Adventure / North Atlantic
An Iceland Road Trip for the Wild at Heart
Iceland · 9 min read
Route 1 runs thirteen hundred kilometres around Iceland and passes through most of what people come here to see. It can be driven in seven days and should be driven in ten.
The south is spectacular and busy. The east and north are where the trip becomes yours.
The south coast
Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, the black sand at Reynisfjara and the glacier lagoon at Jokulsarlon are the greatest hits and they earn it. They are also the busiest stops in the country between ten and four.
Drive them early or late. At Reynisfjara, stay well back from the water: the sneaker waves here are genuinely dangerous and take visitors most years.
East and north
The east fjords are the quietest stretch of the ring road, a slow succession of inlets, fishing villages and hairpin roads with almost no traffic. Allow two nights.
In the north, Myvatn has geothermal fields, lava formations and a nature bath that is far calmer than the famous lagoon. Akureyri is the only real town, and Husavik nearby is the best whale watching in the country.
Driving and weather
Wind is the main hazard. Hold car doors with both hands, check road.is and vedur.is every morning, and never drive an F road without a proper four wheel drive.
In winter the ring road is drivable but demanding and daylight is short. A first visit is easier in June to September, when the light barely stops.
Costs
Iceland is expensive and there is no clever way around it. Guesthouses with shared kitchens, supermarket lunches and one restaurant meal a day is how most people manage it.
The hot pools, the waterfalls and the drives, which are the actual reason you came, are almost all free.
Why it is worth the effort
No other country puts this much geology within reach of a tarmac road.
Book accommodation ahead in summer, then leave the daily plan open and follow the weather.
