As the name suggest, The Ring Road is the route around Iceland. The Ring Road (Hringvegurinn / Þjóðvegur 1) is 1321 km long and was completed in 1974, with Iceland’s longest bridge connecting the South to the South East. Only since 2019 has the Ring Road been fully paved with asphalt.
It’s been a few years since I drove The Ring Road, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to do so, in early June 2020. With Iceland’s borders closed to countries outside the Schengen Area, and a mandatory 2 week quarantine for anyone arriving in the country, there were no tourist around. At the same time, Iceland had been isolated long enough for there to be no COVID19 infections in the country anymore, so it felt relatively safe. This was the chance to experience Iceland the way I remember it from my childhood and let my daughter experience our native country that way too.
It’s possible to do The Ring Road trip faster than we did, but I always feel like it’s best to give it at least 10 days. I don’t like to be too rushed, and there are so many interesting detours to make. Of course, it also matters in what season you make the trip. Summer is ideal, because the days are long and the weather conditions are usually good. In the 16 days we travelled, we drove a total of 3190 km (lots of detours!).
So on June 4th 2020, 11 days before the borders were scheduled to open, my sister, my daughter and I started our road trip around Iceland.
Day 1: The Golden Circle
From our first base in Selfoss it’s possible to make so many interesting day trips. But this time, since we were anxious to get started on the Ring Road, we decided to only make two day trips from Selfoss; The Golden Circle and Þjórsárdalur Valley the next day. Our Golden Circle trip included the three classics: Gullfoss waterfall, the Geysir area and Þingvellir National Park. Other interesting places we visited were Kerið crater and its neighbour Seyðishólar, Sólheimar ecovillage, Skálholt historical site, Friðheimar tomato-growing greenhouse, Faxi waterfall, Efstidalur Farm and the caves of Laugarvatn.
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Day 2: Þjórsárdalur Valley
On the second day of our road trip, we drove up the Þjórsárdalur Valley, then back down the Landsveit area. We then started traveling east on the Ring Road, towards the Eyjafjöll mountain range, where we spent the night. It was a day of beautiful nature, featuring the waterfalls Hjálparfoss, Háifoss and Þjófafoss, as well as a day of history and heritage, as we explored the Commonwealth Farm, the protected ruins at Stöng, and Oddi historic site. In the evening, we had dinner in an old barn, and then stopped by the famous waterfalls Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss.
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Day 3: The South Coast
On the third day of our road trip we continued traveling east on the Ring Road. We visited Skógar Museum, Sólheimajökull glacier, and a few caves and beaches on our way towards Vík. Then we continued to drive through the lava field Eldhraun with a stop in Fjaðrárgljúfur, through Kirkjubæjarklaustur towards the glacier lagoons Fjallsárlón and Jökulsárlón. We had decided to cover the South Coast somewhat quickly this time to get to the East Fjords sooner. We finally reached our accommodation at Hali in Suðursveit around midnight.
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Day 4: The South East
This day started on a cultural note with a visit to the Thorbergur Centre, a heritage museum and a unique exhibition of the district Suðursveit and the writer Þórbergur Þórðarson, one of Iceland’s most exceptional artists. We then stopped by the glacier lagoon again, saw the beautiful turf church Hofskirkja, had homemade ice cream on a farm and then continued towards Höfn í Hornafirði, where we had pizza. We took a while walking around in Stokksnes and exploring the abandoned viking movie set, found old celtic ruins and saw an impressive lighthouse. Before reaching our destination in Djúpivogur, we spotted 3 herds of reindeer!
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Day 5: The Southern East Fjords
After a nice breakfast in Djúpivogur and a quick chat with some elves, we continued on our journey of the East Fjords. We saw the historic Teigarhorn, beautiful Nykurhylsfoss waterfall and unrealistically blue cliff Blábjörg (it’s real though!). We had lunch in Breiðdalsvík and visited Petra’s Stone Museum in Stöðvarfjörður. After a short stop in Fáskrúðsfjörður we decided to quickly drive to our destination in Reyðarfjörður. The weather got really rainy and grey, and we just didn’t really feel like spending too much time outside anymore. However, still a very nice day because we spotted 4 herds of reindeer!
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Day 6: The East Fjords – Mjóifjörður
We started our day in the bakery in Reyðarfjörður, where we bought our lunch for the road. Then we made our way to the old Iceland spar quarry, Helgustaðanáma, stopping at Sómastaðir stone house on the way. After spending some time at the quarry, we drove back through Mjóeyri, to Eskifjörður and then back to Reyðarfjörður, where we visited The Icelandic Wartime Museum and walked to a beautiful waterfall. Scenic Mjóifjörður was next on our itinerary, where we enjoyed beautiful views, saw another impressive waterfall, and spotted a whale and a few reindeer. Our day ended in Egilsstaðir, where we had our base for the next 4 nights.
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Day 7: The East Fjords – Borgarfjörður Eystri
On the 7th day of our road trip, we went to Borgarfjörður Eystri. It was our first daytrip of three from our base in Egilsstaðir. The highlight of the day was seeing the puffins at Hafnarhólminn, a small harbour area close to Bakkagerði. The area is a protected nesting ground where you can view the puffins from really close. Other interesting things this day were for example the quirky vending machine in the middle of nowhere, the impressive Njarðvíkurskriður scree, the charming village of Bakkagerði with all its elf stories, the relaxing hot tubs at Musterið Spa and walking into the impressive Innra-Hvanngil Canyon.
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Day 8: The East Fjords – Around Lagarfljót
Our second day trip from Egilsstaðir was around Lagarfljót. We saw the ruins of an old haunted shepherds’ hut and hiked to the beautiful waterfalls Litlanesfoss and Hengifoss. Then we visited Skriðuklaustur, former farmstead of acclaimed author Gunnar Gunnarsson and an important archaeological site. Next, we went to The Wilderness Centre and then visited Valþjófsstaðir church. Finally, we ventured into the eastern highlands, where we saw Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant, and then we returned to Egilsstaðir.
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Day 9: The East Fjords – Seyðisfjörður
Coming soon
Day 10: The North East
Coming soon
Day 11 & 12: Akureyri – Family Time
Coming soon
Day 13: The North – Mývatn
Coming soon
Day 14: The North – Eyjafjörður
Coming soon
Day 15: The North – Tjörnes
Coming soon
Day 16: Tröllaskagi and The West
Coming soon
