Iceland - give me your recs!

June 12, 2024 11:37 AM

Planning a 10 day trip to Iceland in September. We're debating between renting a camper or staying in hotels/b&b's. If you went, what did you do? Ring road or something else? F road capable vehicle? Did you buy a self drive package or work out all the details yourself? Anything else I should think about?
posted by leslies to Travel & Transportation around Iceland (13 answers total)

if it was me, i would choose a route and pick destinations on the way. This is a useful site for that, and i love the farm stay accommodation type.

if you memail me i can send you a this-length itinerary in a google doc that my family has used twice
posted by wowenthusiast at 11:53 AM on June 12 [1 favorite]

for Going into F-type roads in the highlands, my advice is to make that a 2-day excursion departing from reykjavik at the end of the trip after you do the ring road on your own and hire a pro-driver in a superjeepfor that portion. I have seen too many tourists get stuck in the highlands thinking they can cross somewhere they didn't have the skills to drive. Plus it's a great opportunity to ask an icelander all the questions you've accumulated.
posted by wowenthusiast at 11:57 AM on June 12 [2 favorites]

We had less time so stayed in Reykjavik and did a couple of day trips, but with 10 days you should definitely do the ring road, and you will still have the opportunity to stay in a few places for multiple nights. We got the Lonely Planet and Rick Steve's guidebooks but found Rick Steve's especially helpful. And unless you're very nervous or completely inexperienced with travel, you should be able to plan everything yourself: As an American, Iceland is one of the easiest places I've traveled - including most of the U.S. The physical and tourism infrastructure is excellent, everyone speaks English, and it's relatively small so your choices aren't overwhelming.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:46 PM on June 12 [2 favorites]

For a similar amount of days we took a camper van around Iceland and it was great, totally recommend! We went the first weeks of September and temperatures were fine; I think only one or two nights we turned on a tiny heater that the camper van had.

We mapped it out ourselves, there are a lot of self-drive blog posts on it that were helpful. We sort of just hit the main spots of Akureyri, Hofn, Vik, Selfoss.
posted by inevitability at 1:54 PM on June 12 [1 favorite]

You must go to Hraunfossar! It is the coolest ever.
posted by capricorn at 2:14 PM on June 12 [2 favorites]

We did a self-drive package (5/6 days?) and it worked out smoothly and wasn't too expensive.

I think Dyrholaey was my overall favorite spot, but that's very subjective. It was amazing how close the puffin nests were!
posted by praemunire at 5:36 PM on June 12 [1 favorite]

Ahhhhh this question and it’s answers are calling me like a siren song - the one place in the world my dad dreamed of going when he was a kid was Iceland, and I’ve wanted for years to be able to take him. I hope you have an amazing trip, leslies!
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:32 PM on June 12 [1 favorite]

In 2017 we rented a car from SADcars and drove along the south coast, going at least as far as Jökulsárlón. We then backtracked to Reykjavik over 4-5 days, staying at hostels and airbnbs. Ended with 3 days at an Airbnb in R. It was awesome. We did this with 2 teens. Everyone had a great time.
posted by chr1sb0y at 2:24 AM on June 13 [1 favorite]

I have been to Iceland 3 times. My top recommendation is Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon and, across the road, Diamond Beach.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 5:15 AM on June 13 [2 favorites]

We also did September, and did the Ring Road in a basic camper; I think we had 14 days though, including travel to/from North America. If you want to also plan for a few days in Reykjavik, 10 days might be a bit tight.

The campsites were useful, often with decent kitchen areas and common indoor areas to sit for a bit... which was nice as it did get a bit cold some evenings and not the nicest to just hang out outside by the van. We didn't make any pre-reservations for anything (except the van). We rented from KuKu Campers and would highly recommend them. The van came with everything we needed that we wouldn't pack for a "normal" trip.

We made lots of stops along the way (and once back in Reykjavik): spas, pools, waterfalls, glaciers, whale watching, hikes, caves, etc.. It was a great trip and I hope you have as great a trip as we did!
posted by Laura in Canada at 6:08 AM on June 13 [1 favorite]

We did a camper van last summer and were so glad we did, because the tourism along the ring road was INSANE -- so we veered north and went to some of the less-touristed areas. They were a longer drive away but it was worth it, and if you're there for 10 days it won't be too much driving. I loved having the flexibility to go where we wanted. And there are SO MANY campgrounds (compared to how few hotels there are) that it was very convenient.
posted by egeanin at 8:30 AM on June 13

I rented a car and since that was my biggest cost outside of the airfare, I stayed in hostels and cooked 90% of my own meals. The car was a compact with a stick and I drove it out on a bunch of unpaved roads but I was very cautious and it was fine.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 9:36 AM on June 13

I'm going in two weeks, so perhaps I'll comment again then, but https://www.reddit.com/r/VisitingIceland/ is a wealth of information. There are a ton of super in depth writeups like https://www.reddit.com/r/VisitingIceland/comments/pcc29m/818824_long_trip_report_excursions_bath_privacy/ or even this amazing map https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1-mTlNnKS15Kbu6qW8CbwNRnBAMc&ll=64.81599950829118%2C-17.666807893497886&z=7

I've rented a 4x4 campervan (expensive) and plan on following good-ish weather to see all the weird stuff. Hopefully I don't get stuck in a river.
posted by booooooze at 10:34 AM on June 14 [1 favorite]