This is Iceland
Land created and carved from wind, fire and ice.
It was day 10 of our 14 day vacation before I even realized that Iceland, the place we were currently in, was my 50th country. Whoops.
I’ve been traveling internationally since I was 18. My first country (because the Canadian side of Niagara Falls doesn’t count) was Ecuador on a 10 day spring break trip with a friend from college. It was my first real taste of what the world outside of the US was like and I was infatuated. Then study abroad came my final fall semester of college and I was in a new European place almost every weekend for 5 months. I traveled more than I attended classes (with the encouragement of professors), and had been eyeing Iceland the whole time. But as a broke college student paying for all travels on my own, there was no way I could afford it.
Cut to 10 years later, and with the company of two equally adventurous friends, we planned out a 2 week road trip around Ring Road.
Can you share your itinerary?
Of course. We did a ton each day though, so I’ll have to break it out into multiple Google Map routing links. In general, we started in Reykjavik and moved clockwise around the island. In addition to the links below, here’s a map of nature, cities to stop in and interesting things to do to use as a beginning step.
Day 1: Reykjavik to Þingvellir National Park (link)
Day 2: Reykjavik exploration (link)
Day 3: Westfjords area (link)
Day 4: Northwest Iceland (link)
Day 5: North and Northeast Iceland (link)
Day 6: Diamond Circle (link)
Day 7: rest day
Day 8: Northeast Iceland (link)
Day 9: rest day
Day 10: East Iceland (link)
Day 11: Southeast Iceland (link)
Day 12: South Iceland (link)
Day 13: Blue Lagoon (link)
What would you change about your trip?
Not much to be honest. Maybe do a bit more research about how far away things are from one another, or the accessibility of roads. Even though we went in the first half of October, and most roads were still easy to travel down, we did run into a couple issues in northern Iceland. I might also plan for less time in northwest and northeast Iceland unless it was summer time. Not a whole lot to do unless you’re into small museums and bird watching.
Going clockwise around the island was actually a pretty good move for us. It was exciting enough to keep us mesmerized and engaged and wowed, and a great build up to the mind-blowing sights in southern Iceland. Also, if we were to have gone counter clockwise around we wouldn’t have had an absolutely breathtaking view of a canyon on route 95 on the way to Breiðdalsheiði.
What should I make sure to have in advance of this road trip?
1. A local SIM card (or Google Fi / T-Mobile data) is a must. Most of the country has pretty good cell phone coverage, despite some spotty areas in the mountains. And every Airbnb we went to had wifi. But honestly, our car’s GPS sucked and Icelandic radio stations get old after the first 15 hours. So a local SIM for navigation, music and any emergency needs is a must. You can find one of these in the 10–11 Convenience store in Keflavik Airport for $35 USD. It’ll be for 10GB of data and on the NOVA network.
2. Gloves, thermal underwear and a windproof / waterproof jacket is a must. And hiking boots with socks of course. I’m not typically a glove person, but damn was it frigid in spots. Pair that with my windproof jacket, thermal leggings under normal leggings and warm hiking socks for my boots—I ended up doing pretty well. One other thing: layers, layers, layers. They’re your best friend for body temp control.
Any other tips?
1. As you’ve probably heard, everything is expensive. I had a terrible pizza and small coke in one town that ran me about $30 USD. So go grocery shopping when you can to cook at your Airbnbs and take a load off of always eating out. Also, just resolve yourself to having a big credit card bill when you get home. It’ll be fine.
2. If you’re a seafood person, eat fish. All the fish you can find. We ate at Messinn in Reykjavik and had super delicious filets in sizzling skillets. The best fish and chips I had on the whole island was at a tiny joint named Arnarbaer Restaurant in the Westfjords. For lobster, have some in Höfn as they’re well known for it.
3. Hotdogs. Just eat all of them because they’re so damn good. Baejarins Best Plysur in Reykjavik is something I dreamed about afterwards. The locals prefer Pulsuvagninn in Keflavík by the airport. Get your dogs with all the toppings — don’t dare skimp on the crispy onions — and enjoy.
4. A bunch of people say to go to the Blue Lagoon within a day or so of landing to relax. I’m someone that just wants to get going on the adventure, so I actually preferred the lagoon on the day we flew out. Definitely book your spot a few days in advance and spring for the premium category if you can. Worth it.
5. Get ready to develop a strong dislike of photographers with tripods. Tours of them roam the island in vans and swarm all the best spots at the most pristine photo opp times. Ultimately ruining it for everyone else. So when you see them, do your best to run ahead.
Get ready for some photogenic natural wonders around every turn.
“The problem with driving around Iceland is that you’re basically confronted by a new soul-enriching, breath-taking, life-affirming natural sight every five goddamn minutes.” — Stephen Markley
