Volcanoes, glaciers and waterfalls within a day of the airport, and the highest prices in Europe. Worth it, with planning — and considerably cheaper if you cook and camp.
Iceland is the size of Ireland with the population of Cardiff, and almost all of it is empty. Reykjavík holds two thirds of the country, and everything people come for is outside it: waterfalls, glaciers, black beaches, hot springs and lava fields, spread around a single ring road.
That road is the trip. The Ring Road is 1,332km and takes seven to ten days at a reasonable pace, and it is the difference between seeing Iceland and seeing the Golden Circle car parks. If you only have a long weekend, base yourself in Reykjavík and do the south coast.
The country is genuinely expensive — the most expensive in this guide — but the costs are controllable. Self-catering, camping in summer, and free natural hot springs instead of the Blue Lagoon cut the daily figure roughly in half.
This is a road-trip country rather than a city one. Two places are worth basing in; everything else is a stop on the way.
The capital, and where two thirds of the country lives. Bars, music and every tour departure.
Definitely a pricey town to do things in. But a very cool atmosphere to spend a day or two in. Lots of city activities and good food. It does feel very touristy in areas. I would come back though! A great base area for nature activities or tours.
A traveller, on Hostelworld
The northern capital, whale watching, and the gateway to Mývatn.
Iceland is an outdoors country first. The variations are about how far you drive and when you go.
Glaciers, volcanoes and hikes with nobody else on them.
The Ring Road, which is the trip most people should take.
Sagas, turf houses and a music scene far bigger than the population.
Possible, with discipline.
Black sand rather than swimming, and hot springs instead.
Reykjavík only, and it starts very late.
The Golden Circle — Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss — is the standard day from Reykjavík and it is good, if busy. The south coast is better: Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss, the black beach at Reynisfjara, and the glacier lagoon at Jökulsárlón with icebergs washing up on Diamond Beach opposite.
Swimming pools are the cultural institution people miss. Every town has a geothermal pool with hot tubs, they cost a few euros, and they are where Icelanders actually socialise — far better value than the Blue Lagoon, which is a spa with a €60 to €100 entry fee.
In winter, northern lights are the draw and are never guaranteed. In summer, the midnight sun means you can hike at eleven at night, and the interior highland roads open from late June.
Eating out is the fastest way to empty a budget here. A main course in a Reykjavík restaurant is €28 to €40, and a beer is €9 to €12. This is not a tourist mark-up; it is what things cost.
The answer is Bónus, the budget supermarket with the pink pig logo. Cooking in hostel kitchens is standard practice, and buying food in Reykjavík before driving out is much cheaper than the roadside stops.
Two things are worth paying for: the hot dog stand in Reykjavík, which is a national institution at about €4, and lobster soup on the south coast. Icelandic lamb and skyr are excellent and cheap in supermarkets.
Reykjavík's nightlife is concentrated on Laugavegur and it starts extraordinarily late — people pre-drink at home until one because of alcohol prices, and bars fill after that. The rúntur, the traditional Friday bar crawl, runs until five.
Alcohol is state-controlled and expensive: a beer is €9 to €12 in a bar. Buy from Vínbúðin, the state off-licence, which has limited opening hours and is closed on Sundays — a fact worth knowing on a Saturday afternoon.
Outside Reykjavík there is essentially no nightlife, which is fine, because you will be driving at dawn.
You need a vehicle. Public transport between towns is minimal and does not serve the sights, so it is a hire car, a campervan or organised day tours.
Campervans are the popular answer because they cover the bed and the transport together, and in summer that saves a great deal. Note that campervans, cars and caravans may only stay overnight at campsites — the rules tightened after years of abuse — and tent camping outside them is heavily restricted, so use campsites, which are €12 to €18 a person.
Two practical warnings. Gravel and F-roads require the right vehicle and the right insurance, and standard hire agreements exclude damage from them. Weather closes roads at short notice: road.is and vedur.is are the official sources, and they are checked daily by everyone driving here.
Iceland is the most expensive country in this guide and there is no way around that. Dorms start around €40, a restaurant main is €28 to €40, a beer is €9 to €12, and a week's car hire in summer runs €400 to €700 before fuel.
What you can control is large. Cooking from Bónus, camping rather than sleeping indoors, using free hot springs and municipal pools instead of the Blue Lagoon, and travelling in May or September rather than July all pull the daily figure down substantially — from something like €150 a day to around €80.
Fuel is the sleeper cost on a Ring Road trip. Budget €150 to €250 for a lap depending on the vehicle.
Iceland has almost no crime and consistently ranks as the safest country in the world. Everything that goes wrong here is weather or terrain.
Reynisfjara's black beach kills people. Sneaker waves arrive without warning, drag people in, and the water is four degrees. Stay far back from the waterline, and take the warning signs literally.
Volcanic activity is a third: eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula near Grindavík have repeatedly closed roads and the Blue Lagoon since 2023, so check safetravel.is before heading that way.
Driving is the other one. Winds can rip car doors off their hinges, single-lane bridges appear without warning, and sheep stand in the road. Check road.is and vedur.is every morning, and when a road is closed, it is closed — people have died driving around barriers.
Iceland is in the Schengen area but not the EU. EU and EEA citizens need an ID card; UK, US, Canadian and Australian passport holders get 90 days in any 180 across the whole Schengen zone, counted with all the other member states.
Passports need three months' validity beyond departure and to have been issued within the last ten years. ETIAS has been postponed repeatedly — check the official EU site.
Travel insurance matters more here than in most places. Search and rescue is run by volunteers and is not billed, but vehicle recovery, weather cancellations and gravel damage are all real costs, and many policies exclude F-road driving entirely.
Summer gives you daylight and open roads; winter gives you northern lights and ice caves. The shoulder months are cheaper and give you a bit of both.
Average highs for Reykjavík, which are milder than the latitude suggests thanks to the Gulf Stream. Daylight is the bigger variable: 21 hours in June, four in December.
Pick how you travel and how long for. Per night, for one person. Car hire and fuel are on top and are the largest cost of a Ring Road trip.
Shoestring assumes camping and cooking from Bónus, with transport covering a shared campervan. Free sights — waterfalls, beaches, hikes and local pools — mean the doing column can genuinely be near zero.
A small country with a surprisingly full calendar, most of it in Reykjavík.
RIFF, the Reykjavk International Film Festival, stands as a major cultural event offering a wide array of independent and non-profit films. With a dedicated…
Canadian cellist Bryan Cheng performs Schumann's intimate and poetic Cello Concerto, a staple of the Romantic repertoire. The concert also includes works by Charlotte…
Two of the nation's most beloved voices join forces for the concert Við syngjum tvö. Óskar Pétursson and Diddú each have had remarkable careers,…
Valgeir Guðjónsson is one of the nation's most beloved songwriters, with hundreds of songs to his name. A team of singers and instrumentalists will…
Edward Gardner leads the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in a powerful performance featuring Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 with violinist…
Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 is a monumental work that explores intense conflict before culminating in a hopeful Ode to Joy. The concert…
Sir Bryn Terfel, regarded as the world's finest bass-baritone, continues to perform in the most prestigious opera houses and concert halls globally. At this…
The concert presents a stirring program framed by two compositions of Jean Sibelius, including the evocative tone poem The Oceanides and his Symphony No.…
The highest-rated hostels in the country, live from Hostelworld. Reykjavík has most of them; along the Ring Road, book well ahead in summer.
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