Itinerary for an 8 Day Road trip around Iceland

Iceland was a place I had been wanting to travel to for a while, I used to annoy my husband with detailed plans of our trip. There were many times when we almost booked to go but always decided it was too expensive so we made a plan to go for our honeymoon instead.

Firstly I would say you could definitely spend more than 8 days traveling around Iceland. If you are an outdoor nut like me, you could spend 2 weeks on the road and you still wouldn’t get to see everything!

But as this was our first road trip and our first time sleeping in a camper van, we thought we should probably keep it to 8 days in case we ended up hating it or smelt really bad from lack of showering.

We also decided to visit Iceland in June/July. This meant that we would definitely not see any Northern lights but would get long stretches of daylight. Summer in Iceland gives you about 22 hours of daylight so you can maximize on driving and seeing as many sites as possible.

Day 1 - Arrive in Iceland & drive to Geysir

With the flight from the UK to Iceland only being roughly 2.5 hrs, this allowed us to start our road trip from the moment we got there.

We got picked up from Keflavik airport by Happy Campers who drove us to their base and showed us the camper van we would be living/driving/sleeping in for the next 8 days. There are lots of camper van companies to hire from in Iceland but we chose Happy Campers mainly because they seemed to be the most popular and their website makes it super easy to go through the order process. They were very helpful and had a really good set up which made you feel safe.

Neither I nor my husband had driven on the other side of the road before but the camper van we hired was a small Nissan transit which was manageable for us and it was also a manual which we were used to - I know some people are only used to automatics and find driving stick and issue.

Once we had been given a tour of the van (this didn’t take long) and some advice about the ring road we were off!

The first thing we noticed was that driving around Iceland is quite easy and relaxing unless you veer off the main road. The only area that gets a bit congested is near Reykjavik, but once you are out of the city, It becomes very easy and beautiful to drive around.

Our main mission for day 1 was to get to our first campsite which was located near the Geyser hot spring area and forms part of the Golden Circle. The Golden Circle is a popular route and contains 3 of Iceland's most popular attractions so we decided to head straight for the campsite and then we could crack on with some sightseeing in the morning.

The only place we did stop off at on route was a crater called Kerid. This was a great place to walk around and break up the journey from Reykjavik to Geyser so I recommend adding this to your Itinerary.

Our first campsite was at the Geysir hot springs and although a popular tourist spot, the actual campsite was a little too quiet and I thought there might be more facilities on the campsite itself. However, there was a tourist center on the other side of the road which had a restaurant attached.

Day 2 - Geysir & Waterfalls

The first night sleeping in a camper van went ok! I managed to sleep most of the night and I don’t think the daylight bothered me that much through the night. My main concern was feeling cold and I think we only had to put the heater on once and then didn’t really need it.

We started the day by visiting the geysers which were amazing even though it was raining with low visibility. This is one of the top places to visit as a tourist so just keep in mind that it gets quite crowded - one of the benefits to seeing Iceland in a camper is that you can just rock up at these places at times when no one else is there.

Our next destination was Gulfoss waterfall which was one of the sites to see as part of the golden circle and wasn’t too far away from Geysir. Unfortunately, because of the time, we knew it would be busy and it was pouring down but it was still incredible to see one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland so definitely one to add to your trip.

The next step on our trip was going to be Thingvellir national park but we decided to skip and head to the south coast of Iceland as we needed to make a bit of headway so we could go on a glacier hike that we had pre-booked.

On our way to the next campsite, we stopped off at Seljalandsfoss waterfall which you can walk behind, and Skogafoss waterfall which you can view from the top as a steep staircase leads to a platform above the waterfall. Both of these waterfalls are essential stops and are right off the ring road so they are difficult to miss.

On our way to the campsite, the weather started getting worse so we almost didn’t make any more stops when we drove past a small car park off the main road which mentioned something about a plane wreckage. We almost carried on but decided to turn back and add this onto our list of stops and I'm so glad we did! The DC3 Plane Wreck is about a 45 min walk to get to from the car park but definitely worth it. The shell of an abandoned plane mixed with the eerie black sands makes it great for photography. We couldn’t see much in the distance because of low visibility but we could hear the waves from the sea and this made it even more haunting. This might not be for everyone but it was definitely one of our favourite stops.

We managed to make it to Skaftafell campsite but couldn’t really see anything and we had no idea where we had parked our van.

Day 3 - Boat Tours & Glacier Hikes

The following morning, we woke up to our first sunny day in Iceland which was beautiful, we could actually see where we had parked and it was amongst some ice-covered mountains.

Skaftafell was one of our favourite campsites but it was also one of the most popular as lots of people stop here to do glacier hiking, caving, and other activities. It was in a great location but also the toilets and shower rooms were super clean and modern.

Our first activity of the day was a Glacial boat ride at Fjallsárlón lagoon. After we had donned our gear (massive big ice coat) we walked from the booking office to the lagoon and wow what a view! We were lucky as the weather was pretty ‘bloomin’ lovely so we got some pretty good views over the lagoon. Our guide took us out in a small group in the boat and it was amazing to see all the icebergs and then finally get to the end of the lagoon where it meets the outlet of the glacier with its vast but sadly depleting ice.

We had some time to kill before our glacier hike so we went to the next lagoon called Jokulsarlon - a very popular lagoon as it has a lot of tourist activities such as ice caving and various boat trips. It was quite busy but a great stop as you can see where the lagoon meets the sea.

We then headed back to Skaftafell in time for our glacier hike where they equipped us with crampons and a pickaxe. We then had a 20 min hike until our guide gave us a lesson on how to fit crampons to our walking boots and we were off on our way onto the ice. I've got to say, I found it quite difficult to get used to at first but once you start walking with conviction, you soon get used to it - walking downhill was the trickiest. Both me and Scott wore our warmest clothes because naturally, we thought climbing a glacier would be freezing…no it turns out this was our warmest day in Iceland and we hadn’t even brought any water with us so we were dehydrated. There was one point our tour guide allowed us to drink some of the running water that was traveling beneath the ice - we took advantage of this. We had such an amazing time though and I’m glad we pre-booked this activity.

Our day was finished off by another evening camping at Skaftafell campsite and because the weather was so nice we were able to do a bit of sunbathing whilst our food was cooking on our mini hob.

Day 4 - A cool canyon and traveling to the east

I'm glad we made the most of the good weather the previous day because it was back to gloomy today - I must point out that you cannot ever guarantee the weather in Iceland, even if you check the forecast, it can change so quickly. It's best just to embrace the rain and cold weather.

We actually double-backed on ourselves this morning and headed to a canyon we couldn’t get to on day 2. It was called Fjaðrárgljúfur and I would definitely add it to your list of destinations as it's impressive to walk around. It used to be an outlet of a glacier but as the glacier melted, it revealed this steep canyon with water running in between it.

As we knew we had a lot of traveling to do in order to get over to the east coast, we decided not to make any more stops for a while and make some headway. We were going to stop at Hofn for our next campsite but instead, we pushed on further round to a town/village called Djupivogur, a small village on the East coast. As you leave the south of Iceland and approach the east, you definitely notice fewer tourists and camper vans but we found the town of Djupivogur relaxing. The campsite was peaceful but was definitely less modern than the Skaftafell campsite. I decided to skip the showers on this campsite as you had to put coins into a meter in order to use it. It was a little rough around the edges but still a nice place to stop.

Day 5 - Geothermal Activity

Today, we made our way round to the North East and headed to a waterfall called Dettifoss which is thought to be the 2nd most powerful waterfall in Europe. We really liked it even though it was raining (note: we made an error at first by heading down a road that had not been surfaced. The van we were renting was not ideal for this type of road and Happy Campers advised against using these roads unless we had a 4x4. We eventually turned around and used a different road which had been surfaced and just took you round to the other side of the waterfall)

We definitely noticed a drop in temperature now we were in the north of Iceland. Our next stop was the Myvatn Geothermal area which was difficult to miss as it was right off the main road. When we got out of the car to have a walk around I found it very disorientating as you expect it to be really warm outside just because of all the hot bubbles of steam everywhere but instead it was freezing - very confusing! It was amazing though and another thing I like about all of the natural things to see in Iceland is that they just put small ropes around areas they don’t want you to step on or that are dangerous. So it doesn’t take away from the experience or ruin photo opportunities - They just trust that visitors are going to respect the area.

Another thing Myvatn has is its own nature baths, a bit like the Blue Lagoon but in the north of Iceland. I have heard people say this one is better and less touristy but we had already booked our Blue Lagoon visit so we gave this one a miss and headed to our campsite in Myvatn.

Myvatn had a very good campsite overlooking a lake and had good showers with hairdryers - Thank god! I did notice that the showers smelt quite strongly of egg. This is because the warm water comes from the geothermal power plants - Iceland is the only country in the world that obtains 100% of its electricity and heat from renewable sources. 87% of its electricity comes from hydro-power, and the remaining 13% from geothermal power.

Day 6 - Whale Watching…Kind of.

We got up early today as we needed to make our way to Husavik to go Whale watching. This was something that was high on my list of things to do in Iceland…but I didn't account for weather conditions. It was actually a really clear sunny day although bitterly cold, when we got to the booking office they warned us that the sea was very rough and that this would actually be their last boat trip of the day as it was only going to get worse. Scott actually made a really wise decision to bow out as he suffers from travel sickness anyway but me thinking I was a good traveler decided I didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

So, firstly I don’t want to put anybody off from whale watching, I would do it again if the water was calmer. The boats that go out are pretty sturdy but as soon as we left the harbor, things started to get a bit choppy, and then before I knew it, I was starting to feel queasy and I knew that it wasn’t going to go away. As I said, it was really sunny, but these boats take you quite far out onto the ocean so you can get a good look at these beautiful creatures and it was freezing!!! Luckily they equip you with massive coats. To cut a long story short I spent the whole 3-hour trip being sick and I only saw the fin of one whale but I am pretty sure other people who weren’t being sick saw a whole lot more. The funny thing was, I took my SLR camera which I could barely hold let alone get a good image of a whale. There were people who had taken sea sickness tablets which the guides did recommend but I didn’t get a chance to buy any.

Needless to say, when I returned to land and saw my husband, he was pretty chuffed he decided not to go and instead sat in a pretty nice coffee shop with a nice Latte. After I had regained my balance we went back to the coffee shop and then had a look at the whale museum which was where I did see lots of whales.

Husavik is a lovely little town and definitely, worth a visit, we made the decision to visit Husavik instead of Akureyri which is another Northern town in Iceland. Akureyri is the 2nd biggest town in Iceland after Reykjavik and worth a look, we just didn’t have time and had to make a choice between the two.

After making a stop at Godafoss waterfall which was beautiful, we decided to rack up some more miles and head moreover to the northeast for our next campsite as we still needed to drive through the west of the country. This was quite a long journey and we ended up getting to the campsite at close to 11 pm but the weather turned really nice and with that midnight sun we really got to make the most of the long day.

Hvammstangi actually had a really nice campsite. It had a nice little communal building where you could sit inside and use the wifi and with the weather being so good, we actually got to eat outside.

Day 7 - A weird mountain and back down to the southwest of Iceland

We knew we had a lot of driving to cover today so we set off early to head over to Kirkjufell which has a mountain we wanted to see. We skipped an area known as the Westfjords as this was too far out and we didn’t have enough time to visit.

The town of Kirkjufell was lovely and we managed to stop off at a convenience store for some food and also a quick toilet break (This was one of my main concerns about traveling around Iceland in a camper van - lack of toilets! It turns out this really wasn’t an issue, whenever we weren’t on a campsite, there were always toilets around, even in some of the shops).

We then stopped for a walk around Kirkjufell mountain which was spectacular and looks like a wizard's hat. It's quite a popular stop due to it being a filming location from Game of Thrones. There is just a tiny car park but you can stop at other inlets off the main road and there are few different walks you can do. The walk we did, took us round past a waterfall with the mountain in the background.

Iceland is a photographer's paradise - I am a keen photographer but the equipment I took was nothing compared to what some people were using. You would see people trudging across really difficult terrain with heavy cases of equipment just so they could get the perfect shot.

Kirkjufell was our only stop today as we needed to get back to the southwest to get to Grindavik campsite (our last campsite) so we could get up early the next morning for our Blue Lagoon visit. This was our longest travel leg of 5.5 hours!

Grindavik campsite was a really good campsite - don’t know if this is because of its proximity to the Blue Lagoon but the showers were nice and it had a nice warm communal room.

Day 8 - Blue Lagoon & the end of our van life experience!

We had pre-booked our Blue Lagoon visit and we had chosen one of the earliest slots of 08.30. I'm glad we did because it was super quiet.

As you go through the building of the blue lagoon and get your wrist band, robe, and slippers, it all feels very well organized, clean, and dare I say trendy. I know a lot of people who have been to Iceland multiple times, have said they prefer the less popular geothermal baths such as Myvatn or even the many natural hot springs you find in the middle of nowhere. If I went back to Iceland again, I might try some of the other hot springs but we loved the Blue Lagoon and it was perfect for us considering we had been on the road for 8 days in a van. The Blue Lagoon felt like a luxury to us and that's exactly what we needed.

We decided to opt for the Premium Blue Lagoon package which allows you 2 x mud masks, slippers, a bathrobe, and a glass of sparkling wine if dining at the Lava restaurant. They cost us around £50 each.

Whilst showering, I was advised to apply a lot of conditioner to my hair as the water wrecks your hair as I later found out. Once showered (In all communal baths in Iceland, whether geothermal or ordinary, you are asked to shower before entering the pool/lagoon for hygiene reasons), we were free to enter the lagoon and it was pure relaxation. Obviously walking outside in just your swimsuit is freezing but it's only a couple of steps and then your feet touch the hot water. Although you get a time slot for entering the pool, you can stay in the lagoon for as long as you want. We spent probably 1.5 hrs in there as we were getting hungry and also the lagoon was starting to get a bit busier.

We had our Lava restaurant reservation booked for 11 am and it was liked we had never eaten before. After eating out of a campervan for the past 8 days, it was nice to have some amazing grub and a glass of bubbly to end our road trip around Iceland.