Driving the Ring Road around Iceland

February 29, 2024

Driving the Ring Road around Iceland

Iceland, Land of Fire and Ice. The Midnight Sun. Elves. Geothermal heating. Natural Hot Springs. Volcanoes. And the Northern Lights! The latter was our reason for booking a vacation package to Iceland - a winter vacation package. But then the whole world wide pandemic happened and we had to shelve traveling to Iceland for a bit. When we finally got around to rebooking, winter travel just wasn't working for us. So we went with a summer vacation package and decided that the Northern Lights would just have to wait. For now, it would be the Midnight Sun. And since we had those incredibly long days to pack it all in, it was decided to see as much of the island as we could by driving the Ring Road. Experts say that you need at least a week, possibly two. We had six days. Could it be done? Challenge accepted!

We flew into Keflavik Airport at 5:30am on a bleak, gray day and met up with our friends. The rental car was picked up and we headed north through the suburbs of Reykjavik towards the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. A priority at our first stop was to find something to eat. Here is the day by day itinerary of our trip on the Ring Road of Iceland! (Stay tuned for more in depth posts about each day)

Day One - Snaefellsnes Peninsula

The Snaefellsnes Peninsula, often nicknamed "Iceland in Miniature", is a peninsula on the northwest of the island. It is not part of the Ring Road but since it's the home of many natural wonders, including Snaefellsjokull National Park, we felt it was worth the detour. And indeed it was.

Our visit here included: the Gerdburg basalt cliffs, Bjarnfoss, Budakirkja Black Church, views of Mt. Stapafell, and a stop to see the sea arch near Arnastapi. We stayed in the small town of Breidafjordur in a guesthouse apartment (with shared kitchen) arriving in the evening to find only two restaurants still open. We quickly slid in to grab some dinner and then collapse from jet lag. The adventure would continue the next day after we bought our breakfast at the grocery store - funnily enough the coffee shops didn't open until noon!

Basalt Cliffs

Bjarnfoss

Budakirkja Black Church

Day Two: North Coast -Grundafjordur to Akureyri

We decided to take a lesser known route out of Grundafjordur on our way to the northern city of Akureyri. We would drive north along the coast instead of the shorter route thereby allowing us to stop at Sigulfjordur, the northernmost town of the mainland, and driving in what was seemingly, the middle of nowhere. Seriously. Just lots of beautiful scenery, sometimes just a dirt road, some farms and very little else. If you want to get away from it all, this is the place to go. Though, funnily enough there was road construction!

We managed to stop at two breweries and ended up eating dinner in Akureyri with some rowdy soccer fans. Our hotel was a beautiful property overlooking the water and we enjoyed a soak in the hot tub that night.

The inviting hot tub after a long day in the car

Day Three: North Coast - Akureyri to Hofn

The East Coast of Iceland is the land of the Eastfjords so our day today would be long, as fjord driving requires driving around as you can't go through, but full of dramatic scenery and small towns (the largest town in the region has a population of 2,300 people) We left Akureyri after breakfast at our hotel and visited: the striking Godafoss waterfall, the unique Myvatin Geothermal area, the small town of Seydisfjordur (including its rainbow street), and we even made an unplanned stop at a birdwatching museum on the volcanic Lake Myvatn.

The perpetual hot shower

Seydisfjordur

A very, good day with lots of dramatic scenery, as promised, which ended with the Midnight Sun at our guesthouse in Hofn.

About midnight

Day Four: East Coast - Hofn to Vik

This was a big day! We stopped at a grocery store in Hofn for some supplies for the long day of driving and then we were off to see not one, but two glaciers: the Hoffellsjokull Glacier and the Svinafellsjokull Glacier, ( The first was from a viewpoint a bit far away and the second was quite close) hiked the short but sweet hike at Fjadrargljufur Canyon and saw both of Iceland's Wow! factor stops of the glacier lagoon of Jokulsarlon and Diamond Beach (which were, quite conveniently, right across the street from each other.)

Diamond Beach

We ended our day in the city of Vik with a walk on the Black Sand Beach (Reynisfara) with puffin sightings and a burger at a brewery before we called it a night at our hostel.

Day Five: South Coast - Vik to Reykjavik

The South Coast of Iceland is the Wow coast. In fact, it's recommended that you drive the Ring Road clockwise so that you save the South Coast for the end of your trip instead of starting with it.

The South Coast, with its closeness to Reykjavik, and its abundance of natural wonders is one of the most popular parts of the country for travelers. Some of these natural wonders include: the waterfalls of Gulfoss and Skogafoss, the black beach of Reynisfjara, the Drangurinn Rock, the legendary rock with elves' houses built into it, the very popular Geysir and the Heart of Iceland, Thingvellir National Park. (which is part of the Golden Circle)

We managed to do all of the above and I can agree wholeheartedly that the South Coast of Iceland is well worth the visit.

Day Six: Reykjavik

We chose to spend more time seeing the natural wonders of Iceland than in its main city (population: 140,000) Reykjavik is a walkable, friendly city with a few main attractions and quite the Scandinavian vibe.

Entrance to the Skye Lagoon

We spent our brief visit here seeing the famous landmark Hallgrimskirkja, enjoying a beverage at an outdoor cafe, walking and shopping the pedestrian streets, munching down on some fish n chips at Reykjavik Fish Restaurant and visiting one of the highlights of our trip, the Skye Lagoon.

I don't know if there is any country more unique, picturesque or just plain unbelievable than Iceland. I absolutely loved our visit here. Yes, we spent a lot of time driving but I feel that we saw everything that we wanted - or needed- to see. Would I return? Yes, yes and yes! It's one of my favorite places I've ever been. Hopefully I will do that one day!