Iceland Ring Road on a Budget in 3 Days

Lets start with the bad news by saying Iceland is expensive...even when you are earning a strong currency such as the sterling! I'm not sure if it's possible to do Iceland completely dirt cheap (unless you hitch hike/walk) but it is possible to maximize the sights you see. This post is about saving money on some things and spending on others in order to see as many free sights as possible in 3 days.

I previously visited Iceland in the winter of January 2016 and as most people do, based myself in the capital of Reykjavik and did day trips. I stayed at a really cool hostel named Kex which is located very central in an old biscuit factory. The hostel is located on the 3rd floor above a bar which on a saturday night is packed with locals. I definitely wouldn't classify it as a 'party hostel' but it has a great vibe about it.

In 2016 the day tours I paid for were Into the Glacier (£150.00) and The Blue Lagoon (min £50.00). Don't get me wrong they were both excellent but they were quite expensive and meant I missed out on seeing other natural sights which in my opinion are much better.

My girlfriend Dovile was keen to visit Iceland and I was keen to see it in the summer so we decided to visit at the end of May to make use of the long hours of daylight. The rough plan was to do the Ring Road as cheap as possible by keeping the visit short and visiting as many free sights as possible. Notably giving the Blue Lagoon a miss.

One thing I didn't like about my last trip was having to return to Reykjavik each night so after doing some research we decided hiring a camper van worked out to be pretty much the same price as booking accomodation and hiring a car. We hired our van through a company named Go Camper which I highly recommend. They even pick you up from the BSI Reykjavik bus terminal and drop you off anywhere in Reykjavik for free!

To save money we also brought a small thermos from London and each evening made up a fresh brew for the next day.

We flew WOW Air from Gatwick Airport on Friday 26th of May @ 21:00 and arrived at Kevlavik airport at approximately 23:30. The first thing I noticed was how light it was outside! In the summer you pretty much get 24 hours day light! Perfect for a road trip!

We caught the FlyBus which costs approximately £35.00 return from Kevlavik Airport to the BSI Reykjavik bus terminal and then walked to our first nights AirBnB accomodation 15 minutes away. Iceland is safe so walking around after midnight is not a problem. The AirBnB accomodation was the strangest I'd ever experienced as it was located in a tiny attic only accessible by a ladder. To be honest I was extremely tired so I didn't care too much but it was an experience. The nights accomodation cost £50.00 which is considerably more expensive than other european cities but it was still cheaper than 2 x dorm beds at Kex.

Day 1 - Saturday 27th May

We woke up at approximately 7am (probably because the attic we were staying in didn't have a curtain) and ventured into the city centre. Reykjavik is not massive so you are able to see most things by walking within a few hours. It has lots of art so for the first hour we just wandered around looking at graffitti art. My favourite was a mural at 66 Laugavegur St. 

We then continued to see the Sun Voyager monument and the Hallgrímskirkja church. Both iconic Reykjavik sights.

If your short on time my tip is to spend as little time as possible in Reykjavik to maximize the time at the natural sights which in my opinion is the best part about Iceland. Flights out of Iceland are generally early afternoon which means the last day is pretty much a right off for doing anything adventurous. Instead use this time to see anything you missed in Reykjavik on your first day.

At 10:00 we got our free shuttle from the BSI bus terminal and arrived at the Go Camper office after a short drive. The office was busy but the process of picking up our van was relatively simple and the staff were helpful with tips about Iceland. The van we hired was a 2 pax Go SMART camper which included the following essentials:

• Mattress
• Curtains
• Plates/Bowls
• Cutlery 
• Frying pan with gas canister adapter
• Pot
• Dishwashing liquid
• Fire Lighter
• Free coffee and fuel discount card @ Olís!

We also hired the following extras:

• 2 x sleeping bags (2 x £20.00) 
• Power inverter to charge camera batteries (£15.00)

They will probably try and sell you a gas canister (€10.00 small, €15.00 large) but see if you can get them to throw in a half full one for free like they did for us. To give an indication of how much gas you will use, we still had gas left at the end of our 3 day trip.

You will probably also get the spiel about staying in caravan parks. It's up to you whether you want to take this advice but we had minimal issues finding places to sleep each night without paying. I give exact locations where we stayed later on.

Before you leave raid the free food shelf they have, trust me you will be thankful you did once you go to the supermarket and see the prices!

After picking up the van we went to the Krónan supermarket just around the corner and stocked up on the following essentials:

• Water
• Bananas
• Apples
• Tomatoes
• Cucumber
• Cheese
• Hamburgers
• Doritios and Dip
• Baked Beans
• Eggs
• Ham
• Bread
• Red Bull
• Beer

We spent a total of £70.00. The supermarket beers in iceland are all 2.25% so you won't be getting drunk off them but definitely get a few for the Reykjadalur hot springs.

We managed to leave Reykjavik at 12:00 and got to the end of the Golden Circle (Gulfoss Waterfall) by approximately 18:00 after which we headed to Kerid Crater and then hiked into the Reykjadalur hot springs. Reykjadalur was the highlight of my day and highly recommend visiting with a few beers. After a busy day sightseeing it is the the perfect way to unwind!

Highlight: Reykjadalur hot springs

Dinner: In a park nearby to Reykjadalur.

Sleep: Hella in the car park of Restaurant Árhús.

Sights visited:

• Reykjavik
• Sun Voyager monument
• Hallgrimskirkja church
• þórufoss waterfall (Golden Circle)
• Þingvellir National Park (Golden Circle)
• *Bruarfoss waterfall (Golden Circle)
• Strokkur Geysir (Golden Circle)
• Gulfoss waterfall (Golden Circle)
• Kerid crater
• *Reykjadalur hot springs

Day 2 - Sunday 28th May

We started off the day by getting absolutely saturated seeing Seljalandsfoss and Gljúfrabúi waterfalls and then continued onto the Seljavallalaug thermal pool for a morning bath. 

After the bath on the way to Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon we made stops at the US Navy Douglas Super DC-3 plane wreck, Hálsanefshellir Cave and the Vik church. All are worth checking out.

The next stop was Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon. It is absolutely amazing and surprisingly not many tourists go there! Do yourself a favour and make sure you check this out!

We continued onto Jukulsarlon Glacier Lagoon/Diamond that evening and arrived at approximately 23:00. It was perfect timing as at about 23.30 the sun started to go down and we got to witness a killer sunset with some amazing colours. See photos below.

Highlight: Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon

Dinner: At Fjaðrárgljúfur. There are tables and chairs as well as free toilets.

Sleep: Höfn. We unknowingly slept in a school car park and in the morning did get a knock on the window from the headmaster.

Sights visited:

• Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
• *Gljúfrabúi Waterfall
• *Seljavallalaug Thermal Pool
• Skogafoss waterfall
• Douglas Super DC-3 Plane Crash
• Hálsanefshellir Cave
• Vik
• *Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon
• *Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon
• Diamond Beach

Day 3 - Monday 29th May

Day 3 involved quite alot of driving in order to make it back to Reykjavik in the evening.

After waking early and driving 4 hours we made it to Europes most powerful waterfall Dettifoss and then continued onto the Myvatn geothermal area where we got to see some cool things such as boiling mud pots, an underground thermal pool and a volcano!

On the way back to Reykjavik we stopped off at Goðafoss waterfall and passed through Icelands second city Akureyi. When visiting or passing through Akureyi keep an eye out for the love heart traffic lights which were introduced after the 2008 financial crisis as a way to promote positive thinking.

Highlight: Grjótagjá Cave

Dinner: Subway

Sleep: We arrived back at Reykjavik at approximately 1am and slept in the Krónan supermarket car park near the Go Camper office.

Sights visted:

• Dettifoss Waterfall
• Hverir Mud Pots
• Bjarnarflag Geothermal Station
• *Grjótagjá Cave
• Hverfjall Volcano
• Goðafoss Waterfall
• Akureyi

Day 4 - Tuesday 30th May

We woke up at 8am which was probably the latest we had slept in the entire trip. After a quick tidy up we returned the camper camper at 9:30 with 1941.7km on the odometer and left our remaining food on the free food shelf. The staff at Go Camper definitely didn't expect the camper to be ultra clean and were mainly concerned that all dishes had been washed.

Go Camper then gave us a ride back into Reykjavik where we spent the rest of our time at a coffee shop named Kaffitár reflecting on an amazing few days. It was also nice to have a proper coffee after drinking thermos and service station coffee for a few days :-)

At approximately 12:00 we made our way back to the BSI bus terminal and caught the FlyBus back to Keflavik for our return flight to London at 15:50. The food at the airport is quite expensive so recommend eating before you go there.

Road Trip breakdown

km driven: 1941.7km

AirBnB Accomodation: £50.00

Cash withdrawn: £30.00 

FlyBus Airport Transfer cost: 2 x £35.00 = £70.00

Food cost: £70.00

Van cost including full insurance: £320.00

Van extras cost: £55.00

Fuel cost: £155.00

Airport Food: £10.00

Total trip cost for 2 people (excluding flights): £760.00

Roundup

1941.7km driven, 25+ sights visited, spent £760.00, completed an unforgettable road trip and obtained priceless memories.

Iceland is amazing and if you have the time/money I definitely recommend staying for longer than 3 days (In my opinion 4/5 days would be ideal in the summer) but if you're short on either do your home work, get on the caffeine for a few days and check out this amazing place! 

Sights we missed:

• Svartifoss waterfall

To finish these are my tips:

• Hire a camper van. Expensive but worth it in the summer. Other camper van companies that I saw were Go Iceland, Happy Campers and KuKu Campers. I can't say how these compare for price, quality or service.
• If you hire with Go Camper make use of the free coffees at Olís.
• Put the van heater on full blast before going to sleep.
• Don't stop in the middle of the road to take a photo. You will be surprised how many people you see doing this.
• Avoid paying for toilets. Lots of sights charge approx £2.00 but there are a few which are free. I mention them below.
• Avoid paying for caravan parks.
• Say hi to the horses.
• Give the Blue Lagoon a miss and check out the free natural baths instead.
• Do research before you go to make the best use of your time.
• The food at the airport is quite expensive so recommend you eat before you go there.
• Try an Iceland Hotdog.
• Try the drink Malt Appelsin.
• If you are interested in trying exotic foods such as Hákarl (fermented shark) or puffin a centrally located Reykjaik restauarant which I visited on my previous trip is Íslenski barinn. This is a link to the menu.
• The speed limit in iceland is 90km/h which in the summer does seem a little slow. I'm not suggesting intentionally going faster than 90km/h but from Jukulsarlson Lagoon around to Akureryi I didn't spot one speed camera. A local did mention they are generally in the tunnels.

Reykjavik

My favourite thing about Reykjavik is the graffiti art in the city centre. The photo from Jan 2016 was when I was lucky enough to see the Northern Lights dancing over Reykjavik (Yes that's right, you don't have to go on a tour to see them).

Sun Voyager

Sun Voyager is a dreamboat built to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Reykjavik.

Hallgrímskirkja Church

I didn't get a chance to on my most recent trip but in January 2016 I climbed the tower for sunrise, definitely recommend for some nice shots.

Thorufoss Waterfall

This was our first stop on the ring road. If you are running short on time I would skip this one.

Thingvellir National Park

When you arrive at Thingvellir there is a viewing platform but I highly recommend walking down into the national park. Look out for divers diving between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates in the rift named Silfra.

Bruarfoss Waterfall

In my opinion this is one of the prettiest waterfalls in Iceland. I'm not sure what makes it so blue but it looks amazing! To get there after driving down a gravel road with lots of pot holes you then have to walk 10 - 15 minutes. Make sure you wear boots as it was quite muddy when we visited. Once you cross the small bridge with a sign that says 10km (don't worry Bruarfoss is not a 10km walk) head to the right and follow the squashed grass where people have walked previously.

Strokkur Geysir

The strokkur geyser explodes approximately every 5 minutes and is located right next to the main road.

Gulfoss Waterfall

This is the last stop on the ring road. We didn't go down to the waterfall as we wanted to maximize our time at the Reykjadalur hot springs in the evening.

Kerid Crater

This was pretty much the only attraction we paid for the entire road trip. It's not too far off the main road and you can walk all around the crater edge and also to walk down to the water level if desired. Worth 3 GBP I reckon.

Reykjadalur Hot Springs

This is one of my favourite places in Iceland and is only about 45 minutes drive from Reykjavik! The name Reykjadalur means steam valley and if you visit you will understand why. The actual river that people bathe in is a flowing hot river about 30cm deep. A warning that in order to get to the hot springs it is a reasonably hilly 3.2km hike (mind the horse poo as there is a lot on the track) but trust me it's worth it. It took us about an hour each way while stopping and taking photos. Make sure you bring some beers to enjoy after the hike!

Seljalandsfoss Waterfall

A waterfall you can walk behind. What more needs to be said!

Gljufrabui Waterfall

This waterfall is located close to Seljalandsfoss (The waterfall you can walk behind) and in my opinion is better. In order to see it you have to go inside a canyon/cave and you get absolutely saturated! I wouldn't recommend bringing a DSLR inside but perfect for a GoPro!

Seljavallalaug Thermal Pool

After visiting Seljalandsfoss and Gljufrabui we were saturated so decided we may as well go for a morning swim in an outdoor thermal pool! In my opinion it's not quite as good as Reykjadalur but still amazing and it even has free change rooms (See photo below)! To get to the pool you have to drive 10 minutes up a gravel road with lots of pot holes and then walk 20 minutes through a valley. You cross one small river along the way.

Skogafoss

This waterfall is right next to the ring road and is unique because you can climb stairs to look at it from above. We noticed there were toilets and showers here but you have to pay. I can't remember the prices.

Iceland Plane Wreck

On the 24th Novemeber 1973 a US Navy Douglas Super DC-3 crashed on Sólheimasandur black sand beach. Luckily everyone survived! If you're a Justin Bieber fan he skate boards on top of this plane in his video clip "I'll Show You". When I was in Iceland in January 2016 you could drive right up to the plane but now they have put fences up and you have to walk from the main road. It's quite deceptive how far away it is and takes approximately 45 minutes each way. I think it's about 4km. I wouldn't be surprised if the land owners soon start charging for entry.

Halsanefshellir Cave

This place is easy to visit which is probably why my photo has lots of tourists in it. Regardless it's pretty cool seeing the cave and hexagonal basalt columns. You have to pay for the toilets outside but if you walk inside the restaurant they are free :-)

Vik

We only made a quick stop here to have a look at the stunning view from the Vík í Mýrdal church.

Fjathrargljufur Canyon

This is probably my favourite place in Iceland possibly because I'd heard very little about it prior to visiting and had no expectations. It is situated between the city of Vik and Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon and as always you have to drive up a gravel path with lots of pot holes. You can walk into the canyon but the majority of tourists walk up the right hand side where you can get amazing photos looking down. It was a bit dull the day we went but still the greens and blues looked amazing! We stopped for dinner here as there are tables, chairs and free toilets right next to the car park.

Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon

Whenever a friend visits Iceland I always recommend they try and at least make it around to see Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. Its still, blue waters are dotted with icebergs from the surrounding Vatnajökull Glacier. The lagoon flows through a short waterway into the Atlantic Ocean, leaving chunks of ice on Diamond Beach. Keep an eye out for the seals and try and get a photo standing on an iceberg. The photos below were all taken around midnight.

Diamond Beach

You can see why this place is called 'Diamond Beach'. A great place if you are into photography especially if you get a killer sunset like we did. By the time we visited in May a lot of the ice had melted. I've posted a photo from January 2016 for comparison.

Dettifoss Waterfall

Europe's most powerful waterfall. 500 cubic metres of water per second plunges over the edge!

Hverir Mud Pots

This place makes you feel like you're on Mars! The landscape is very barren and is packed with bubbling mud pots and fumaroles releasing sulphuric gas.

Bjarnaflag Geothermal Station

The real Blue Lagoon! Unfortunately this is the waste water from a geothermal station and you can't swim here.

Grjotagja Cave

Previously people use to bathe in this cave but during volcanic eruptions from 1975 to 1984 the temperature of the water rose to more than 50 °C. It is apparently now slowly dropping and when I felt the water it was perfect bathing temperature! Unfortunately there is a a sign up outside saying the cave is only for photography. Look up a cave named Stóragjá as apparently it's not far from here and you can swim inside!

Hverfjall Volcano

Don't worry it erupted 2500 years ago! Once you reach the top you are able to walk right around the crater.

Gothafoss Waterfall

I think you probably get better photos from the other side of the river but by the time I got here I was pretty wrecked and waterfalled out!