Iceland Ring Road Adventure
Many people who visit Iceland embark on the famous "Ring Road" drive around the country, stopping at all of the main attractions along the way. We structured our road trip around this route, and although it was breathtaking, we felt like we were constantly on the go. We drove the Ring Road in 8 days total, but 10-12 days would have been a better amount of time for this endeavor. We felt quite rushed at some of our stops, and the tight timeline required us to do portions of the driving once it was already dark, so we missed out on seeing some incredible scenery along the way.
We visited Iceland back in 2019 (please excuse the older photos) in the month of September. The temperatures were moderate, and the crowds were significantly less than during the summer. It was a wonderful time of year to visit.
Day 1: We explored downtown Reykjavik and visited Hallgrimskirkja (including climbing to the top of the bell tower with views of the city).
We drove 15 minutes outside of downtown to visit the Perlan museum, which had an interactive exhibit on glaciers that we enjoyed!
Day 2: The first stop along the Ring Road was þórufoss Waterfall. Many people choose to skip this stop because it's not as impressive of a waterfall as some of the others on the route, but we found it very beautiful. It was also enjoyable to have the area entirely to ourselves!
You can see me in the distance for scale!
Next on our route was Þingvellir National Park. It was a neat park because it's the only place in the world where you can see the rift between tectonic plates above sea-level. Snorkeling is a popular activity here because its famous for its crystal clear water, but due to time constraints we had to pass.
2.6 mile loop trail to Öxaráfoss waterfall Þingvellir National Park
Our next stop was Bruarfoss Waterfall, which was stunning! This trail was 4.4 miles round trip (and VERY muddy), but I read that a new parking lot opened in 2023 to spare you this endeavor!
We ate lunch at Friðheimar, which was a fun experience because you get to eat inside the greenhouse! They focus on sustainable growing practices and have many homemade tomato based dishes to try. Be sure to make reservations in advance, and note they are only open for lunch.
Next on our road trip was the Geysir Geothermal Area. We found Geysir to be more impressive than Old Faithful in Yellowstone, since we were able to get closer and see more of the eruption.
Our final stop of the day was the beautiful Gullfoss Waterfall.
Day 3: The next day started with Seljalandsfoss Waterfall and Gljúfrabúi Waterfall (they share a parking lot). Although this stop was extremely popular and crowded, we really enjoyed both waterfalls. Walking behind Seljalandsfoss Waterfall and wading through the water to see Gljúfrabúi Waterfall were both fun and unique experiences!
Next on the route was Skógafoss Waterfall. This stunning waterfall was one of my favorites in Iceland! There are stairs you can climb to the top (there's even a trail to keep hiking once you are at the top), but we didn't think the view was worth the effort.
Next, we drove to Dyrhólaey and enjoyed the views of the black sand coastline.
Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach was a short drive away. It's famous basalt columns make for great photos, but beware of the powerful sneaker waves.
Our final stop of the day was Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon. The canyon was very beautiful, but we couldn't believe how many people crossed over the ropes and got dangerously close to the edge (example of the worn down grass on the edge in the photo on the right).
Day 4: We started the next day with an ice hike on Vatnajökull Glacier in Skaftafell National Park. This was my first time on a glacier and it was amazing!
After our glacier hike, we were able to walk roughly 2 miles round-trip to Svartifoss Waterfall without having to move our car since it was also located in Skaftafell National Park. Although it wasn't as large as many of the waterfalls in Iceland, the black basalt columns contrasting with the green moss and grass made for a beautiful contrasting backdrop.
We stopped at Diamond Beach on the way to our next AirBNB. It was unique to see giant chunks of ice sitting on black sand, but it was raining pretty hard when we arrived. This stop seems like it would be more interesting if the sun is out (since that's what makes the ice sparkle like diamonds), so I would pass it next time unless it's sunny.
Day 5: We began our day with a hike to Hengifoss Waterfall. This was the only activity we planned for our time in eastern Iceland, but it was well worth making the effort to get to. This ended up being my favorite waterfall in Iceland (read more about my favorite waterfalls from this trip here)! Not only was the waterfall stunning, the views along the climb were so beautiful. This hike was tough with all of the uphill, but talk about earning your view!
Next on our road trip was Dettifoss Waterfall, which was one of the main reasons we wanted to visit northern Iceland. Witnessing the volume of water cascading over the edges was surreal! I recommend visiting from the west side for a few reasons. First and foremost, the water faces you on the west side, so you get a significantly better vantage point of the waterfall. There is also a large parking lot and multiple viewing platforms on that side.
Selfoss Waterfall is accessed from the same parking lot as Detifoss. It's significantly less impressive than it's counterpart, but it was easy to check out both since we were already there.
Next on the road trip was Hverir Geothermal Area. This part of Iceland is very volcanic, and all of the geothermal features were quite interesting. We enjoyed being able to get so close to such unique sites, but the sulfur stench was powerfully bad, and much stronger than we ever anticipated! It's worth braving since the entire geothermal area makes you feel like you just landed on Mars!
We continued on our drive to Hverfjall Crater. We opted to hike 1300ft to the crater rim to get a better understanding of its size and scale. Although we climbed to the top of the crater, we skipped the crater rim trail due to lack of time. It would have been a great way to really comprehend the magnitude of the crater (0.62 miles in diameter), so I would allot for this next time.
Our final stop of the day was the Dimmuborgir Lava Field. Visiting during the fall made for a beautiful contrast with the changing leaves against the black rocks.
Day 6: We enjoyed starting our day with a visit to the Húsavík whale museum. The biggest highlight was the blue whale skeleton on display! If you look closely you can see Jacob on the right side of the photo. He is 6'3" and the skeleton looked monstrous next to him!
Next on our list was a whale watching tour, which was a first for us. Although we enjoyed the experience in the moment, I'm not sure I would spend the time or money doing this again in Iceland. Like many wildlife tours, viewing opportunities can be very minimal, and there are other places in the world where you can see whales better (ex: Hawaii in winter).
We arrived to our next stop, Goðafoss Waterfall, a little late in the day for quality photos, but it was a beautiful waterfall nonetheless.
Our final stop of the day was off the beaten path. At one point we wondered if we had gotten lost. It was a race against daylight, but it was worth it once we found Kolugljúfur Canyon!
Day 7: The last stop on our Ring Road trip before returning to Reykjavik was Kirkjufell. This famously photographed spot was fairly crowded, but the views were amazing and well worth it!
Upon returning to Reykjavik we enjoyed hotdogs at the well-known Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, and walked around town for a bit.
Day 8: Flew Home!
When planning a road trip around Iceland, be sure to leave extra time for the stops you might stumble across because it was stunning around every corner!
If you only have one week to spend in Iceland, I recommend taking a road trip from Reykjavik to Eastern Iceland and back instead of driving around the entire country (I will post a separate blog on this later).
Read more about my favorite waterfalls along our road trip here.