10 Days in Iceland: The Ring Road & Snæfellsnes

Fly into Keflavík, fly home from Keflavík. In between, you drive the Ring Road, Route 1, once round the island: Reykjavík (1 night) → South Iceland and Vík (2 nights) → the Eastfjords (1 night) → Lake Mývatn (2 nights) → Akureyri (1 night) → Snæfellsnes or Borgarnes (1 night) → Reykjavík (1 night). This 10 day Iceland itinerary covers the whole ring, about 1,300 km, plus the Snæfellsnes Peninsula on the way back. The longest driving days are about 4 to 5 hours, and most are 2 to 4 hours with stops. Ten days is the shortest time that lets you do the full circuit without rushing.

Reykjavík is small, with about 140,000 people in the city and more than half the country in the surrounding area. Use day one for the two landmarks: Hallgrímskirkja, the tall concrete church, with a tower you can go up for a view over the coloured roofs, and Harpa, the glass concert hall on the harbour. Keep the evening easy, because you have probably flown overnight.

Day two is the Golden Circle, a loop of about 230 km from Reykjavík. Þingvellir is a national park where the North American and Eurasian plates are pulling apart, and where Iceland's parliament first met in 930 AD. Geysir has a hot spring, Strokkur, that erupts every 5 to 10 minutes or so. Gullfoss is a two-step waterfall on the Hvítá river. From there we continue to the south coast for the night.

On day three the road runs east along the coast, with waterfalls beside it. At Seljalandsfoss you can walk behind the falls on the path, and Skógafoss is a wide curtain of water, 60 metres high. Both are close to the road, so you will have crowds in summer, and the best times are early or late in the day. Sólheimajökull is a tongue of the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap, and a guided walk with crampons takes you onto the ice. The glacier is shrinking every year, which changes the walk from season to season.

Reynisfjara, the black sand beach near Vík, has basalt columns and a rough sea. Stay well back from the waves: waves reach far up the beach without warning, and people have been swept away. Puffins nest in the cliffs between May and August.

Day four starts with the longest stretch of empty road on the ring, past Skaftafell and the glaciers of Vatnajökull, Europe's largest ice cap by volume. Jökulsárlón is a lagoon full of icebergs broken off the glacier Breiðamerkurjökull. You can take a boat tour among the ice (an amphibious boat or a Zodiac), and a few minutes east, Diamond Beach has pieces of ice washed up on black sand. From here the road turns inland along the Eastfjords, small fishing villages between mountains and deep fjords. Djúpivogur has a harbour with 34 granite eggs, one for each of the bird species that nest in the area. Hotels in the east are few and small, so we reserve early.

Day five crosses from east to north. Hengifoss, at 128 metres, is one of the highest waterfalls in Iceland, with red clay layers in the cliff, and the walk to it takes about an hour each way. The Hallormsstaður forest nearby is the largest wooded area in the country. The route then crosses the highlands; the detour to Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe, is on a road that is only open in the warmer months.

Mývatn is the most volcanic area on the ring. Námaskarð has steaming vents and boiling mud. Dimmuborgir is a field of lava rock formations, Skútustaðir has pseudocraters on the lake shore, and the Mývatn Nature Baths are a quieter geothermal bath than the Blue Lagoon. The sulphur smell at Námaskarð is strong, but it does not take long to get used to.

Goðafoss, a wide horseshoe waterfall, is on the way to Akureyri, and the town is the capital of the north, with about 20,000 people. It sits at the head of the Eyjafjörður, Iceland's longest fjord. Whale watching trips from Akureyri run from spring to autumn, and humpback and minke whales are commonly seen. The botanical garden is the northernmost in the world.

The drive from Akureyri to the west is long, about 4 to 5 hours with stops, along the Ring Road toward Borgarnes. On the way, Deildartunguhver is the highest-flow hot spring in Europe, and Reykholt was the home of the 13th-century writer Snorri Sturluson, whose texts are the main source of Norse mythology. Day nine is for Snæfellsnes, a 90 km peninsula with the Snæfellsjökull glacier at the tip, the Arnarstapi sea cliffs, the black church at Búðir and Kirkjufell mountain. Then return to Reykjavík, about 2 to 2.5 hours.

Reykjavík: in the city centre, close to Laugavegur, so you can eat out on foot. South Iceland and Vík: a country hotel near the coast road. Eastfjords: a small hotel or guesthouse at Djúpivogur or Höfn, where there are few rooms, so book early. Mývatn: on the lake shore or in Húsavík. Akureyri: in the town centre, with the widest hotel choice in the north. Hotels outside Reykjavík are small and book out months ahead from June to August.

June to August is the main season: the full Ring Road is open, days are long (almost 24 hours of light around midsummer), puffins are on the cliffs, and highland roads begin to open. May and September are quieter and cheaper, with some wintry weather possible. From October to April the Ring Road can close for short periods because of snow and wind, daylight is short, and the Northern Lights are possible from late September, so we change the route and add buffer days. Icelandic weather changes fast at any time of year, so pack layers and a waterproof.

Got only 8 days? Our Essence of Iceland tour does the south coast and the Golden Circle instead of the whole ring. With 11 or 12 days, add a night to the Eastfjords, a day on the Westfjords, or a stay near Húsavík for whale watching and Ásbyrgi canyon. If you do not want to drive the east, do the south coast and Snæfellsnes only, and fly to Akureyri from Reykjavík for the north. The Blue Lagoon fits best on day ten, as it is about 20 minutes from Keflavík airport. Book it ahead for your date, since time slots sell out.

We handle the driver or the car, the glacier and boat bookings, and hotels on the right side of each day's drive. We also watch the road and weather conditions through the trip and re-time days when needed. A real person on our team is your contact from the first email to the flight home.