Iceland - which direction to drive RIng Road? Clockwise or counter?
 

I hope this doesn't sound crazy - but which is better?
I heard many roads don't have guard rails so I was thinking that if I drove clockwise from Keflavik that I would be on the inside and not on the "sea-side"...
Any advice?

waiting for reply....

There really aren't any "cliff drops" on the ring road so you should be safe.

Nevertheless if you drive clockwise, i.e. north from Reykjavik then you'll mostly be alongside the mountains and away from the sea.

So clockwise. :)

I agree with the last commenter, i would drive clockwise

THanks so much!

Very interesting question. Personally, having done the route hundreds of times as a tour guide, it does not really matter which way you drive. However, in my opinion the southern part of the country is the most beautiful and this is where you might want to spend the most time. If you need to hurry up for the second part of your trip you can save time by driving through the northern part quickly. This said, there are of course some great gems in the north too. But still, my favorite is the south because the geology is much more varied.

Funny, this was my first question when we planned our trip (aug 2006). But I went the other way - we opted for counter clockwise so that wherever possible, we'd have the best view. There were a few spots where we were very "aware" of the drop down to sea, but never felt unsafe. We loved every minute. Have been trying to return for a long weekend since we got back. Will make it some day! (but then, will it be mid-June for the long days, or dead of winter for aurora borealis?). If you haven't gone yet, have a wonderful trip.

I would let the weather dictate which way you drive the ring road. read more about it here:
http://www.rent.is/blog/the-ringroad
Safe travels!

TO GOICELANDCARRENTAL - the trip was in 2011. We drove in clockwise direction and enjoyed the peace until we hit the tourist laden Golden Circle. We met some people who drove in the count-clock-wise direction and they had hit a major detour where a bridge had been washed out, caused by one of the eruptions in 2011.

We did counter-clockwise. However, I think if we had gone clockwise we would have been more impressed with some of the sights we saw later. Going counter-clockwise we instead hit the incredible sites in the South and the gorgeous Eastfjords (where I wish we'd spent more time), and then were less impressed as we made our way North and around Snaefellsnes.

hi

I'm going to Iceland too. I will do clockwise then. Thanks for the tip.

What are the "must see"sights, Going 4th week of June for maybe 7-8nights

Thanks in advance :)

sorry, is it counter-clockwise :)

I don't know if 7-8 nights is enough to drive the RIng Road. Be sure to check the mileage. We rented our car from BLU car rental which was recommended by a friend. Big savings. We rented a Hundai Santa Fe but didn't need the 4 WD.
The "Golden Circle" is heavily laden with tourists and buses. Decide if you want to see it early in the trip (go counter clockwise) or at the end (go clockwise). Before you go, sure to see "THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY" with Ben Stiller. All the foreign footage is shot in Iceland even though they say Afghanistan and Greenland in the film. The town of Seydisfjordhur is on the east coast directly across from Reyjkjavik and you will recognize a lot of sites there.
If you are looking for sweaters, a lot of towns away from the capital have small shops - look for signs. I got a great sweater in a shop setup in a High School gym. Vik also has a great woolen shop but a lot of sweaters in that shop are machine made. ALso be sure to try the hot springs in the small towns. The Blue Lagoon is a ZOO - very expensive and filled with tourist buses.