.
Have a great time !
I totally agree that it is hard to explain the beauty of Iceland to people, it is really such an incredible place. I drove the Ring Road as well but we missed Snaefellsnes as we only had 1 week. It is definitely a country I will go back to!
Katie it is an incredible place. Snaefellsnes is really special – hope you make it back soon 🙂
Until this moment iceland was probably not on the topof my travel wishlist! But its beyond beautiful. THese pictures are just out of a wallpaper. Specially your stay at the cottage in Akureyri
.. What a great way to celebrate your birthday savi!
It was the perfect birthday getaway indeed 🙂
Amazing work!!! Impeccable writing. Love you, guys. Love your works 🙂
Thanks a ton Satyaranjan- much appreciated! 🙂
This looks incredible.
I’ve seen so many beautiful pictures of Iceland over the last few months, and I’m itching to go. Great to see your itinerary too – may well be copying bits of that when I plan my own trip! 🙂
How did you find doing the trip in a fortnight? Did you feel you were squeezing it into the time, or was it a fairly laid-back pace?
Glad you enjoyed the country so much – it does look stunning.
Hey Katie – it was pretty relaxed. 2 weeks is long enough for a road trip around the Ring Road. It will give you enough time to see everything, spend some time in Reykjavik, and relaxed at a couple of incredible thermal baths along the way 🙂
Pictures are amazing and yes this place must be much more beautiful than all the pictures. An amazing place with such natural delights. I will surely plan my upcoming vacation to this place.
Glad you like it 🙂 Yes, the pictures do not do justice to the place, it has to be experienced ! Hope you get to go soon
Thanks Nancy. Glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Great travel-blog – I will read deep into the text the next few days. I`am going to Iceland july 14 and will stay there for 10 days. Fishing and photo 🙂
What car is it? Is there space to sleep in it (one man)?
Best regards
Bo Jørgensen
Hey Bo,
Thanks 🙂 July will be amazing in Iceland ! This is a Chevrolet Captiva. Oh yes, you can definitely sleep in this car – just fold the back seat and you have ample space.
Have a great time in Iceland.
Cheers
Ever since i saw the movie Secret life of Walter Mitty,i was sold on Iceland, your travelogue seals the deal. Thank you so very much!
Hope you make it to Iceland soon Swathi – it’s an amazing country 🙂
Are you guys on Trover? Would love to follow Bruised Passports.
Nope 🙁
Dear Vid-Savi,
We are based in New delhi and would be first time travellers to Europe and UK. We’ll be travelling in mid-august.
How is Iceland safety wise for road trips in regards to road quality and robbers etc. on the way?
Do you find decent places for safe parking of ur rented car ?
Warm Regards
~Sagar
Hey Sagar – Iceland’s roads are excellent and extremely safe. Parking can be found everywhere. We’ve provided details of all the places we stayed at in Iceland in a separate article – all those hotels and B&Bs had ample parking 🙂
Hey Savi and Vid,
Iceland has always been on my bucket-list. Your pictures make me want to go to Iceland right away. I am surprised to see the prices – I had imagined it would be much more expensive. I guess it was because you went in May perhaps ?
In any case, amazing tips.
Hey Ani – yeah Iceland was cheaper than we expected it to be. The best part was that parking was free everywhere and there were picnic spots galore 🙂
Ahoy fellow travelers!
REALLY enjoyed reading your trip and the pictures are breath taking. I cant imagine what it would look like with my own two eyes!
My tiny (3 people total) travelling group have been YEARNING to do an Icelandic road trip.
Since 3 months ago I have been trying to plan this so called perfect trip.
I keep going on and off every websites (plane tickets, accommodations, car rentals, advice on what to see etc.) and each time I do this my interest just grew and grew. But I could never find the perfect forum that would answer all my needs and questions to plan this trip until I came across THIS piece of treasure which is your website/blog entry.
So for this I would love to thank you so much for inspiring me and to give a guideline.
Although there are some info that you left out that I would love to have such as prices and advice on car rentals, number of days, routes to take etc.
My group and I are young students from Switzerland (I’ve seen you’ve been there too, yaaay ^^) and so budget is tight and I myself just got my definitive drivers license about 5 months ago.
We were planning on staying a total of 7 nights in Iceland. Would it be enough to make the whole golden ring trip?? How should we book for hotels? On the spot or in advance?
And despite your advice on travelling in the summer, we can only go in the month of beginning of February (university holidays). Wold you recommend this season?
Anyways, sorry to disturb you with all these questions.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Saya
Hey Saya – it’s amazing to hear from you. We’re so glad you found our blog posts on Iceland useful. We would suggest at least 10-14 days to drive the entire Ring Road in Iceland. If you’re talking about the Golden Circle, then 5-7 days is enough.
Make sure you book hotels in advance because the entire country is quite desolate (especially the countryside) and it’s tough to find accommodation on the spot. We’ve written a detailed post on accommodation in Iceland. You can read it here :- https://www.bruisedpassports.com/wheres/icelandic-farm-holidays-review
Since you’re on a budget, you can book hostels and guesthouses offered by Icelandic Farm Holidays 🙂 Hope you guys have fun in Iceland, it’s a gorgeous country
can you please tell me how much was the overall cost for the journey?
and in which month did you go
We went in May Thabet 🙂
We wrote an entire article with a detailed breakdown of the cost of a road trip in Iceland Thabet – you can read it here :- https://www.bruisedpassports.com/wheres/iceland-road-trip-plan-budget
Sat down at noon on Sunday, 9 hours later, flight, SUV, hotels all confirmed, soooooo excited. Time to review my travel books, look at tours & try to not get to excited for May to arrive. Thanks for your down to earth postings, somewhat following your route with a few exceptions due to room availability. I work 50-60 hours per week, have 3 senior parents that we have to keep a close eye on & I just couldn’t find enough time to come up with an Itinerary. THANK YOU Again.
Hey Denise,
Thanks so much for your message – it made our day. So happy to hear that our blog was useful. You are going to LOVE Iceland and please share your stories and pictures with us when you are back 🙂
Cheers
I’ve jut come across this post and look forward to reading the rest – great itinery and gorgeous photos! I’m starting to look into a road trip of my own in Iceland after being interested in a few days to see the northern lights. Now I’m coming across all these amazing places to visit through blogs and I don’t think a few days will cut it…
Hey Rachel,
Yes, a few days will not be enough in a gorgeous country like Iceland. You need at least a week and ideally 10-12 days to go around the island 🙂
Loved your blog and itinerary! We are 4 girls planning to go end of July but we can’t go for 14 days and we are traveling from the US. If we were to modify your itinerary or since we will have days with mostly daylight, could we do it in 10 days total and if not, what would you suggest we omit?
Hey Robin,
Thanks 🙂
You can definitely do it in 10 days – you can spend a day or two in Reykjavik instead of 3 and also cut out a day in Akuryeri. It is definitely doable in 10 days especially since days are long.
Let us know if you have more questions – happy to help !
Hi,
Read ur blog…It’s beautiful…. We are planning a trip in September… We are 3couples…wanted to know a few things… Is it possible to communicate via mail or phone or any other way?
Hi 🙂
Of course – feel free to drop us an email on info @ bruisedpassports dot com or just use the contact us page on our site !
Look forward to your email
Cheers
Sure thing – just drop us an email using the ‘Contact Us’ tab on the top right 🙂
Quick question but kinda of a silly one. In the United States it is almost expected that when you do a tour with a company that at the end you tip the tour guide. We are going on a very expensive day trip on our last day in Iceland, which is the Lava tube hike ALONG WITH a snorkel trip with the same tour company. I have read in a couple of books that tipping is not necessary in Iceland but I’m assuming this applies to restaurants only & not tour companies. Would love your thoughts on this always confusing protocol.
Dear Denise,
From our experience, tipping was not necessary in Iceland. In the tours that we took, tips were not expected or “hinted” at, but a few people still tipped. I guess it depends on the person but should you not tip, the tour guide will not be offended 🙂
Your blog is a wonderful read! I have one question, how far in advance did you book your accommodation and flights? My husband and I are looking to do a similar trip in September and are finding that some locations with Icelandic Farm Holidays are already booked. We have found alternatives, but are wondering if we need to get this done ASAP. I also assume you did all of the booking on your own? Or did you use some type of service? Thanks, what a wonderful trip!
Dear Carrie,
So glad you like our blog 🙂 Apologies for the late response. We went in a rather quiet period – May end. We booked our flight sand accommodation roughly 3 months before departure. The first 2 weeks of September are usually very busy, but after 15th September the off-season kicks in. You could perhaps look at going then ? We booked directly with Icelandic Farm Holidays and Icelandair respectively. Let me know and I’ll put you in touch with the representative at Icelandic Farm Holidays who can help you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for these posts! These are the most helpful blog posts I’ve found when researching Iceland. We are going in the end of March and this is a great gut check as we finalize and book our lodging. We may have to forego the adorable place we found on airbnb in Akureyri and stay in one of the Ytri Vik cottages! What a review and you can’t go wrong with a private hot tub. In fact, I just emailed them to see if we can stay for only one night. Thanks again for all of your wonderful advice. We owe you big time! Thanks from Ohio!
Aww Lauren you put such smiles on our faces – we’re so glad we could help you out. You’re going to have such an amazing holiday. You won’t regret choosing Ytri Vik 🙂
THANK YOU for these awesome posts! Reading your blogs is one of my favorite hobbies. Do you have an itinerary with accommodations etc. for 7 days? We are thinking of going in May as a family vacation!
Hey Ophelia – so happy to hear you enjoy reading our posts 🙂 If you have just a week, we would suggest skipping West Iceland and the Snæfellsnes Peninsula and spending just a day in Myvatn. The rest of the itinerary remains the same. Have fun
Hi,
We’re thinking of going to Iceland in May for about 7 nights. Any must see’s you may recommend? I’ve always wanted to go to Iceland but just doing some minor research it now seems a bit daunting. Mainly because there isn’t any public transportation and as a North American, I only know how to drive Automatic.
How much was the car rental? Wondering if we should start directly from the airport and stay in different places, or go to Reykjavik and then do day trips from there.
Hi there,
7 nights might be just enough to drive around the island. You’d be able to get a small car for around £30 a day and we’ll recommend renting a car from the airport instead of doing day trips from Reykjavik. Automatic cars are available, don’t worry 🙂
Have a great trip !
You guys have done an amazing job with your posts. Very practical and enjoyable to read as well.
We are planning a trip in June and want to mimick yours as closely as possible. A question I had was if we are planning for a 9 day trip instead of the 13 you guys did, what would be few spots you would suggest we can cut out from your itinerary? We will be going all the way from Asia via Oslo so want to spend a few days in Norway as well.
Thank you !
Actually I just read your replies to one of the other posts which answers my 8 day itinerary question ! Thanks.
No problem – have fun in Iceland Sagar 🙂
Hey can u tell me the expenses in indian rupees..i’m goin crazy coz i’m nt able to make a buget..i’m from mumbai..how did you go to iceland i mean directly to iceland or from europe??..i’ll be mostly camping so tell me about the car expenses and flights..please it would help me alot
Hi Harsh – you can consult our article on budgeting your road-trip in Iceland (https://www.bruisedpassports.com/wheres/iceland-road-trip-plan-budget) for estimating costs. You can conveniently use Google Currency Convertor for converting currencies. Cheers
Hi Savi, great post. I’ve seen some great deal to fly there recently, and after reading your post, just added Iceland to the list. So excited!
Hey Todd – you’re going to love Iceland so much. It’s one of my favourite countries 🙂
Great photo of Kirkjufell mountain. Was this photo taken arriving from the East or the West ?
Hello Again,
Another question: For a 14 day stay, is it better to change location every night or to reserve a 2 night stay in 4 or 5 areas and travel around from that base ? We are planning a mid-September arrival.
Thanks a lot.
Hey Jean – that is a matter of personal choice. We found it better to book 2 and 3 day stays and drive around instead of moving to a new accommodation every night 🙂
Hi,
I am so motivated to travel to Iceland.
I am planning a solo trip to iceland for 10 days.
Is there any option of not hiring a car.. And all the above places mentioned by you.
Are there any buses services? Or share a car?
Please let me know.
Thanks
Nisha
Hey Nisha – a solo trip to Iceland sounds like such fun. There is a convenient hop-on hop-off bus which goes around the Ring Road and stops at all major attractions. The passes offered by the bus are flexible , so you can spend as many nights as you want at each attraction 🙂
Hi, we are planning our first trip to Iceland and the hotel part is daunting as many are booked. Did you use iceland farm vacations for all your lodging? Did you book a self-driving tour with them and they did your itinerary/lodging? Would love to hear how you arranged the logistics, thanks!
Hi yep, we did use Icelandic Farm Holidays for all our lodging. We fleshed out an itinerary before contacting them and they helped us fine tune it a bit 🙂
Hello,
I was looking over your itinerary and you say you left Akureyri and drove all the way to the Snaefellsnes peninsula. That seems to be a very long drive and if you stop here and there how long did it take you ?
Also, when you started on your 2nd day you did the Golden Circle and drove a lot. How long did that take ? I’m planning to do it clockwise and trying to make things fit. Some days it seems I’ll be doing 250 to 300 km. Do I still have time to stop at most places of interest or just drive to the next night’s accommodation ?
Best regards.
Hey Jean – we were pretty much driving all day when we covered the Akureyri-Snaefellsnes stretch but we did stop every time we saw a gorgeous panorama 🙂 It’s easy to see all 3 attractions of The Golden Circle in a day, especially if you’re in Iceland during the summer when days are really long
Hi Savi,
I found your blog while looking up things to do in Iceland and Croatia. My husband and I are going this July, and after reading through your blog pages, I am so excited!
We are renting the same Opel Mokka SUV for the Iceland trip. We are hoping to take a 8-hour roundtrip from Lake Mytvan to Viti Crater/Askja. Did you think it was worth the long trip? And did you take the rental 4×4 or a tour? I hear there are some “water fords” and a jeep is recommended, but I was hoping you could provide some input.
Love your blog!!
Best,
Shayna
Hey Shayna – it’s completely worth the 8 hour round trip 🙂 We had a 4X4 and just drove down there – we would definitely recommend a 4X4 over an ordinary car 🙂
I haven’t read such an wonderful travel blog in recent past. The place looks exciting and your pen and camera has done the rest of it. We are changing our Fall travel plan from Italy to Iceland just after this blog.
Way to go!
Thanks Souwmyaa – I’m so happy our blog posts convinced you to put Iceland on your itinerary. You will love every bit of it 🙂
Was Grjótagjá cool enough to bathe in? Been reading up on how it got too hot to bathe in during the 80’s and 90’s but is currently cooling down. Did you guys get in?
It was a bit too hot when we visited. We tried going in for a dip, but couldn’t do it. You can see our reaction to the temperature of the water at Grjótagjá in our Iceland vlog 😉
Such an amazing road! Thank you for sharing. I did a road trip in Iceland in the south and the west, next time i will make it complete. I also did an article about my favorite town in there: http://www.myhiddenparis.com/6-towns-iceland/
Hope it can be useful for everyone.
Hey Fon – glad you enjoyed it. Iceland is an epic country – this was definitely one of our most favourite road-trips ever!
Loved your post. Going to iceland in June for 17 days (including flying days). Is that too many days on the ring road? Worried there won’t be enough to do and Wondering if we should include westfjords but nervous about all the driving time required to get there. I don’t want to spend all my time in the car! Any thoughts?
Loved the cottage in the north!
Thanks
Hey Sarah – 17 days in Iceland? We envy you. Don’t worry, you won’t run out of things to do. There’s just so much to be done in Iceland. Try spending a bit more time in the North. You should definitely include the West Fjords if the roads aren’t snowed under. That area is supposed to be stunning and you’ll have plenty of time to see everything. You definitely won’t spend all the time in the car 🙂
Great post – we’re leaving on our own 10 day road trip around Iceland next week so this little series was awesome for helping us plan. Makes me very excited seeing your awesome pictures!
Hey Matt,
Sorry for taking SO long to respond – somehow your comment got missed and we just saw it. Apologies for that.
Hope you had a great trip in Iceland and glad to know that our series was helpful 🙂
Cheers
hiya!!!
we just booked our trip to Iceland and appreciate this page. it’s amazing!!! we are quite nervous but have the car booked. can you advise on where to stay…we are on a budget 🙂
Hey guys,
Have you looked into Icelandic Farm Holidays ? You can stay in a hostel in Reykjavik but when you are driving on the ring road, accommodation options will be limited and I think you might not get anything cheaper than what Icelandic Farm Holidays have to offer. Have you read our post on the accommodation bit already ? 🙂
Thank you so much for your reply. your posts are REALLY useful and amazing. The only other question i have is that we are only going for 10 days. what would you DEFINITELY recommend to do and see? what can we “skip”? We are looking for budget places to stay…the places you chose were on the cheaper side? did you book long in advance?
hope to hear back!
Hey Guys,
For a 10 day itinerary, you can spend a day or two less in Reykjavik and snaefellsnes 🙂 The accommodation options on the ring road can be limited, so it’s better to book in advance – we booked everything 3 months before our departure from London. I’d say our accommodation ranged from below average – above average in terms of budget (not really cheap but then I doubt there are any “cheap” places in Iceland :)). They all were excellent value for money though !
Cheers
Hey question, many of the photos look like you just drove up to the site on your own, did you need a guide? Were the sites easy to see off the ring road??
Hey Erica,
Except for the glacier hike and the caving tour you don’t need a guide 🙂 The sites were easily accessible from the ring road, in fact, most of them were right on the ring road. Have a great trip 🙂
Thanks for the quick reply! Okay another question, the sites off the ring road, were you only able to drive to them because you had the 4×4 vehicle? Or would a generic vehicle make it? We’re finding that Iceland is incredibly expensive!
Hi Erica,
You won’t need a 4X4 to access most of the sites off the ring road. Having the 4X4 does help in terms of space as well as venturing off on to the gravel roads (which takes you to some offbeat gems where not many tourists go) however you’d be able to access most of the popular sites on the ring road with a normal car.
Cheers !
Gr8 informative article. We are going from 6th Sep until 15th(inclusive) which is 7 nights 8 days driving. We plan to do entire ring road along with some highlands and lowlands. Not sure if roads are open during first 2 weeks in September.
Any suggestions? How long are the days during September?
Accordingly we will have to ask for hotels.
Thanks in advance
Akshay
Hey Akshay – days start getting shorter during September but you should still get over 12 hours of day light. Most roads are open during September but the roads leading to the highlands might be snowed under. Hope this helps
Hi guys, thanks for posting all of this super helpful information! I see you guys had 14 days to explore the island which is really great. I will unfortunately have a mere 6 full days to try and race around the Ring Road. I am headed there in just a few weeks, so the sun will be shining the whole time and the roads will be accessible. I’m travelling solo, and rented a regular compact car, not a 4×4 (won’t have time to many crazy excursions any way) and was wondering what you considered to be the most must-see spots along the way on the old Rind Road. Again, I have 6 FULL days and 7 nights. I really want to see the Dettifoss Waterfall, but other than that, I’ll pretty much be going with the flow. Let me know! Thanks.
Hey Bryan,
Sorry this comes a bit late and you must have completed your trip by now – how did it go? 🙂
Hello! Erica again! Quick question, were you able to use your cell phones in Iceland?
In Iceland, Cell phone connectivity was never a problem. You can buy a local cell phone Sim Card or can use yours if it allows international roaming in Iceland.
During our trip, we had some international Sim and it worked perfect everywhere.
Though its better you buy a local SIM due to low cost of calling and data – that can be used for navigation while driving around.
Since Iceland is thinly populated, If u forget your way near your guesthouse, just call them for directions. People there are happy to help !
~Sagar
Thanks for the comment Sagar – it’ll be helpful for other readers.
Hi Erica,
Yes, we did, without any issues.
Hello! Love your story/blog! What month was your trip taken in? Thank you!
Kourtney,
We travelled in May end/June beginning.
Which camera did you guys use to record?
We use a Nikon D610
Dear Savi,
You are really inspiring to me as a woman, and I really hope to travel to all the places you’ve been to someday. In your opinion, is Iceland safe for a solo woman traveller? Also I’ve heard there are large distances to cover without any toilets in between. What do women do if they have to answer nature’s call? I can’t imagine doing your business on the side of the Ring Road would be considered acceptable or safe. Any advice on this please?
Thanks
Dear Alice,
Thank you so much for your sweet message. It made my day 🙂
Yes, Iceland is completely safe for a solo woman traveller. There are large distances between towns/service stations but no so long that the toilet breaks can’t be planned 😉 We didn’t face that problem to be honest. But I guess, in the worst case, you could always go for a little walk on the side of the ring road 🙂
I would say, if you are driving, just have a good idea of when the next service station or town is – we always used to ask at the service station we stopped about how far the next one would be – it helped !
Have a great trip.
Hello during the midnight sun period would it be possible to compelte the entire ring road and Landmallungur mountain trip in 10 days?
Hi Arindam,
Yes, that’s possible.
REALLY helpful post! This was a great resource as we planned our own trek around the Ring Road! Thanks so much!
Glad you found it helpful, Bailey 🙂
Amazing! I am looking forward to visit Iceland someday. What month did you visit Iceland, by the way?
Hi Jennifer,
We went from 21st May – 5th June 🙂
Nice video. Helpful as I prepare a trip with 8 art students.
Thanks Morgan – hope you enjoyed Iceland!
Hi,
Me and cousin of mine plan to go on a road trip in Winter this year. We wish to travel to some place in Europe. Can you pls advise on locations?
thanks,
Rohan
Hi Rohan,
Drop us an email with your interests and budget and we’ll try to help you out 🙂
This post was super duper helpful! I’m a huge planner and love making lists and I referred to this countless times for when I packed for Iceland. Love y’alls blog. It’s such a an inspiration!
Thank you so much for that message, Rad! Glad you found this article useful 🙂
wanted to say thanks for putting this page together. we used it as a rough framework for our trip (of which we’re still on for 2 more days). weather this time of year can be a challenge, but we’ve lucked out a number of days and have had amazing experiences. today, i think we saw more rainbows between akureyri and the snaefellsnes peninsula than we’ve seen in the past 5 or 10 years combined in the USA. truly amazing.
That’s so nice to hear Ryan 🙂 Do share your pictures with us if you get a chance, we’d love to share them with all our readers 🙂
Hey,
This is so so cool…can imagine how much planning went into making this trip what its looking like! I’m planning to visit Iceland & Norway in May 2016. Duration would be 15-20 days. & i wish to do it on my own, may be a friend will accompany or maybe not. Can you please suggest an itinerary? I’m a nature lover, its okay if i miss out on some museums in exchange of nature’s gems.
Wishing you many more such trips.
Thanks in advance.
I definitely recommend that you stay at Volcano Huts of Thorsmork in Iceland! They’re nestled into the countryside between a volcano and a beautiful glacier river. There are tons of hikes in the area and it’s so so peasceful!
Hello,
The itinerary for Iceland is mentioned in the article. As for Norway, we have been to the Fjords on a cruise – we loved Flam, Alesund, and Olden so you could factor those into your trip too.
Cheers
Hi. I was already thinking of Iceland but your blog makes it a must but…. We have 11 year old twins. What would be your thoughts on taking them on the road trip? They are adventurous, outdoor types (skiers, hikers, scouts) and they think it looks fab but is there just too much driving? Looking for May half term so only 7 full days ? Thanks for any advice.
Hey Katherine,
Glad to see that you are convinced to go to Iceland – you won’t be disappointed 🙂
I think your kids will love the trip. 7 days might not be enough to do the entire ring road, so you could do the Golden circle, then drive to the south and south-east and then turn back (instead of going the full circle).
Thanks.I am planning a solo trip to iceland for 10 days.Great Post
Thanks Jennifer – have a great time in Iceland 🙂
Nice to see you including an itinerary that goes beyond the usual. I look forward to exploring western Iceland and some of the more off the beaten path places and hikes. I’m planning for the last 2 weeks of May 2016 and was interested to see that some of the lakes were still frozen. This country is a crap shoot for weather at any time so we’ll just cross our fingers the weather gods are with us.
Hi Leigh,
You’re right – just keep your fingers crossed for the weather 🙂 That said, even in the crappiest of weather, Iceland was magical.
Viti crater lake was frozen when we went – 31st May!
Cheers
no northern lights?
Hi,
We went in May/June so very slim chances of Northern Lights then 🙂
Hello
I’m planning a trip to Iceland either at the end of may/beginning of June. Which month exactly did you guys go to? I didn’t see any mention of that only that it was during the summer.
Thank you!
Hey Nadja,
We went end of may/beginning of June too:)
Thank you for the good tips. The hubs and I will be in Iceland in just over a month on our way back from Europe, and I’m so excited. I’ve wanted to go to Iceland since I was a little boy. Iceland here I come!!
Thank you for Sharing
You’ll have the time of your lives, Paul 🙂
Hi
Is the last week of March to first week of April a good time to take this trip?
Hey Priyanka – the weather can be a bit hit and miss at that time of the year. In all probability, you won’t see the Northern Lights (December- February is peak season for Northern Lights) or get sunny long days (reserved for summer months b/w May and August). Hope this helps 😀
Hi Guys
Just wondering if you have a shorter 7 day itinerary for Iceland?
Hey Sharadha – you can just pick and choose the sections of this that you really want to see. For a 7 day itinerary, we’d suggest avoiding Akureyeri and spending more time in the southern part of Iceland. Hope this helps 😀
Wow, great blog post! 🙂
I am planning on going in mid-June. I was wondering, did you find a need for a 4×4 SUV? I know most of the F roads will be closed, so I’m just wondering. Thank you so much!
Lulu,
You could do without an SUV if you are driving the ring road. We did find the SUV spacious (we were three) 🙂
Love this post and its thoroughness. Iceland is definitely on my bucket list for 2016. Was actually supposed to go last year but something came up. Did you find the attractions and parking to be free all over Iceland, or just in certain areas?
Hi Jessica,
Thanks 🙂
Except for the Blue Lagoon, we didn’t find any entrance fees for the attractions or parking anywhere in Iceland!
Cheers
Hi ,
loved your blog. Myself and my hubby are planning to visit sometime in august . Can you please tell how much is the budget we would need. If we could go ourselfs or guided tour is better. Kinldy mail to email.
Hi Sandhya,
We have written about the budget here: https://www.bruisedpassports.com/iceland/iceland-road-trip-plan-budget
You could definitely do this on your own 🙂
Hey Guys! Iceland looks like heaven on the earth, I just can’t wait soon i will be touring in Iceland but need little help, can i have their best tour operator with guide if so please let me know.
Hey Maddy we covered Iceland independently but would recommend Icelandic Farm Holidays in case you need a tour operator as a lot of our readers have now used them. If you’re talking about day trips with guides, then Arctic Adventures offer a few of those 🙂
Ultimate post, lots of information will help us plan our trip. Thanks for sharing.
Anytime 🙂 Hope you have an amazing time in Iceland
Lovely reading all this as I’m from iceland.. not been home for over 2 years so was great looking at all them pics 🙂
Glad to hear that Rakel – Iceland is a gorgeous country 😀
Wow! What a beautiful and informative blog. Your pictures are gorgeous! I came across your website as I am looking for somewhere to go with my family in Aug. Our son is graduating from HS this year. One more trip with him before going to college will be nice. Anyways, reading and watching your video made me realized that iceland maybe the answer. I don’t have any questions right now but hope you won’t mind later on as I start planning. Thank you for sharing your stories.
Hey Lou- thanks for your li’l note. I hope you make it to Iceland. Feel free to send over your questions and we’ll try to answer them as soon as we can 🙂
Hi, so impressed reading this. i came across this accidentally searching for a trip in Spain, and heaven be blamed, i fell in love with you guys, i may plan a 2 week plan in Iceland. we are 2 adults and 2 kids, you think something like this is possible with kids. also i am from Delhi, india, we drive on the wrong side, and i have never done off roading. do you think it is attemptable, any chance of also checking out the northern lights if i plan in May
Thanks for the love Amit 🙂 The roadtrip in Iceland is definitely doable with kids. You won’t see the Northern Lights in May. They are visible only during winter months (November-March). If it’s your first time driving on the other side of the road, make sure you read up a bit on the rules beforehand and factor a bit of extra time for driving during the first couple of days. Soon enough, you’ll get used to it 😀
Hi Amit !
same as you i was greatly motivated by their blog. I visited Iceland with my wife and brother last year. It was a nice experience. People there are warm and helpful.
Yes its odd when you drive on right hand for the first time. Just ask your front row co-passenger to keep you reminded on following the right side, because by instinct we tend to drive back on to left side.
Unlike delhi, people dont drive there bumper to bumper and keep long safe distance between cars. Following road safety and road rules is utmost important and fines for over speeding or breaking road rules are huge.
But you would enjoy your road trip a lot. I bet it would be a trip of lifetime :-D!!
hi. I have finalised a 8 day trip, starting 19th may. I will be landing around 1.30 in afternoon. You think it is feasible to start the golden circle at that time and still manage to sleep at civilised times. i have a return on 28th may 6 am. so leaves me till 27th night.Need some help. Do you think it is possible to cover the Snaefelness peninsula also in this time. you have taken 2 days, just wondering if we could do the Puffin viewing via the ferry and still sqeenze in everything. lastly, you have written you crossed streams, you mean drove through streams??
on the 19th may you think it is better to just explore reykjavik or actually start the trip. Instead of Blue lagoon we plan to do the myovatin baths.
Hi Amit,
We’d suggest a day’s rest before embarking on the road trip. Not sure what your civilised sleeping times are, but they can vary from person to person 😉 we strongly suggest you spend the first half-day walking around Reykjavik and taking it easy.
No, 6 days will not be enough to do what you are planning. You shouldn’t try to drive the entire ring road in 6 days either as you’ll end up spending most of the time on the road. In 6 days, just concentrate on south and west Iceland (so Vik, Jokulsarlon, Snaefellsness, and Reykjavik)
Have a great trip!
Hi. First of all a big thanks. You guys were the inspiration behind my road trip, though i did tweak a lot of my trips around the country. i did a 9 day trip all around, starting with the golden circle, Vik, the next day followed by everything on the way to Hofn. I then went to Eastern Fjords, which are truly stunning and its amazing that you don’t see anybody there at all. i stayed at Mjoeyri, which i found to be more scenic than Egilsstadir. Then i drove inside the fjords a bit, driving down to Myvatn, which has to be most memorable drive of all the days, with the melting snow and black lava fields, it was something not possible to put in words. the day was spent in Myvatn, followed with Akuryeri, though i chose to go into the smaller fjords there, making my life tougher. Some roads were closed, so had to reroute, to Stykkishholmer to take the ferry to Flatey. Then spent a day driving on Snaefells. I chose to stay at Grundarfjordur, had the worst weather possible with winds not even allowing me to open my car door, add on the rain, it was splendid. I found driving in my Landcover Discovery really tough on that day, it was being literally pushed by the side almost a foot or more at times by the winds. Snaefells was really brilliant though. Finally drove to spend the last day at Reykjavik. In total i drove 2700 kms over 9 days, dong everything i could including some hikes with my 2 children and wifey. Children loved it more than i did, so nature is great for children also. Thanks a ton guys.
Dear Amit – thanks a ton for this detailed account. So happy to hear your road trip in Iceland went well. Please send us photos on bruisedpassports at gmail dot com – we’d LOVE to share your photos with our readers 🙂
Hi, i am in the process of writing a book, to chronicle my exoeriences. plan to post 300 pics and 50 odd pages of text. would love to share th copy with you, as well as pics, after all you are the first reason i weren’t there. cheers guys. if you are ever in delhi, let me know, must catch up
Hey Amit – you should come to our meetup in Delhi next week and we can chat about Iceland – all details about the meetup are on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BruisedPassports) 🙂
Hey,
I am a lone traveller to Iceland around March 21st to 31st 2016. Car rental will be expensive. How do I travel alone in a budgeted manner?
Is the country safe?
Regards
Also, 17-27 or 21st-31st, which are better dates to travel and have more chances of northern lights
Hey Ekta – it’s hard to say which set of dates is better because Icelandic weather is extremely unpredictable and it’s impossible to predict the Northern Lights even on the day itself. March is quite late in the year to see the Northern Lights anyway, so I suppose the earlier you go, the better it is. Hope this helps 😀
Hey Ekta- Iceland is extremely safe for solo travellers. You can take a hop on hop off bus that goes around the Ring Road if you’re on a budget and don’t want to rent a car 🙂
Thank you Guys!
You are awesome!
Please suggest will it be safe to rent a car, how expensive it can be?
In March would you advise me to drive alone, I am a decent driver (not a great)?
Keep Travelling,
Ekta 🙂
Hey Ekta – please consult our article on budgeting for a road trip in Iceland (linked above) for costs. Iceland is safe to drive but whether or not you should rent a car depends solely on whether you are comfortable driving alone. If you haven’t driven long stretches before, don’t let this be the first time as it can hard to get help in remote stretches of Iceland.
Hi guys,
A million thanks for the wonderful blog. I am visiting Iceland in late April for around 10 days with 3 of my friends.
If its 10 days, is there anything i am gonna miss compared to yours? I read about the western fjords were people tend to spent quite some time..
Hey Arjun – you can choose the portions that tickle your fancy. Don’t try to do everything as it will end up being very rushed! The Western Fjords were snowed under at the time that we were there, so we ended up not driving there 🙂
Do you know if I can do any of the Ice cave tours during May ? North Or South ?
Hey Nisha – sorry I don’t know about Ice Caves but I have heard they are on during May but are usually called off during July/August (high summer!)
Came across your website while planning our trip for Iceland. You have some good information! Thanks for the tips.
Thanks Resha – hope you have an amazing time in Iceland 🙂
Did you stop by any of the Geo thermal pool by MYVATN area or WEST FJORDS to actually bathe ? I want to know which ones are the best(besides the blue lagoon). Also, I saw that you guys went in May. I am also travelling in May and would like to know how long very the day lights in North & South to get a bit scheduling based on that. Your page has really helped and inspired us to go. Just booked our 11 day trip with 9 of us.
Hi Nishanth,
We took a quick dip in Grjótagjá which is near Myvatn – we have also mentioned this in the article.
The days were fairly long – say 4 a.m. to 1 a.m. so roughly 20-21 hours of day light. Happy to hear that we could help and inspire – enjoy Iceland as it’s one of the best places we have been to so far 🙂
Cheers
Hi guys!
Congrats!
This is a great blog and has helped me a lot so far to organize my trip to Iceland late may beginning of june this year! I have one question: Is this lake (Day5) at the Viti volcanic crater the Askja lake? Did you guys make it up there? It seems to me that the tours to Askja are not arranged before mid june but I would like to know if you made it or if there was an option to make it even in may that you made the trip.
Thanks and keep up the good job! 🙂
Iro
Hi Iro,
No, that is not the Askja lake – Askja lake is in the central highlands if I remember correctly. When we visited, most of the F roads were still closed and it was impossible to get to Askja lake.
To be honest, the Viti crater lake was equally beautiful and magical 🙂
Cheers
Came across your blog while planning an Iceland road trip. Very well written with a lot of useful information and great pictures. Keep up the good work.
Hey Aman – so happy to hear you found our posts useful. Have fun in Iceland – it’s such a gorgeous country 😀
We travelled in November and had a great time. Though it’s also amazing to see your photos of Iceland in summer, it looks so different but equally beautiful.
http://whatwaytoday.com/europe/iceland/iceland-self-drive-beats-guided-tours-around-reykjavik-the-golden-circle-and-the-southern-shores/
Hey Steve we’ll definitely go back to experience the splendour of Iceland during winter months- we hear it’s stunning 🙂
Hi guys! I came across this blog back in early 2015 and have been following you ever since! We are planning our trip to Iceland now for August of this year and we have 7 full days and a half day (possibly). We would love to do all of ring road, is this feasible with only 7 full days? What would you recommend within our time frame? We’re avid hikers and thrill seekers and will have a similar car to what you rented.
Hey Kellie – so happy to hear you enjoy following our adventures. It’s hard to complete this entire roadtrip around the Icelandic Ring Road in 7 days. We’d suggest skipping the Northern Part (Akuryeri etc) and sticking to the Golden Circle and Myvatn. Hope this helps 🙂
Great blog, thanks so much for all the very helpful information! I know there have been a lot of questions already about the necessity of a 4×4 but would you mind listing out which locations/sites in particular required a 4×4? We’re doing a very similar trip in August and I’ve read that all the stops on your itinerary don’t require F-roads but maybe I’m missing something? Thanks!!
Hey Len – you don’t need a 4X4 unless you’re planning to off road in Iceland. As we have mentioned in the article, if you want to drive on F939 to Egilsstadir from Djupovogir, a 4X4 will come in handy. Having said that, we loved having a 4X4 because a) we were 3 people and the extra space was welcome and b)Icelandic weather and terrain is quite unpredictable and it’s nice to have a sturdy car for the odd road that is bumpy or snowed under!
Hope you have a great trip in Iceland 🙂
Hi,
I have enjoyed all of your posts on Iceland which we will visit in September driving the Ring Road. I was wondering if you remember your directions to Dettifoss (alternate roads) and also to Grjotagja if you don’t mind sharing. Thanks so much!
Tami Brennan
Hey Tami,
Apologies for the late reply. The turn for Dettifoss is well marked on Highway 1. If you’re coming from Egilsstadir towards Myvatn, you’ll see it on your right. There are 2 – route 864 (comes first) and route 862. For some strange reason 864 was closed when we visited, so we used 862 instead. Always best to check road conditions and closures before departing for that particular day 🙂 That said, it was very easy to find and we had no trouble getting there.
As for Grjotagja, when you are driving from Egilsstadir to Myvatn, you’ll first come across the sulphur geysers (this is also where you take a right turn to go to Viti crater if you so wish). If you keep going westwards on highway 1 after this point, you’ll drive up a hill and then down again. When you’re driving down, you’ll see an artificial water body on your right. You’ll then see a small board with the sign “Grjotagja” on your left. Turn left and drive for a couple of kilometres and you’ll reach Grjotagja caves 🙂
Hope this helps.
Cheers
wow.. such thorough directions even after 2 yrs! memories! how do you remember all the specifics to the minutest details? i am impressed.
Thanks Tara, we do try our best to be as detailed in our directions as we possibly can. Travelling is our passion and hence remembering the minute details comes easy I guess.
Hi
It will be our first trip to Iceland,and main problem is that we never used self drive.will it be easy for us as a Indian to drive in Iceland,can you share your contact number with us.
Hey Lalit – you should be ok driving in Iceland if you’re comfortable driving on the other side of the road 🙂 Iceland’s roads are wide and well-built
Hi
Is it possible that we can go alone on south iceland tour instead of taking Nordic tour
as we have only 5 days in iceland,can you suggest us a tour for 5 days in iceland.
Hey Lalit – you can definitely cover South Iceland in 5 days. We suggest just sticking to the Golden Circle and South Iceland (Jokulsarlon etc). Have fun in Iceland 🙂
Hey! Really really inspired by your road trip in Iceland. And love your write-ups and photos. You guys are amazing!
If I’m planning a six-day trip around the first week of December this year, what are the must-visit places that you suggest? And yes, we are after the Northern lights. 🙂
Hey Aratrika,
Thanks 🙂
Days will be very short in December and you won’t have enough daylight to drive long distances. We recommend driving to Jokulsarlon and back. If you have a day or two to spare, you could then go on to Snaefellsness peninsula from Reykjavik.
Have a great trip and share your photos with us 🙂
Hey Guys,
I was really amused after reading your blog. I simple your pictures and the way you have put your experiences. I really appreciate you guyz in thinking of sharing your experiences.
Me and my friend are planning for a road trip in Iceland this month.It would be really helpful if you guyz can spare some time in planning our short road trip :).
Idea is to cover all the must see places as our trip is only for 3.5 days 🙁
Trip Details:
Arrival on 28th April 2016 @ Reykjavik Airport : 5PM
Departure on 02May 2016@ Reykjavik Airport :9AM
I know this is a very short trip compared with you guyz.
Hoping a positive reply at the earliest.
Hi Raj,
Glad you find the article useful. You’re right, 3.5 days isn’t a long enough time to soak in everything that Iceland has to offer. We’d recommend doing the Golden circle on 29th April, driving to Vik (and seeing all the beautiful waterfalls on the way) on 30th April, and driving back to Reykjavik on 1st May.
Hope that helps.
Have a great trip in Iceland.
Hi from Houston! First of all, y’all are adorable/the coolest. Thanks for sharing your trip, and writing so beautifully about it. I’m heading to Iceland with my partner next month, and following a similar itinerary to yours. I was already super excited, but now I can barely stand the wait (although I feel the wait is one of the best parts). The fact that y’all hold Iceland in such high esteem after having traveled the world over shows how special it must be! Can’t wait to read more of your posts. Your trips seem so positive, and totally fun 🙂
Keep on Traveling,
Tom
Hey Tom,
So glad to hear that you enjoyed reading about our experience in Iceland. It’s a stunning country and you two are going to have the time of your lives there 🙂
Have a great trip and share your experience with us when you’re back.
Cheers
Hi, do you suggest renting a 4×4 car or a small car should be fine during summer?
tks!
Hey you won’t have trouble driving a small car in Iceland during summer- cheers 😀
Great article, thanks a lot!
I’m heading out to Iceland this evening, so I’m fine-tuning my itinerary! 🙂
Jason @ AdventureByNature
Thanks Jason 🙂 Have a great time driving in Iceland – it’s gorgeous
Hi… great read..did you guys end up catching any glimpse of the northern lights in summer?
If we were to catch the northern lights..what would u suggest to be the best time?
Also what approx budget we must keep in mind for a 3 wk trip?
Hello Tapasvini,
No, we didn’t see Northern Lights in summer. The best time would be between December and February. As for the budget, I’d suggest you read our post about our expenses in Iceland: https://www.bruisedpassports.com/wheres/iceland-road-trip-plan-budget
Hope that helps!
Hey thats quite an itinerary.. well can u suggest an itinerary with 7 days in hand.. would love to do glacier hiking, waterfall, northern lights along with self drive. Also do u have any comments on camping around Iceland..
Hi Chirag,
Doing the entire ring road in 7 days will be difficult, especially if you are going in winters. If you have only 7 days, just concentrate on West and South Iceland.
I literally just wrote an Instagram post about the absolute need to go to Iceland. And this is just the best. The absolute best. When I do get to go, this shall be half my guide( I believe in getting lost a lot). Stunning pictures and beautifully written. I love love love your life. *kisi ki nazar na lage*
Keep doing this. Keep teaching us to dare to dream and do things out of the ordinary.
Lots and lots of love. And best wishes ever.
Jushmita
Thanks a ton for your little note Jushmita 😀 So happy to hear you enjoyed going through our post on Iceland – really hope you make it there soon. Iceland is a very special country indeed 🙂
Hi Savi,
Thanks for sharing your pictures and the itinerary in detail! We are planning a trip to Iceland first week of September. There are lot of recommendations on booking self driving tours. Did you guys book everything on your own or did you book a self driving tour?
Hey Niyati – we booked everything ourselves but a lot of our readers have gone on self-driving tours ever since and loved them 🙂
Thank you Savi!
Anytime Niyati 🙂
Hi
Thanks for your detailed blog. It is great to see such a detail description of this great country.
We are couple and booked flights to Iceland. From 2nd Sep 2016 for 11 days.
I love to do this trip and self-drive route 1 circle. As we are just 2 of us so I think we need a compannion to share the trip with us. Is that possible?
Here Niyati Goyal says they are planning a trip first week of Sep and us same so wondering we can do together!
Hey Murali – have fun on the trip to Iceland. Hope you manage to find a companion for your road trip. All the best 😀
Thanks for your great tips on Iceland! We found this blog when planning our trip and used it as a guideline. We just returned from our ten day road trip and thanks to you had a terrific time! We did detour to Husavik (well worth the drive) and did not make it to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. We’re planning to return to do that and the West Fjords sometime soon. We will be sure to check out your other blogs when planning our next trip. Keep up the great work!!
Hey Ann – well and truly happy to hear you enjoyed your time in Iceland so much. Thanks a lot for leaving the li’l note – we really appreciate it 🙂
Hey Savi I would like to know is ut a good idea to travel to Iceland in winters or summers?
Hey Kavita,
That really depends on what you’re after – if you want to witness Northern Lights, you should head there in winters. If you want longer days and more time to drive around the island, summer is better 🙂
Hope that helps!
I love your blog and used your posts on Iceland to help plan my trip. Which was awesome! Thank you for your trip details. I’m already itching to go back to Iceland but like travelling to new countries. Have you been to any other countries that have the same “WOW” factor as Iceland that you recommend? I have health problems that require me to visit countries where there is low risk of bacteria infection.
Hey Sarah,
So happy to hear you enjoyed Iceland. We really enjoyed our road trip in Canada, New Zealand, and Croatia 🙂
Hi Savi and Vid,
I have exactly 3 days in iceland in october.
I want to see the golden circle + kerid crater and also jorkulsarlon , I am not doing the glacier hike.
Can you suggest if it is doable in 3 days?
Hey Ananya – you will be driving a lot but The golden circle, kerid crater, and jorkulsarlon are definitely doable in 3 days 🙂
Hi,
Looks like you had a lovely time in Iceland. Planning to do a road trip in Iceland in February as my honeymoon. But I was wondering if 10-12 days of travelling would make it look monotonous? Kindly guide us on this please
Hey Anirudh – we were there for 2 weeks and it never got monotonous for us. However every traveller is different 🙂
That sounds great. Thanks! Just want to know if the weather would be an issue in February for a raod trip?
Thanks
Hey Anirudh – Weather in February can be unpredictable. It’s always cold but sometimes there can be snowstorms too. However Iceland is gorgeous that time of year – just make sure you get a sturdy car equipped for the cold. They’re easy to rent in Iceland 🙂
Hi mate, all pics are super and thank for sharing all this information. Just want to ask that I heard most of places are free but can you please tell me in which attraction did you pay the money? If you remember.
Hey Maulik – all the attractions we visited were free. We did pay for tours such as the whale watching tour. However that was 2.5 years ago and we head a couple of attractions now have entrance fees!
I was googling Iceland during the summer and found you guys! I went to Iceland last year and LOVED it but I went during April and the winter was still ending and everything was covered in Ice and snow! Don’t get me wrong, as you say, Iceland is alive and it was but someone asked me if I would ever go back and I said maybe during the summer. After seeing your pics, its a definite! I missed going to the Floating Icebergs at Jökulsárlón & didn’t make my way up north near Akureyri so I need to go see those areas too!
Cheers to you both, I love this blog!
Thanks Eric – we did love driving around Iceland during summer. Hope you make it there super soon 🙂
Hi, I love your blog. The way you write and describe the itinerary is the best among any other blogs, I have read. Your Iceland blog inspired me to plan a trip with my family and I have must read it 20 times. Keep coming back to check any and every detail.
Even your video was fantastic. My brother is fighting to stay in exact same cottage :).
Just a quick question – Do you remember the model of your car? We are 4 adults and it looks perfect in size – not too big or not too small as we have ever never driven anything above sedan cars.
Also is Westfjord doable in May?
Hey Kavita,
So happy to hear that 🙂
The car is Chevrolet Captiva. I doubt you’d be able to explore Westfjords in May as most roads will be closed. However, do check the local conditions on getting there.
Have a great trip and please share your photos with us 🙂
Hi guys
We will be travelling with our 2 year old daughter. Would iceland be a good option with a toddler, she is pretty good with road trips generally.
We can do about 2 weeks but normally prefer to stay for atleast 2-3 nights in each place as packing / unpacking takes a lot of time away.
Please can you suggest a modified itenerary that we could do in Iceland.
If Iceland doesnt work then our next option is the Baltic States, again your perspective on that travelling with a toddler.
Thanks
Hey Nischint – loads of our readers have driven around Iceland with a baby/toddler, so you should be absolutely ok 🙂 Just follow the above itinerary and spend longer in Reykjavik (4 days?) if you prefer not to move around too much
This post has been the most useful in planning for my upcoming Iceland trip in April. Any suggestion on places I can cover in 5 days- considering it will be April (in between season)?
Hey Purva,
Thanks 🙂
5 days might not be enough to drive the entire ring road. You should explore the Golden Circle, and drive south towards Vik and Jokulsarlon before turning back towards Reykjavik.
Hope that helps
You are a true inspiration!:-)
My husband and I just booked tickets to Iceland and we’re trying to create some cool 6-day itinerary in March.
So which month did you go? Which of the activities would you recommend as must-dos?
Thank you and have lovely travels!
Hi Bistra,
We went at the end of May / beginning of June. If you have just 6 days, we’d recommend going till Jokulsarlon and turning back. And you can also go to Snaefelssness peninsula 🙂
Cheers
Fantastic blog about traveling around Iceland! Not only did you give the perfect amount of info and present it well, but you guys looked like you were having a lot of fun in your video, which is great to see. Your info was exactly what I was looking for — the highlights of a roughly two week road trip around Iceland, with accommodations info, helpful tips, superb photos, and a very well done video. Thanks for sharing this with everyone. I hope you are all doing well and still traveling and having great adventures. Cheers! 🙂
Hey Ian – so happy to hear you found it useful. We did have a lot of fun in Iceland and we’re pretty sure you’ll love the country when you make it there 🙂
Hi Savi,
Thanks for sharing your pictures, good trip
Am so glad you liked the pics Atica…thanks for getting back:) 🙂
Wow Iceland is very beautiful. Next year, if I have the opportunity I will travel to Iceland.
Iceland is definitely one of our favourite countries – hope you make it there soon 🙂
Thanks you very much!
Dear Miss.Hoa, we are glad our post on Iceland was of help to you 🙂
Hey Savi and Vid,
How about the driving license for Indians?
Please let me know.
Thanks!
Hi Sucheta,
We used our Indian driving license and did not have any problems.
Hi Savi Vid,
Am planning a road trip in 2018 and was delighted to read your experience. Now it’s become a must on my bucket list. Your description of the road trip makes one want to get on the road immediately. I would appreciate if you could mail me the approximate expenses for the trip – for a couple.
Hi Aasawari – we have a detailed article on how much it costs to plan to roadtrip in Iceland. Here’s the link https://www.bruisedpassports.com/wheres/iceland-road-trip-plan-budget. You can use it to estimate costs. Cheers
Hi,
Will you recommend any changes to your itinerary of travelling with young kids in August – 10 & 5 year old?
Hey Himanshi,
Not really – the kids will love all the places 🙂
Have fun
Thank you so much for all the information. This is one of the most detailed posts I have come across. I am going to Iceland in August for 10 days, and getting really excited to plan my trip. Could you tell me approximately how long the hike is to the waterfalls you mentioned in your post: Gullfoss, Skogafoss, Seljalandsfoss, Dettifoss
Thanks a lot in advance.
Hey Esha,
You’re going to love Iceland. The hike to the waterfalls can vary from 5 minutes to an hour depending on how close you want to get to them 😉 For instance, for Skogafoss, you can get a great view of the falls right from where you park the car, but if you want to hike to the top, you’ll need a good half an hour at least. The same holds true for all the falls except for Dettifoss for which you will have to walk for around 20 minutes from the parking space 🙂
Have a great trip and do share photos!
Thanks a ton for all the posts on Iceland with such great pictures and details. It helped us a lot on our recent trip to Iceland! It was a beautiful place. We were there was a much shorter duration (8 days) so made our plans differently, but your accounts on the places and other tips a tricks helped a lot!
Hey Sheetal – so happy to hear that. Thanks for reporting back and telling us what a great time you had in Iceland 🙂
hi guys,
love your blogs, pics and everything about your website. we are planning Iceland for 4 days. can you recommend the best of Iceland in these 4 days please.
thanks
shivani
Hey Shivani – you can stay in Reykjavik and explore the Golden Circle in those 4 days 🙂
After 8 Months of saving your website tab and well-thought-out Planning. Finally me and two of my friends made it to Iceland. We made a 5 day trip. The place is surreal and a thing of beauty. There were no much waste baskets around. But the place is unbelievably clean.Actually, There is no need to plan an itinerary; You just drive around the country and be amazed.Most of them speak proper english and are hospitable. Its a treat for the eyes when you are in Iceland. Iceland is like watching a nolan’s Movie; You get confused how alluring is the creation of Such a marvellous place.We Rented a camper and stayed in it. The food,Rental and shopping in Iceland are pretty expensive.Still we are not able to believe we made it to Iceland.
Glad we aren’t the only ones who think Iceland is special – you’re right- it truly is one of a kind 🙂
Great information – especially about then the biggest crowds come to the country and about the road conditions. Iceland definitely looks like a wonderful place to go on a road trip but it seems you have to plan ahead to get the most out of it.
Yes it definitely is better to plan ahead 🙂 Especially if you’re planning to go in July/August.
Hello!
It was very cool reading your road trip experience, and I would like to mimic most of it. Just wondering though, only staying 11 full days (12th day is flying out in the morning). If you do have suggestions, what would be the things to “cut out” or shorten (regrettably)?
Hey Steven – if you love nature and panoramas, then I’d suggest cutting out on the time in Reykjavik when you’re in Iceland. Have fun on your road trip in Iceland 🙂
Hi Savi
I loved reading this post, and I have a quick question for you…
I tried a few months ago to convince my parents to take us to Iceland this summer. I’ve been intrigued by it since a very young age. We usually do a nice family trip during the summer, but I was surprised that they turned down my proposition. I still really want to go through. I have an ample amount of money saved up to fund a one week vacation for myself, but I have a problem… I am only 18 years old and therefore not old enough to rent a car for myself. What should I do? Should I still go, and if not, what should I do instead?
Thanks ?
Hey you can take the hop on hop off bus that goes around Iceland, so you don’t need to drive and can still see most sights 🙂
Hey Guys – as always fascinated by your trips 🙂 Got inspired by you and travelled to South Africa and Sydney+Cairns+ New Zealand last year:)
We are thinking going to Iceland in October – would you recommend the same? If not, would love to hear from you on a 3 week suggestion for a trip in October.
Look forward to hearing from you. Loads of love
Hey Sabarish – October is a great time to visit Iceland. It can get quite cold but you might chance on the Northern Lights. The above itinerary is ideal for 3 weeks during winter months (October included) as daylight is limited and it takes more days to drive the same distances and enjoy the same places.Have fun 🙂
Thank you so much for this detailed itinerary of Iceland. My husband and I are planning a trip there for next year and I’m a little nervous about trying to find our way around if none of the street signs are in english. I have found sites of street signs in Iceland so we can study them but as far as getting to the popular tourist places, did you have any difficulty finding your way around? If you learn a basic knowledge of the signs do you think we would have any trouble finding the hotels and towns in out of the way places? I have a lot of questions that I don’t ever see addressed, like are there any public restrooms along the ring road? Are they in the gas stations and are there gas stations fairly frequently? Thanks for all your info!
hey Sheila – would highly recommend renting a car with a GPS or just using live Google Maps to find your way around Iceland. There are gas stations and restrooms along the Ring Road but not too many of them. You might have to resort to doing your business in the Icelandic wilderness, so make sure you carry a roll of toilet paper along with you.
Hello Savi and Vid- Love your travel stories. I have been following you guys for over a year now and every trip of yours is better than the other. We are planning a trip to Iceland and i was wondering if early June will be a decent time? Thanks so much, Afreen
Hey Afreen,
Thanks a lot 🙂 yes early June is a great time – we were there at this time only and enjoyed the fact that there were fewer tourists 🙂
Hi Guys!!! Couldn’t help but to leave a comment since I am sure I will get a reply 😉 You guys are so adorable 🙂 Love Love and love the post and both of you. Savi, you are so cute!!! 🙂 🙂
Thanks a million Nikita – that means the world to us 🙂
Reading your article I am reliving my solo trip to Iceland. Of course I didn’t drive as I didn’t want to take too much risk alone in a new conutry. But your post definitely giving me goals of roadtrip with other half & our son.
Hey Amruta – hope you make it back to Iceland soon. It’s a special country and you’ll love it so much 🙂
Lovely article! This will definitely help me in planning a trip to Iceland! You guys are adorable. God bless. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed reading this itinerary of Iceland Aditi 🙂
Hi Savi & Vid,
Loved the article and some great suggestions as usual from you guys. Just one quick question though, many tripadvisor reviews suggests that driving can be really hazardous in winter in Iceland. How difficult will it be for us who only have experience of driving in Indian conditions.
Hi Arindam,
Yes, driving in Iceland in winters can be tricky, especially for people who are not so experienced driving in Europe. It helps to apply common sense i.e. if the weather is forecast to be bad, don’t drive, listen to locals’ advice when it comes to driving etc.
It’s amazing road trip your guys experienced. I love every bits of your trip. I used to live in Norway and missed it so much, especially those long Summer nights.
Thank you for all amazing details and photos from the Iceland road trip you wrote. One question I have is, do we need to hire a GPS or just purchase a SIM card in Iceland?
Hey
A SIM card in Iceland might be more logical as you can use it for maps as well as for other purposes 🙂
Helpful Article. Thanks for sharing this information. This information will really help me in my planning and on this road trip as well.
Great! Happy to have helped in planning your road trip in Iceland
A beautiful Hello to Savi and Vid from NJ !
What a fantastic thorough resource. Thanks a ton for sharing your detailed itinerary with pics. Your information was everything I was looking for while planning our trip to Iceland and we would have never come across Ytri Vik if not for your pics ?
We just got back from our road trip in Iceland with our almost 9 n 3 year old and just had the time of our lives. The earth is indeed alive in Iceland.
I’m sure everyone has their share of favorites in Iceland but my highlight of the trip being the cottage at Ytri Vik.
Cheers to both of you. You guys are D BEST !!!
So so happy to hear this Sonam. Please do send us photos of your time at Ytri Vik on our email address – we’d love to share them with our readers 🙂
After a lot of research, I had narrowed down to two destinations for honeymoon one of them being Iceland. Yet was not completely sure about Iceland. But after reading your blog, i immediately locked the destination. My trip was also scheduled in May end (got married on 17th May) .
Some of the hotels were different, but Ytri Vik was one of them and it was the most peaceful/relaxing/beautiful 3 days.
Iceland is a picture perfect country. It was the most amazing 17 days in Iceland. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thank you Vid-Savi 🙂
Cheers !!
So happy to hear that Vishal ☺️ Glad we could help with your special trip to Iceland ☺️
This brings back so many memories! We went on a road trip in Iceland for our honeymoon!
Awesome!!…I might contact you in future for a little guidance..;-)
we were thinking of hiring a campervan so that we can avoid the hotel costs on the entire journey . How feasible is that . what woudl you recommend pros and cons. Its me and my husband
Great idea. We’ve seen lots of people do that. There are tons of pros of driving a campervan in Iceland. The only cons are convenience (cooking, staying in a restricted space) and cold (as the weather is unpredictable)
First of all, thanks for the amazing tips. They are so useful in our planning and make life so much easier for amateur travellers like us!
We are planning a trip to Iceland in early September. We have 3-4 days where we plan to stay in Reykjavik and explore places around there. Thereafter, our friend joins us and we plan to get on with the ring road trip for 8 days. Do you think it will be possible to cover Snæfellsnes peninsula and Westfjords if we have 8 full days on the road before we fly out on the 9th day? We would really like to cover it if possible?
Cheers!
Westfjords will be pushing it but you can definitely do Snæfellsnes in those 8 days – in fact that’s what we did too 🙂
We are planning for a Road trip to Iceland this summer. How do we get the international driving license as we will be travelling from India ?
I think there you can apply for one at your local DMV office.
Gorgeous pics which made us plan our next holiday in Iceland!!
Just a question though, how easy/difficult would it be for Indian drivers to drive in Icelandic conditions in winter (Right hand drive, winter roads etc) ? What was your experience like?
Hi,
Thanks! If you have never driven in Europe / US, then it might be a bit of a challenge to drive in Iceland in winter conditions. If you have driven in Europe/US before, then it should be fine. Just get the hang of driving in winter conditions the first day or two and you should be fine. Please always listen to locals’ advice when it comes to where/when to go and watching the live road conditions.
Iceland is my dream destination and i don’t skip any blogs and video related to Iceland. I enjoyed the way you shared Iceland road trip. I would love to say that being at Iceland is like a treat. Thanks for inspiring people across the globe.
Nice information shared good work. Gorgeous pics which made us plan our next holiday in Iceland!!
Absolutely loved this post very much. Pictures are amazing and yes this place must be much more beautiful than all the pictures. Would love to go on a road trip like this on my motorcycle.
Wonderful post. I would love to share our experience with our 2 year old kid, cause maybe someone reading this post is interested in knowing what to expect when going with a toddler. Hope you don’t mind.
https://www.pieypata.com/en/iceland-with-kids/
Thanks – yes that’s a good idea.
Thanks for creating the amazing and interesting content with us.
Really amazing post. The Article was really helpful to me. Thanks
Thank you !
nice travel blog. good pictures
Nice to see 2 weeks set aside for a full circle of the ring road. Often I see posts where people cover the route in 7 days. Personally I feel it’s best to take things steady and see the sights properly and try and get off the main tourist trail. Very impressive post.
http://www.driventonature.com
nice post
Thanks for sharing the info, keep up the good work going…. I really enjoyed exploring your site.
Thank you for sharing this information; keep up the good work. I had a great time looking through your website.
Thank you for writing such a thorough essay. All of the locations are stunning to visit, and this is soo cool!! This was a lot of fun to read. Thank you so much for sharing your photographs and itinerary ! Excellent design!!
Hello, I discovered many places I have not seen in this article, you can also visit my blog for more different places.
https://touristify.live
Thank you for your information.
great article.. thanks for the information..
Thank you so much for your amazing tips for Iceland! I will be traveling there soon.
Thanks for your valuable knowledge because of this i use to updated, thanks for sharing this wonderful article. They are really so nice article shared!
Thanks Savi and Vid for sharing your lovely travel stories and inspiring us, have a bucket list because of following your travels all these years!
Planning to do this iconic Iceland road trip over end of March – 1st week April Easter break from UK but can manage only 10 days including travel days. Had couple of questions.
1. Is that time of a year good to visit Iceland. I see we will have about 13 hours of day light so does not sound too bad.
2. What can we cut down on to bring the itinerary to fit 9 full days, day 10 will have to fly out in morning
3. Assuming during this time there may still be opportunity to see northern lights, which area is well suited to plan this
Enjoy your time in Kazakhsthan 🙂
HEy Avinash,
Thanks! yes March is a great time for ICeland as the chances of Northern Lights are high. 9 days in March might not be enough to do the ehole ring road. So you can start at Reykjavik and maybe go uptil Jokulsarlon and back, then you can go to Snaefellsness for the last 2 days. On a clear day, you can even see the lights in Jokulsarlon. Snaefellsness is a good area for Northern Lights viewing as well
Wow! You guys went literally through all stages of paradise, each place more beautiful than the last! I’m so excited for my trip! But I really want to see the northern lights so I will risk it with the cold. Thank you for the tips!
Northern lights in Iceland are absolutely beautiful