BabsB

tsm0885, yes it is. We took a tour bus but I think it is quite possible with a rental car also if you plan your time carefully. On the tour, the stops were short but more than adequate. Barb

tripaholic

Great trip report - Thanks for sharing. We are planning a trip to Iceland, maybe in 2007 and your trip report really helps. Thanks!

moxie

Wonderful report and pictures. Thank you for passing on the very helpful information.

IngridG

I like this whole trip idea, but I don't want to drive myself. Is there a reliable tour company that can customize what we want to do?

the_girl

Thank you for posting the link to the driving itineraries! That is exactly what I was looking for!

travelbug

dkw, if you are still checking this thread, I want to add my thanks for a wonderful trip report. I'm hoping to go to Iceland next summer and your trip sounds wonderful. I notice that many trips go clockwise from Reykjavik, but you went counter clockwise. Was there any reason for that choice? And about how many miles did you drive each day? Did you feel you were in a car all day? or were there enough stops to break up the driving or was the scenery so beautiful that the driving did not seem excessive?
thank you

dkw

Hi Travelbug,


We actually went clockwise, for no particular reason.

We drove anywhere from 2-5 hours per day on our driving days. Keep in mind this included lots of stops for pictures. It never felt too long in the car because there was always something to see, and you always wanted to see what was coming up next. The best tip I can give is for you to print off the driving itinerary at www.hostel.is . It gives great details of sights along the ring road that aren't found in the guidebooks. many of our unplanned stops were mentioned on that itinerary.

Iceland is easily the weirdest, coolest, most surreal place we have ever been. We would go back in a minute if we could.

travelbug

dkw - whoops - I've plotted out your route and I do see you went clockwise - thank you for replying to my post. Do you remember how long it took you on the first day drive from Reykjavik to Sauderkrokur? Unless I'm looking at the wrong town, it seems quite far. I printed off the hostel.is grand tour. Did you get a good map for your trip? I'm looking at a fly/drive 14 day trip; I don't think I can book a trip myself for any less. Thank you again for your information
travelbug

dkw

Sorry to be so long to reply. We just moved to Sydney from the US so we've been slightly crazy!

Thinking back, we think that we left Reykjavik around 9:00 am and arrived in Saudarkrokur around 3-4PM in the afternoon. We stopped a bunch of times look around and take pictures. Not a difficult drive at all.

We took 14 days.....there was no way in my mind to see the sights and do the things we wanted in any less time. Although we never felt rushed, we were busy all the time.

I ordered a laminated map while planning the trip. It was invaluable in determining the route and how far to drive every day. I will say that when I'm in trip planning mode, I obsess about every little detail, so this was probably about the 5th draft of the itinerary that we finally settled on.

Fell free to ask if you come up with more questions...I'd be happy to help if I can.

travelbug

Moved to Sydney? wow! I'm deep into planning for our June Iceland trip. What driving map did you buy? Is it possible to buy your duty free alcohol after you got to Keflavik or did you bring it with you. I can't remember if duty free is available at the end of the plane trip or only at the start of it. thanks

dkw

The map I purchased was an Insight Map (I think?!) It was a nice fold out laminated map. I ordered it from Amazon.

You can most assuredly purchase duty free alcohol at Keflavik. Buy your limit, because alcohol is very expensive!!!

pittpurple

Thanks for all the details! My husband desperately wants to go to Iceland and you sold me... starting to plan a trip now.