Iceland’s main ring road, Route 1, is the country’s longest road and the primary route for visiting the country. Also known as “the country’s ring road” (Icelandic: Þjóðvegur 1 or Hringvegur), it was put into service in 1974.

It is more than 1,300 kilometers long and passes by the vast majority of attractions that Iceland has to offer. For the vast majority of its length, it has only one lane in each direction. At many bridges, especially in the north and east of the country, it narrows to one lane for both directions, forcing shuttle traffic.

It is along this road that most towns, stores, hotels, campgrounds or gas stations are located.

Of course, strictly speaking, the road does not pass through such attractive regions of Iceland as the interior, the West Fjords, Snaefellsnes or Reykjanes peninsulas, or even the so-called Golden Circle. However, these places are also the easiest to reach just by taking the popular “one” road, and only from it to drive down to the various attractions in these regions.

It is from planning the detour of this ring road that we usually start planning our trip to Iceland.

See below what attractions you will find along it.