Exploring Iceland in Our Campervan: our 14 day itinerary

Embarking on a journey to Iceland is a dream for many travellers, but taking our

campervan and two young children along for the ride elevated the experience to a whole new level. The land of fire and ice is known for its stunning landscapes, rugged terrain, and natural wonders, making it the perfect destination for a road trip adventure.

We spent 26 days on our road trip this summer, 14 of which were spent travelling the famous ring road around Iceland. We have truly enjoyed sharing our adventure with you and showing you what is possible with your own vans. Many people from all over the world fly to Iceland and hire a camper for their road trips- we decided to take our own. This was for many reasons but mainly cost. When we looked at the prices for hiring a van of a similar size and model to ours, it cost the same price for 14 days as it cost us to ship ours over. We would have needed to add on equipment hire (such as bedding and table and chairs) plus food for the two week trip- food is extremely expensive in Iceland. So, with this in mind plus the fact that we would be more comfortable in our own van AND not wanting our Dora to miss out on adventuring with us, we decided to ship her over.

How do you ship your own van to Iceland?

There is only one way- travelling on the MS Norröna with Smyril Line. It takes 55 hours (yes, you read that right!) and costs an eye watering amount of money, but if you book far enough in advance you will save. We booked ours in March 2024, as I had to wait for my annual leave to be approved first. The crossing cost an extra £1300 since I first costed the crossing in January, so I highly recommend you book as far in advance as you can. We paid £4,900 in total to take our own van to Iceland. Read my blog post here about travelling on MS Norröna and how to save money on board.

our 14 day itinerary:

We spent 14 days travelling the whole of the island and didn't have anything planned in advance- this is our preferred way to travel and worked out perfectly for us. You cannot book campsites in Iceland in advance and you don't need to- they have a very relaxed attitude to camping.

Here is a list of the places we stayed and visited on our road trip:

🇮🇸 Day 1: Arrived in Seyðisfjörður. Visited Borgarfjörður Eystri and saw puffins! Stayed in Seyðisfjörður campsite.

🇮🇸 Day 2: Visited Stuðlagil Canyon then drove to the Hverir Geothermal region, climbed Hverfjall volcano and stayed at camping Myvatn.

🇮🇸 Day 3: Started the day in the hot springs at Myvatn Nature Baths then drove north to Húsavík. Booked a trip with North Sailing for whale watching the following day and stayed at Camping Húsavík.

🇮🇸 Day 4: Cancelled our whale watching trip due to rough sea conditions and changed it for a trip the following day from Árskógssandur. Headed to Akureyri and went to our first Bonus supermarket. Travelled up to Ólafsfjörður for a night nestled in the mountains.

🇮🇸 Day 5: Saw 6 different humpback whales, minke whales and dolphins on our trip into Árskógssandur with North Sailing. Incredible! Made a long trip south to Keflavik to be close to the airport for Jamie to fly home.

🇮🇸 Day 6: Started our adventure as a three. Explored the bridge between two continents and the lighthouse at Reykjanes before heading for a mooch around Reykjavik. Stayed in Akranes.

🇮🇸 Day 7: Headed back up to cover some of the areas we missed when travelling south for the airport. Explored Ytri Tunga on the Snaefellsness Peninsula - have you ever been this close to seals in the wild? Stayed in Grundarfjörður and caught the sunset behind Kirkjufell- incredible!

🇮🇸 Day 8: Explored Arnarstapi and its beautiful rock formations. Stood on top of the stone bridge over the ocean and climbed inside Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge. Stayed for a second night in Grundarfjörður- our only two night stay in one place for the whole trip!

🇮🇸 Day 9: Took a long drive heading back down south and stopped to explore Þingvellir National Park. This is a UNESCO world heritage site and where Parliament first began in Iceland- as far back as Viking times! We took two hours to walk the park following the wooden walk ways. We explored the silfra fissure and watched the snorkellers jump into the cold water! Stayed at Skjol camping.

🇮🇸 Day 10: A big day for adventures! Visited Gullfoss, watched the geysir erupt, explored Bruarfoss and walked behind Seljalandsfoss before hopping onto a ferry headed for Vestmannaeyjabær- read my separate post here about our favourite place in Iceland. We stayed up late to help catch pufflings in the harbour and stayed the night at our favourite campsite of the whole trip- Þórsvöllur Campsite.

🇮🇸 Day 11: Visited the world's only Beluga whale sanctuary and met the world famous Little Grey and Little White. We were then fotunate enough to watch local children release pufflings rescued last night, before heading to the island's awesome swimming pool. Before hading back on the late ferry we caught some puffins photos and a beautiful sunset over elephant rock. We stayed at Hella Gaddstaðaflatir.

🇮🇸 Day 12: Stopped at the incredible Skogafoss on our way to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon where we took the amphibian boat tour between icebergs- it was incredible! We stayed at Skaftafell tjaldsvæði.

🇮🇸 Day 13: Visited the diamond beach before heading to Djúpivogur.

🇮🇸 Day 14: Completed the Iceandic ring road with a final drive East back to Seyðisfjörður. Had a top up at the supermarket and packed for our ferry trip.

🇮🇸 Day 15: Bless Island! 10:30am boarded the MS Norröna for our final 55 hour ferry journey back to Hirtshals, Denmark.

I hope that this itinerary gives you some great pins to add to your own Iceland google maps and a base for planning your own trip. Soon I will have a downloadable map available for you with a suggested route, itinerary, places to stay, things to do and where to park.

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