An awesome week roadtrippin’ through beautiful Iceland

Suitcase Stories

High on many people's bucket list is the magical island of Iceland, and also on ours! It just never came to fruition, until we saw an offer we couldn't refuse!

Yessss, finally, we are going to beautiful Iceland!

First things first, what are the costs?

In the last week of September 2019 we flew with Transavia from Amsterdam to Reykjavik for just 190 US dollars per person (total about 380). There we enjoyed a lovely night with breakfast buffet for 110 US dollars and then we were off to pick up our SUV-camper from the friendly folks from Go Campers Iceland.

This awesome ride costs us, including the most robust insurance packet, about 550 dollars for 4 days. So all in all, the costs were about +- 1000 dollars for 5 awesome days. That's a very decent price to stay in this bucket list location, especially when considering the value of Iceland travel packages that can be included in such a trip!

Iceland's an expensive country, they say, and this is true for some parts. But, most western countries like the USA, Germany, The Netherlands and Engeland are pretty pricey. You can make it as expensive and as cheap as you want. You can buy pretty cheap and wholesome food in the grocery stores, but you can also binge bottles of expensive wines in expensive restaurants. It's about being smart and taking the effort to find affordable items.

We usually stock in on bananas, bread (with peanut butter and jelly, a golden combo!), bottles of water, some muesli-bars and a bag of chips. We can't even remember the price, so it wasn't that bad. Maybe about 10-15% more than in other western countries.

In the evenings we enjoyed diners in cute restaurants that served fish, pizza's, pastas and burgers. These dishes were pretty pricey, so be careful about ordering appetizers, alcoholic beverages and desserts. All and all Iceland is affordable, especially because almost all the sightseeings are free, but you really have to keep the hungry beast in check while ordering or shopping in the supermarkets 😉

If you are also looking for great accommodation in Iceland, be sure to check out our recommendations!

A day of strolling along in cozy Reykjavik

There only live about 300.000 people in Iceland. In the main city of Reykjavik, it's just 122.000 people. First impressions of this cozy village-looking-city are pretty positive. It feels like a peaceful community with all sorts of colorful houses, cozy apartments, and hip restaurants and shops.

The city center is not that exhilarating, so don't expect some impressive world city here. It is fun and cozy though!

You can enjoy a nice day of shopping, strolling, lunching, beer drinking and some fun sightseeing. The most famous tourist attractions are the Hallgrímskirkja (a beautiful unique church), the Harpa-concert building (futuristic design), the world-famous hotdog stand (it wasn't that good to be honest…) and the Sun Voyager (and cool art piece made for the former Vikings). In the far distance we already saw the first green mountains. Adventure was waiting for us!

Before we move on to the road trip through south-east Iceland, I wanted to say that everybody spoke perfectly good English (with a funny-sounding accent) and everywhere you came you could pin with your bank card. We have not held any Icelandic money this whole trip

Roadtrip Iceland

We picked up our rugged Mitsubishi Pajero 4×4 SUV in which we could also sleep. You could open up the backseats to flatten them out. Me, Guus, with 6″3/1.90m long, could just fit. If I was a centimeter longer, we would need a longer car. The whole sleeping part wasn't that comfy, but it was fine for a couple of days. We are in Iceland for heaven's sake, stop complaining! 😉

In the car was a built-in heater to keep you warm in cold harsh winters. We never needed to use it, it was warm enough with just a blanket on and wearing some sweatpants and long sleeve shirt. In the SUV was even a small kitchen, with cutlery, running water and plates. You could even warm up some food with a gas ring. It was a messy ordeal, but it was so much fun being out there in the wild with this sweet ride and the simple items to get around.

*Green = Route 1, the main road around the island. Red = our route*

Golden Circle + south west IJsland

We drove around the Golden Circle (the most popular ‘circle' of nature parks and incredible views, near Reykjavik) and then we followed the main Route 1 road towards the southwest all the way towards Hof. From that endpoint, we drove back. This entire ride took about 3 days where we visited about 10 hotspots and amazing locations.

It doesn't quite feel correct to tell you per location what we say, because that would feel like we are telling you spoilers of a great movie. You should truly go see these valleys, mountains, meadows, and vistas for yourself. Because when you've seen it, you'll know how truly beautiful this island is.

I can though, recommend you some must-see locations!

Must see southwest Iceland
> The Gullfoss waterfall (the biggest in Europe!)
> Geysir (the squirting geysers, fun!)
> Thingvellir (a beautiful nature park)
> The city Vik (go see that view with the red church)
> Black Beach (black sands and amazing rock formations, wow!)
> Diamond Beach (impressive to see clumps of ice)
> DC3 plane wreck (a real crashed plane!)
> On top of the mountain in Vik near the lighthouse (crazy view!)
> Skogafoss and Dettiefoss (nice waterfalls, close to each other)
> Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River (a two-hour hike, the highlight of the trip!
> Pakgil (stunning ride through gravel and mountains, camp here!)

Each of these locations was truly impressive. We didn't have eyes enough to see all the beauty. We did not think it would be as beautiful as we thought it would be. Especially the hike towards Hot Springs River (where you can swim in warm natural water) was really amazing. The vistas from this location were by far the highlight of the trip!

What we didn't get to see was the Northern lights, the cute puffin birds, the Blue Lagoon thermal baths and… the entire island! Next time we really want to tour for two whole weeks and explore the entire Route 1. This island is just full of wonders!

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“So… how was it?!”

Friends, family, and colleagues kept asking us at arrival how Iceland really was. And we have thought for many days how to explain to people what it was like, but we couldn't. Pictures, video's and even words can't really describe what we saw in that 360 degrees view for multiple days. What I can say is that Iceland is way more beautiful then I could have imagined!

Usually, you travel towards a highlight of some city or place. And there you'll see that one beautiful view, but in Iceland, it's beautiful éverywhere! It's 360 degrees beautiful all the time, the ground, the air, the mountains, the houses, the valleys, the vistas…

It's just a sight to behold. It will make you humble.

In a blender

Every 15 minutes you would be shocked how fast the landscape changed. It was like driving through Scotland, then Canada, then America (especially Texas), then Switzerland and then New-Zealand. It was like they put the beauty of all these countries in a blender to form Iceland!

It was just one big movie set! It was like driving through Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings…

Looking for a great deal on a rental car? We used (and liked!) Rentalcars.com >>

Must-haves in Iceland

After a week of road tripping and camping in the wild, we have compiled this list of necessities;

A raincoat (with pants!)
Water resistant shoes (like Timberlands)
A big battery pack (10.000 mAh+)
A good photo camera (a smartphone won't suffice!)
A cool cap to keep you warm
An emergency kit

Also a must; peanut butter, a lot of water, some music downloaded before the ride and last but not least; your adventurous mindset to enjoy this special road trip through absolute beauty.

Photo's Iceland

Please check out our lovely pictures of this magical island. We shot these pictures with a Sony RX10 III and edited some in Lightroom. We hardly had to edit pictures, because Iceland is really that pretty!