Driving the Unforgettable Iceland Ring Road - Trip Planning (Overview)

 

Iceland is a country of sharp contrasts, a place where fire and ice co-exist, where dark winters are offset by the summer’s midnight sun, where its insular existence has spawned a rich and vibrant culture. I had been drawn to this beautiful country for a long time, so when opportunity struck, I was more than ready.

During and after the trip, I posted some pictures online for friends and was asked to share my experience, tips and itinerary... This is the first blog of a series that I plan to write, and today, I'll be focusing on the steps I took for planning the trip.

1) First and foremost, settle on how long your vacation will be and a rough budget. The cost of accommodations and transportation in Iceland can vary widely, but if you want to contain your budget, consider leasing a camping vehicle or staying at guesthouses for under 100 USD per night (details in Making Reservation, Iceland Trip Planning #2, and in Logistics, Iceland Trip Planning #3)

2) Decide if you want to take an arranged tour in which the itinerary, the transportation, the lodging, and some meals are taken care of, or if you want to explore on your own. A few things to consider:

• Are you ready and motivated to plan every detail of your trip? I understand many people don't have the time or don't want to be bothered with planning (because it is truly a time consuming task), don't like to drive "long" distances, etc. If this is you, an arranged tour is a great choice. 
• Preferred style of travel. An arranged tour is great, because you have a set itinerary and a time-table for all your activities. However, you have less control of where you go, how long you can spend at each location, or what type of place you want to have your meal or spend a night. For us, this was an easy decision because I'm a photography enthusiast, and I prefer not to be rushed when I have camera in hand; 
• Last but not the least, cost. There are many Icelandic travel operators and numerous packages available. One example of an arranged tour includes 7 days in Iceland and airfare from New York City for about 2,500 USD (2,200 USD per person without airfare) from May to September (higher season). That price includes transportation, 7 nights of lodging, and some meals. Another tour of 10 days in Iceland and in a smaller group costs 4,700 USD and 4,200 USD, respectively. If you don't mind traveling after September, you can travel for less. However, your itinerary might not be the same, as accessing some sites depends on the weather. My general impression is that during high season, it is probably cheaper to travel on your own, but it may not be the case in low season. There are some incredible deals online for off-season travel, especially those “less than a week” tours based out of Reykjavik. 

3) Get a rough idea on itinerary for the number of days you want to or can spend in Iceland. We had about 2 weeks of vacation time in total. Taking out 2 days on the road, we had 12 days. Since we don't get to have an extended time away often, I got ambitious and decided that I would split the 12 days between two countries, Iceland and Norway. :-) After some online research and flipping the pages of a Lonely Planet book of Iceland, we settled on driving the Iceland Ring Road. Iceland is a relatively small country - the size of Kentucky - and people generally spend 5 days to 2 weeks to complete the circle. I estimated that 7 days would be about right (it turned out to be shorter than ideal, which I will discuss later).

4) Book the flights. (details in Making Reservation, Iceland Trip Planning #2) We flew from Boston to Reykjavik to Oslo and back to Boston (via Rejkjavik) on Iceland Air. I did make a mistake with the route, which I will elaborate in my future blog about traveling in Norway. Speaking of the flight to Iceland, the fare is equivalent to what it would cost flying from the US’s East Coast to the West Coast. If you are lucky and the timing is right, fare can be as low as a little over 300 USD per person. Ours cost less than 600 USD with a detour to Oslo.

5) Next is to decide which direction to drive, clockwise or counter-clockwise. The Lonely Planet suggests that if you arrive in Iceland in the Fall, you should go clockwise from Reykjavik first. This is largely because towards the end of August, Iceland’s temperature starts to dip, and the common sense is places in the North turn colder sooner than those in the South. Another perspective I read online is that there are more to see in the North, so starting from the South and reaching the climax in the North later is a better choice. After some deliberation, we decided that we would take the 2nd approach, which turned out to be a good one. (See my day to day blogs).

6) Decide how much time you are willing to drive in a day and determine where to spend each night along the way. This depends on how much time you have in Iceland, the main attractions you want to visit, the activities you want to experience, and if you want to venture away from the Ring Road. For us, since we only had 7 nights and there were two areas off the Ring Road we wanted to visit, we decided to stay at a different place each night. The daily driving time averaged from 3 hours to 5 hours and our accommodations were around the following locations:
     Night 1: Upon arrival, Reykjavik
     Night 2: Vik (south)
     Night 3: Hofn (southeast)
     Night 4: Borgarfjörður Eystri (northeast)
     Night 5: Lake Myvatn (north)
     Night 6: Blönduós (north)
     Night 7: Hellnar (west)
     Night 8: Reykjavik

7) Book lodging (details in Making Reservation, Iceland Trip Planning #2). We mostly stayed in hotels and private guesthouses. But there is also the option of hostels and camping grounds. 

8) Book rental car. Initially, when I searched for a rental car on sites such as Expedia, I was taken back by how more expensive it is renting a car in Iceland. However, after some research, we got a "deal." See details in Making Reservation, Iceland Trip Planning #2.

9) Decide what to see and do each day. Some activities such as hiking can take significant time. Because we had to make distance every day, we could only spend a few short hours on each activity (see details in Making Reservations, Iceland Trip Planning #2). As for where to stop for sightseeing, etc., we made decisions based on what's recommended in the Lonely Planet book and in the online material (see details in my day by day blog). 

10) Map out driving direction. It is important to either get a map and/or get the driving direction before the trip. Doing so gives you a sense of the distance and time needed to get from one point to the next. Ring Road is pretty straightforward, but often the attractions are off the Ring Road. Also rental car companies generally forbid two wheel drives from using certain roads (do not take your two-wheel drive vehicle on an F road), so making sure you stay on paved or semi-paved roads is essential. See logistics, Iceland Trip Planning #3 for details on how to use your cell phone for free navigation.

11) Organize all the details of your trip and make them easily accessible while you are on the road. Not many people want to print or write down each travel detail and carry it with them. It's time consuming, the printouts could weigh a ton (well, ok…they weigh a lot), and they’re hard to organize. For those who use wifi only, you will not get the information when you really need it. So, it is worth the effort to get the info organized online while you are at home. See details in Logistics, Iceland Trip Planning #3.

Next up is Making Reservation, Iceland Trip Planning #2. Please stay tuned, and follow my blog to find out more about traveling to Iceland, Norway, and to many other parts of the world. For more pictures of my trips, please check out the Instagram.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

XOXO,
Sophie