Iceland is a bucket list destination for any adventure lover. The land of fire and ice is no exaggeration. Ice caves, active volcanoes, mountains, epic waterfalls, hot springs, caves, multi-day hikes, glaciers, ice-bergs, black sand beaches… Iceland has it ALL.
I must have been aimlessly scrolling when an Icelandic adventure and travel influencer I follow, Asa Steinars, popped up with a camper van touring company she owns, called Vanlife Iceland, with a curated road trip destination in Iceland. I swiftly clicked the link, and explored the incredible website, filling myself with excitement and eagerness. Without must thought or consulting my husband (then boyfriend) I booked us a trip.
The Van tour follows Iceland’s famous Ring Road, with an itinerary carefully curated and personalised by Icelandic local and business owner Asa. Over 7 days, you cover 1400 kilometers completing the entire Ring Road. One of the best parts, you travel in a convey of 15 other vans, with travellers from all over the world, with two guides the whole way. The guides create the best atmosphere and community vibes, and set up camp every night with a warm fire, snacks and great tunes.
The itinerary however is completely flexible, you are given a list of suggestions each day on where to go and site see, where to eat or where to swim, but it is completely up to you the timing and order of how you do things. At the end of the day, you then get to socialise with like minded people and either talk about the days adventures or get to know how they live in a country that’s different to yours, or slink away and relax in your own private van.
If you want to check out Vanlife Iceland for yourself, here is the link!
Where we went:
- Hrunalaug Hot Spring
- Strokkur Geyser
- Gullfoss Waterfall
- Skogafoss Waterfall
- Kvernufoss Waterfall
- Solheimajokull Glacier
- Reynisfjara Beach
- Thakgil Canyon
- Gigjagja/ Yoda Cave
- Fjadrargljufur Gorge
- Skaftafell Glacier
- Mulagljufur Canyon
- Diamond Beach
- Stokksnes Beach
- Skutafoss Waterfall
- Laekjavik Beach
- Folaldafoss Waterfall
- Litlanesfoss Waterfall
- Hengifoss Waterfall
- Studlagil Canyon
- Dettifoss Waterfall
- Grjotagja Thermal Cave
- Husavik
- Godafoss Waterfall
- Foss Thermal Waterfall
- Hauganes Beach Baths
- Grabrok Volcanic Crater
- Reykjavik
Hrunalaug Hot Spring
As soon as we landed, we picked up our trusty home on wheels from Camp Easy. The check-in process was the smoothest I have ever experienced, after hiring vans now in a few different countries. There was a large kitchen area of pre-loved camping essentials and food that are returned with the vans, as most items you can’t travel back home with. This was a great way to stock up on some items, and completely free!
We then hit the road! As excited as trapped bumble bees under a car bonnet.
In Iceland you drive on the right side of the road, with a right hand drive vehicle. It took a little getting used to for us Aussie lefties! But immediately you are treated with stunning Icelandic landscapes.
Our first stop of the road trip was of course a natural Icelandic hot spring! It was quite freezing outside, so we weren’t game enough to actually go for a swim, but this hot spring had such a quant looking shelter with a bench seat inside, with the natural hot spring flowing straight through!
Strokkur Geyser
On our way to our next stop, we hit a bit of a local traffic jam. We had found ourselves amongst an annual Icelandic tradition, called rettir.
Every September, crowds of farmers, locals, and riders on sturdy Icelandic horses head into the highland commons to gather hundreds of thousands of free-roaming sheep and herd them back to the sorting pens before winter. In the sorting pens, animals are sorted by hand using ear tags to identify which farm they belong too, so they can return home for the winter months.
The traditional takes place across roughly 200 locations throughout Iceland in September, focusing on family and community teamwork. A beautiful clue into Icelandic culture.
We then make it to our first stop of the trip – The famous Strokkur Geyser!
I believe this sign says little Geysir. So cute.
Strokkur Geyser is Iceland’s most famous and most vibrant geyser. Caused by an earthquake hundreds of years ago, the eruption of the geyser is due to geothermal activity beneath the earth’s surface. Underground, magma heats up water in a network of cracks, creating immense pressure that leads to the geyser erupting.
When the geyser erupts, it shoots boiling hot water and steam 30-40 metres into the air. Every 4 – 10 minutes!!
Gullfoss Waterfall
The fact this is our first day and we have already seen a hot spring, a geyser and now a waterfall, blows my mind!
Gullfoss falls is also one hell of a first Icelandic waterfall!
The waterfall is fed by the Hvita River, fuelled by glacial waters from the melting of Langjokull glacier. It is an immensely powerful waterfall, with approximately 140 cubic metres of water thundering down the falls every SECOND during the summertime.
The waterfall drops over two tiers into a 70m high walled canyon.
Experiencing places like this with your love is one of the most special things you can do.
Incredible views of Langjokull Glacier (second largest glacier in Iceland) and the surrounding mountains.
Skogafoss Waterfall
It was time to head to our first camp site for the night, which was phenomenally located near the base of famous Skogafoss Falls.
This was our first night meeting our guides and the remainder of the touring group, so we took our time setting up and getting to know everyone before going for a sneak peak at the epic waterfall.
This was the view not far from our campsite, at the southern end of the visitor carpark. What a glorious waterfall, we were super excited to get a bit closer the next day.
Cosy campfire for our first night camping in Iceland!
The next morning, it was time for a closer look at the magnificent Skogafoss Falls.
She is one hell of a powerful beauty!
Kvernufoss Waterfall
Only a stone throw away from Skogafoss Waterfall is another epic beauty that was highly recommended in our itinerary, Kvernufoss Waterfall.
We had a quick stop by Feyacafe to pick up a coffee and a chai latte and were happily on our way down a very well formed walking track.
Unfortunately visiting this waterfall in the morning wasn’t the best time of day, the waterfall and main walk were in shadow. I can imagine the afternoon would be a much better time to visit, with the afternoon sun lighting up the falls.
The track follows around the cliff to behind the waterfall, in what feels like a protected cavern.
The view from behind the waterfall is incredible, I can only imagine how much better it would be with a warm glow through the water from the sun. Even still, it was magical to stand behind.
Of course, I had to take some cute photos with my love.
The photos I take of him vs the photos he takes of me! haha.
Solheimajokull Glacier
Not too far away we visited the Solheimajokull Glacier tongue. This is my second time ever seeing icebergs, but I still squealed at the sight of them. Icebergs!!
This 14km long glacier tongue is draining from the Myrdalsjokull ice cap which covers the Katla central volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in Iceland.
The glacier has significantly retreated due to global warming and the negative impacts of climate change. Between 1921 – 2010 the glacier had retreated by 1225m, that’s an average of 153m a decade. Between 2010 – 2019 the glacier has retreated approximately 400m in comparison. Not sure about you but I find those statistics quite unsettling.
Reynisfjara Beach
Our next stop was one of Iceland’s most famous black sand beaches, Reynisfjara Beach. Since our visit, a huge storm and massive waves have unfortunately damaged and washed away significant portions of the beach. I feel very lucky we we able to see her in all her glory during our visit.
It is a very popular tourist destination, so it was very busy! There are a lot of warnings around for ‘sneaker waves’ that wash you into the ocean if you get too close to the shore!
Black sand beaches are so stunning!! There were beautiful rock formations in the distance which made the beach feel even more dramatic. Check out this sneaky archway in the distance! Reminds me of the archways along our Great Ocean Road, just volcanic edition!
Another stunning feature of the beach is Halsanefshellir Cave and the towering basalt sea stacks!
We passed through the town of Vik and had a few quick pit stops stocking up on food before heading to our next camp site. One big luxury we found while travelling in the van and being active all day was visiting the local town swimming pools and sports centres. They are all extremely well equipped with hot spas, ice baths and showers – which we made good use of every time we passed through a town!
All showers however are communal, and you are required to shower before entering the pools. It took a while to get used to the communal shower experience, but after a while I fully embraced it! It was very empowering to be showering naked around other naked female showerer’s.
As we were heading out of town we stopped by the Skool Beans Cafe! Which some of the most phenomenal hot choccies!
Thakgil Canyon
That night, after a very anxious withering and almost 4wd track, we made it to our next campsite, nestled within the mountains of Thakgil Canyon. It is one of the most stunning campgrounds I have ever stayed in.
On the edge of the camp ground there is a camping cave full of seats, a fire place and BBQs, all inside the cave! This is the view from inside the van!
It was the most scenic walk I have ever done to reach an amenities building.
The next morning I went for a walk to see a small waterfall, I’m not sure of its name, which is where a few of the group were going to do their morning ritual cold plunge.
I can’t get over the black moss covered rock that makes up so much of the Icelandic landscape. It feels straight out of a lord of the rings or a king kong movie.
Gigjagja/ Yoda Cave
The next stop on day 3 was to visit a well known Yoda Cave, whose opening looks like an exact outline of Yoda from Star Wars! Its honestly so uncanny the resemblence.
There are a few other caves nearby, but the Yoda cave really takes the cake.
Fjadrargljufur Gorge
A stop on the itinerary I was very excited about was Fjaorargljufur Gorge. If you enjoy gorges and moss covered black volcanic rock than you will LOVE this stop.
Its a very easy walk up to the first viewpoints over the gorge from the visitor carpark.
At the end of the main lookout you get views of this beautiful waterfall.
It was a very cold and overcast day! Otherwise we got very lucky weather wise on this trip.
The photos I take of him vs the photos he takes of me part 2! Who needs the waterfall backdrop anyway?
You don’t need to wait for scenic stops to see to the beautiful natural scenery Iceland has to offer, there are countless stunning waterfalls and glaciers you pass driving along the Ring Road.
Driving past Skaftafell Glacier on the way to camp.
Skaftafell Glacier
After setting up camp we were getting ready to embark on an additional activity we had booked through Vanlife Iceland – which was a glacier hike on Skaftafell Glacier!
Well equipped to tackle the glacier!
We were hoping for a visit to an ice cave which was located on the glacier, but due to unfortunate winds and unpredictable weather it was decided that we would stick to hiking on top of the glacier.
Skaftafell glacier is part of Iceland’s largest ice cap, the Vatnajokull ice cap, covering 8% of the country! It is also the second largest ice cap in all of Europe with an average ick thickness of 400m.
Several active volcanos sit underneath this ice cap, one which is due for an eruption any year now!
It was a shame we didn’t get the chance to see an ice cave, but it was still an epic experience hiking on top of one of the largest glacial ice caps in the world.
Mulagljufur Canyon
On day 4 of our epic Ring Road adventure, we decided to visit and hike to the top of the epic Mulagljufur Canyon. Pulling into the visitor carpark, we were treated with epic views of Fjallsjokull glacier.
This may be a big call, and there are MANY hikes in Iceland I am yet to do, but this was the best hike of the trip. From the get go you had incredible views over mountains, waterfalls and glaciers. You really can’t ask for much more!
There seems to be two sections of this hike. The first section leads up to this first major waterfall (not sure of its name) with a large lookout area most people seem to stop at.
It does feel like this could be the end of the hike, but the hike does keep going! The second section of the hike reaches even higher, those most people seem to stop at the first vantage point.
Unfortunately we didn’t have the best time of day, weather and sunlight for the best photos. I have seen some STUNNING moody shots of this waterfall and canyon online. The sun glare for us was a bit too much to show the full dramatic epicness of this scenery.
We followed the hiking trail higher and higher, and every turn left us gobsmacked.
Can you see the icebergs in the distance?!
We finally reach the highest point of the hike, overlooking even more waterfalls and jaggered dramatic peaks. Such untouched, unforgiving parts of nature.
Then back down we go! This would have to be one of the most epic hikes I have ever done, and it wasn’t hugely strenuous or long, but the scenery is almost unmatched.
Diamond Beach
I was absolutely fascinated the first time I saw Diamond Beach on the Vanlife Iceland itinerary. Small chunks of ice dislodge from Jokulsarlon Glacier, float out to the open ocean via currents and then the swell and waves wash the ice chunks back onto the black sand beach.
During this process the icebergs get broken up and smash into lots of smaller pieces, so when they land back on the beach it looks like a sea of sparkling, shiny diamonds, hence the name Diamond beach!
Definitely not the kind of beach you want to swim in!
There are much larger icebergs floating in the lagoon, which are so epic to see. We had actually booked an additional activity in the itinerary to kayak around the icebergs, but unfortunately when the day came the wind was too strong and the tour didn’t go ahead.
Look how enormous this iceberg is! We also saw a few seals swimming in the lagoon, which was so sweet.
We parked up the van with incredible ice berg views and had a bit of an afternoon siesta with a side of lunch. It was such a treat to be out of the wind!
Stokksnes Beach
Day 5 of the road trip started with another classic black sand beach. Without the thick layer of fog that we had, there are usually dramatic, jaggered mountain peaks in the back drop of Stokksnes beach, which makes it a favourite for many photographers.
The black sand was so smooth and stretched for miles! With the fog in the background it was quite fun taking photos walking along the beach. The image above is a full colour photograph!
The only other black sand beaches I’ve seen so far are in Greece, which are more rocky beaches the sand. Whereas the black sand beaches in Iceland are actual sand! So soft under foot.
It almost looks like a black volcanic desert!
Skutafoss Waterfall
Our next stop was to a sweet smaller waterfall, where the car park was just across the road. It’s hard competing with the magnificent, powerful and etheral waterfalls of Iceland, but it was still worth the stop along the way.
Laekjavik Beach
You can never really visit too many black sand beaches. I had seen some incredible online photos of people walking along Laekjavik beach, though the weather was still very windy when we visited with choppy swell, and we weren’t too confident to climb down the steep slopes to get onto the beach.
The beach is famous for its interesting looking black rocky pillars that stand out of the flat sand.
Folaldafoss Waterfall
Enroute to our next destination we stopped by Folaldafoss Waterfall. Seemingly appearing out of no where in a relatively flat plain!
It was absolutely freezing and starting to rain, so we unfortunately didn’t get too close to the waterfall which I later regrated. It is a super beautiful waterfall! The jaggered black cliff walls and the vibrant blue water are stunning.
Looking to the other side of the road I couldn’t believe how many waterfalls we could see flowing off the mountain! A sea of waterfalls!
Litlanesfoss Waterfall
We headed on past our camp ground for that night, which was at Atlavik, a beautiful camping ground situated right on the edge of a lake. A stone throw away we wanted to quickly visit our last waterfalls of the day!
The main attraction of this hike is Hengifoss at the end, but along the way you pass by Litlanesfoss, which is an epic waterfall in its own right!
You can see Henigoss peeping over the mountain in the background.
Hengifoss Waterfall
The track continues climbing up towards the main attraction, with walking tracks on either side of the gorge which means you can either walk out and back or in a larger loop, we opted for the loop.
The unqiue Henigoss waterfall! Not only is the waterfall visually unique with the thin layers of red clay in between thick layers of basalt lava rock in the cliff, but it is also one of the tallest waterfalls in Iceland at 128m tall.
Apparently the basalt layers of rock are 5 – 6 million years old and date back to the volcanic eruptions in the Tertiary period. How wild is that!!
It is one of the most unique waterfalls I have ever seen.
You are never deprived of waterfalls in Iceland. The hike itself was extremely picturesque, and very short for what you get. So far we haven’t had a single bad hike or experience in Iceland.
By completing the full loop walk, we found that the eastern side of the track was a lot gentler, but we were glad we hiked the loop in the direction we did.
At the start and end of the hike there is a very cute food truck, where we got banana and chocolate waffles, a sweet treat after an epic hike!
Northern Lights
A bucket list item for anyone visiting Iceland or the Nordic countries is seeing the Northern Lights!
As we were already 5 days in our 7 day road trip, and hadn’t yet seen the light phenomenon, we were starting to loose hope that we would be lucky enough to see the stunning display.
On night 5 of our trip it finally happened! Another lucky part of travelling in a convey, is one of the group spotted the light show, and notified everyone else in our Whatsapp group chat. If we didn’t recieve the message, we would have slept right through!
The light show was incredible, and it moved and changed patterns surprisingly quickly. It was such a cloudy and overcast day, we were so lucky the clouds shifted just in time.
As a surprise to most, the northern lights are not as vibrant to the naked eye, we could see some sort of fog and looked a very dull green, but it isnt until you take a photo that you see the full effect. These photos were taken off my Samsung Galaxy smart phone, which has an automatic night mode, I didn’t need to change any settings at all.
Studlagil Canyon
This was another site on the itinerary I was so excited to visit. We decided to hike to the canyon from the east site parking. The north side parking is the main access, much shorter and brings you to many lookouts over the canyon, but approaching from the east side is the only way you can climb down into the base of the canyon. It is also the only way to see the beautiful Studlafoss Waterfall!
Another epic basalt column waterfall of Iceland.
Studlagil Canyon is famous for its basalt rock columns and vibrant blue water. It is wild to me that the canyon was only discovered in 2009! After a hydroelectric project lowered the water level to expose the unique and distinctive cliff walls. I believe it was first discovered by a local farmer.
The water currents were moving very fast, so it didn’t look inviting for a swim, though we still saw a few tourists jumping in! Then swiftly jumping straight back out.
Dettifoss Waterfall
We were now starting to leave the East Coast of Iceland and heading towards the North. The South Coast is by far the best part of the country, but there are still many gems to explore in the North.
One of which is Iceland’s, and Europe’s, most powerful waterfall! It is said if you lay your hand on a rock close to the waterfall you can feel the vibrations.
Dettifoss is 100m wide and drops 45m down, with an average water flow of 193 cubic metres per second. In the summer months during high melt periods, this increases up to 400 to 500 cubic meatres per second. It is Iceland’s largest waterfall in terms of volume discharge!
Fed from Iceland’s largest ice cap, she is a real beauty and a real testament to the power of nature!
Grjotagja Thermal Cave
After a pretty epic day so far, we had one more stop by a thermal cave before heading to the town of Husavik for that nights camp.
It was stunning and so warm inside the cave, we were a bit nervous but touching the water it was nice and warm, similar to the temps you would expect from a bath. That was on the water surface though, I believe lower in the depths of the water it is near boiling, so swimming is forbidden.
Husavik
As became our tradition every time we drove through a new town, we stopped by the local swimming pool and hopped into the hot spa and ice baths. It was the best way to recover from active days hiking, and was oh so relaxing!
Our campground in Husavik was nothing to write home about, but it was a stunning coastal town with a stunning harbour and snow capped peaks in the background.
The next morning, on day 6 of our road trip, we left camp and decided to drop by the harbour to marvel at the views, we parked the van in a not so touristy spot, and climbed on top of a rock wall to take photographs of what lay before us.
Suddenly I see Luke drop down on one knee and he proposed. It was as magical as you could ever expect a proposal.
I was squealing and happy crying, we were hugging and kissing, and as we were about to walk of the wall, full of jittery adrenaline, we spotted a couple of french tourists. Excitedly explaining we just got engaged, we asked if they were willing to take some photographs for us, so we happily jumped back on the rock wall and recreated the moment. I feel so grateful they were there at the perfect time to capture this moment for us.
A beautiful feature of Husavik, and one that is in a few towns and cities of Iceland, is beautifully painted colourful roads. It just makes you feel happy!
Godafoss Waterfall
After excitedly calling home with our news, as much as we could with time differences, and after soaking up the moment, it was time to hit the road again!
We stopped by Godafoss which is a beautiful waterfall south of Husavik, where the Ring Road continues across the Northern end of the country.
Foss Thermal Waterfall
As we made our way towards Akureyre, Iceland’s second largest city, we stopped by a thermal waterfall that flows into Eyjafjordur harbour.
This thermal waterfall was highly recommended on our itinerary, and it appears it is not well known to the masses. It had a small and unmanaged gravel carpark, and only very light foot pads leading to some of the thermal pools along the creek.
Walking south towards the waterfall there felt like there was no path at all, and we were walking along the grass! Even though there was steam from the water it was not particularly warm, but it was certainly not cold either! Judging by the air temperature it was a lot warmer than it normally would be.
Hauganes Beach Baths
Our final night camping was in the small northern coastal town of Hauganes. There wasn’t too much in this town and it wasn’t our nicest camping ground, but there were some highly recommended hot beach baths we were eager to try out.
Not bad views for a hot beach bath if you ask me! We had a farewell dinner with our new found friends and travel comrades, and before settling into bed we noticed the Northern Lights had come out to bid us farewell as well!
It was such a treat being able to see the Northern Lights across two nights in our week long road trip.
Grabrok Volcanic Crater
On our last day with the van, we had a long drive from Hauganes all the way back to Keflavik to return our van to Easy Campers. The longest stretch was a 4-5 hour drive down the west coast to reach Grabrok Volcanic Crater, which we thought would make a great pit stop.
After a quick lunch break in the carpark, we headed up the the viewpoint over the volcanic crater. There were easy boardwalks the whole way, and some pretty nice views! Classic Iceland, really.
It was a shame we missed so much of the West coast, but the Ring Road doesn’t actually reach much of Western Iceland. There are not too many stops along this section of the main road, so you need to branch off to keep heading West.
Reykjavik
After we returned the van we had a final night in Reykjavik staying in an airbnb before our long flights home the next day. The extra night provided much reprieve between dropping off the van and getting to the airport, and we appreciated not being so stressed or strapped for time. It was also our only opportunity to explore Iceland’s capital city.
The beautiful iconic Icelandic rainbow streets were back! We loved every second of exploring this stunning city and can’t wait to go back.
One of the best weeks travelling I have ever had, Iceland is truly unmatched to any other country I have visited so far in terms of its natural attractions and scenery. New Zealand would be a close second.
I can’t wait to go back and explore more of this beautiful country!
Rachmartee 
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