Roadtrip around Iceland (one of the most epic ones!) plus itinerary and tips in the text
During early September we have taken a 2-week-long trip around Iceland. And I must say.. it was unreal. But let me speak realistically about the trip - hopefully it will be useful for someone.
Canyons, waterfalls, glaciers, rivers, fjords, small cute cities, lagoons and geysers, signs of volcanic activity, black beaches, whales and other animals.. it’s quite hard to explain. Some places were like from another planet. It's not a coincidence that Interstellar, Game of Thrones or Star Wars had some scenes filmed there!
Check the photos, they say more than any words.
About our trip:
For a day-to-day plan check our itinerary below (if you use the Rdytofly app you can just copy it into your account and adjust anything you would like):
https://rdytofly.com/public/da6f8c06-d0b0-43ad-8cc4-ca28c585df44
You can pretty much see everything here, even some hidden gems. There are so many interesting places but places I would say BE SURE not to miss under any condition are:
Jökulsárlón (glacier lagoon) and Diamond Beach, Stokksnes, Skógafoss, Geysir, one glacier at least (Sólheimajökull, Skaftafellsjökull or Svínafellsjökull), Vík, Hverir, Ytri Tunga Beach, Reykjavík center.
There is one main road - Ring Road - and a lot of interesting places are quite close. We have chosen Blue Car Rental and a 4x4 Dacia Duster (cca 1.7k EUR for 2 weeks, child seat included). I would recommend that company, everything was quite smooth and I haven’t found anything cheaper (maybe consider sleeping in some kind of van, so you save on accommodation, but I haven’t checked those prices). Be careful with parking (download the Parka app), it is paid at almost every interesting place and they have cameras. We did the road anti-clockwise but I think that it does not matter. Next time I really would like to drive the opposite way and include the Westfjords (we simply did not have space to include them).
Important: the south, southwest and part of the west were still quite touristy. For top spots try early or a bit later. It is still beautiful, but at least try to avoid bus tours. As soon as you hit Stokksnes 90% of people disappear. The east and northeast were almost empty.
Iceland is also expensive so plan your budget accordingly - we have not been visiting restaurants, mostly were buying grocery in Krónan or Bonus and preparing the food ourselves.
Take also your swimwear - Iceland has plenty of lagoons and hot springs, so even in winter its quite.. warming! But tourism has destroyed some natural places available before. I can recommend Earth Lagoon in Mývatn area. Its completely new, in the middle of fascinating volcanic landscape.
Also - be prepared for ANY weather. We had days when we basically had 8 different conditions: strong wind, clear sky, rain, extreme cold. You can have anything so have layers and ideally always have clothes in reserve. Don’t buy water -> Iceland has very clean water everywhere. Try Icelandic sweets - I loved Rís, the caffeine drink Collab or the Lava snack
We also saw Aurora! But your biggest enemy are clouds! If it’s clear (does not have to be completely) and you are at darker places, chances are quite high. We saw 2 very strong and one 1 light during 12 nights but could have been lucky.
Iceland is a fascinating country. I felt like every day was a different country/landscape. And two weeks for the roadtrip I would say is a minimum - it was still plenty of driving - 2500 km. We did it with 2,5yr old son and he enjoyed the nature too.
Any questions let me know, happy to give any advice if I feel competent to give it!