If
you’re still thinking about choosing a date and format for your trip, be sure to see these two guides:
Two weeks in Iceland in the summer in a 4-wheel drive car is the absolute best way to see everything this beautiful country has to show for yourself.
On this trip you will see everything that is most interesting and very, very few places you will leave “for later”. The only downside is that to get into the interior, you have to go to Iceland in the summer. And that, in turn, is the peak season and the most popular places can be really crowded. However, you’ll also get to know empty and completely secluded places, so there’s nothing to regret – you’ll just see the many faces of Iceland.
The trip in a nut shell
For this trip, you will need a car with both axles. In terms of accommodations, we are geared towards camping, so sleep in a tent or in an RV, if that’s the kind of 4×4 you rent. The combination of hostels + hostels is also possible, but requires making accurate reservations (everywhere and well in advance!) and practically removes any flexibility to adjust the route on the fly, so I rather not recommend it. I also assume that you will cook on your own, mostly at the end of the day, at said campsites. Sometimes, of course, you can support yourself with a hot dog at the station or dinner at a restaurant or hostel of your choice….
If
you’re still thinking about choosing a date and format for your trip, be sure to see these two guides:
The trip will be intense, but reasonably peaceful. It won’t avoid places of interest but less popular due to location, for example, but it won’t make you “gallop” between attractions either. There will also be time to see places where you have to walk a little or spend a little more time (including Glymur waterfall, Asbyrgi canyon, whale watching cruise or Reykjadalur hot river). In a word: all the best, in a very convenient package 🙂
Before the detailed description of the entire route, I have also included a piece about what you can possibly take out of this route if you don’t have 14 days available, or what to add if you have a bit more. These options are also indicated on the map showing the itinerary and in the detailed descriptions of each day.
Self drive itinerary in Iceland – map
We start and end our trip at the airport Keflavik If you’re going to Iceland by ferry (a great idea if you have a lot of time on your hands and want to save on a rental car), you’ll take this route from the middle, so to speak – starting and ending at the wharf in Seydisfjordur, in the east, near Egilsstadir
This recipe for travel involves driving counterclockwise. I think this “direction of sightseeing” is better, because we see many of the biggest and best-known attractions right at the beginning (driving from Keflavik) and find it easier to appreciate the smaller, more intimate or challenging ones later on (although you will also see many of the top attractions in the second part or at all at the end of the trip).
Map: 14-day Self Drive Itinerary for Iceland
Download the map in full resolution (2.8 MB, jpeg)
The classic idea for Iceland is, of course, to go around it. And while it’s true that the island is beautiful everywhere, there’s virtually nothing in the central-northern part of the island that really “gets you out of your shoes.” Probably the only place in the north that might be worth a special trip is the historic turf-covered church in Vidimyri However, the same original church and even moved from the same area can be seen in the Arbaer open-air museum in Reykjavik, so it’s a shame to put up 150 km for it.
That’s why I suggest bypassing the northern part of the country between Godafoss in the east and the Budardalur area in the west and using that to drive more kilometers through the interior. This will allow you to see some great places (most notably Landmannalaugar and Kerlingarfjoll), drive on extremely photogenic roads (F26, F35, F225, F338) and not go in circles.
Top attractions en route
On this route you will see virtually all the attractions and most beautiful places of Iceland. Among the most important are: Reykjavik, the so-called Golden Circle (including the famous Geysir and Strokkur and the continental rift in the park Thingvellir), black beaches, several glaciers, diamond beach and Jokulsalron Bay, countless waterfalls and volcanoes (some of which you can even climb), geological wonders around Myvatn and the beautiful capes of Snaefellsnes and West Fjords If you wish, you’ll bathe in the many hot springs, swim to watch whales, and descend into a lava cave and into more than one – smaller or larger – canyon.
But what stands out most about this trip, of course, is entering the interior and seeing not only the precipitous pumice deserts and various volcanoes and lava fields, but also such gems as the beautiful, green Thorsmork, rainbow mountains in Landmannalaugar, springs with temperatures up to 150 oC (sic!) in Kerlingarfjoll, bathing in the crater of the volcano Askja (sic!), or the mighty canyons of Hafravhammagljufur and Stakkholtsgja Anyway, also driving along the F26, F208 or F910 mountain roads is a great attraction in itself. The views there are truly otherworldly.
Day by day itinerary (short)
- Day 0: arrival, transfer to Reykjavik
- Day 1: sightseeing in Reykjavik
Main attractions: Whales of Iceland exhibition, Árbær open-air museum, Hallgrímskirkja church, walk in Hverfisgata, swim in Nautholsvik Geothermal Beach, local specialties in one of the restaurants; - Day 2: Reykjavik – Thingvellir – Thorsmork
main attractions: Thingvellir National Park, Kerid Crater, Seljalandsfoss and Gljufrabui waterfalls, Thorsmork region, Stakkolstgja canyon, F249 road; - Day 3: Thorsmork – Skaftafell
Main attractions: hiking from Basar Hut, Skogafoss waterfall, Reynisfjara beach, Fjadrargljufur canyon, Svartifoss waterfall; - Day 4: Skaftafell – Laugarfell
main attractions: Diamond beach, Jokulsarlon Bay, Cape Stokksnes, Hengifoss and Litlanesfoss waterfalls, hot spring at Laugarfell; - Day 5: Laugarfell – Askja – Asbyrgi
Main attractions: Hafrahvammagljúfur canyon, F910 road, Askja crater, Viti crater bath, Dettifoss waterfall; - Day 6: Asbyrgi – Husavik – Myvatn
Main attractions: trekking in Asbyrgi, whale watching cruise from Husavik, Myvatn hot pools; - Day 7: Myvatn – F26 – Landmannalaugar
Main attractions: geothermal areas Leirhnjukur and Namafjall hverir, Hverfjall volcano, lava fields Dimmuborgir and Vornaskard, pseudo-craters Skutustadagigar, waterfalls Godafoss and Aldeyjarfoss, roads F26 and F208; - Day 8: Landmannalaugar – Fludir
Main attractions: trekking in Landmannalaugar, road F225, Hekla volcano, Haifoss waterfall, Thjodveldisbaerinn open-air museum, Gamla Laugin hot pools; - Day 9: Fludir – Kerlingarfjoll – F338 and F550 – Husafell (Kalmanstunga)
main attractions: geysers Strokkur and Geysir, Gullfoss waterfall, trekking in Hveradalir (Kerlingarfjoll), roads F35, F338 and F550; - Day 10: Husafell – Barnafoss – Breidavik
Main attractions: Surtshellir and/or Vidgelmir Caves, Deildartunguhver hot spring, Grabrok volcano, Cape West Fjords, Raudisandur beach, Latrabjarg cliffs; - Day 11: Breidavik – ferry – Grundarfjordur
Main attractions: Dynjandi waterfall, ferry crossing, Berserkjahraun lava field, Kirkjufell mountain; - Day 12: Grundarfjordur – Snaefellsnes Peninsula – Thorisstadir
Main attractions: mountain Kirkjufell, waterfall Kirkjufellsfoss, crater Saxholl, road F570, beach Dritvik Djúpalónssandur, cave Vatnshellir, cliffs in Arnarstapi, rock crevice Raudfeldsgja, church Budakirkja, wild seals in Ytri Tunga; - Day 13: Thorisstadir – Hveragerdi
Main attractions: trekking to Glymur waterfall, swimming in the hot mountain stream of Reykjadalur; - Day 14: Hveragerdi – Grindavik
Main attractions: Krusyvik geothermal area, swimming in the Blue Lagoon complex, possibly returning to Reykjavik or one of several attractions in the area; departure if you have a plane in the evening - Day 15: farewell and departure if you have a morning flight
What you can add or remove first
Places that are worth adding
If you have one or more extra days available, add one of these options to your schedule:
- drive to the Laki volcano area via the F206 road (day 3 or 4); a very interesting and varied road, and a unique linear volcano at the end – for off-road and volcano lovers it is definitely very worth it; +1 day to the plan;
- extended tour of the Cape West Fjords to Isafjordur (day 11 or 12); if you like the scenery of the fjords and want some time alone in Iceland – it’s hard to find a better place; +1 day to plan;
- additional whale watching cruise from Reykjavik (day 14 or 15); in Husavik there is a greater chance of large whales, but in Reykjavik it is said to be greater for slightly smaller cetaceans; if you have 1 loose day, it is worth leaving it as a reserve, and if you don’t use it for anything else, go on this cruise at the end of the trip; + half a day to plan;
Longer hiking routes that you can add to this plan
- Fimmvorduhals hiking trail (day 3); beautiful full-day trek from Basar Hut to Skogar; unfortunately, you have to either send a driver with your car separately, or count on hitchhiking one way (buses go there, but acutely poor hourly fit); +1 day to the plan
- an additional day of trekking in Thorsmork (day 3); there are “a gazillion” possibilities here, and all described in articles about the region 🙂 +1 day to the plan;
- Walk the entire Laugavegur trail (from day 1 or from day 8; that’s a minimum of +4 days to the plan); it’s a long but beautiful trail from Thorsmork to Landmannalaugar; I describe it in a separate article: Laugavegur something there something there; +4 days to plan;
- trekking in Kerlingarfjoll (from day 9; this trek is a 3-day route); a beautiful trail throughout the Kerlingarfjoll region; for a map and brief description, see the article Kerlingarfjoll – boiling colorful mountains; +3 days to plan;
Places you can skip if you must
If you have to cut your trip short by a day or two, or something stops you along the way, well – consider cutting one of the things below out of your plan, though you’ll probably come back here to see them at some point after all 🙂
- Thorsmork (day 2-3) – it’s a beautiful region, but a bit dangerous and a bit risky; the entire F249 road leading there is excluded from insurance by probably all car rental companies; so it’s a heartache, because it’s a lovely place, but if you have to cut something out…
- Glymur (day 13) – a beautiful waterfall and the highest you can see in Iceland; also the trail leading to it is very varied and full of beautiful views; but yet somehow you will march 8 hours to see 1 waterfall – usually in Iceland we expect the opposite proportions…
- Reykjavik (day 1) – I know it seems strange to visit Iceland without visiting the capital, but there’s really nothing “head-scratching” there, and after all, you don’t come to Iceland to see museums and monuments, so maybe…
- West Fjords (day 10-11) – my heart cries when I write this, because the West Fjords is an absolutely beautiful area; but skipping this peninsula saves practically the whole 1 day, losing “only” 2 beaches, 1 waterfall, cliffs with maskonurs and beautiful landscapes of the fjords themselves; I regret to confirm that you will see quite similar places in the rest of the route (mainly. south and east), so if you don’t want to “cut out” anything else, then as a last resort, maybe cut out those fjords…
Day by day itinerary (detailed)
A detailed description of such a long and attraction-rich route is by its nature very, very long.
At the same time, these “detailed details” may be more useful on the spot, once you are actually driving through Iceland.
That’s why I’ve put this description as a separate PDF file. This way it can serve as an actual vademecum during your trip. Enjoy using it 🙂
Download the detailed route description as a PDF (7 MB):
Detailed description of 2-week tour of Iceland (4×4)
We
would love to hear back from you: what did work and what didn’t? What would you have organised differently? Are there any details worth adding? Has something changed in any of the places? Leave us a comment below!
