It was Christmas 2018 when we were discussing what our next travel destination would be. In the top of my list I had Greece, I love Easter time in Greece but KK was not so kean, so we crossed it out. Then the choice was easy to be made, Iceland here we come!
There is nothing quite like an Icelandic road trip. You will pass by volcanoes, waterfalls, craters, black beaches, icebergs, colourful small villages, rivers, ice glaciers, geothermal springs, so many extraordinary landscapes you wouldn’t imagine. Every turn is another breathtaking scenery.
The Ring Road encircles the entire country covering over 1,300 kilometres. Here is our exploration of the Ring Road. It’s self-driving but allow yourselves at least 7 days in order to enjoy it, visit most of the sights, stop very often to take photos and enjoy nature. I don’t get too excited when it’s about nature, I mean it’s mountains, rivers etc. but trust me, the nature in Iceland is from another world, it’s so fascinating.
You will find yourself wanting to pull over every kilometre for photos. We stayed in Iceland 11 days and we spent 7 days of driving the Ring Road and we thought it was a bit tiring, we wish we had more days there.
If you don’t have that many days, don’t worry,do the Golden Circle which can be covered in just 1 day and you will get a snip of what Iceland has to offer. Read all about the Golden Circle tour here.
What’s the best season to visit Iceland?
It really depends on what you want to see in Iceland. We visited end of April because it worked well with the Easter public holidays, a very practical reason. We knew there was no chance for us to see the magical northern lights then but since we were planning to drive all around Iceland we wanted to make sure that it wasn’t getting dark very early. Also, since we were driving we wanted to avoid much ice and snow. Last point, the temperatures and the weather you are used to is also a big factor, I hardly survived Iceland’s cold end of April, I don’t want to imagine the cold in “winter”.
If you want to go whale watching then May- September is the best time. Maybe end of September you will be lucky and see the Northern Lights. For endless days, June – August when the weather is dry is the best season for hiking. I imagine winter can be difficult there, some roads are closed and it’s not the safest to drive in a country you don’t know.
So when is the best time of the year to visit Iceland? Every season has its beauty, decide what you want to see and do there and then choose the dates.
Budget $$$
Oh well, make sure you have enough savings before you visit Iceland as it is an expensive country. The breakdown for both of us was as follows:
Accommodation: Average 90 euros / night (yep, we stayed in 2 or 3 star hotels).
Car: About 65 euros / day + 260 euros for petrol
Whale watching: 150 euros
Blue Lagoon: 140 euros
Mountain rescue: 130 euros (please do your best to avoid that cost, safety first!). You can read more about our unpleasant (horrifying) experience here.
Food: 60 euros / day (1 proper meal at a restaurant + supermarket supplies)
All the above sum up to 2,955 euros for the 2 of us without the flights cost. I won’t include flight tickets cost here as it really depends where you are flying from, as well as the season you will choose.
Where we stayed
I’ll be very honest with you, price was the first variable in booking the places we stayed at. Iceland is expensive so 3 and 2 star hotels was the only option for us.
Reykjavik
Night #1: Icelandair Hotel Natura https://www.icelandairhotels.com/en/hotels/reykjavik/reykjavik-natura
It’s about 2.5 km from the city centre but it was convenient for us since we had a car. The exterior of the hotel reminded us of an old airport but the interior had recently been renovated. A good choice if you don’t want to stay in the city centre.
Night #8, 9 & 10: Bolholt Apartments https://bolholt-apartments-reykjavik.booked.net/
Again, not in the city centre but since we had hired a car, one of the prerequisites was the hotel to have parking so there we were again 2.5 km from the city centre. This was a studio with a small kitchen, the bathroom had some mold issues but other than that it was ok.
Stykkisholmur: Syslo Guesthouse
We loved, loved, loved that guesthouse. The exterior looks like a traditional icelandic house. The interior is lovely, simple with natural wood and white tones. The rooms were ensuite and there was a common kitchen and living room. In Stykkisholmur we had the best shellfish soup, read here more about it.
Akureyri: Nordurland by Keahotels
We stayed there 2 nights. It’s a decent 3 star hotel in the The great thing about it was that breakfast was included in the price – happy me!
Breiddalsvik: Hotel Post
https://www.booking.com/hotel/is/post.el.html
Well, we are lucky that we made it to that hotel. We had an unpleasant experience on our way there as we got stuck in the mountain due to the fog. The person at the hotel (who we never got the chance to meet) was very helpful on the phone and he gave us the number of a local to rescue us (read about our adventure here). We were very tired and stressed by the experience we had to get there that we didn’t really pay much attention to the hotel. The room was decent from what we remember.
Vik: Hotel Kria
We can’t decide whether hotel Kria or Syslo guesthouse was our favourite. Hotel Kria is a new, modern, beautiful hotel. With a huge window in the breakfast/ dining area towards a stunning view to the mountains. We really loved that hotel and surprisingly its price was very normal in comparison to the rest places we stayed at.
Clothes & Equipment
Layers, layers, layers. In Iceland, especially if you are driving all across it in 7 days, the weather changes a lot so layering is important. Fleeces and tights saved me from freezing to death, I recommend to pack enough of them with you.
Hiking shoes. You definitely need them. Whether your partner is a hiking enthusiast (like KK) or not, comfortable hiking shoes and ideally waterproof are ideal. I got mine from Decathlon, link here. They are super comfortable and waterproof!
Waterproof jacket. It’s a must-have piece. In Iceland it was windy, rainy and snowy. I never left the hotel or the car without my waterproof jacket. If it has the hoodie to protect your ears from the cold it’s even better.
Swimming suits. Yes, ok, we said about the cold and the snow but don’t forget the hot springs that Iceland is full of. Take a couple with you and leave one of them in the car (along with a couple easy dry towels), you never know. You might come across a thermal spring that you didn’t have in plan to visit.
Flash Light & Swiss knife. These are 2 things that we always carry with us. We find them very practical & useful, you may need to search for something in the dark or to peel a fruit, or even if none of these will happen they don’t take much space but you will feel good to have them as a backup.
Waterproof backpacks. In Iceland it rains and it snows so waterproof backpacks are very handy. Since much hiking / walking is involved find a backpack that is comfortable for you.
SIM card. Since we were travelling within Europe there was no need to buy a SIM card, we were using our UK number.
More Useful Tips
- I’m sure I’ve said that many times already, so apologies for repeating myself, but Iceland comes with a price. But if you are in Reykjavik and you plan on visiting many museums and attractions it would be good to pick up a Reykjavik City Card (starts from about 26 euros for a day). With that card, you have free access to many museums, all swimming pools in the city, the ferry to Videy island is free and there are many more free entrances and discounts to attractions and even to restaurants and cafes. Check more here.
- Back to my first point, Iceland is expensive and if you are one of the lucky ones you can afford eating out all the time, well done you! If you are more like us, buying supplies from the supermarket helped us stay within the budget. Also, if you plan on covering many kilometres as part of your road trip, make sure you have enough supplies before moving to the next destination, Iceland is sparsely populated. KK enjoyed my homemade sandwiches for breakfast and dinner!
- Book Blue Lagoon well in advance. It’s a popular destination and if you don’t have much flexibility on dates it’s better to book it in advance to avoid any unpleasant surprises. Read about Blue Lagoon and all Reykjavik’s best here.
- If you have a proper plan for your trip then try to book any other activities you know in advance that you will do, like whale watching or visiting a glacier. In that way, you will have everything planned. Change of plans is not necessarily bad but I’m just saying in case you have a tight schedule.
- Don’t forget to add more time to the driving time of your road trip as you will be stopping a lot for photos and for visiting places you hadn’t planned to so don’t underestimate the time it will take you from one place to another.