Iceland Road Trip

We headed to Iceland in August as we were in the mood for a bit of an adventure with lots of nature, incredible scenery and daily access to hot springs.

Reykjavik

We started and ended our trip in Reykjavik. We only had around a day and a half in Reykjavik, which felt about right given it’s not huge and also considering we were mainly in Iceland for the landscapes and a bit of an adventure.

Drink: We started making a ritual morning visit to the Reykjavik roasters cafe close to our airbnb.

Eat: Brauð & Co is a great bakery for some serious cinnamon rolls and other delicious pastries.

Visit: The striking Hallgrimskirkja cathedral really is a must see.

Stay: The airbnb we stayed at was quite simple but was a good price and a good location.

Southern Iceland

For the first part of the trip we stayed in the South. If you don’t have much time I would recommend this as the best place to stay, as it’s not too far to drive from Reykjavik and is surrounded by all kind of places to visit.

Stay: The airbnb we stayed at in southern Iceland was really special and was by far our favourite place stayed. The location feels really remote so you feel like you have the surrounding mountains to yourself. We also really enjoyed the firepit outside (great for toasting marshmallows!) and had a great time cooking in the well stocked kitchen. Plus it even has a sauna. If I was heading back to Iceland I would definitely stay here again.

Visit: Hrunalaug is a very cute and small hot spring.

Visit: We missed the lava at Fagradalsfjall volcano by a matter of hours (sadly!) however the small(ish) hike here was really interesting - I felt like you get to really see how an eruption creates a new landscape and how it then evolves over time.

Visit: Gullfoss falls and Strokkur geyser are two sites on the famous ‘Golden Circle’. We visited both of these on the way to other places, and although I don’t think I’d make a special trip just to see them (mainly because they are quite busy with crowds) they made pretty great stop-off points on our drives.

Day trip: Landmannalaugar

This location was one of my favourite places we visited, and we spent quite a bit of time saying how the landscape here looks too beautiful to be true. Take your swimming kit as after a bit of a hike you can enjoy the free hot springs here.

Central Iceland

We decided to drive through the middle of Iceland rather than the classic ring road route. It makes for a very spectacular drive, so get a dramatic album on (we went for Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories) and soak up being the only car on the road with the surrounding scenery.

Note that this drive can only be done in Summer as the centre of Iceland is inaccessible in Winter, and you’ll need a 4x4.

Stay: We stayed one night in the centre of Iceland to break up the drive and give us more time to stop along the way. The only option available at the time was this hostel which has quite mixed reviews but was actually perfectly fine (and has it’s own hot spring). We got two private rooms rather than staying in the dormitory. There is another place to stay that is currently being built which is Kerlingarfjöll mountain resort so potentially this will be a better option in future!

Day trip: Kerlingarflöll

The main reason I wanted to drive through the centre was so we could visit Kerlingarflöll, which was my favourite places we visited. I think the photos of the area kind of speak for themselves!

Northern Iceland - Akureyri

Our final stop before we returned to Reykjavik was Akureyri, which is a nice town and also a great base for exploring the North.

Visit: We did visit the Blue Lagoon while we were in Iceland but I actually preferred the Forest Lagoon in Akureyri. The facilities were really nice and luxurious, plus the majority of people there seemed to be locals rather than all tourists.

Stay: The airbnb we stayed at was very beautiful (although a bit on the small side) and we even saw whales in the bay from our terrace one morning.

Drink: We enjoyed a visit to the LYST cafe at the botanic gardens, where they do some very decadent hot chocolate.

Day trip: Dalvik and Grimsey Island

Visit: One day we took the ferry to Grimsey Island (which is on the Arctic Circle), however I incorrectly loaded the film into my camera that day so I sadly don’t have any photos. It’s a 3-hour ferry trip each way, and we learned from experience that you probably only want to make that trip when the sea is calm! Nevertheless, it was a fun and interesting place to visit and is home to a very small community of around 60 people. Get the ferry to Grimsey Island from Dalvik.

Visit: We went wild blueberry picking in a field in Dalvik, you’ll see the locals there bent over with baskets so just follow them.

Eat: This cafe in Dalvik was great. They have quite a limited menu but pretty much everyone is getting their delicious fish soup with bread and salad.

Supermarkets

We loved Bonus supermarket and it’s iconic pig logo! We mostly cooked for ourselves to help keep costs down. Bonus is one of the cheaper options in Iceland, although it’s worth knowing that it was around double the price of UK supermarkets.