Iceland Ring Road

Day 1 · Home → Reykjavik

Home→Reykjavik

Day 2 · Reykjavik

Day 3 · Reykjavik → Selfoss

Collect the 4x4 and stock up at Bónus — fuel and groceries thin out fast once you leave the capital.

Soak at Sky Lagoon at night; this far north the sun barely sets, so midnight is still golden.

Reykjavik→Selfoss

Day 4 · Selfoss → Vik

The Golden Circle en route: Þingvellir's rift valley, Geysir's Strokkur spouting every few minutes, and Gullfoss thundering below.

Selfoss→Vik

Day 5 · Vik

Day 6 · Vik → Höfn

Stop at Seljalandsfoss (walk behind the curtain) and Skógafoss on the way — waterproofs mandatory.

Reynisfjara's black-sand beach and basalt columns are stunning but the sneaker waves kill people; stay well back from the water.

Vik→Höfn

Day 7 · Höfn → Egilsstaðir

Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon with drifting icebergs, then Diamond Beach across the road. Langoustine for dinner — Höfn is the lobster town.

Höfn→Egilsstaðir

Day 8 · Egilsstaðir → Mývatn

Long empty drive through the eastern fjords; detour to the fishing village of Seyðisfjörður and its rainbow street.

Egilsstaðir→Mývatn

Day 9 · Mývatn

Day 10 · Mývatn → Akureyri

Detour to Dettifoss, Europe's most powerful waterfall, then the Krafla lava fields.

Mývatn Nature Baths are the quieter northern answer to the Blue Lagoon; the Hverir mud pots nearby smell of sulphur but are otherworldly.

Mývatn→Akureyri

Day 11 · Akureyri → Snæfellsnes

Whale watching out of the north's capital; Goðafoss waterfall is a short stop on the way in.

Akureyri→Snæfellsnes

Day 12 · Snæfellsnes → Reykjavik

Kirkjufell mountain with its foreground falls, then the black church at Búðir on the peninsula's south coast.

Snæfellsnes→Reykjavik

Day 13 · Reykjavik → Home

Reykjavik→Home