THE ULTIMATE Iceland Highlands Travel Guide (NEED 4x4) | Full Itinerary

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE ROAD TRIP THROUGH THE HEART OF ICELAND!
Where We Stayed
Hrutafell Guesthouse (Airbnb) - perfect location, 5 minutes west of Skogar
Julia’s Guesthouse (Booking.com) - conveniently located right off Route 1 near the Golden Circle, cozy BnB comes with a delicious breakfast
Blönduós Barrel Cabin (Aibnb) - cute tiny home with private bathroom but no shower
Við Hafið Guesthouse (Booking.com) - clean and functional guesthouse in Ólafsvík
All guesthouses had private rooms but shared bathrooms and common spaces. I recommend all of the places we stayed in.
Car Rental
We used bluecarrental.is, which I found to have the lowest prices for 4x4s. We rented a 2017 130K mi (210K km) manual, diesel Dacia Duster for 860 USD (120.000 ISK). Be sure to check vedur.is, saferoad.is, and road.is every morning for weather and road conditions. Gas was approx 330 ISK/L (2.38 €/L or 9.22 USD/gal).
Day 1 - Getting Settled: Spend the night near Skógar
Day 2 - Fimmvörðuháls Hike: 15 miles, 4200 feet elevation gain. Book bus from Básar Hut to Skógar here: southadventure.is/ (book tickets ahead of time!). F249, the road out to Þórsmörk is quite rough and has several river crossings. It is forbidden to drive by most rental companies, even with a 4x4, so you will need to take the bus out to the ring road even if you have a buddy to pick you up.
www.earthtrekkers.com/fimmvor...
Day 3 - Golden Circle and South Coast:
Listed in Video: Hrunalaug Hot Spring, Seljavallalaug Swimming Pool, Kvernufoss, Dyrhólaey, Seljalandsfoss, Gljufrabui, Kerið Crater
Additional to Consider: Þingvellir National Park, Gullfoss Waterfall, Geysir Geothermal Area, The Secret Lagoon in Flúðir, Reynisfjara Beach, Brúarfoss, Sólheimajökull Glacier Walk
Day 4 - Landmannalaugar: Approx 2.5 hour drive from Golden Circle to Lannmanalaugar. There is a river crossing just before the campsite, but you can park your car before the river and cross a footbridge (adds 200m). There is a hot spring to bathe in 100m from the campsite. On the way home, also consider Háifoss, one of Iceland’s tallest waterfalls (7km dirt road off of main road).
www.earthtrekkers.com/landman...
Day 5 - Route 35 and Kerlingarfjöll: Consider spending the night in Kerlingarfjoll
www.earthtrekkers.com/hike-ke...
Day 6: Transfer to Snæfellsnes: 2.5 to 3 hour drive. Stops To Consider: Hvítserkur (rock formation on beach +1hr driving), Þingeyraklausturskirkja Stone Church, Guðrúnarlaug Hot Spring
Day 7: Snæfellsnes Peninsula
Listed in Video: Stykkishólmur, Kirkjufell, Ingjaldshóll, Skarðsvík Beach, Svörtuloft Lighthouse, Djúpalónssandur Beach and Dritvik Cove, Lóndrangar, Hellnar, Arnastapi Port, Arnastapi Cliffs, Búðakirkja, Bjarnarfoss
Additional to Consider: Grundarfjörður, Hellisandur’s street art, Öndverðarnes Lighthouse, Saxhóll Crater, Vatnshellir Cave, Malarrif Lighthouse and Visitor Center, Raudfeldsgjá Ravine, Yri Tunga Beach, Eldborg Crater, Hike Snæfellsjökull (guide needed)
Depending on where you stay, consider doing some of these stops the previous day as you drive into the peninsula.
www.earthtrekkers.com/best-th...
Day 8: Drive to Keflavík and fly out, or transfer for a new nights in Reykjavík.
AllTrails Links:
Fimmvörðuháls: www.alltrails.com/trail/icela...
Landmannalaugar, Bláhnúkur and Brennisteinsalda: www.alltrails.com/explore/map...
Kerlingarfjöll to Hveradalir: www.alltrails.com/explore/map...
Dritvik Cove: www.alltrails.com/trail/icela...
00:00 Intro
01:02 Transportation
01:56 Time of Year
02:19 Lodging
02:37 Day 1 - Getting Settled
03:20 Day 2 - Fimmvörðuháls Hike
05:50 Day 3 - Golden Circle and South Coast
07:04 Day 4 - Landmannalaugar
08:38 Day 5 - Route 35 and Kerlingarfjöll
10:54 Day 6 - Transfer to Snæfellsnes
11:17 Day 7 - Snæfellsnes Peninsula
13:34 Day 8 and Outro

[@welshlad6427]

Wonderful vlog. Have visited Iceland 🇮🇸 5 times and have visited nearly every area other than the Highlands and West Fjords. I have done the ring road once and am about to do it again in May over 7 days. My favourite areas of Iceland are the East and Snaelfness Peninsula. This and similar vlogs definitely give me the urge to visit and hike the highlands. It looks absolutely stunning.

[@bobcat6653]

Fantastic trip, thank you for sharing this!

[@JayTheSheep]

Super helpful and enjoyable video, thank you! Deserves more views for sure

[@truemantravels]

Wow great video! Beautiful shots and so informative :)

[@stephenward5250]

what done are you using for your trips? nice work

[@CalebShiple]

Original Mavic Air

[@stephenward5250]

very nice... did you have a world of pain registering it, insuring it etc for your Lofoten trip? Im just reading about all that! thx for the videos@@CalebShiple