Iceland Ring Road
Travel around the iconic Iceland Ring Road with this ten day photo series.
Iceland changed my life. It inspired me, it humbled me, its beauty made me cry.
Try to imagine spending your days seeing one major landmark after another, each taking your breath away more than the last one did. It’s the summer solstice and you have the landmark all to yourself with a burning orange sunset at 12am. The wildflowers are in full bloom and the animals all have a trail of babies following them. The sprinkling rain and sound of massive waterfalls is cleansing and you’re so remote that none of your worries matter. That’s what Iceland was for me for 10 days straight.
My husband, Alex, and I both had Iceland at the top of our bucket lists when we met, so we knew we wanted to go for our honeymoon. We saved extra cash each month for a couple of years and asked our friends and family to donate to our Iceland Honeyfund at our wedding last fall. That gave us plenty of time to research and plan for all the stops we wanted to make.
Here is our Iceland Ring Road 10 day itinerary and photos:
Day one
We picked up our campervan from Kuku Campers as soon as we landed in Keflavik. We went grocery shopping at Bonus, and immediately hit the road!
Stops: Seijalandsfoss, Skógafoss, Kvernufoss
Sad story, but Alex crashed his DJI drone on our first day in Iceland at Kvernufoss. We were really looking forward to capturing drone shots of our Iceland trip, but he tried to fly it through the canyon and one of the blades hit a rock as it plummeted down into the glacial waters. He did say he wanted to do a polar plunge on this trip, so… we got the drone back.
To our surprise, drones were forbidden all around Iceland (pretty much at every landmark) so we wouldn’t have been able to use it anyway.
Food: Issi Fish and Chips
We unapologetically went to Issi Fish and Chips 3 times during our trip because it was so delicious. It’s right by the Keflavik airport and easy to swing by.
Camp: Vik camp site
Has a kitchen, bathroom, and showers. I quickly learned that “nakedness” is not a thing in Europe when I saw most of the showers were just one shared room with multiple shower heads. I am humbled to say I took the shower and just gonna call it a part of my Iceland experience lol.
Total drive time: 3 hours
Day Two
We continued to sight-see through South Iceland. There was a moment when I looked out the car window and saw a stampede of Icelandic horses running by, wondering how on Earth we had been gifted with an experience like that without paying. It happened twice during our trip.
Stops: Dyrholaey, Reynisfjara black sand beach, Fjadrargljufur canyon, Svartifoss
Reynisfjara is the most well-known black sand beach in Iceland, so it was crazy packed when we got there. It truly was just so beautiful with its black sand and towering basalt columns.
Food: Homemade in camper van
Our Kuku campervan came with a portable gas stove which was so useful! We made eggs, bacon, toast, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, and boiled water for ramen and coffee.
Camp: Skaftafell camp site
Has a sink, bathroom, laundry, and showers. Svartifoss trail is accessible from the campsite so we set up camp and hiked to the waterfall in the midnight sun.
Total drive time: 3 hours
Day three
This was my favorite day. Kayaking in the glacier lagoon through Arctic Adventures was a euphoric experience. We saw seals and a glacier capsize (from afar) while we were in the lagoon. The glaciers in Jökulsárlón break apart and drift over to Diamond beach, washing the ice up to the shore until they look like diamond crystals on the black sand.
We made our way to Vestrahorn Beach hoping to see the famous reflective shores but stumbled upon an abandoned Viking Village and found ourselves to be the only ones there. The fog came down super low and a crowd of friendly Icelandic horses came right up to us out of nowhere. This was one of those moments I had to be pinched to believe it was real life.
As if it couldn’t get any better, an arctic fox ran by us when we were on our way out. I learned what sound a fox makes — it’s more, “what does the fox screech” lol.
Stops: Jökulsárlón, Diamond beach, Vestrahorn viking village
Food: Pakkhús
Alex and I are major foodies and we both agreed that this was one of the best restaurants we have ever tried. The baked brie appetizer is something I’m still thinking about.
Camp: Stöðvarfjörður
Has a sink, bathroom, laundry, and showers.
Total drive time: 5 hours
Day four
We continued to explore the East coast of Iceland. Traffic really dies down here as most people stop their adventure after South Iceland. We made so many stops along the road just to sit and look at the coast — it was so therapeutic.
Stops: Stuðlagil Canyon, Dettifoss
Stuðlagil Canyon was one of the highlights planned for our trip, but no one prepared me for how challenging it was to reach. You have to drive along an unpaved road for around 20 minutes, then park and walk along a trail for another hour. There are some pretty steep rock columns to climb down once you get to the canyon. Luckily, someone from somewhere tied a rope around one of the rocks for everyone to hold on to, otherwise I would not have been able to climb down. I know they will never see this, but seriously, thank you person for doing that.
Dettifoss is the most powerful waterfall in all of Europe, so plan to be soaked in waterfall mist by the time you leave.
Food: Homemade in camper van
Camp: Kópasker
Tiny little camp site with a single bathroom and shower. It felt like we had the place all to ourselves.
Total drive time: 5 hours
Day five
Today we entered North Iceland, which displays the breathtaking Húsavík mountains most of the commute. The mountains are made of black lava rock but capped with white snow, the stark contrast making for a stunning view.
We started the day early with some whale watching through North Sailing Whale and Puffin Tour. We saw a blue whale, fin whale, and PUFFINS! The boat took us by Lundey Island, aka puffin island, which is a super small and they hysterically plant sheep there to graze in the summer and remove them again in the fall.
Then we made our way to Myvatn Baths to decompress. It smelled like sulfur (rotten eggs) but it was still a relaxing experience.
Something no one told us about summertime Iceland: there are a million little flies called midges, EVERYWHERE. Apparently they are super important for the ecological health of Iceland, but they sure are annoying. Myvatn is Icelandic for midges, and Myvatn Baths are named after them. So we literally went to “midge baths” lol.
Goðafoss was our favorite waterfall of the entire trip. It was just so majestic with multiple overlooks and spaces to watch the falls. We also got there at the start of golden hour at 9pm so we watched the sun go down and it’s probably one of my favorite memories with my husband.
Stops: Húsavík Whale and Puffin tour, Myvatn Baths, Krafla Crater, Goðafoss, Akureyri
Food: Homemade in camper van, Blaa Kannan Cafe
When we got to the town of Akureyri, I was dying for some boujee coffee and found some at Blaa Kannan Cafe. Akureyri was such a cute town — the stoplights were heart-shaped!
Camp: Svarfaðarbraut
My favorite campsite of the trip - it was so beautiful with the Húsavík mountains outside of our van windows! It had bathrooms, showers, a washing machine, and sinks for washing dishes.
Total drive time: 4 hours
Day six
The only thing we planned today was the Bjorboðin Beer Spa (husband choice, obviously) as we knew we’d probably be pretty tired. It was basically a bath full of beer with beer-on-tap at arms reach. At first I was not interested, but the bath felt spa-like and is supposed to be good for your skin! It’s a mixture of beer, water, hops and yeast. I probably wouldn’t do it again, but watching my husband geek out over it was fun.
After the beer bath we decided to do another whale tour. It was just so amazing the first time and I wanted to go again. We saw maybe 3-5 different humpback whales!
I didn’t realize until we were on our way to camp that it was the Summer Solstice (longest day of sunlight in Iceland) and we were gifted with the most amazing sunset ever. I also didn’t realize that it was freaking BABY ICELANDIC HORSE SEASON until we saw a ton of them off the side of the road which made my heart explode.
Stops: Bjorboðin Beer spa and restaurant
Food: Bjorbodin Beer spa and restaurant
Camp: Hólabraut 35
There were bathrooms, showers, a kitchen, and a nice cliff nearby to climb and watch the sunset.
Total drive time: 2.5 hours
Day seven
Today was pretty chill. We planned a few small stops while we made the trek to Reykjavík!
Stops: Hvitserkur, Kolungjufur canyon, Hraunfossar waterfalls
Food: Homemade in campervan
Camp: Akranes
This was a small little campsite by the west coast with bathrooms and showers.
Total drive time: 4.5 hours
Day eight
I’m just gonna call day 8 our blue lagoon travesty.
We returned our camper van rental and made our way to the airport get our regular car rental. That’s when we learned that we accidentally booked our pickup time for 11pm instead of 11am, and they had no other cars available for us. We had tickets to the blue lagoon at 12pm so I was freaking out and immediately rescheduled our blue lagoon reservation for 2pm.
Luckily, the blue lagoon offers a shuttle service to and from the airport and they have a station at the entrance to hold your luggage. There was no scheduled shuttle available so we took a taxi that we paid way too much for at around $70. We ended up getting there faster than I expected (at 12pm) and I asked if we could have our original reservation time back. They had already given the time slot away, so me and Alex sat there waiting for 2 hours, regretting all of our choices haha.
The blue lagoon was incredible as expected, though. It was sprinkling rain the whole time which made it 10x better.
Stops: Blue Lagoon
Food: Issi Fish & Chips, Sægreifinn, Braud & Co
I didn’t even know I liked lobster soup until I tried Sægreifinn’s lobster soup.
Also, Braud & Co bakery was so delicious — we went here twice during our trip. They are known for their cinnamon rolls but I got the vanilla nougat croissant with Nutella inside and I had zero regrets.
Sleep: AirBnB townhouse in Reykjavík
Day nine
I felt like we didn’t get to see puffins as up close as I wanted to, so I scoured the internet trying to find out how to see them. I stumbled across a post on Reddit saying to take a ferry to the Vestmannaeyjar Islands. We took our rental car on the ferry, drove as far south on the island as we could until we found a little green hut that was built into the cliff side. This was a puffin viewpoint and we saw hundreds of puffins just 10 feet away. THIS WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE (I cried).
We returned back to Reykjavík and then drove around the famous Golden Circle! Driving the Golden Circle can easily be done in one day.
Stops: Vestmannaeyjabaer Islands, Geysir, Gullfoss, Þingvellir National Park
Food: Friðheimar
Friðheimar restaurant is famous for its fresh, farm-to-table tomatoes which they grow right inside the restaurant. The reservations were booked out for an entire year so we took a chance to do a walk-in and waited about 2 hours for a table.
Sleep: AirBnB townhouse in Reykjavík
Day ten
We spent our last full day in Iceland sight-seeing in Reykjavík! Parking is absolutely horrendous in Reykjavík and I have literally no advice other than plan to walk, a lot.
Stops: Harpa concert hall, Sun Voyager sculpture, Hallgrímskirkja church, Iceland Phallological Museum, The Settlement Exhibition
The “phallological museum” is Iceland’s famous penis museum and I was laughing because it was surprisingly cute and modern inside. I also left with an aggressive amount of animal penis facts that I really didn’t need to know, for example, I am actually the size of a sperm whale penis. Like, just the penis, LOL.
Food: Bæjarins beztu hot dog stand, Te & Kaffi, Café Loki
I kept hearing about how good the hotdog stand in Iceland was, made famous by Bill Clinton. I sadly didn’t care for it, so Alex had 2.
We really wanted to try traditional Icelandic food so we made reservations at Café Loki. They had the yummiest rye bread ice cream that I wish I got 5 of.
Sleep: AirBnB townhouse in Reykjavík
Day eleven
This sadly marked the end of our trip, but we made sure to get one last Issi Fish & Chips on the way to the airport.
I really do think we made the most of our trip and I wouldn’t have changed a single thing, but if we ever get a chance to go back, I definitely want to explore the Westfjords of Iceland! Most people don’t make it to the fjords because you have to have a 4x4 to drive through it (our campervan sadly was not a 4-wheel drive). But from what I hear, these fjords are pretty empty, have stunning, untouched landscapes, and are puffin-filled.
traveling to iceland: my personal recommendations
When should you go?
Plan to go in the summer if you really want to make the most out of your time there. Iceland summers in July are 24 hours of daylight so you’ll never feel rushed for time trying to chase the sunlight. The only thing you will miss out on is the northern lights, but I think the flip side has far more advantages.
How long should you go?
Driving the ring road around Iceland takes at least 7 days, but I’d recommend to stretch it out as long as you can. There are endless landmarks and experiences all around Iceland and you will never run out of things to do.
How should you commute?
Iceland caters to those who want to camp offering several camper van rental companies plus camp sites all around the Ring Road. I honestly couldn’t imagine doing it any other way — taking a camper van gives you the freedom and flexibility of going anywhere you want, at any time of day.
How is the weather?
The weather changes every 5 minutes in Iceland. Seriously, it would be raining and cloudy one minute and sunny the next. I will say it rains very often, so you’ll need to be flexible to move around your plans.
what to bring to iceland in the summer
Head-to-toe waterproof clothes
Even in the middle of summer, you will need to plan to get wet almost half of the time. We wore our waterproof pants and jackets every single day.
Beanie and gloves
It’s not typical to need a beanie and gloves in the summer, but you will absolutely need them in Iceland. The weather fluctuated between 30-60 degrees, some days with biting winds.
Hiking boots
Plan to do a lot of walking/hiking at every stop you make. There are so many different terrains to walk over in Iceland, so I’d recommend weather-proof shoes with ankle support.
Lots of socks
Pack a pair of socks for each day, then double it. You won’t regret it.
Waterproof bags
Me and Alex kept raving about how glad we were to have both picked up a WANDRD Rogue Sling right before the trip. We needed something to hold our camera gear, and it made it so easy to hike around hands-free. The best part is it literally saved our gear from getting saturated or ruined with all the rain and waterfall mist.
Waterproof Sandals
You’ll probably read mixed reviews on this one, but I’m SO glad I brought sandals on this trip! Me and Alex both brought waterproof sandals and wore them every evening at the campsites (you REALLY will want to wear them as shower shoes in the shared facilities) and at all the hot springs.
Mesh shower bag
Speaking of shower shoes, you definitely want to bring some kind of mesh, waterproof bag for your toiletries if you are staying at campsites every night. I couldn’t imagine throwing my loofah, shampoo, conditioner, and soap on the ground in the shared showers. I also accidentally left my face wash behind at one of the camp sites the ONE time I didn’t use my shower bag.
Eye mask
You’ll need to prepare for 24 hours of daylight, even when you sleep!
French press
This is for the coffee drinkers. While Kuku Campers had a french press available to rent, I wanted to bring my own favorite Stanley classic travel coffee mug french press. It’s a two-in-one and so easy to travel with.
I truly hope every person has an opportunity to explore the beauty and majesty of Iceland at some point in their lives. Traveling the ring road has been an unforgettable experience that really impacted my life.
Thanks for reading!