Piccolina

Dear fodorites:

I may have an opportunity to take time off from mid-late September and will allow me to do a 11 day/10 nights trip around Iceland. I really want to drive around the Ring Road and have consulted with farmholidays. is to get a general idea of an itinerary.

Reading through some previous threads, I noted that it is best to do the island counter clockwise.

Would really like your advice on towns to stay in or hotels/B&B/farm houses which you recommend. Below is an itinerary from farmholidays .is for a 11day/10 nights ring road drive. Please let me know your thoughts. There may be an opportunity to extend my stay for 1 day if you really think an area warrants a two night stay (right now only Húsavík/Mývatn has 2 nights)

Location denotes the overnight stop:

Day 1 - Gulffoss/Geysir (I will arrive the night before whereas my travel companion will arrive 6am of the first day)
Day 2 - Vík/Kirkjubæjarklaustur
Day 3 - Höfn
Day 4 - Egilsstaðir
Day 5 - Húsavík/Mývatn
Day 6 - Húsavík/Mývatn
Day 7 - Akureyri
Day 8 - Húnaflói/Skagafjörður
Day 9 - Snaesfellsnes
Day 10 - Reyjavik
Day 11 - Late afternoon departure

I know this may be silly question given the unpredictability of Iceland weather - do you think end of September weather still has a high chance of being enjoyable??

Thanks in advance for your input! I'll continue perusing through the old threads.

Piccolina

Apologies, I made a typo in the title. It should read 10 nights, not 9 nights!

db6040

Hi Piccolina. I have not yet been to Iceland but am doing A LOT of research for a trip of my own. From what I have found weather in September can be very unpredictable and can in fact be winter-ish. Many accomodations and tours/activities begin to close in September. However, you can read plenty of reports online of people who have a great trip in September.

Your route looks very good, pretty standard ring road trip. If you were to add a night, I have heard that the Snaelfessnes peninsula really warrants two nights.

If you go in September, please report back and tell us how your trip went. We are not planning to go until 2017 so I would love to get some pointers.

MaineGG

We were in Iceland September 27-29 last year. The weather was pretty awful - heavy rain, high winds and temperatures in the 40s-50s. People there kept telling us how unfortunate it was that we had not been there the previous week when it had been lovely. So, it can be very nice, apparently. Oh, well, we'll have to do Icelandair again someday and hope for better weather during the stopover. We very much enjoyed our visit.

Hobbert

I've been to Iceland in May and end of September/beginning of October and Sept. is freezing! It's essential to wear a base layer and bring a warm hat and mittens. I have a fleece lined pair of mittens that I love but I'm sure gloves are fine too Make sure you have a warm coat, too! Iceland is a stunning country and the only one I make repeat visits to. I don't have an unlimited travel budget so I never repeat international trips but I start planning my next Iceland trip before I leave the last one. Enjoy!!

Piccolina

Fingers crossed for good weather. I've been doing a lot of reading on it and watching youtube videos of people's travel in sep/oct. It seems really unpredictable!

xyz99

Piccolina,
The truth is weather in Iceland is unpredictable all the time. We were there in July and had freezing rain in July...
But your itinerary is decent, and as long as you are properly dressed and flexible in terms of what you do/see, you should be fine.
I agree with db, if you add an extra day, add it to the Snaelfessnes peninsula. You'll love Iceland!