Last Updated: February 15th, 2020

Back in September 2017, we took a trip to Iceland that turned out to be one of the best experiences of our lives. For 10 days, we traveled the entire country by campervan, spending our nights in small camping sites and being fully immersed in the natural beauty this small, but diverse, country has to offer.

Introduction – Why We Chose Iceland for Our Adventure

Our first destination outside of North America was Iceland – the Land of Ice and Fire. It had long been on our radar as a place we really wanted to go, even before we knew about it’s level of popularity amongst photographer circles.

One thing in common we share (well, among many things actually…as you might imagine from a married couple) is a love for nature. Even at home, we are constantly looking for new places to explore and check out. Iceland is one of those locations that epitomizes this feeling – and while there are many places in the world where you can check out volcanoes, glaciers, hiking trails, waterfalls, etc…few places have such a diverse terrain in such a relatively small area.

While we spent 10 days on the road in Iceland, it is actually entirely possible to drive the entire Ring Road (the main circle “highway” that goes around the island) in a day. Iceland, a country, is roughly the same size as the state of Ohio in the USA. It’s hard to really fathom, but it is the truth. Unlike Ohio, a place we have been and aren’t overly fond of (as there isn’t a whole lot to do there in our experience), Iceland is simply jam packed with things going on.

Watching a number of travel videos and vlogs, and reading all we could about the country before visiting on a number of articles and forums (shout out to r/VisitingIceland on Reddit), only gave us a glimpse of what is mostly the most expected parts of our journey. It’s invaluable knowledge if you are the type that likes to plan ahead and be prepared for your travels (we definitely are…).

Of course, all the planning in the world won’t prepare you for the unexpected. The very difficult weather, and the most thrilling and mind-breakingly beautiful scenic moments that came when we least expected it…

It’s worth adding to that, as first time travelers to Europe, we also felt a little at ease given that Iceland is one of the safest countries in the world. It certainly felt that way when we were there, and though we would lock our vehicle when we walked away from it (we’ll blame the East Coast mentality for this, and well, just being smart) – we never had the impression something would go wrong.

So – Iceland – was this immediately attractive place to us.

Can’t wait to tell you some more about our experience:

11 Best Experiences While Traveling Through Iceland

Let’s kick this off talking about some of the great experiences we had traveling through Iceland. There were so many memorable moments, and we’re sure if you are considering traveling to this country yourself – you will come home with a treasure trove of memories, too!

1). Living in & out of a campervan

When we began to plan our travels to Iceland, it became apparent that this would be a different sort of traveling adventure. While we are outdoorsy types, most of our vacations have, at least, ended up with us finding our way to a budget hotel by the end of the day. Living in and out of a van comes with many challenges, but when exploring Iceland, it offers a maximum amount of flexibility to the journey.

While it’s maybe a silly, it was a great experience to spend together. The difficulties we had (we’ll discuss some of these later in this post) just enhanced the experience.

We definitely grew as people as a result of this experience, and our next big trip to New Zealand will be following the same approach.

2). The otherworldly Berserkjahraun Lava Field

So the funny thing about Berserkjahraun (try saying that 10 times over) is that we had no idea the place existed. We just quickly looked at Google Maps after waking up in our campsite on the Snaefellsness peninsula, and found that it was right along the way towards the Westfjords.

From the photos we saw online, they didn’t do the place justice. This is one of the standout spots in all of Iceland for us (and remember: we’ve been around the entire country). It’s accessible, but feels distinctly otherworldly. Driving and walking through this area felt like walking on the moon. Some misty fog, black sand, vibrant moss, volcanic dunes…and even a few wandering sheep…all enhanced the experience.

The photos we captured during this part of our trip are some of our favorites.

3). Reykjavik & Akureyri – Small “big” cities

We are not the biggest fans of big cities. Being from the East Coast of the USA, we are located within convenient driving distance to Philadelphia, New York City, Washington DC…We’ve also been to other large cities around the country like Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Portland, etc. While most of these places have their charm, there are few we ever really feel comfortable walking around and exploring.

In the case of Reykjavik, the capitol of Iceland, and Akureyri – the “second largest city” in Iceland – both were relaxing, low to the ground, and felt quite safe to be in. They have plenty going on, to see and to do, and we wish we had spent more time in these cities ourselves.

4). Myvatyn Natural Baths

About half-way through our trip, we hadn’t done much in the way of showering or relaxing. While we loved this trip, we were so beat (you could definitely see it on our faces), and pushed ourselves to the brink. We had heard about Myvatyn Natural Baths being a “cheaper and all around better” version of The Blue Lagoon located in the Northeast part of the country.

We’d agree, for the most part. The experience definitely was more “authentic” to what you would expect from a standard Icelandic spa, and cost was about half as much as The Blue Lagoon. What fundamentally enhanced it was simply getting freshened up after days of hiking and driving, and coming out from the brutal weather and driving conditions in the Westfjords.

If you’re in the region, we highly suggest checking it out!

5). Getting Icelandic hot dogs

What better cultural exchange do human beings have than their food? Not going to lie, our actual experience with Icelandic food was pretty limited, due to our relatively tight budget and literally living off of cheap sustenance from the local grocery store Bonus. From time to time, we’d stop off at the N1 gas stations for additional food, supplies, and petrol.

If living off of bread, rice, and gummy bears isn’t your jam – consider Iceland’s infamous hot dogs. The first one we had was on the main street in Akureyri – and it was life changing. Virtually every day following, we would stop off and at least have one from the gas station. It’s the sort of culinary treat that even a five year old will be into!

6). Aurora sighting

Being in the arctic circle during early September, there was a chance of seeing the Northern Lights – though not nearly as common or frequent as one would expect during the winter months. Most of our days were filled with at least some rain and cloud cover. When returning to our campground for the 2nd night spent right outside of Akureyri, we caught a glimpse of the aurora’s overhead.

This is probably one of the most insane natural phenomena to occur, and seeing pictures or even videos of it doesn’t do it justice to how it actually looks with your own eyes. While photography has it’s place, this is one of those things that you really have to see it to believe it.

If you’re visiting Iceland, check out the online aurora forecast.

7). Driving through the Eastern fjords at sunset

Due to some time restraints and excessive stopping on our journey (you can’t not stop every couple of kilometers in some parts of the country!!), we had to make a long journey through the Eastern fjord region. Driving from Myvatyn Natural Baths to Hofn was quite intense, fairly long, and we made it just in the knick of time before the sun went totally dark on us.

Still, despite the long and arduous drive, the sunset we witnessed was breathtaking and hard to compare. The vivid reds really stood out to us as they silhouetted the fjords and mountains, and reflected off the ocean waves.

This is one of those unexpected experiences, and truly remarkable.

8). Glacier views

When visiting Iceland, you can’t not go to see some of the glaciers. Located in the South of Iceland, Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon is probably one of the most touristy locations in the country. In fact, when we arrived, the parking lot was packed and it felt a lot like Disney world with the number of buses and people loading up onto boats to go on tours of the lagoon itself, and get up close and personal with the ice.

Given our experience with The Golden Circle being fairly touristy and boring in comparison to most other things we did in Iceland, we were skeptical of this spot. We were pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be just as cool as we had expected!

Mix this in with Diamond Beach (right across the road), and seeing the real glacier of Svinajokull – all of these experiences combined made for something truly otherworldly and impossible to see in most regions of the world.

9). The Blue Lagoon & Lava Restaurant

On the last night of our trip through Iceland, we had (fairly last minute) booked a room at the Northern Light Inn and decided to treat ourselves to some relaxation. We had debated this for a long time leading up to our trip, and ended up having to pay a pretty penny for the lodging; but it was totally worth it!

The first time feeling a comfortable bed after living in a van for over a week felt like heaven. We enhanced this experience further by getting dinner at Lava (a fine dining restaurant down the road – and right next to the Blue Lagoon itself). The food was pretty great – definitely more to rave about than the gas station skyr and pasta we were eating most of the trip.

Of course, no trip to Iceland would be complete without a visit to the Blue Lagoon. While some folks say it’s not worth it – let us tell you – it was worth it.

It’s maybe not as authentic as other spas and hot pots on the island, but at this point in our journey, we didn’t care so much for authenticity as we did some relaxing geothermally warmed blue water, a cold beer, and some silica and algae masks. It felt like heaven #2 and we didn’t want to leave.

10). Traveling to & Seeing Dynjandi Waterfall in the Westfjords

Hands down, our favorite part of our trip was also the most difficult for us – both mentally and physically. Driving from our campsite on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula to see Dynjandi, the thunderous waterfall, in the Westfjords was long and uncomfortable much of the time. Despite checking weather forecasts before leaving, the weather was unpredictable – with new sets of conditions around each fjord. The actual roads were also challenging to drive due to low levels of maintenance at this time of the year, many potholes, plus just driving on borderline one lane roads along the side of huge cliffs. We admit, it was frightening at times.

Despite all this, when we arrived to the little cove where Dynjandi was housed, the rain and fog seemed to clear for us – and the views surrounding us were incredibly beautiful. It felt like an environment that could have been pulled right out of a Jurassic Park movie.

11). Icelandic horses in Skaftafell’s viking movie set

Of all the things to see and do in Iceland, what stands out most as the “best” experience of our trip was when we were exploring and photographing some areas around the Skaftafell peninsula – specifically the landscape photographer approved mountain of Vetrahorn.

While this place was incredible and worth the extra trip to check it out, what took it over the edge into magical and dream-like territory was the unexpected Icelandic horses visiting us. At the base of the mountain range is a little remnant of a viking movie set, and while there you are free to explore and check it out. A cool little excursion if you’re already here. While standing there and shooting a couple photos of the place – because why not – we started to hear and see these horses walk right into the set…

We spent easily a good hour just relaxing and checking out these horses. They are extremely photogenic – as our photos can show you – and also exceptionally friendly. Between petting them, feeding them small bits of grass, and just observing them – it’s difficult to compare. As with many other good things, it came just at the right time to give us an extra jolt of energy as well!!

4 Challenges We Experienced While Adventuring Through Iceland

We imagine that most resources you will find about Iceland travel are more likely to play up the positives, and downplay (or completely ignore) the difficulties that come with this environment. While our experiences are not representative of every person visiting the country – it is probably a good starting point to see some of the challenges you may be faced with, especially if you opt to go the same route of living in a camper van (or otherwise roughing it).

1). A lot of people at the most popular sites

Iceland has become this very popular tourist attraction in just the past decade or so, but the people who are visiting have a tendency to just flock to a handful of sights. For all the talk you will hear about being able to drive for hours without seeing another human being, this isn’t entirely consistent with what we saw throughout most of the country ourselves.

If you look up a list of “must see” locations in Iceland, you will probably be heavily exposed to just a couple of specific places – The Golden Circle route (which includes Gullfoss Waterfall, Geysir, Thingvellir, and a few other stops if you so choose like Kerid crater), Seljalandsfoss (the waterfall you can walk behind), The Blue Lagoon, and Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon. While all of these places have their merits (and some more than others), they were all pretty heavily congested with people.

We can admit, the reason why this serves as a challenge for any Iceland explorer is that these locations are usually showcased in pictures as being fairly solitary. While this may be possible during the middle of the night (and relatively easy to do during the summer with the Midnight Sun’s light, by the way), if you are going at a “normal” time – you should expect crowds. It is because of this that, when we return to Iceland, we probably won’t be revisiting several of these sights ourselves – and a few are a bit overhyped.

2). The high cost of everything

Just about everything that you will buy in Iceland costs a good chunk of money. It’s the nature of island life – where most things need to be imported. While you can find some deals from time to time, if you are remotely budget conscious, you will need to really search out the good deals.

Fortunately, we had expected and planned for this, but even the best calculations can still come up short. With the cost for gas over the course of 10 days adding up to around $500 (USD), and just about every food stop at a gas station or supermarket costing an arm-and-a-leg, it’s easy to see how a longer term stay in Iceland can be costly. It’s crazy to think we generally did things on the cheap end, and during September when the off season pricing begins.

We can say, the costs are worth the experience – but when we got home and looked over our racked up credit card bills and drained bank accounts, it can be a bit alarming to think over just how much was spent on a relatively short period of time.

3). Stressful road conditions

Earlier, we talked about the drive through the Westfjords on our way to Dynjandi. This was a pretty extreme scenario, and made driving through the rest of Iceland pretty simple to be honest – but it’s something we were not entirely prepared for.

We had read that making your way through the Westfjord region was a bit more difficult, given how remote and sparsely populated it is. It’s pretty obvious now why only 10% of visitors to Iceland check out this region. After the summer months, road quality in much of the country, declines pretty rapidly. Due to the aggressive nature and Iceland’s limited infrastructure, they do not do much to repair the poor roads until the spring time rolls in again.

Of course, this is just touching the tip of the iceburg as we’re talking about often small, bumpy, and pothole ridden roads. The weather conditions add to the stress of driving in this place for sure.

4). Rapidly changing and unpredictable weather

Probably the toughest thing to manage when visiting Iceland is your expectation for good weather. Island weather is far different and more unreliable in general – and Chris has seen this to some extent when he visited Hawaii in his younger years. Still, making plans in Iceland is a bit tougher – and this is why many people flock to the country during the summer months as you are more likely to have good weather (though – never guaranteed).

Having gone in early September, the possibilities felt like more of a gamble. We knew this going in as we had read about the even more unpredictable weather during this timeframe – with some people having great and sunny trips, while others were caught in storms for their entire stay. We ended up having a mixed bag (as we expected).

Again, going back to the Westfjords, this was the most extreme version of Iceland’s weather that we witnessed. Around every fjord curve we experienced new weather patterns. One fjord would be sunny and bright, the next foggy and misty, the next torrential rain, the next still just a little cloudy, followed by rain and fog while descending a 45% grade hill along the side of a cliff…

It’s pretty insane, actually, but adds to the charm. In the moment, it can be challenging – in retrospect, it’s one of the things we actually loved about Iceland.

13 Things to Know Before Traveling to Iceland

We’re sure that by this point in our article, you have probably picked up on a few things to know about Iceland travel. We wanted to specifically address a few things that really benefited us to know beforehand, and some things we learned while actually living in this country for 10 days.

1). Iceland is (relatively) safe

Good news! Unlike some places in the world where you may be concerned for your safety (or your parent’s are up late worrying about you), it’s nice to know that Iceland is one of the safest countries in the world.

While we were visiting, it was pretty apparent that many of the people we encountered were there for the same reason. To check out the beautiful country and do a good deal of hiking. At least, the people we ran into as we ventured out of Reykjavik and into the wilds.

While some places say you can leave your car unlocked, it’s still not exactly wise. But fortunately, you will more than likely have a good time without the need to stress about your personal safety – at least when it comes to other people.

2). Get a chip-and-pin credit or debit card

Being from the USA, we found the information about what kind of cards would be accepted when needing to make purchases to be a bit confusing. We sorted it out – and are here to share this with you.

Get a chip-and-pin card. This are not common in the USA (at least for credit cards), but are the norm in Europe (apparently). You will specifically need this type of card when you need to pump gas at an unmanned petrol station. For ourselves, we ended up just resorting to our personal debit cards. There were some small transaction fees, but given this was the only time we had to use them, not a huge deal.

Separately, at most shops and manned gas stations, a normal credit card will suffice. However, you will want to be sure you have a majorly accepted type of card such as Visa or Mastercard. We had to get new credit cards ourselves as we commonly use Discover back home. We’d recommend the Amazon Visa Credit Card ourselves.

3). You don’t need cash currency

With the exception of our stay at Setberg Campground, every where in the country accepted credit card purchases. It is very much the norm – even more so than in the USA.

Of course, when we arrived at Keflavik airport in Iceland, we didn’t fully realize this and opted to take out some local currency (the Krona) as well. If you do this, be mindful of how much you are taking out, though. Given we’re not the best at currency conversions – we ended up taking out 5,000ISK (equivilent to $500 USD), instead of 500ISK (or $50 USD). Smooth!

4). Pack for all types of weather

How do you go about packing to visit a place like Iceland where the weather is very dynamic, can change at any moment, and it can be snowing in one section of the country, rainy in another, and sunny and relatively warm somewhere else?

Well, you do what you can to prepare for all of the weather types you should expect. The September time frame is when the weather begins to shift from summer to fall – temperatures beginning to drop, more rain in the forecasts, and so on. If you visit during summer, you’re more likely to have good weather – and less likely to need to pack as diverse clothing options.

At a bare minimum, you will want to make sure you at least bring a waterproof jacket, as you should expect to, at least, see some rain in your travels.

5). Know the major areas of the country beforehand

So…Chris is a bit of a nerd, and got very (very) acquainted with Icelands geography in the year leading up to our big trip. This led to the creation of a Google Drive Map (shared below for you to check out) listing out a lot of key locations for us, campgrounds, etc.

The more you know about the country beforehand, the easier it will be to figure out where you are if you somehow manage to get lost. It’ll also help you better remember the places you did visit – it is far more vivid to be able to think “I visited Jokulsarlon in the Southeast of Iceland” or “Akureyri is a cool city in the North of Iceland.”

6). Don’t do stupid things while visiting Iceland

We listed some challenges earlier in this post about traveling Iceland – and going along with that, it’s pretty important for us to put out this PSA: try not to be stupid while visiting the country.

It’s good to aspire towards this level of greatness in general – no matter where you are – but there are a few key things that Icelanders themselves find frustrating, and other people visiting may also find upsetting.

On a very simple level, understand the fragility of the ecosystem, and make an effort to not due things that tarnish the environment. One thing that is consistently repeated is walking on the volcanic moss – it is very fragile, and while it might seem cool to walk along the spongy moss – it is actually damaging it.

Other things we observed ourselves included: people putting themselves in harms way for the purpose of snagging a photo and littering.

Many of these things are easy to avoid, and when you are driving around Iceland and taking in all the beauty it has to offer, it’s important to make a concerted effort to make sure this beauty will stick around for much time to come.

7). Leave your travel information with a friend, family member, and the Icelandic government

Though you should let people know any time you decide to travel somewhere, because Iceland is a place that many people will find themselves adventuring and exploring, there is always the possibility of something going wrong. Checking in with family or a close friend throughout your trip will help them know your alive, and could even serve as a sign that, maybe, something is wrong if they don’t hear from you for an extended period of time.

Of course, if you’re not into that level of interaction during your holiday (and we don’t blame you), you should minimally submit your planned itinerary to SafeTravel.is (an Icelandic government website). If you were to go missing (as an example), this information could provide very beneficial to your search and rescue. No one wants to think about this sort of thing, and most people who visit Iceland do perfectly fine, but it’s good to be prepared.

8). Do not speed while driving

In the US, we speed pretty often. Having lived here our entire lives, we’re pretty used to the traffic patterns and how speeding is policed. It’s maybe not a good thing, but it’s common to at least drive 5-10MPH over the limit (especially on highways).

In Iceland, things are different. So much of the country is connected by a single road (the 1 or The Ring Road), and the majority of this is relatively remote from civilization. As a result of this (and likely other reasons), Iceland controls speeding through traffic cameras. If you are caught speeding (normally, outside of cities, anything over 90KPH – or around 50MPH), you will have a ticket sent to you. Or well, generally, a ticket will be sent to your car rental agency, and they will further charge you.

If your vehicle has cruise control, you may want to consider using it.

9). Know your limits & take nature seriously

Because of the mystery of Iceland, it’s spiritual lures (there have to be fairies!!), and omnipresent natural world…it can be enticing to push yourself to see as much as possible, and put yourself in harms way.

While generally you will be able to clearly identify your limits, it’s important to step back and think when you are presented with harsh weather, fast winds, and so on. In environments you may not be familiar with, your judgement may also be a bit poor.

One of the big things we read about from time to time is people attempting to explore ice caves on their own, or walking out on the glaciers. These are both things that can (and should!) be done – but you should always do them with a trusted tour guide. Iceland Tours is a good place to start.

10). Know the seasons & when best to visit for your trip

When you go to Iceland will impact your enjoyment pretty substantially. All seasons have something worthwhile to check out, but knowing about the seasons, will help you better plan your perfect trip.

• Winter – very limited sunlight, frequent appearance of harsh snow storms, most opportunity to see the Northern Lights, least touristy season, lower costs for rentals
• Spring – days become more “normal” in length (by US standards anyways), weather is usually better than winter but some storms can still crop up, still low season for tourists but more popular by far
• Summer – the most popular season to visit, nicer weather, the Midnight Sun, the time to visit the Highlands
• Fall – days go back to being normal in length, weather can be a bit more unpredictable but generally okay earlier in the month, the beginning of the low season and falling prices for rentals

For ourselves, we chose to go to Iceland in September. There were a few deciding factors: served as an anniversary trip (we got married in September 2016), lower prices for van rental and airfare, and decent weather predictions.

11). Rent a car & get all of the insurance

While there are options to take bus tours to different parts of the country, the best way to see Iceland is to explore it on your own terms.

The easiest way to have freedom in this department is to rent your own car. In our case, we opted for a campervan as this allowed us to cover our transportation and lodging in a single expense, and offered maximum freedom. We took advantage of this on a few occasions when we had to change up our schedule as a result of bad weather conditions.

Along with getting a car, we suggest purchasing the additional insurance that you will be offered. Driving in a foreign country that is prone to unexpected things happening…just spare yourself a potential headache and spend the extra $50.

12). If visiting the highlands, get a 4×4 or go with a tour

We didn’t have a chance to visit the Highlands of Iceland during our trip. We hope to return someday to check them out for ourselves, though!! One thing we have learned through much research and seeing the start of the roads that lead up to them is that the f-roads leading into the Highlands require you to drive with a 4×4 vehicle.

There are occasionally stories of people getting stuck because they decided to try and drive these roads either when they are closed or with a non-4×4 vehicle. The f-roads are only meant to be driven on by experienced drivers prepared for off road terrain – this includes river crossings. If you are not prepared for this sort of driving, book with a tour group to get into the Highlands!!

13). Keep your car filled with gas

The last big thing you should keep in mind when visiting Iceland is to keep your car filled with gas. There were a few occasions where we had been driving for several hours without seeing a gas station. Almost every time we came across one, even an unmanned pump, we would top off our gas tank just to be safe.

Our Takeaways from Our Iceland Adventure

We’ve shared a lot in this post about our experiences, challenges, and some of the life changing things we encountered on our 10 day campervan journey around Iceland. It’s so enjoyable for us to write posts about this trip, as it constantly stirs up vivid memories of our time there.

We still reflect on this trip as being one of the best we’ve had – and certainly the best we’ve taken together. We’ve had great experiences in other places like Oregon, California, and New York in the USA, as well as Mexico, and while all have great memories too, Iceland is a more complex beast that calls out to us.

We plan to return some day, without a doubt.