OUR ONE WEEK ICELAND ITINERARY IN A CAMPER VAN
Let’s start off with the most important part about traveling to Iceland. FOOD! Meals can be very expensive (we spent $100 on a simple pizza for our small family in 2017) and impossible to find in some rural places of Iceland. So for this trip we packed our own camper-friendly dinners from home and they ended up being affordable and surprisingly really yummy! I was skeptical but they were our favorite meals every day. All you have to do is add a couple cups of boiling hot water and eat them out of the pouch so clean up was super easy too! Our favorites were Mountain House Beef Stew, Mountain House Pad Tai, Backpackers Pantry Sante Fe Rice & Chicken, and Mountain House Fettuccini Alfredo! If we were to do this again I would pack some extras for breakfast and lunch too. 🙂 However we ended up having a little fridge in our camper so we had milk, cereal, fruit, hard boiled eggs, avocado on rice crackers, and lots of hot dogs!
Second most important thing is hotels and transportation! Last time we went to Iceland we spent so much time on the road driving to and from our Airbnbs because the sights are super spread out and so we went with a camper van this time and I’m so happy we did! Our particular experience was not great because our camper ended up breaking down on the last day, but I would still do a camper again, just rent with a different car company, not Geysir. The campsites were super easy to find and were accessible to roll in and out at anytime of day/night (here is an app that shows all of them!) and we paid about $15/20 a night. If we rolled in late, someone would come knock on our camper in the morning and we’d pay there! Everyone was very friendly and paying with credit card was no problem. I was pleasantly surprised how nice the campsites were and most of them offered hot showers, flushing toilets, and laundry machines!
Now the third most important thing is CLOTHING! Be prepared for any type of weather to hit at any time of the day, so layers and waterproof boots/jackets/gloves are key. We went mid-April so it was technically still winter, and I’m glad I brought my heavy down jacket because I was able to get outside and enjoy everything no matter the elements! We also brought ski-goggles which came in handy for the snowy hikes, and windy days where there was sand to prevent it getting in our eyes. When packing for Iceland its always better to be over prepared than under prepared! It truly feels like you’re on a different planet at times.
Shop my boots and jacket here!
HELPFUL APPS: Iceland (an interactive guide that shows what to see and do) – Park4night (campsites) – Road.is (real-time road conditions) – Aurora Forecast (for the northern lights!)
Here’s a rundown of our itinerary:
DAY 1:
– 6am arrive
– 8am pick up camper van & grocery shop
– Reykjanes peninsula
(1 hr 30 min drive)
– Camping Skogafoss (this campsite is literally at the base of the waterfall! So fun to wake up to!)
DAY 2:
– Skogafoss
– Kvernufoss
(1 hr 30 min drive)
– Fjadrargljufur Canyon
– Eldhraun Mossy Lava Fields
(1 hr drive)
– Skaftafell Camping
DAY 3:
– Mulagljufur canyon (2 hr hike round trip)
^^ Here’s the exact pinpoint since there are no signs to get here! You will see a gravel road off of the ring road, take that all the way to the little parking lot where the road ends. Then look for PVC pipe and sticks pocking out of the path that lead you up to the canyon! At one point you will cross a little creek. Just know that is taking you in the right direction! ^^
(1 hr 30 mins drive)
– Camping Hofn
DAY 4:
– Stokksnes & Vestrahorn Mountain
(1 hr drive)
– Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon
– Diamond Beach
– Skaftafell Camping
DAY 5:
– Skaftafel Glacier
– Svartifoss
(3 hr drive)
– Hela Camping
DAY 6:
– Gljúfrabui
– Seljalandsfoss
(1 hr drive)
– Hrunalaug mini hot spring
(45 min drive)
– Selfoss Camping
DAY 7:
– Return to Reykjavik (1 hr 30 min drive)