*Some of the links used in this post are affiliate links – there is no difference in cost to you but we do get a small commission if you book or buy through the link. As always, we only ever recommend accommodation that we have stayed at or things that we use ourselves.
So we’re going to give you our full 10 Day Iceland Ring Road itinerary that shows you everything you need to know, a few tips from our mistakes, some great places to stay and hopefully convinces you that you NEED to do this trip one day!
When to go
We visited in late May and found it to be a really good time to go. We beat the huge crowds that come with the summer high season as people flock to Iceland for the midnight sun. We also missed road closures due to heavy snow. There were a couple of times (especially in north Iceland) where it snowed or we had to divert to another road because of side roads being closed but for the most part everything was open.
Late May was cool (temperatures were in the low teens in celsius) but we found the cool weather wasn’t too bad and it was worth it to avoid the crowds. We also got to enjoy very late sunsets as the sun was still setting after 11pm and getting later every day (this makes long road trip days much better as you can avoid driving in the dark). I think late May/June is a great time to go.
The photo below shows how light it is in May around 11pm.
Vehicle: Suzuki Grand Vitara 4wd
If you’re going to do a road trip around the Iceland Ring Road you are definitely going to need a 4wd. Even though most of the highways are paved and great to drive on, there were a few times our GPS took us on an offroad adventure (the GPS was already installed in the car – no need to hire separately for us although this may not be the case for you).
One time the offroad adventure proved to be the most time efficient route, another was the only option and then there was the time it took us through farm lands where we had to dodge sheep and pot holes and if we had stayed on the main road, it would’ve taken us half the time with a less stressful drive (we didn’t have a solid cellphone signal and were in the middle of nowhere so constantly worried we’d get stranded by a flat tire or similar issue).
All that to say a) Don’t always trust your GPS and b) Hire a 4wd.
We booked our 4wd with Reykjavik Rent-A-Car who are one of the few hire places that have automatics for a reasonable price. This was important because neither of us can drive stick. Yep.
They were really helpful and the car we got was great! Reykjavik Rent-A-Car even have discounts for car hire’s over 7 days so check them out.
We also read that you needed to top up a fuel card while in Reykjavik as most gas stations are pay at the pump and they don’t accept cash. Especially those that aren’t manned in remote sections of the Ring Road.
We didn’t get a fuel card and found it to be completely unnecessary as all major credit cards were accepted. But do ask when you pick up your hire car for a fuel discount card. It’ll save you a few króna which you can put towards the expensive food & booze. We were given an N1 card when we picked up our card and found these to be the most common stations around the route.
One other car related tip: ALWAYS fill up when you are near a petrol station. At one point in our trip in the north east of Iceland we passed up the opportunity to fill up because “meh, we’ve got over half a tank, I’m sure there’ll be another petrol station soon”. Turned out the next one was a long way away and we only just made it there without running out of petrol. I had already accepted the worst case scenario and was plotting how we’d fend for ourselves and forage for food.
Given parts of Iceland can be quite remote and 4wds can guzzle gas quickly, I’d fill up at every opportunity!
TIP: Stock up on snacks at the Bonus grocery store
Our favourites were nuts, beef jerky, chocolate licorice, apples and our new favourite thing in the world (at least for that weeklong road trip): Ris Buffs. Ris Buffs are chocolate covered marshmallows that had crispy rice bubble bits in the chocolate. I’m pretty sure they were solely responsible for about a kg of weight gain each in a week and we couldn’t stop eating them.
Where to stay in Iceland
We include the places we stayed for each day of our 10 day tour of Iceland below in the itinerary but here’s a summary of the options we chose (and were very happy with). We were looking for free WIFI, free parking, decent food options, great locations (close to the ring road and towns), reasonable prices and good reviews so all of the below hotels and guesthouses met these conditions.
Reykjavik (1 night) – Hotel Holt
Hveragerði (1 night) – Varmi Guesthouse Apartments in Hveragerði (large rooms and we could self cater there as you also have a small kitchen)
Holt (1 night) – Hotel Anna
Höfn (1 night) – Seljavellir Guesthouse
Husavik (3 nights) – Hotel Raudaskrida (2 awesome hot tubs available)
Fossatún (2 nights) – Fossatún Country Hotel
Reykjavik (1 night) – Airport Hotel Smári
The Ideal Iceland Ring Road Itinerary
Day 1 – Arrive at Keflavik Airport > Blue Lagoon > Reykjavik
We arrived at the Blue Lagoon around 5:00pm which turned out to be a great time to go as it wasn’t nearly as crowded as we were expecting it to be. It still took some time to get a locker so I can’t imagine what it would be like in high season. Would still recommend a visit and it was a nice way to relax after our flight and start off our road trip.
Stay at: Hotel Holt
Eat at: Lava Restaurant at Blue Lagoon
Day 2 – Reykavik > Snorkel Silfra > Öxarárfoss > Hveragerði
We spent the morning walking around Reykjavik and checking out Hallgrimskirkja church. The church has a very unique design which you can see below. You can go in for free but have to pay to go up the tower which we definitely recommend. The view from up there is amazing!
Eat at: We cooked our own nachos – we couldn’t find any restaurants we fancied and wanted to take advantage of having our own little kitchen to save some money.
We couldn’t find minced beef though (does it exist in Iceland?) so had to settle for chicken….just in case you need to know that information…and if you want sour cream then you’re actually on the lookout for sýrður rjómi.
Day 3 – Bruarfoss waterfall > Geysir > Gullfoss > Seljalandsfoss Waterfall (otherwise known as the Golden Circle)
We spent about an hour lost in a remote dirt road carpark/camping ground and the closest we got was finding the river. If you have better luck on your Iceland Ring Road trip then let us know what Bruarfoss is like!
My favourite was Seljalandsfoss; a big waterfall where you can get right up close to it and walk right in behind it. It was awesome. We even went went back to see it again the next morning since our hotel was only a 5 minute drive down the road and it was such a beautiful spot.
Stay at: Hotel Anna
Eat at: The hotel – we had the steak which was pretty good albeit a little overpriced. It was really the only option in the area though.
Day 4 – Skogarfoss > Black Beach > Vik > Fjaðrárgljúfur > Foss a Sidu > Svartifoss (Black Waterfall) > Jökulsárlón – Glacier Lagoon > Höfn
Otherwise known as The Day We Did Too Much. We totally underestimated how long we would spend at each of our stops on Day 4 of our Iceland road trip. In hindsight, I would split this day up into two so we could relax and take our time at each spot. Each place in Iceland is so different which makes it hard to leave and move on to the next spot. We planned on spending about 30 minutes at Skogarfoss but ending up staying for nearly TWO HOURS. We walked all around the base of the waterfall, got soaking wet, and hiked up to get a overhead view.
Black Beach was also a worthwhile stop as you really got to witness the rugged beauty and power of the sea on the South Coast of Iceland. If you’re heading to Vik for lunch then go to Black Beach first as it’s on the way. We didn’t realise that and drove right past the turn off only to have to back track an hour later to see Black Beach.
Stay at: Seljavellir Guesthouse
Eat at: Kaffi Hornið
Day 5 – Big Drive > Dettifoss > Grjotagja > Husavik
Day 5 of our Iceland road trip included a big drive from Hofn to Husavik with a stopover at the huge Dettifoss which turned out to be a bit hard to get to. One road was closed due to snow, another was missing a huge chunk at the turn off to it, and the third one worked a charm but did involve a hike through ice and snow. Grjotagja is another place that only exists on the internet (and that scene in Game of Thrones). We spent ages walking around looking for it with absolutely zero luck. We even ran in to another couple who had been looking for it even longer than us. Maybe we should’ve followed the first Grjotagja signs to exit the highway at the right place instead of following our trusted GPS directions?
Stay at: Hotel Raudaskrida for three nights!
Eat at: Subway for lunch at the first rest stop area/sign of civilisation in 4 hours. Salka in Husavik for a delicious dinner.
Day 6 – Whale Watching > Godafoss
It was a little disappointing because the whales were feeding and spent a lot of time just under the surface but was worth it nonetheless. The boat after us actually got to see the humpbacks breach a few times!
Godafoss was another favourite waterfall which makes sense since it translates to Waterfall of the Gods.
Eat at: Gamli Baukur
Day 7 – REST DAY!
Watch movies, read a book, and have the hotel manager ask if you’re sick because you haven’t left the room all day.
Eat at: Load up on the free buffet breakfast from the hotel then get yourself through the day on the snacks you bought from the Bonus the day before. Only leave your hotel room because Ris Buffs can only fill you up so much and you need dinner consisting of one of the best pizzas you’ll ever eat at Salka.
Day 8 – Deildartunguhver > Hraunfossar/Barnafoss
Deildartunguhver is a hot spring that generates power for most of western Iceland and it’s not worth stopping off at unless you really like clouds of steam and boiling water. And it was definitely not worth the crazy off road detour our GPS took us on. Keep on the main road and drive straight to Hraunfossar. This is without a doubt the most unique waterfall I’ve ever seen. The water flows through a lava field and appears seemingly out of nowhere.
Stay at: Fossatún Country Hotel for two nights!
Eat at: You don’t have much of a choice here. The hotel is the only place around for miles but luckily, the food is delicious and homey. The mushroom soup was particularly tasty and perfect for warming up. Breakfast is free but you have to pay extra for dinner. Luckily, the prices were very reasonable.
Day 9 – Grundarfjörður > Kirkjufell Mountain
We of course had to stop at the famous Kirkjufell Mountain to take our own snap of the iconic waterfall and mountain. The town itself was so sleepy and small that we almost felt like we were trespassing. It was a bit of a drive just to make this one stop but worth it for me anyway.
Day 10 – Drive back to Reykjavik
Stay at: Airport Hotel Smári
Day 11 – Fly back home 🙁
Try to come up with a realistic plan for missing your flight and stay in Iceland forever.
And if you have any questions about any of the details, just ask! We’d love to help.
*Some of the links used in this post are affiliate links – there is no difference in cost to you but we do get a small commission if you book or buy through the link. As always, we only ever recommend accommodation that we have stayed at or things that we use ourselves.
Great guide, looks like a dream itinerary! We are loving having the freedom of a car here in the US, it’s going to be hard giving our steed back again 🙁 Iceland looks like a great country to road trip though too; those Ris Buffs look awesome.
Ris buffs are awesome. I’d go back just to get another box! We’re already planning our next trip back to Iceland – just a great country in general!
If you only had 7 days, what would you take out?
Hi Carrie! Tough question. But if we only had 7 nights we’d probably skip the north section of Iceland. Most of the famous sights are on the South Coast (so days 1-4 on this post) and we wished we had spent a few more days exploring it than we did.
Hope you have a good trip! Any other questions, just let us know 🙂
Me and my husband are headed there in early June, we cant wait! loved your post, thanks for the tips:)
Have fun! It’s such a great country to road trip around. Let us know if you have any questions 🙂
If you like a lot of people in your photos, do go during the summer months. Also, the cost of lodging is substantially more. If you are flexible do your trip during the shoulder season, September-October, before the new winter season begin.
Thank you for the great post! I’m in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Iceland and I think this will help immensely! Do you have a rough number of how much this trip costs in total? (if you don’t mind me asking 🙂 )
Hi Brittany,
We spent about £2500 total for the two of us which covered everything including flights for our 10 day trip. Our rental car was around £600 so a cheaper route if you’re going solo might be by bus but then you don’t have the flexibility of a car.
We stayed in mid-range places and ate out at restaurants for most our meals so you could definitely do those things a bit cheaper as well.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
We are planning to go there ion May 15, 2020 and Thinking about staying for 12 days , I live your 10 days Itinerary ring Road Trio, will you recommend to buy SIM card and Internet while exploring Iceland ? And if we are staying and doing the 12 days. Any other places or off beaten path that you will recommend ? Thanks, you guys are awesome.
On your 10 day trip, how much do you think you spent on your car rental and insurance?
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your question! Our rental car originally cost 99,200 ISK (784 USD) but Reykjavik Rent A Car gives a discount if you rent between 7 and 13 days which brought the cost down to 89,280 ISK (706 USD). As for insurance, we opted for the Super Collision Damages Waiver so that our excess was much lower and that cost 2.350 ISK (18 USD) per day.
Hope that helps!
Hi, great post! It will be very useful in planning our trip to Iceland in October. What time did your flight arrive for you to get to the Blue Lagoon for 5pm? We get in at around 3:10pm and I was thinking of squeezing it in on the way from the airport to Reykjavik as it’s my husbands birthday that day… Do you think we’d have time for dinner too or just the pool?
Hi Alex,
Funnily enough our flight got in at 3:10pm too! We booked in dinner at the Lava Restaurant (which I highly recommend – you can see photos and rough costs here) at 7pm and felt like we had quite a bit of time so could definitely fit in dinner too. Would be a great birthday celebration!
Let us know if you have any other questions 🙂
I have a friend who traveled in late July and said compared to what we are used to in the NE United States..Jersey..
it wasn’t crowded at all. She spent around 10 days as well. What does “crowded” mean to you?
Sounds likea blast either way. Glad to read your blog!
Thanks!
Yeah Iceland crowds are probably nothing compared to what you can get at tourist sites in the US but I think a few of the Golden Circle spots in Iceland can get close (especially at peak season). Crowded to me involves queuing, taking a while to find a park and having to fight for a spot to take a photo. Outside of that Golden Circle area we had no crowds whatsoever and the places we visited on that part of the trip were even better too (worth the extra time and cost of hiring a car and driving a bit!).
SADcars rents cars (4WD also) for a fraction of the price of other car rental companies. We are using them for our trip there in September…we’ll let you know how it goes!
Good to hear of another good rental option – hope the trip went well!
Sounds like an awesome trip! What was your budget for the whole 11 days? Was it hard to stick to with food prices? Thanks!
It was definitely up there with our favourite trips! Budget crept up to just over £2k I think (including flights, car rental, petrol, accommodation etc). Car rental and accommodation were the big costs for us and we didn’t notice food being too bad (but then we were coming from London). We weren’t being too budget conscience really so you can definitely do it cheaper and find cheaper places to stay but the biggest thing I’d do differently to cut costs would be to get a group together to share the cost of the car (we tried and failed!). We could easily have fit 5 in our car (and that cost about $784 USD alone) so with that and the fact our accommodation often could fit more than the 2 of us, we could have probably almost halved the cost of the trip by sharing.
My husband and I are planning our Ring Road trip to Iceland in September. Your blog has been very helpful in my planning. Did you reserve your accommodations in advance or did you wait until you got somewhere for the night? I would prefer to leave that open but don’t want to find there is no place to stay when we get there.
Hi Shari, Glad to hear our post has helped you and how great that you’re going in September. I would go back in a heartbeat if I could!
We did make our reservations in advance but that’s because we had a pretty tight schedule we were sticking to. We use booking.com and most of the accommodation on there has free cancellation, you just have to check how far in advance they let you use this but it’s usually 24 hours.
You probably would be able to wing it and get good accommodation in the bigger centres but a lot of Iceland is pretty remote with only a couple options of where you can stay so in those places I would definitely book ahead.
Hope this helps!
Many thanks for the amazing information and photos. We are travelling the ring road in 7 days at the end of May so thanks for the reassurance about the weather and the breakdown of where would be ideal to stop. We have booked a night at Fossatun ‘Rock and Troll’ but we are staying in the guesthouse. We have visited Iceland in winter for a number of short trips and always hire a car to travel around Southern Iceland – we buy extra car insurance online before we travel, it seems the cheaper way to go. We are very excited to visit in Summer and to see the rest of the Island. As we have visited the Golden circle and Vik on a couple of occasions so we plan to cover the South coast in a day! Yikees..reading your information I think we might have missed a trick. As the accomadation is so expensive in May / June compared to when we travelled in Winter we have opted for mostly Air bnb. We have 2 nights around the Eastern Ffords, 1 night at Dipvogur and 1 night at the place where they filmed Fortitude. Could you please advise whether there are there any places, walks or hot pots which we should visit? We only have 1 night in the North Iceland and we have 1 night in Western Ffords. Dont forget to have a look around the area of the Airport, the pennisula has an amazing amount of geothermal activity and Gunner and Seltun are pretty incredible. One think I would like to mention is the amazing amount of Public pools and hot pots where the locals meet to relax and enjoy an evening – it is a great way to meet the locals it is super cheap at approx £3.00. We just couldnt afford the blue lagoon but it does look gorgeous. Did you visit the Nature baths in Northern Iceland – just wondering if it is worth a visit, it seems to be about half the price of the blue lagoon…but may be half as good? Dont forget when you fill up with gas to grab a Hot dog, they are avalible at N1 and at Borganes they are amazing and wrapped in bacon. They are also super cheap at approx £3.00
Hi, I am doing too on a trip of 10 days in Iceland with a friend but in July. Your post is helping me a lot in my itinary. Here’s the thing : I won’t rent a 4×4 because of tight budget so I’ll stick with a regular car. I am wondering wich of the places you did that I have to avoid. Thank you verry much!
Hi Isabelle, me & my husband just returned from a 2 week road trip in April. We rented a normal car and were absolutely fine. The only thing you can’t do in a 2WD is drive on F roads as it’s illegal. But they are mountain roads so it depends if you are planning on going to the highlands. The ring road will be totally accessible to you especially in july. We had some snow in April but we coped 🙂
We had the same problem finding Bruarfoss! We were so determined though, we parked up as close as we could find and paid for internet on our phones so we could use google maps walking directions!
We walked for about half hour before coming to a river. We crossed the bridge and kept going through muddy fields.. we did find it eventually with the help of some people walking back from it as it wasn’t well marked at all! It was pretty though after all the effort.
Thanks for the round up guys, We are just back from a two week trip and I used this a lot in planning. I basically came to have words with you about introducing us to Ris Buffs!!! literally couldn’t stop eating them, wouldn’t have picked them up in the store if I hadn’t seem them on here. So I am thanking you (as they are truly delicious) and not thanking you (so fat now from eating all the Ris Buffs 😛 )
Loved Iceland but found it very expensive for two weeks, especially for meals. We are both veggie so food options were limited(we ate A LOT of margherita pizza) and so expensive in more rural areas, It got a little disheartening paying so much time and time again for what would have been so much cheaper, even in London where we live. I think if we had done 7-10 days it would have been much more manageable.
Overall we had a great trip though, thanks for much for the effort you guys put into this article, it helped us a lot.
Cheers 🙂
Haha, sorry but not sorry about the Ris Buffs! I would go back to Iceland just to get more of those.
I agree, it was definitely expensive and I can imagine being a vegetarian would make it even more difficult! One of the downsides of travel though…sometimes it’s just pricey. Glad you liked it there anyway and that we could help you out with planning 🙂
Have to agree with you on the Ris Buf recommendation…YUM! Strongly disagree on the rental car recommendation. As a matter of fact, we couldn’t find any recent positive reviews of that company and had a disappointing experience using them with an old car with a lot of mileage (nearly 100,000 miles, not kilometers) which we had to swap out. You may want to rethink that. But otherwise enjoyed your post. Thanks!
Well I’m leaving for a 10 day trip around Iceland in 2 weeks (eek) and just started planning an itinerary. I’ve found your site to be the best for me. I’m renting a camper van (small) automatic. I hope there’s not a lot of steep hills (I’m a chicken driving on steep cliffs). Looks like a lot to accomplish in 10 days. I’ll probably follow your itinerary for the most part, thank you for your guidance.
question: the route 1 on the east looks terribly long with nothing to see and nowhere to stop. How did you find this stretch???
We accidentally took a little detour that skipped most of that section thanks to our GPS. Though I really wouldn’t recommend the shortcut with a camper van – it was very much an off-roading experience!
I can see a few of you mentioning the expense. I’ve travelled parts of Iceland and am heading back in February to do the West and North of Iceland. I’d certainly advise to cut back on eating out as often. Book an apartment where you can cook your own meals. Use Bonus stores to stock up on groceries as this will save money. Many of the sights are just off the ring road and a 2WD with studded tyres will suffice on Route 1. Also the Golden Circle when I visited in January was easy to navigate without a 4WD.
Thank you for your post!
I am planning a 7 day trip to Iceland in winter so I will take your days in the south part and make it real! taking extra time to some places.
🙂
Hi there. We are planning a trip to Iceland in 2018. We have 10-12 days as our itinerary. We loved the itinerary you posted above. A couple of questions… We are thinking about going in late August or early September, do you think that is a good time to go? Also, did you feel like you missed out on seeing the caves? We might substitute caves for the whale watching you did. Lastly, how would you adjust your itinerary if you had an extra few days?
Thank you so much for the information.
August/September would be a great time to go as well! I think it would be pretty similar to May – maybe a little bit warmer? And no, I don’t feel like I missed out on the caves. I personally think whale watching would be way better!
If we had an extra few days, I would’ve spent more time on the south coast. I would’ve done the same things but just having an extra day to do them in would’ve made it feel less rushed.
we have planned our trip in late Aug this year. We are veg and have booked apt or cottages around ring road. Total of 9 nights. We have rented a 4 wheel Toyota small SUV and have taken full insurance including Sand and Gravel with Blue Rental. The total cost for this is $1150. We may net need a 4 wheel but just for comfort and may be some side trips. We are traveling counter clock wise. I am estimating it will be $6,000 for 3 of us including air from Los Angles Hope this may help.
I am planning for Iceland and this article is helping me a lot. Thank you. How much did they charge for the car for 7 days ?
Hi, great post! It will be very useful in planning our trip to Iceland in October. I love this beautiful and attractive images. Thanks for this post.
Great detailed post, thanks! Starting to plan our Iceland trip for October and came across your itinerary. You mention wishing you’d split the one day into two… if you still had the same total time, what would you skip or speed up to make up for that?
Hi Claire, great question! And a super hard one to answer. I think I would’ve done 1 less day up in the northern part of Iceland if I still had the same total time. We did have 1 rest day up there and while it was needed, I would’ve used that day to slow down the southern part of the trip.
Hi,
Thanks for the post. Me and my partner are planning to go to iceland in october. We currently have 7 days there but after reading about your trip thinking of extending it to 10 to cover more of the north and just wondering if you think the added time and cost is worth it?
Hi Josh, If you have the time and the money then yes! It is definitely worth it. But if you can only do 7 days, then I would really just stick to the south. Have a good trip!
Really great post 🙂 Iceland easily became my favorite country I visited. I just published my 6 day solo road trip itinerary if you want to take a look!
https://moonemma.com/2018/09/03/6-day-solo-roadtrip-in-iceland-itinerary/
Loved your post! I am currently blogging about my Iceland honeymoon from April 2018 and I miss the country so much! You have some great tips here that would be useful for my next trip (if we get to go back again!).
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Iceland is a dream! So do you recommend going in May?
Definitely! It was still a bit cold but most of the roads were clear to drive on and it wasn’t as busy as usual.
I’m dying to visit Iceland, and this itinerary looks great! Will save this for an upcoming trip 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Hi. We are using your itinerary to plan our trip. We are going the
last week of Aug which is not ideal but the only time we can go. Do you have any suggestions on how we might change “the day we did too much” to improve the experience?
Hi Darlene,
I’m sure August will be a good time to go as well! I would’ve split it up over 2 days and decide if you want to do more of the hikes or just see the main sights. So for us, I would’ve done SKOGARFOSS > BLACK BEACH > VIK > FJAÐRÁRGLJÚFUR in 1 day then SVARTIFOSS (BLACK WATERFALL) > JÖKULSÁRLÓN – GLACIER LAGOON > HÖFN the next.