Around Iceland’s Ring Road in 2 weeks: Part IV
Waterfalls, beaches, mountains, hot springs, volcanos, and more. Iceland, the Land of Fire and Ice, is nature at its best and the adventure of a lifetime. Our two week itinerary of Iceland took us around the Ring Road at an easy, comfortable pace – perfect for traveling with kids, and plenty of time to hike, swim, and take it all in.
Duration: 14 days
Traveled as: a family (two kids ages 5 and 7) with friends (another couple with two similar aged kids)
Type of travel: pleasure
Combined with other destinations: no
::Our two week Iceland Itinerary::
We drove almost the entire Ring Road in our first 10 days, in a counterclockwise direction. Be sure to check out our full itinerary here: Part I, Part II, Part III
For our final few days, we explore Snaefellsnes Peninsula, and end our trip in and around Reykjavik.
Day 10 – cutting across west Iceland to Snaefellsnes
Most people drive straight to (or from, depending on which direction you’re driving the Ring Road) Reykjavik at this point. There is very little to see along this 2.5 hour stretch of the Ring Road (and the landscape is boring, relatively speaking).
We spent the day making our way to Snaesfellsnes, and made a few stops along the way. Snaesfellsnes detours away from Route 1 (Ring Road) at either Route 60 (if you’re going along the north side of the peninsula) OR Route 54. If you look on the map, these are both “U” shaped and appear to backtrack. That’s because to cut across this terrain means going on small gravel roads. If we have learned anything at all in Iceland, it’s that taking gravel roads will save no time whatsoever.
We initially planned to drive alongside the north side of Sneasfellsnes peninsula all the way to the tip, and camp for the night at Arnarstapi National Park. With that thought in mind, we took Route 60, and hit up a few bonus spots.
Eiriksstadir
This attraction is about 1.5 hours from Hvammstrangi. It is the site of a Viking longhouse and the home of Erik the Red and his famous son Leif Eiriksson, who discovered Greenland. Later, he would be the first European to discover the Americas.
Not much remains of the original Viking site, but there is a replica longhouse. The site is run by a lovely couple who dress in traditional clothing and give tours of domestic Viking life and dig into Viking history in Iceland. We found it very informative, and even the kids were fascinated. Getting the chance to visit history, rather than just reading about it is one of the reasons we love traveling with the kids.
Erpsstadir Creamery
Just 15 minutes away from Eiriksstadir, this spot is definitely a must if you’re in the area. They make their own artisan dairy products, and their ice cream is out of this world, made with local flavours. (I tried “meadowsweet”, a plant/flavour I had no idea existed, and it was heaven.)
The farm also had a large playground, with bounce pillow, trampoline, wrecking ball, soccer billiards (cool, right?), and a large petting zoo/animal area. You can also tour the cowshed. I’m fairly certain our kids could have stayed the day.
Be sure to check Google and their Facebook page for updates and openings hours. They are open during winter by request only.
It was already early afternoon by the time we left Erpsstadir. At this point, you can take 54 North, which will take you along the north part of Snaefellsnes. This was our original plan, but we found it was faster to zigzag from 54 North to 55, and down to 54 South, because it brought us closer to our final destination for the evening. This in of itself was an adventure down gravel roads (although well packed), and through mountains and lava fields.
Snaefellsnes
It’s a treat just driving through Snaesfellsnes. Majestic mountain ranges, dramatic coastlines, glaciers, waterfalls, lava fields, it feels like driving around Iceland’s own mini Iceland.
It’s possible to explore Snaefellsnes in a single day, and very doable if you’re taking a day trip up from Reykyavik. The drive itself is only 2.5 hours around the peninsula. However, we recommend staying at least one night, and soak in all Snaefellsnes has to offer. Snaefellsnes does not feel quite as remote and wild as some of the spots in Iceland we’d seen, but it’s expansive and peaceful and just gorgeous. We didn’t stop everywhere we could have, but we took our time at the places we did stop at.
Driving in from the south, the first main stop is Gerduberg Cliffs. It doesn’t look all that impressive from the road, but get closer and you will see this wall is actually made of almost perfect basalt columns. It’s a good spot for some hiking. We chose not to stop, as we had seen a fair share of basalt columns by this point.
Ytri Tunga Seal Beach
This spot is one of the best places in Iceland to see seals. There is a sandy beach with dunes in the main area, giving way to rocky beach on either side. You can spot seals swimming in the water, or lounging on the rocks or in the shallows. You also get a perfect view of the Snaefellsjokull glacier in the distance. A great beach for exploring, shell-hunting, and seal watching.
Budakirkja
An iconic small church at the edge of the cliffs, painted black, against a backdrop of mountains and Bjarnarfoss in the background. I have to admit the menfolk in our group felt the spot a little underwhelming, but it’s certainly very photogenic. This area is also surrounded by lava fields, which the kids found very cool. There is also a hotel right below the church that would made a good stopover for the night.
Bjarnarfoss is a waterfall that is just across the road and a nice stop if you have time. You can walk directly to the base of the falls.
It’s a short 10 minute drive from Budakirkja to the Arnarstapi campsite, located within Snaefellsjokull National Park. The view here is just gorgeous! There are also cabins you can rent, and several hotels along the coast.
Day 11 – Snaefellsnes
Arnarstapi
Arnarstapi itself is a tiny fishing village, now built more for tourism with a visitors centre and several restaurants (including a cute turf-house pizzeria right by the campsite).
Legend has it that Bardur, a being that was once part-man and part-troll lived here, and has since become the guardian spirit of the area. There is a giant stone sculpture of Bardur visible from the visitor’s centre. This also marks the start of a trail that takes you along the coast all the way to nearby Hellnar village. The entire hike is 2.5 km each direction, but the most breathtaking portion is the area near Arnarstapi. We walked about 30 mins along the trail, before turning back.
There are viewing platforms along the way to take in the powerful Atlantic waves crashing into the incredible basalt coastline. Be sure to stop for a view of Gatklettur, a natural stone arch stretching out from the coast.
Just down the road from Arnarstapi is Raudfeldsgja Gorge, a crevice in the mountainside. You can hike along a narrow path, upstream until you reach a small waterfall. Vatnshellir Cave is also in the area, where you can explore millennia-old (8000 years, approximately), lava tubs. Not everyone in our party met the minimum age of 5, so we opted to do the lava cave tour near Reykjavik instead (min age 3).
Malarrif Lighthouse
This is the main visiting area for Snaefellsjokull National Park. Historically, the grounds were an important fishing site. The lighthouse sits right at the edge of the coast, surrounded by grassy dunes and beach.
There is a “natural playground” sprinkled throughout the grounds, which the kids absolutely loved.
You also get a great view of the Londrangar basalt cliffs, aka “the rocky castle”. There is a lookout point where you can park for a view of Londrangar nestled amongst the bluffs, or you can hike there from the Malarrif lighthouse.
From this point we drove around the tip of Snaefellsnes toward the north part of the peninsula, probably the windiest spot in Iceland! We had several moments where we debated pulling over, as the RV was swaying ominously from side to side.
There are a number of small fishing towns along this part of the coast (and the view is just stunning). We stopped in Olafsvik to enjoy their community pool before a late lunch in our RV.
Mt. Kirkjufell and Kirkjufellsfoss
Kirkjufell is *the* most photographed spot in Iceland, and also top 10 for most beautiful mountain in the world. (Also famous for being in Game of Thrones.)
Tall and dramatic, the cascading Kirkjufellsfoss just completes the picture in the best way possible. If this isn’t the most iconic mountain in Iceland, I don’t know what is.
There is parking at the base of Kirkjufell, but the best place to park is to turn into the lot for Kirjufellsfoss across the street. It’s a short walk across the bridge to the falls. The location is just breathtaking, with mountains to one side and views of the coast and a quaint town on the other.
Bjarteyjarsandur Farm
From Kirkjufell, we cut across Snaefellsnes via route 56 (to get from 54 North to 54 South). This drive itself across the peninsula’s central mountain range was stunning, and there were a few places along the way to stop and do a bit of hiking.
Once back along 54 South, continue all the way to Borgarnes, where you will rejoin the Ring Road. From here, it’s only an hour to Reykjavik.
We detoured down route 47, about 25 minutes along Hvalfjordur fjord to Bjarteyjarsandur, an authentic working dairy farm with a family run campground.
This was probably one of Lil S’s favourite Icelandic memories. She just *loves* animals. We got to spend a night with sheepdogs and Icelandic horses, and woke in the morning to roosters and free-roaming sheep. There is a large grassy playground space, which the kids loved. If you’re passing by West Iceland, this is a great stop to spend the night.
Bjarteyjarsandur is open from May to October. The campground is not very big, so best to call or message them via Facebook ahead of time to make sure there is space.
Day 12 – Reykjavik
We debated how we wanted to organize our final two days in Iceland. We were required to return our RV the morning of Day 13, a day earlier than our departure. (I think this is quite a common scenario. Many flights out of Iceland leave early in the morning, so you need to return your vehicle the day before during the agency’s working hours. Because we’d checked out the RV in the morning, we had to return ours in the AM to avoid paying for an extra day. The friends we traveled with were able to return theirs later in the day.)
During these two days, we wanted to explore Reykjavik and wanted to tour Raufarholshellir, one of the longest lava caves in Iceland about 30 mins outside Reykjavik.
In the end, we did both on Day 12. We could have opted to return and hit up a couple more points of interest in Reykjavik on Day 13, but it was a serious hassle getting around without driving, AND it was raining heavily. All we wanted to do was relax in one spot.
Citywalk Reykjavik
We booked a free walking tour in Reykjavik (Europe offers some amazing free city walking tours!) called Citywalk Reykjavik. It is *very* highly rated, the number one tour of Reykjavik on Tripadvisor. The tour lasts about two hours, and is by donation. (They do require you to pre-book, but we booked the evening before, and there was still space.)
Our Citywalk tour was booked for 10 am. We made an early start, getting into Reykjavik by 9am. However, (and this was probably the worst part of our entire trip), it took us over an hour to find a parking spot that would accommodate the size of our motorhome in the downtown core. Eventually, after much cursing and hair pulling, we discovered a big city lot just across from Harpa (their performing arts centre). Our friends were so frustrated they ended up parking in a Reykjavik campground and taking the bus downtown!
Once we found a parking lot, it was actually VERY easy. You can pay for the spot via the Parka app. This lets you select the zone you’ve parked in, and you can tap in when you arrive and tap out when you leave, and pay directly by credit card. The Parka app is also affiliated with some parking sites around Iceland, but its main utility is definitely in Reykjavik. The location of this lot was also fantastic, as you could walk along the shore from Harpa all the way to the Sun Voyager, a famous sculpture in the shape of a boat. (Big S was content to admire the sculpture from afar, so we did not actually visit it.)
Our parking fiasco meant we made it a tiny bit late to the Citywalk meeting point, which in turn meant we spent the next half an hour looking for it! (We had to call their office for directions.)
The actual tour is excellent. The guides are all knowledgeable and have many funny historical anecdotes to share along the way. The tour weaves through Reykjavik’s downtown core, which starts at the parliament building and ends back at the city hall.
Hallgrimskirkja
We made it this far on our Citywalk tour, but did not actually go inside the church. (The kids were done with sightseeing by the time the tour ended.) Hallgrimskirkja is Iceland’s biggest church and one of its tallest structures. it has a very distinctive design, almost reminiscent of basalt columns! You can tour the church and also take a lift up to an observation deck overlooking the city.
Just across from the church is Cafe Loki, which serves authentic Icelandic fare with a view. (We had it on our list, and would have gone had we made it that far!)
Baejarins Beztu Pylsur (aka “the city’s best hot dog”)
This is literally a hot dog stand. It’s incredibly popular with both locals and tourists and a line-up forms as soon as it opens for lunch. The recommendation here is to get a hot dog “with everything”, including crispy fried onions and sweet mustard. Iceland hotdogs are delicious in general (they are made with 80% lamb), but this one was something else.
The friends we traveled with had an extra morning the following day, and were able to visit the Perlan. The Perlan is an interactive museum of Iceland’s natural wonders, including an indoor ice cave to explore. It was a great family experience, by the sounds of it.
Other notable museums in Reykjavik include the Natural History Museum (of Iceland’s history), the Saga Museum (of Viking history), and the infamous Phallological Museum (self explanatory). Most of Reykjavik’s museums are free with the purchase of a City Card, which you can buy from City Hall.
If you have more time in Reykjavik and have kids in tow, Reykjavik’s Family Park and Zoo would definitely be a hit.
We enjoyed Reykjavik, with its quaint neighbourhoods and colourful streets. It has an interesting traditional old-world European feel with a more modern aesthetic. I don’t think I’d come to Iceland to see it’s capital (it definitely doesn’t have a whole lot to its name by European standards), but it’s worth a gander, and we definitely learned a thing or two on our tour.
Raufarholshellir
Raufarholshellir lava caves is a short drive from Reykjavik. You do need to pre-book tours, we we noticed tours filling up about 1-2 days in advance, so best to book ahead of time. This was the most accessible of the lava cave tours we encountered, and has a minimum age requirement of 3. The tour itself takes about 1 hour.
The kids enjoyed their trek underground with their outfitted headlamps, and it was a really fascinating glimpse into the geology of subterranean volcanic activity.
That evening, our two families split up, as our friends had already committed to the campsite in Reykjavik. We stayed at Grindavik, just outside Keflavik, for an easy RV return in the morning. This was by far the biggest and busiest campsite we’d encountered (with the best playground!), but we’d largely kept to ourselves as the evening was very stormy.
Day 13 – Keflavik
As we mentioned above, it’s very possible to spend another full day in Reykjavik, either before or after returning the motorhome. If you have already returned your RV, it’s about a 40 minute taxi ride from Keflavik into Reykjavik.
Another option for how to spend your day-before-departure is the Blue Lagoon, which would be the perfect way to end an Iceland vacation. The Blue Lagoon is a short taxi ride away from Keflavik. You do need to reserve ahead of time (ideally as soon as you decide), as the time slots fill up quickly.
We didn’t end up visiting the Blue Lagoon, as we’d already had a very good taste of geothermal relaxation in Myvatn, and it’s just not as rejuvenating when you’re chasing kids around the entire time. 😛 Instead, we returned our RV and spent the afternoon at the Keflavik public pool. It’s called “Waterworld“, and I would highly recommend it if you have a couple of extra hours before you have to catch a flight. There are plenty of hot tubs and an outdoor lap pool, a large indoor kids splash pool with a playground, and pretty impressive waterslides. Our kids LOVED it. It was raining heavily that day, and soaking in a hot pool was a glorious way to deal with the weather.
We regrouped with our friends later in the afternoon, and stayed at an airBNB in Keflavik that evening. Raven’s BNB is a cozy, traditional home-like stay with a great breakfast spread. The host generously drove our brood around town so we wouldn’t have to walk in the rain. Keflavik’s main street has a number of restaurants to choose from (we chose Mediterranean). Incredibly, the sun came out after dinner (it always feels incredible when the sun comes out in Iceland). We were able to walk back to the BNB along Keflavik’s coastline. And we saw whales in the harbour! (Needless to say, the area around Reykjavik is a great place to take a whale watching tour.) Which pretty much completed our entire Iceland bucket list…
Day 14 – Fly home
Bright and early flight home! (Because of the time difference, we landed only an hour after our departure time, and had the entire day to unpack and decompress.)
We felt we really made the most of our two weeks in Iceland. Of course, we didn’t see everything, but we saw a lot, and were really able to sink our teeth into everything Iceland is and has to offer. We got to see all the different sides of Iceland (except the wildest side – maybe one day we’ll go back to explore the West Fjords and the Highlands), experience Iceland in its many moods, and checked off everything we wanted to see, despite expecting that sometimes things just don’t line up. We handled Iceland’s unpredictable, sometimes harsh weather like a champ, and survived 2 weeks together in an RV for the first time.
Our favourite memories include chasing waterfalls, seeing puffins, exploring Skaftafell up close, and catching a glimpse of the northern lights. The kids’ favourites really must be Iceland’s expansive farms and numerous playgrounds. I’m sure Big S is now determined to start a bounce-pillow trend here in Canada, and Lil S would like three sheep dogs, please.
Questions about our Iceland Itinerary? Drop us a line! 🙂
