Travel to Iceland: seasons, budget and Ring Road itineraries

Almost every international flight lands at Keflavík, 50 km from the capital, 45 minutes by Flybus. Reykjavík takes one to two days: Hallgrímskirkja, the Harpa concert hall, the old harbour and above all the neighbourhood geothermal pools, where locals meet for under ten euros. The Reykjanes peninsula, between the airport and the city, has seen a run of eruptions around Grindavík since 2021, so check safetravel.is before booking Blue Lagoon, which can close within hours. Keep your last night here to avoid a dawn transfer.

The Golden Circle, a loop of about 250 km from Reykjavík, links Þingvellir National Park, where you walk inside the rift between the North American and Eurasian plates, the Haukadalur geothermal area and Gullfoss falls. One day is enough if you leave before 8 am. The south coast then deserves two nights: Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, the Sólheimajökull glacier tongue, then Vík and its black beaches. At Reynisfjara, sneaker waves have already killed several visitors, so keep well back from the water even on calm days.

The country's largest ice cap, Vatnajökull covers about 8% of Iceland and forms the core of a national park listed by UNESCO since 2019. Skaftafell, Jökulsárlón lagoon and Diamond Beach sit roughly five hours' drive from Reykjavík, so sleep nearby for at least two nights. From November to March, guides lead the way into ice caves, which are impossible and dangerous to visit alone. Further on, the Eastfjords string together fishing villages and winding coastal roads; travelers sailing in from Denmark land at Seyðisfjörður after a crossing via the Faroe Islands.

Akureyri, the main town of the north, makes a base for three nights in the region. Lake Mývatn, 1 h 15 away by road, gathers fumaroles, craters and lava flows, and its nature baths cost noticeably less than Blue Lagoon for equally milky water. Húsavík, an hour further north, is the go-to harbour for humpback and minke whale watching, with the best trips from June to August. In July, pack a head net against the midges that gave the lake its name, literally the lake of flies.

The Westfjords remain the least visited part of the island: gravel roads, passes sometimes closed in winter, and a ferry, the Baldur, that saves several hours of driving from Stykkishólmur. Allow at least three nights for Dynjandi falls, the Látrabjarg puffin cliffs and the harbour town of Ísafjörður. The landscape is less dizzying than the fjords of Norway, but you can drive an hour without meeting another car. On the way, the Snæfellsnes peninsula, two and a half hours from Reykjavík, sums up the island in one day: glacier, cliffs, pebble beaches.

The island's interior, a desert of lava and black sand, is only reachable in summer via the F-roads, which usually open from late June to early September depending on snowmelt. A 4x4 is mandatory, and river crossings are excluded from most rental insurance policies. The Kjölur track and the Fjallabak area are the busiest; this is where the Laugavegur trek begins, 55 km over four days from hut to hut down to Þórsmörk. Without a 4x4, highland buses serve these sites from Reykjavík in July and August.