Iceland Roadtrip Itinerary

It’s only taken me two years to write this blogpost, but better late than never! It’s all well and good to say you’ll do a roadtrip in a certain country but the planning process and logistics are quite a lot of work.

We’ve done a few road trips because we all know, we love a good adventure. I want to share with you our day to day itineraries for the road trips we have done and no doubt there will be more to come. We’ll start with one that was high up on our bucket lists, Iceland.

Skogafoss Waterfall

While renting a car and driving abroad can be quite daunting it’s a great way to do things on your own schedule. You’re able to see more things that are off the beaten track, stay in gorgeous locations and plan your holiday just how you would like to spend it.

Driving in certain countries definitely isn’t for the faint hearted, but it's not as scary as you would think. I’m very lucky that Billy doesn’t mind driving and neither of us are mad drinkers so we’re not missing out on an afternoon cocktail on holidays. You do sacrifice some things when driving but in our opinion, the pros out weigh the cons.

Some things to keep in mind when renting a car:

- Look out for lower security deposits. We usually book a car through Booking.com and all the information is there and easy to find. Some cars can seem very cheap to rent but you need to put a couple of thousand down as a deposit. I’d suggest opting for a slightly more expensive costing car with a lower security deposit.

- Most companies will require a credit card when picking up a car, not a debit card. We almost got caught a few times without one but decided to get a credit card for this purpose.

- Make sure when you pick up the car you take photos and videos of everything, the inside, outside and any info that’s on the dash. You don’t want to deal with any issues when you’re handing the car back.

- Download offline maps on your phone before you go. You’d be surprised how many times we didn’t have data and these were a god send. Not having directions is bad enough, but especially when your passenger princess has bad navigational skills!

Now that the main tips are out of the way, let’s get onto the Iceland itinerary!

Hallgrimskirkja Church, Reykjavik

Day 1:

- Fly Dublin to Reykjavik.

- Pick up your rental car at the airport.

- Stroll around Reykjavik city.

- Grab some dinner, I recommend Flatey pizza.

- Stay in Kvosin Downtown hotel.

Day 2:

- Grab a pastry for breakfast in Baka Baka in Reyjavik.

- Start with an early morning dip in the Blue Lagoon. Going early is a great way to beat some of the crowds.

- Drive around the Golden Circle route. Make sure to stop at the: Kerid Crater, Geysir and Gulfoss waterfall.

- Stop off at a supermarket to grab something for dinner to cook in your Cabin.

- Stay in Blue View Cabins, Reykholt.

Day 3:

- Start making your way down to Diamond Beach

- Stop off at Seljalandsfoss, Selfoss and Retnisfjara black sand beach.

- Visit Diamond beach.

- Stay in Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon, Hnappavelier.

- We got a great deal in this hotel since we booked in advance. We also managed to see the Northern Lights when staying here because they have an aurora wake up call.

Snowmobling on Langjökull glacier

Day 4:

- Today is your activity day, we went snowmobiling next with Iceland.is.

- Grab some dinner at The Old Dairy food market in Selfoss and dessert across the road in Groovis.

- We booked somewhere last minute to stay in Selfoss and to be honest I wouldn't recommend that hotel. But Selfoss would be a good area to stay in.

Day 5:

- It's time to drive back to Reykjavik, stop for a stroll in Pingvellir National Park. 

- Spend the afternoon in the Sky Lagoon. 

- Our flight was early the next morning so we stayed close to the airport in Keflavik Micro Suites. 

Day 6:

- Time to hand back the car and fly home. We flew Reykjavik to Dublin. 

Iceland can be expensive, but we didn't think it was as outrageous as some people made it out to be. It was definitely more expensive in downtown Reykjavik. Since we were doing a roadtrip and staying in some quieter areas, we opted for some on the go meals and snacks from supermarkets, which were very reasonable. I find you can make any holiday as cheap or as expensive as you want to. We also visited in 2022 so it has probably changed since then. 

Gulfoss Falls 

One other thing to note about Iceland is the amount of daylight hours you have when you travel. You also have to take into account the best months to see the Northern Lights. We went in November and had enough daylight to see everything, we tended to get on the road early and arrive at our first destination by sunrise. 

I would also recommend to book any activities you want to do in advance. Things can book out fast especially in bucketlist destinations, and you don't want to be disappointed! We got lucky and booked snow mobiling last minute since we were due to drive further up the island but decided against it, it was honestly one of the best decisions because it is still one of our favourite memories. 

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