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Aaron & Monitas travel blog

Tips for Iceland

Supermarkets

Bonus is the cheapest supermarket in Iceland. We took 10kg of food with us from London. Spices, oil, sauces, canned goods, rice packs that you heat up, ready eat tuna meals etc. Iceland is expensive, no doubt about it. But basic essentials are comparative to London. If buying meat make sure it has the Icelandic flag on it, otherwise it is imported. Also, a lot of things are sold per KG weight – but Bonus has barcode scanners everywhere in the shop to check the price.
 

Weather

Insanely unpredictable. We drove through a blizzard as we got high in altitude and came into Myvatn too sun and blue skies. Pack a rain coat, especially when walking behind a waterfall (leave your phone somewhere safe, Monita killed her phone this way). And layering is your best friend when you’re in and out of the car often.
 

Car Rental

We hired through Reykjavik Cars. Good communication. Originally hired a VW Golf, then we decided to upgrade to Suziki Jimny (cheapest 4wd) but on arrival they upgraded us to a Dacia Duster. I would recommend a 4WD regardless of the time of year, there’s some roads that aren’t deep in the highlands e.g. the road to Haifoss that is a must see. 

Geysir Car Rental is you next best option – bit more on the pricy side.

We also opted for the full insurance that covers Sand and Ash Protection as we were doing the ring road and along the south coast this can be a problem when the winds pick up.

Even with crazy weather, Route 1 is a dream to drive, and even in white-out you can still go 80kph on the road comfortably.
 

Petrol

N1 is the most common petrol station, the majority if not all are self-service, with some having full service with a shop etc. Depending on your route I would do a full tank when around half depending on where you’re heading/doing that day.
 

Tourist Spots

Iceland has become a hot spot in the last 10 years, with more tourists than population. The golden circle and the south coast are filled with tourist and areas are largely fenced off in places to protect the environment. You will find places with tours buses and cafes on site. The best thing to do it smash out the golden circle early in the morning are later in the evening, move along the South Coast towards Vik. You will find things get a bit quieter are Vik and head East and then towards the North.

The US Navy Plane Crash on the beach is cool, but during the day the carpark can be filled with up to 50-60, if not more, cars. Meaning literally hundreds of people around the plane. Do this one before sunrise or after dark. It’s a 45 min walk from the car park, there’s markers to help find your way.

The Blue Lagoon is the most well known. I would recommend Myvatn Nature Baths in the North, but we didn’t go the Blue Lagoon so take that with a grain of salt.

The Great Geysir can get quite busy - and you never know when its spurt water.

If time, weather and season allow, head into the highlands (F roads). There will be no crowds – and the landscape is largely untouched.
 

Northern Lights

Guaranteed darkness is the first important factor. The best season to see the northern lights in Iceland is from September to mid-April – these are the months where there are full dark nights.
 

Cell Reception/Data

Grab a sim from 3 (if coming from the UK). Top it up with 20 pounds, convert it to an add-on and you will have 9GB of roaming data (plus 40 other countries). It’s incredible how many places you get reception in Iceland.
 

Itineraries

We did the ring road in 6 nights. It was tight and we didn’t get to go into the West Fjords which are quiet and very epic. I will add links from other blogs that go into more detail other options depending on how many days you have. 
 

Our Route & Map

This is a custom Google Map I made with points of interest, where we stayed, petrol stations, supermarkets.