Iceland's Ring Road: 2 Week Itinerary
Plan the perfect road trip around Iceland's Ring Road with this 2 week itinerary. Find all of the best waterfalls, hikes, and off the beaten path stops for your adventure. Iceland is the ideal vacation destination for outdoor enthusiasts, nature photographers, campers, and hikers.
2 week itinerary for Iceland
Iceland is full of outdoor adventures. There's plenty of hiking as well as attractions closer to the side of the road. There are gorgeous waterfalls everywhere.
Day 1
Blue Lagoon
After a few hours of sleep on the plane, we headed straight to the Blue Lagoon upon landing in Reykjavík. It's located very close to the airport, so this is a great stop before heading into Reykjavík.
This geothermal spa is an incredibly popular tourist spot and seems to be very overpriced. Make sure to get tickets in advance. We chose the cheapest option which came with a drink, mud mask, and towel. The water is warm and feels good even when the air is chilly. We stayed for about an hour and while we really enjoyed our visit, I don't know that it's really worth the price.
Reykjavík
We aren't big city people when traveling, so we only spent one day in Reykjavík. Since we didn't sleep much on the flight, we were incredibly tired during our time here.
We were all excited to visit The Icelandic Phallological Museum. It seemed like something that couldn't be missed. While it's a strange thing we can now say we've done, there wasn't really a whole lot to the museum and I wouldn't bother visiting again.
We spent the rest of the day just wandering the streets and seeing things like the Harpa Music Hall, the Sun Voyager, and the Hallgrímskirkja church.
After an early dinner, we fell asleep and were ready to start our adventure on ring road the next morning.
Day 2
Golden Circle
This is the most popular thing to do in Iceland. It's very easy to do this as a day trip from Reykjavík, so there are many tours that do just that. It's definitely worth doing, but don't stop after seeing just the Golden Circle. There are much more impressive things to see beyond the Golden Circle.
Þingvellir National Park
My favorite part of this park was Almannagjá—a rift that was caused by the separation of two tectonic plates. It's possible to scuba dive here, but that sounds incredibly cold to me.
The geography in the area is very interesting. We didn't spend a lot of time here. We just walked along the paths through the rift for a couple of miles.
Laugarvatn Fontana
This is a geothermal spa, but that's not the reason we stopped here. We came for the geothermal rye bread they make! The bread is buried in the warm ground and baked for 24 hours before it's ready to eat. The quick tour includes going out to dig up the previous day's bread and burying a new batch.
Once back inside, we got to sample the warm bread. It was sweeter than the rye bread we are used to and we loved it. We were the only ones on our tour and they let us take the entire loaf with us!
Brúarfoss
To this day, this remains my favorite waterfall that I've ever seen. It's quite the hidden gem on the Golden Circle. When I say hidden, I really mean hidden. We almost gave up on trying to find it before I found a blog that had somewhat accurate directions that led us there.
It's location is correct on Google Maps, but the gravel roads become a maze near it and the area is filled with no trespassing signs. My best advice is to use this blog and don't give up!
The waterfall was a short hike away from where we parked. It's a very flat waterfall that's uniquely shaped in almost a U formation. The most stunning thing about it is its color though. After visiting the Canadian Rockies, I have seen lakes as blue as this now, but I've still never seen a waterfall so blue.
This was by far the highlight of the Golden Circle for me. Because it's so hard to find, there was almost no one else there. We saw one couple while we were there which is very different than the other places we stopped.
Geysir
This geyser is part of a larger hot spring area. Geysir is dormant now, so don't expect to see it erupt.
Don't worry, there is another geyser here that is active. Strokkur erupts every 5-10 minutes.
My parents and I have visited Yellowstone National Park before and we didn't think this area lives up to that. I still think it's worth a quick stop though.
Gullfoss
Unlike our previous waterfall stop, this one isn't quite a hidden gem. It's one of the main stops on the Golden Circle. Because of that, finding parking is a bit challenging. My dad circled the parking lot and eventually found a spot. The parking lot is right at next to the viewpoint of this waterfall. It has two tiers and the second one looks very powerful. The view of the second tier is a bit cut off.
Kerið
Other than the interesting food stops, this was my second favorite stop on the Golden circle (after Brúarfoss). While it's not quite off the beaten path, a lot of tourists stop before reaching this point.
This volcanic crater lake is gorgeous. We hiked up and around the rim of the crater first. During this part of the hike, it was hailing on us, but we still enjoyed the view.
After making it around the rim, we hiked down into the crater to the lake for more scenic views.
There is a small entrance fee (a few dollars if I remember correctly) that I thought was completely worth it.
Day 3
Landmannalaugar
We planned on doing a day hike in this area, but it didn't work out for us. As we drove higher and higher in elevation to attempt to reach the area, the weather got progressively worse. It started snowing and got fairly foggy. We eventually gave up on our hike and turned back around.
I still see gorgeous pictures of this area, so I would highly recommend hiking here if weather permits. I'm guessing there's a better chance of good weather in the middle of the summer.
Day 4
Seljalandsfoss
While not quite as crowded as attractions on the golden circle, Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss are still popular day trips from Reykjavík, so expect a fair number of people here.
There's a great view of this waterfall just past the parking lot. Anthony and I decided to walk up the steps to the right of the waterfall to try to go behind it and got a nice cold shower thanks to the wind.
The better choice was to explore to the left of the waterfall (my parents chose wisely to join us on this side only). Not only was it dry, but there were really pretty views from the side.
Skógafoss
Located close to Seljalandsfoss on the south side of Iceland, this waterfall is breath taking. It's really cool to be able to walk right up to the base of the falls.
While many people visit this waterfall, most people stay at the bottom and miss the best part. Some people do climb up the stairs to get to the top of the waterfall, but most stop there.
The best part of this waterfall in my opinion was hiking along the river above the waterfall. My memory may be a bit flawed because this was one of the rare times we saw the sun on our entire trip, but the scenery up here was gorgeous. It was so lush and green which is not the most common landscape in Iceland.
Kvernufoss
This waterfall gets completely overlooked for the more popular Skógafoss which is located in the same parking lot. It's about a 20 minute hike to get to it that starts behind the Skógar Museum to the right. The museum can give directions on how to find it.
This was my favorite waterfall on the south side of Iceland because not as many people visit it. The landscape on the hike back is very similar to the green landscape above Skógafoss.
The trail gets very close to the waterfall and it's possible to walk behind it. We learned our lesson this time and decided not to get another waterfall shower.
Day 5
Dyrhólaey
This peninsula near the town of Vik has great views of a sea arch and the black sand beach. These views are close to the parking lot.
We decided to hike up to the lighthouse as well. We were short on time so our hike turned into more of a jog, but we made it to the top of the steep incline.
The lighthouse is pretty, but I enjoyed the views out to the west more.
Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach
The most memorable thing about this beach for me was that it was sunny and relatively warm. These were two things that didn't happen often for us on this trip.
The beach is beautiful and especially unique because of the basalt columns along the side. Many people climb up and sit on the columns to get pictures.
Mýrdalsjökull
We decided to do an ice cave tour at this glacier and I'm so glad we did. The tour left from Vik and it was about an hour drive to get back to the glacier.
Walking on black lava, looking at green/black mountains on one side and a glacier on the other side made it feel like we were on another planet.
The inside of the ice cave was gorgeous. The tour provided crampons to be able to walk on the ice and some of us chose the more adventurous route out of the cave using some ropes.
Day 6
Vatnajökull National Park
This is a very large national park and we only explored a very small part of it. We went to the Skaftafell preservation area on the south side of the island.
Svartifoss
The hike to this waterfall is 3 km round trip from the visitors center. It's fairly short and I would rate it as moderate. There is some incline at the beginning, but it wasn't anything too difficult. The basalt columns surrounding it are what makes this waterfall unique. The view is definitely worth the hike to get here.
Skaftafellsjökull
In the opposite direction of the waterfall, hike 3.7 km from the visitors center to reach the base of this glacier. The glacier itself is really pretty.
Other than the glacier, the cool part of this hike is seeing the small icebergs floating in the water around the glacier.
Jökulsárlón
This glacial lagoon is a must see. The Skaftafellsjökull glacier gave us a preview of what was to come with this lagoon. There are icebergs floating everywhere in the lagoon making it a gorgeous and unique site. The lagoon flows right out into the ocean.
Diamond Beach
Across the street from the lagoon is a black sand beach. It's called Diamond Beach because the icebergs from the lagoon flow out leaving chunks of ice on this beach. Seeing ice on the beach and in the waves of the ocean is a very strange sight.
Day 7
Stokksnes
This peninsula on the southeast side of Iceland is home to another black sand beach. This beach has a stunning mountain landscape behind it and is worth stopping to see.
We also walked a short distance to see a viking village that was used as a movie set which was interesting to walk around.
Seyðisfjörður
This town on the east side of the island is supposed to be a great place to visit. Tourist season in Iceland starts in June and we were there mid to late May. This town was a bust for us. Most things were closed and there really wasn't much to do. We gave up after walking around a bit and not finding much.
There was a really pretty waterfall on the drive down to the town though.
The drive also took us over a mountain pass with some snow and gorgeous mountain views, so not all was lost.
Day 8
Hengifoss
Still on the east side of the island, this waterfall is a 5 km round trip hike from the parking lot. It was a little steep at the beginning, but overall it felt moderate to me. There are really pretty views along the river for most of the hike.
Before arriving at the main attraction, there's another waterfall surrounded by basalt columns.
There are good views of Hengifoss from further away, but it's possible to get closer to the waterfall for better views. This requires crossing a shallow stream though which we couldn't convince my parents to do with us.
Day 9
Lake Mývatn
This volcanic lake has much of what one might expect to find in a volcanic area: calderas, mud pots, lava formations, and craters. Although it seems like we did a lot in this area, most stops are pretty quick and we fit it all in one day.
Krafla
I'm no expert in the difference between a caldera and a crater, but apparently a caldera can have a crater. Krafla, a caldera, includes the crater Víti. The crater is visible after a short walk from the parking lot. The lake in the crater is a beautiful shade of bright green/blue and had ice floating in it when we were there.
Námaskarð
Come bearing a nose plug or get ready to smell sulfur here. This is a geothermal area with an abundance of boiling mud pots
The orange clay provides a stark contrast to the grey mud pots. There aren't clearly defined paths here, so we wandered around. Be prepared to get very muddy here. My dad almost started a shoe cleaning business in the water puddles in the parking lot.
Grjótagjá
There's a couple of different entrances to this lava cave. My favorite part was that there's water inside that is a beautiful shade of blue and completely clear.
Hverfjall
This was our longest stop in the area. We weren't confident that our non-four wheel drive vehicle could make it down the road to get here, so we parked at a parking lot further away. This was a mistake. The road isn't too bad. Luckily my dad hikes fast and ran back to get the car for us.
The hike up to the rim is about 20-30 minutes and steep. There's no lake in this crater, just a gray rocky landscape.
There's also great views up here of Lake Mývatn and the surrounding area.
Dimmuborgir
We spent about 30-45 minutes walking through the trails to see lava formations here. The trails are easy. The views of the formations aren't that impressive, but it was worth a quick stop.
Skútustaðagígar
These pseudo craters sit right on Lake Mývatn. I had never seen something like this before and thought they were really cool looking.
There are paths going throughout the pseudo craters that we spent about 30 minutes exploring. We even saw a lot of sheep here.
Day 10
Selfoss
This waterfall is on a river and it's surrounded by basalt columns. It's possible to see this waterfall from the east and west sides. The east side is supposed to have better views, but that road was closed so we could only see the west side. It's about a 10 minute walk from the parking lot which is shared with Dettifoss.
Dettifoss
Dettifoss is the most powerful waterfall in Iceland. It's also supposed to have a better view from the west side, but due to the road closure, we only saw the east side. After a short walk to Selfoss, we walked the other direction to see Dettifoss. Unfortunately, the angle of this waterfall from the west side is not very good.
Ásbyrgi
The scenery of this canyon was much different than what we had seen so far on our trip. We did the Á-2 Eyjan Hill hike which was 4.5 km and took about an hour and a half.
The views of the canyon were pretty similar throughout the hike, but it was sunny and fairly warm the whole time, so we really enjoyed the hike.
Day 11
Goðafoss
Waterfalls are definitely the most common landscape in Iceland. There are great views of this waterfall from both sides and both are a very short walk from the parking lot.
Aldeyjarfoss
Getting to this waterfall required a short downhill hike from the parking lot. It's much more off the beaten path than most of the other waterfalls we saw, so there weren't many people here at all. Basalt columns surround this falls. This waterfall seems especially pretty to me and is my second favorite waterfall we saw.
Hrafnabjargafoss
This is a short drive from Aldeyjarfoss, but the road becomes a 4 wheel drive road to get to it. We decided to try to drive it anyway and made it. The falls were pretty, but not as impressive as Aldeyjarfoss.
Day 12
Snæfellsnes
We heard great things about this peninsula and were really excited to visit. We had a 5 hour drive and the rest of that day to see it, so we woke up really early so that we would have enough time. We ended up being pretty disappointed. There were a couple of things I'm glad we saw, but overall, it wasn't as impressive to us as the rest of Iceland.
Kirkjufellsfoss
This is one of the things I'm happy we saw. It's one of the more popular photos I see of Iceland. The waterfall with the green mountain backdrop makes for a stunning view. To get the view of the waterfall with the mountain behind it, it's a short walk up and around the waterfall from the parking lot.
Djúpalónssandur
This is a black sand beach has some ship wreck remains on it. The coolest part was the walk through the lava field to get to the beach.
Vatnshellir Cave
I read really good things about this cave so we decided to pay about $25 per person to do the tour. None of us were all that impressed. The tour was 45 minutes. There didn't seem to be anything that set this apart from other caves we had seen in the past.
Rauðamelsölkelda
This natural mineral spring really brought a good ending to a mediocre day. This is the thing Anthony talks about the most from our trip to Iceland. I didn't know it was possible to have naturally carbonated water coming straight out of the ground, but that's what we found at this spring. It's really hard to find though.
We spent 30 minutes wandering around in the rain trying to locate it with Google Maps. Eventually I used a picture I found online to find it based on the terrain. We brought extra water bottles to fill up and take with us. I don't like store bought sparkling water, but I loved the water from this spring.
Day 13
Hraunfossar
We squeezed in two more waterfalls before we headed to the airport on our last day. There was no hiking required to get to this one. It was a long, short, and spread out waterfall. It wasn't stunning, but it was worth the stop.
Barnafoss
Barnafoss is accessed from the same parking lot as Hraunfossar. Calling it a waterfall is a bit of a stretch. It looked more like white water rapids.
Where to eat in Iceland
The food in Iceland is my least favorite food we've had on any trip we've taken. To be fair, restaurants are incredibly expensive (like everything else) in Iceland, so we were only seeking out low end restaurants. There were a few places we did really enjoy which are below.
Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur
Reykjavík
The highlight of my food experience in Iceland was lunch on the very first day we arrived at this popular hot dog stand. Lots of famous people have eaten here. We got ours fully loaded with the traditional Icelandic condiments.
Stofan Café
Reykjavík
Crepes for a reasonable price? Count me in. When I say reasonable, I mean reasonable by Icelandic standards. It was still probably twice as much as I would expect to pay. This was where we ate dinner on our only night in Reykjavík and we all enjoyed the crepes.
Friðheimar
Reykholt, Golden Circle
This was the most unique place we ate. It's a greenhouse on the Golden Circle. The main attraction is the all you can eat tomato soup and bread. The tomatoes are grown at the greenhouse on site. We also got some tomato ice cream for dessert and Anthony tried a very expensive tomato beer (that he did not think was worth the price).
Salt Café & Bistro
Egilsstaðir
Everything we had here was very good, but the pizza is the thing I remember standing out the most.
N1
Húsavík
This is the perfect illustration of how desperate we were to find decent, reasonably priced food. This actually a gas station that has fast food inside of it and it was one of the better meals we had. We got burgers and probably spent $20 per meal, but it was pretty good.
Gamla Kaupfélagid
Akranes
We ended on a high note with our last dinner here. We had some very delicious burgers, but I think our favorite thing was the pulled lamb sandwich. This competes with the hot dogs for my favorite meal.
Getting to and around Iceland
We're big fans of Scott's Cheap Flights. We got round trip flights to Reykjavík from Boston for about $500 thanks to a deal they sent out. We had to get tickets from Charlotte to Boston, but this was still a good deal. Iceland is a frequent flight deal location, so I'd highly recommend becoming a member.
Some people fly into Reykjavík, don't rent a car, and do tours to get to different parts of Iceland. It's certainly possible to do this and experience parts of Iceland, but the tours don't reach the more remote areas of the country. To see all there is to see on ring road, it's really necessary to rent a car.
We didn't rent a car with 4 wheel drive. It isn't 100% necessary, but there are times when it certainly would have been nice. There were some roads we couldn't drive on without 4 wheel drive. Many of the roads that we could drive on were filled with potholes. I think Iceland wins the award for worst road conditions we've driven through.
We didn't know about it when we were planning our trip, but these Iceland Photo Maps seem like a great resource to use.
Where to stay in Iceland
Airbnb is always our preference of lodging when traveling. Camper van's are a popular way to see Iceland, but since we weren't doing that, Airbnb was the best way to go. Hotels aren't an option in the more remote areas of the country. We had no major issues at any of the places we stayed here—most are linked below, but the one in Reykjavík is no longer listed on Airbnb's site. We've been told hotel's book up well in advance. We didn't have an issue booking Airbnbs 5 months in advance (although we were there slightly before tourist season).
- Reykjavík (1 night)
- Hella (2 nights)
- Reynivellir (2 nights)
- Egilsstaðir (1 night)
- Mývatn (3 nights)
- Akranes (1 night)
Best time to visit Iceland
The weather is the one thing about Iceland that leaves a not so pleasant memory for me. Sometimes I see other people's pictures of the blue skies and wonder if we visited the same country.
We were there mid to late May and were told we had unseasonably bad weather. The weather was typically in the low 50s. Going into it, I didn't think it sounded that bad. Little did I know that winds would frequently be 25-30 mph and it would rain almost non-stop. I think we had one day that it didn't rain at all and I can count the number of blue skies we saw on one hand. That being said, my brother went a week later than us and had much better weather, so we may have just been unlucky.
The summer months, June through August, are more likely to have better weather. They're also the main tourist season though, so expect large crowds during these months. I'd rather take my chance with the weather than crowds, so I'd recommend visiting in May or September.