UKC

.....without a visit.

Hi All, Planning a 2 week tourist road trip around the island, and of course there's an awful lot to see, so-much-so that we might have to skip some stuff. Just wondering what we should not miss.

No plans on what to see yet, so totally open-minded at this point in time.

Thanks All.

We went round the island clockwise in 2008 just after the financial crash and enjoyed the turf houses and horse centre at Hólar, the vulcanism at Mývatn (mind the midges) and the scenery at Nordfjördur (see pics). But just drive around and check out whatever you come across. It's all amazing and otherwordly. 

This.....although we did it in October when there was snow and storms. Loved it. Myvatn Springs are fabulous.

https://guidetoiceland.is/best-of-iceland/best-attractions-by-the-ring-road...

Thanks. We're going anti-clockwise but have a night in the Mývatn area.

Midges, or sand flies ???

Wow, nice link. Looks like I have plenty of reading to do.

You're welcome. I used that map as a main source for info. Bear in mind these are the main tourist spots so will likely be busy. That said they are popular for a reason.

We did a 10 day trip anti-clockwise. Lost a bit of time due to road closures but that all added to the adventure. Every corner we turned I had to stop and take photos. Just stunning. If you visit glacier lagoon a good perspective is that when my brother visited Iceland in the mid 90's the glacier came all the way down to the car park!!

Enjoy, I can't wait to get back

Hmm, might have even been mosquitoes, can't remember. Lots of lakes in that area, which seemed to be the worst spots. If you're camping remember even in the middle of nowhere (seemingly) someone owns the land and it's sometime not easy to find an appropriate spot. We tended to park our barely adequate hired Suzuki Swift (lots of the N1 is gravel), then walk for half an hour before camping.

That said, we camped beside a coal slagheap by the football stadium on the edge of Grindavík in a monsoon (our only rain of the trip, in August); an interesting town, although it might now still be cut off by the lava flow.

My favourite Icelandic saying is, "If you get lost in a forest in Iceland, just stand up."

Geyser  - astonishing show of natural forces just a few feet away. If you're travelling in a car, get there early and there will be far fewer people.

Pretty sure when we went they were midges but non biting. Sadly (?) it was a bad year when we went, which in turn affected the number of birds.

Proper hot springs in damed rivers, rather than glorified open air swimming pool tourist traps. My first ever hot spring experience was in Iceland and nothing has ever come close since.

We went one January, no midges/mosquitoes but not a lot of daylight either.

Obey the speed limit. I only say this as I was done for speeding. It was on a dead straight road, no traffic anywhere (felt like I was on the moon) and I was caught by police a long way ahead of me who recorded me doing 65mph (think speed limit was 50mph - can't remember but seemed annoyingly slow for the roads) Totally my fault, I was speeding, it didn't feel like I was speeding ( i was negligent of how fast I was going, it didn't seem fast at all) the fine was a lot of money. Just enjoy the views at 50mph

One other thing ... if you think my name is strange, its the main character from a book called Independent People by Halldor Laxness. You will see it everywhere in book shops there. I bought it and read it and loved it. A great read whilst you are touring the Island (persevere - its worth it)

I'm planning on visiting this or next year. There is a black beach near Reykjavik, which looks dramatic/cool in google images.

Speaking of which, another highlight for me was the excellent bookshop in Akureyri, visited after spending a strange night camping far above the ski resort far above the town. Now that really was a hard place to find somewhere to put a tent, but the views of the fjord to the north and east made up for it. It says a lot about the distribution of Iceland's population that Akureyri, pop. 19,000, is the country's second-largest town outside Reykjavík and surrounding area.

Thanks all, more replies then I expected. Good info from everyone here. Still formulating thoughts

We are staying in Vik in the south. I believe it has black sand beaches with amazing pointy sea pinnacles, that should be awesome (in the true sense of the word).

Hehehe, yep I was wondering about that some years back. Two thousand other things on my google list, so never did, lol. 

There is a wonderful walk past bubbling mud pools which gets you to a hot river where you can take a dip.  I'll look up where it is later, I've done it twice and been the only people in the valley both times.

I’m guessing you’re not on Instagram? It’s called Reynisfjara. It’s very, very popular and has a dangerous reputation. Once I started searching for destinations in Iceland it appeared on my Instagram feed multiple times a day.

https://guidetoiceland.is/travel-iceland/drive/reynisfjara

We did a 2 week campervan trip in 2012, it's all amazing but to pick up a few things which haven't been mentioned, if it's open you should try to to the F35 Kjölur route with a trip to the Hveravellir hot springs along the way, and take a boat trip to see whales fron Akureyri. There is also a glacier somewhere near(ish) Vik where you can arrange Skidoo trips etc.

Oh, and if you need a shower (as we did after a few days in a campervan...) there is always this:

https://icelandthebeautiful.com/krafla-geothermal-shower-north-iceland/

I managed a quick fully naked one just before a busload of Japanese tourists turned up...

It's been a few years since I did the hot river walk, it looks to be a bit more instagrammed now.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g3567307-d8596945-Reviews-R...

Still well worth a half day in my opinion.

Drove anti clockwise last Sept for 14 nights, seeing the usual tourist places. Standout (albeit very expensive) was going down 400ft inside the magma chamber of the volcano at Þríhnúkagígur in a small cage lift- the only volcano in the world where you can do so. Waterfall at Dynjandi was incredible, although remote compared to other places. Don’t know if you’ll have a 4x4, but if so, I loved Landmannalaugar and Kerlingarfjöll in the highlands, both highly recommended for scenery. Pictures on my IG account, ManxKitsune

Also Myvatn Nature Baths, which is known as the blue lagoon of the north, nicer than the 'proper' blue lagoon in my opinion.

We went in 2004 and I loved it.  It was their best weather summer in 25 years - jetstream was in a different place to normal and the UK had mince weather whereas Iceland was great. I've always been afraid to go back! 

Places I'd happily return to are:

Bubbling mud pools and hot river mentioned already. 

Seljalandsfoss and Skogarfoss - waterfalls but quite impressive and not overrun by tourists like Gulfoss

Jökulsárlón - glacial lake with icebergs calving into it, great views of Vatnajökull Glacier around here too

Skaftafell National Park - glaciers, waterfalls, hills etc, pretty impressive. You could walk pretty much to the foot of the glacier when we were there but things may have changed in 20 years.

Landmannalaugar - we got a a 4wd bus in here - otherwise you'll need a 4wd and know how to ford rivers etc. Back in 2004 the regular bus company in Iceland run bus trips here and also to Laki. At Landmannalaugar you can wander around a bit, lots of whacky coloured hills from the different volcanic minerals and loads of obsidian volcanic glass 

Laki - probably my favourite bit. As a former Geophysicist seeing the fissures stretching 25km either direction from a crater was pretty dammed cool. This walk we did a 4wd bus tour too. The bus too you to a crater you could walk up, various views points plus the chance to do a one way walk around a lava tube. 

Gulfoss and Geyser were OK but there's so much other stuff that's not heaving with people I'd not return to them. 

Þingvellir National Park - particularly the bit where you can stand in between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates was pretty cool but that might just be the Geophysicist in me

Enjoy your trip 😀

Heimaey was great. No need to take the car over . 

Yes it’s quite a book- I won’t say I enjoyed it as such, but it’s an awe inspiring piece of writing. And they aren’t kidding when they say, it’s grim up north..! 😳

Correct, I am not on Instagram. 

I can well believe that beach is treacherous !!!

You are very brave, looks quite exposed (excuse the pun).

We've booked the Whale Watching, but from Húsavík.

Some great suggestions Fiona.

Having just returned from a family holiday there in June I would recommend that you DO drive past many of the popular attractions in the south-west quarter!  Thingvellir, Geysir, Kerid crater, Seljafossen, Skogafossen, Svartifoss, Reynisfjara black sand beach were all extremely busy and very much not nature experiences; expensive and overflowing car parks, long queues along eroded trails, fences and barriers and signposts and hundreds of posing and pouting selfie-takers.  Compared to a previous trip a decade ago I was quite depressed at the changes. 

The natural hot pools in Reykjadalur were slightly quieter, as were the mountain hikes around Skaftafjell.  There are a number of lesser known lava tubes that make for fascinating non-technical caving trips (e.g. Surtshellir), and the new Grindavik lava flows are interesting (they are already set up with paying car parks and trails so it seems like they want people there - i.e. it doesn't feel like rubbernecking)

To see a live lava flow would be pretty amazing, especially at night time when the deep reds become visible. Bad loss for those directly affected of course.

Most of that could be said of the entire planet since Instagram became a thing. Fairy Pools, The Devil's Pulpit near Drymen, The trees they used in GoT, the Irish islands from Star Wars, Krka Waterfalls in Croatia...the list is endless. Great to see people exploring. and enjoying the beauty of nature, but I do agree the numbers leading to erosion and overcrowding is just depressing.

Doesn't stop them being any less amazing, if you're able to switch off from the crowds.

It was more smoking and smouldering when we were there, though I think there is still the occasional splash of red to be seen.  I suspect they might shut the approach roads if lava was actually on the move.  Nonetheless, seeing the 1- and 2-year old flows up close is pretty cool

You can walk down through a tunnel into the throat of the volcano in Meteora (Greece) and it's free, if you can climb HVS you can climb up it as well.

Just had a look at that. I'm sure it's a great experience, but there's no way I'd pay that kind of money.

In a way it would be good if it kicked off again while we are there. The town is evacuated so anyone that 'lost' their home has had that deed done some time ago. Let's hope Icelandic house insurance covers volcanic events.

Don't suppose I will ever see the the molten lava pool at the Danakil Depression in Ethiopia, one of only 6 in the world AFAIK. Think there might be one in DRC, but I'll give that one a miss.