Okay, so to be totally fair, we had very low expectations. We had no idea what Iceland was like and even with the substantial amount of planning this trip took to pull off, we were honestly shocked. It is beautiful. New views at every turn. There was tons to do, and it was very kid friendly.
I've gotten lots of inquiries as to how we pulled this off, and most of my guidance came from blogs, so this post will be a bit long in hopes that it helps someone else in their planning journey. I'll give a breakdown of each day, and then at the end I'll cover timing, campervan life, and packing strategies for those who are interested.
A little basic orientation before I start. There is a 'ring road' that circles the island. Anything in the center of that circle is called 'the highlands.' The highlands have some awesome things that we had wanted to see, but the only way to get around are via F-roads, which require four wheel drive to get around on, so we stuck to the ring road and things immediately around it.
Day 0: A Red Eye Flight
We flew from Chicago direct to Reykjavik overnight. We knew a red eye with a toddler was risky, and it was horrible but mostly for us. The flight from Chicago is very short (about 4 hours), and by the time they serve dinner and drinks, you only get less than 2 hours with the lights off. It was a brutal way to start, but mostly for us. V was in a spectacular mood upon our arrival and was an angel baby while we waited over TWO HOURS for the campervan folks to get us our "magic bus".
Day 1: Reykjavik to Vik (2 hours 40 minutes)
First stop? The nearest grocery store to stock up for the week and eat some lunch. The 'Bonus' chain around the island features a cracked-out pig logo and the cheapest prices in town. Both the logo and the prices were on point.
Next stop was way overdue coffee for mom and dad who were not nearly as sprightly as the little nugget. We ended up at Brikk, which was FANTASTIC. It was right on the water, great coffee, and a nice path for V to run out some of that mysterious positive energy she has been bringing to the table. It also is across the street from an ATM.
While our original plan flopped, I will say that the views were off the charts. It was amazing and made it worth it, even if it added an extra hour and a half to our 2.5 hour drive (ugh).
The Vik campground was meh. You had to pay to use the showers here which was weird, and Ben didn't get any hot water. It was a fine place to crash the first night, especially after tea and sandwiches at the Lava Bakery.
Worth noting: there is a lot we skipped in those first few miles. I had many kid-friendly hikes, waterfalls, and beach spots flagged and described thinking we would stop along the way, which did not happen (yay car naps!). We were most excited for some of the things in the subsequent days, and were determined to get at least to Vik to break up the drive.
Once caffeinated we drove about an hour to our next stop, where we did a drizzly, foggy hike and made lunch in the van. The hike was beautiful and very easy. Maybe a total of 4km. It was at this point we learned 2 things:
Day 2: Vik to Skaftafell (2 hours)
After a slow and lazy start, we were able to find the most amazing coffee in the coolest little venue just across the path from the campsite at the Skool Beans Cafe. This is a 10/10 recommend. Spectacular.
1) Things take WAY longer than expected on this trip. A 1 hour drive to a hike turns into a drive, plus an hour for cooking and eating lunch, plus washing the dishes, always the last minute diaper change, additional time to gear up for the weather. We honestly thought this would be a quick stop but it took up most of the day.
2) We were super grateful to have solid rain gear for all of us. We were able to enjoy every minute without being cold or worrying about getting wet.
After what felt like the world's longest lunch detour, we drove another hour to our campground, at the base of the glacier. The Skaftafell campground is in the national park, and there is ton of hiking right out of the campsite. We did the Svartifoss hike after dinner, which was between easy and medium (depending on if you are carrying the diaper bag or the 30lb human).
This place was absolutely incredible. I would highly recommend spending at least a full 24 hours here. We were not here for long enough, and it was the first time we commented that we need to return to Iceland.
Day 3: Skaftafell to Campground Fjalladyrd (5 hours 30 minutes)
Day 3 was our distance-covering day. We started off with a pitstop for a Glacier Lagoon Boat tour. We were super excited about this, but when we got there, the fog was thick, the rain was freezing (closer to sleet), and we were not about to get in an uncovered boat with a toddler. Turns out, it was still a big win- hills to run up, puddles to jump in, glaciers to see... and a warm van to getin when the rain picked up.
Okay, so heads up on this route. It actually takes more like 6.5 hours because a good chunk of the road is totally unpaved and very windy (and in our case, very foggy). It made for slow-going gravel travel. It was an unexpected off-roading situation that provided great views whenever the fog lifted (a lot like our NZ hiking situation). Of note, there were NO towns or villages or gas stations! Fill up before you get on the road.
We didn't take any pictures at the campground (because we were all very cranky by the time we got there, but it was pretty nice! The bathrooms were small and we didn't use the showers, but you can get a buffet breakfast at the reception in the morning with fresh baked bread!
We started out with a 1 hour drive to Lake Myvatan, and were super excited to see it. We found a 'hike' that we felt very meh about (it was mostly just wandering around sulfuric acid craters, which we've been underwhelmed by before). If you haven't seen them, they may be of interest, but park outside of the gate and walk in because parking was stupid expensive.
After wandering around and having some lunch, we made our way to the Myvatn Nature Baths. These were awesome. They top most lists of best geothermal pools, and we were told they are the less touristy version of the Blue Lagoon. While in the water, you have a beautiful view of the lake and can get a very overpriced drink at their swim-up bar. The facilities were adequate but not luxurious, which was fine for us. V had a blast jumping off the rocks into the water.
Systragil Campground was one of our favorites. They had a great playground for V and the way the bathrooms/kitchen/sinks were set up made it very convenient. In addition there were amazing fall views, and a little creek that flowed by where we played and threw rocks. There is also a very steep hike up the back that had great views (not kid friendly, though).
This was the best day of the trip. It started with chocolate chip pancakes, and was followed up immediately with a petting zoo! Okay so we were not as excited about the zoo, but turns out, it was maybe THE highlight of the whole trip. It was more like a farm. We had the place to ourselves, and V was just beside herself to show the goats and sheep her little toy sheep. In addition to playing with and petting the animals, she got to jump on a trampoline, play in the sandbox, ride on a kid-sized tractor, and revel in the amazing sunshine. Lots and lots of pics from the sweetest day.
We had a lot on our list to do and see in the northern part of the island. An extra three days in this area would have been perfect. There are many geothermal pools around, amongst other things. We ended up choosing the Geosea Thermal Baths, about an hour north of the zoo. Okay so we only took one photo before we went in, but this is easily the most luxurious, beautiful, and relaxing thing I've ever done. It is just flat-out incredible. V used this opportunity to reiterate that she wants to be our little travel 3rd wheel by being a perfect angel baby the whole time. This was a total win, 10/10, 100% do not miss.
So, we were originally supposed to come up to Camping 66.12 North, just 20 minutes north of Geosea, on day 4, but we were watching the northern lights forecast, and there was a better chance on day 5 so we made some switcheroos. Unfortunately, no northern lights were seen, but we had an amazing sunset we were able to watch as a family. Also, the bathrooms here were super spacious, they had a beautiful playground, and we were able to do some laundry. Definitely a highlight of the trip. (Pro tip: it ends up being a quite popular spot. so park as far west as possible so you don't have other campers obstructing your sunset view).
Okay so if day 5 was our favorite day, day 6 was decidedly our least favorite day...
It started off fine, some coffee, exploring Akureyri, some playgrounds, pretending to be Moana on the playground boat, a little lunch.
The tour claimed to be 'family friendly' and the reviews all looked innocent enough. We chose to do the tour out of Akureyri because it is at the base of the fjord, so it is supposed to make for much smoother seas. Ha.
No one mentioned the rough sea, or we would have jumped ship (literally) immediately and eaten the cost. I'm notoriously a 'green' sailor and have always struggled with motion sickness. Turns out, V does too. 3 hours later, no vomit bags in sight, a significant amount of lost lunch, and the second roughest seas I've been on, well, all I can say is every time we got in the car after that, V looked us square in the eye and proclaimed 'NO BIG BOAT'.
Our only major fail, but ugh. 0 out of 10, do not recommend.
Day 7: Camping Varmahlíð to Mosskogar Camping (3 hours 20 minutes)
This was a longer driving day but the views were spectacular. We were heading to a campsite right outside of Reykjavik in preparation for returning the van the next morning. We had big plans to visit Ankafoss but weren't prepared on how to navigate driving up someone's driveway while V had an absolute meltdown, so we ended up looking at it from the nearest gas station parking lot where we made lunch.
We just happened upon a park, Stekkjarflöt, right down the road from the campsite, and it was AMAZING. Another trip highlight. So many giggles, so much playing, and lots of cool play opportunities beyond the typical American plastic gyms.
By the time we reached the end of day 7, mama was DONE cooking and doing dishes. We got takeout from a place next to the park called Mr. Kebab, and it was a win for everyone.
We stayed at Mosskogar Campsite and the facilities were BEAUTIFUL. We were so exhausted that we didn't get any pictures AND slept through the northern lights that night (our second fail of the trip). It was our last night in the 'magic bus' before getting ready for our trip home.
Day 8: Mosskogar Camping to Van Return to Reykjavik to Keflavik (1 hour 20 minutes)
After returning the van first thing in the morning, we left our luggage at Go Campers and Vera got to go on her first city bus ride! We went into the city center, where we had three places on our agenda-- a playground, Rainbow Road, and lunch at Salka Valka.
The playground was fine, rainbow road was beautiful, but Salka Valka is truly a must-do in your Reykjavik itinerary. The food was AMAZING.
After fetching our bags from Go Campers, we got a cab out to our hotel, Hotel Berg, right by the airport for a low key afternoon and evening before flying out the next day. They have a beautiful rooftop pool hot tub situation. The food in their restaurant is ridiculously expensive, but we had good luck with takeout from the restaurant across the bay (a short walk).
The reality is that by the time we arrived, it had been a van ride, a 2 hour return process, 2 bus rides, an afternoon of exploring, and a 45 minute cab ride. We were all exhausted. A dip in the pool, takeout food, and Moana on the iPad was all we had left in us at that point.
Day 9: Travel Home! (9,441,287 hours)
The longest day of our lives by far. V did a great job. We did a mediocre job, but were able to negotiate her demands down to 1 new stuffed animal, a burger, and 1 viewing of Moana, Encanto, Trolls, and Frozen each. And cake. And ice cream. I mean I wish I were joking but... survival of the fittest, man. Judge away. We weren't about to end the last day of the best trip ever on a tantrum note of an overtired toddler the day before her birthday, so we just did whatever we could to make it bearable. It mostly worked until we got an hour away from home, so we'll call that a win.
Seriously best trip ever, in so many ways. And so needed with everything else going on in our lives right now (more to come on some of that later). It is one of the only places that we can both agree that we need to go back to. V also agrees, and is still asking 'Where magic bus go?'
Okay so some logistical things:
Timing:
It was an 8 day trip, and we left on September 16, exactly 1 day after most of the country closes for the winter season. We tend to be 'shoulder season travelers' by default-- it is our strong preference to sacrifice a little weather as a tradeoff for no crowds. This was (another) shoulder season win. It was very fall-like in the weather, with beautiful colors. We came prepared for cold and wet weather (which we had some of), and because of that we were fine! Also, after a few days of rain, most of our trip was filled with sunny skies.
Campervan:
We went with Go Campers, and were overall very happy with them. 4 stars. The vans were great and so were the other items provided. They were great to work with in preparation. They lost a star because it took SO LONG to both get and return the van. Most adults were at their wits end, and so doing it with a toddler just exacerbated the issue. But, overall, I'd still very much recommend them.
- We got the Go LITE Automatic Camper 3 Pax and it was PERFECT for us.
- Definitely get 2 duvet sets.
- We got camp chairs and they were fine, but we never used the outside camp table-- we just used the tables at the campsites or ate in the van.
- GET THE WIFI. It's so worth it. We were going to get sim cards and ended up getting the WIFI at the last minute and it was perfect for (and critical to) our navigating.
Meal Planning:
We did a mix of eating out and cooking, but mostly cooked. I was grateful to have had some experience with meal planning for camping trips, as I used many of those recipes. Because of Iceland costs (and toddler life) we brought some food from home-- oatmeal, fig bars, Serenity veggie pouches, almonds, Kodiak pancake mix, chocolate chips, and a few other granola bar type things. The rest we got from the free 'camper share' shelves at Go Campers or bought at the grocery store. Plot twist-- hot dogs are a thing here. They're really good! Like real meat-- more like sausage. We ate those a couple of times with peppers and onions. Pasta with pesto, egg/bean/cheese burritos, chocolate chip pancakes, heat and eat chana masala and instant rice. We bought a lot of zucchini, peppers, onions, kiwi, bananas, and blueberries that served us well. I'm happy to talk through more, so reach out if you have questions!
Random Nuggets
- Established fact: it's expensive. Like, everything. Booze especially. If you're planning to drink buy what you can at the airport Duty Free.
- Gas is also out of this world expensive, plus the vans run on diesel and have monster tanks. It cost us about $200 to fill the tank from half full to full. Crazy. Just keep that in mind.
- We sampled a handful of 'local' food items from the grocery store and every single one was smoked something or other. Just be warned.
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