How Long Does it Take to Drive Around Iceland?

A lot of our customers ask us how long it takes to drive around Iceland and the answer is always the same: “Oh dear, hmmm … 2-100 days?” It’s an impossible question to answer. Like, how many stars are there in the universe, or why didn’t Iceland win the World Cup? There are so many variables and different possible outcomes that we feel the better question is:

How much time on average does it take to drive and see all the magnificent sites around Iceland?

Ok, this is a question we can answer!

• In theory, you could drive the ring road nr. 1 in 13-15 hours or so, but that would suck, a lot.
• We recommend you spend at least 1 week driving the ring road.

But honestly, why only drive the ring road? We know it sounds cool and maybe you’ve read somewhere that most of the natural wonders are close to the ring road. But, if you skip some parts and the detours we talked about earlier, you´ll miss out on a lot. If you look at a map, you´ll see that the ring road doesn’t go along the coast so you´ll miss out on certain parts of Iceland.  

For example, you won’t see Iceland’s most photographed mountain, Mt. Kirkjufell in Snæfellsnes. Or the beautiful Dynjandi waterfall in the Westfjords. You won’t look at the puffins in the Westman Islands, the geothermal area around Deildartunguhver Geysir in Borgarfjörður or the Hallmundarhraun lava field. These are just a few places at the top of our minds, but there are loads more you´ll miss if you never leave the ring road.

Ok, so what would be the perfect length of a trip around Iceland?

Really, it’s 2-3 weeks. If we would be going for a great vacation around Iceland with our friends or family, we’d give it 2-3 weeks. That way we’d have time to explore the country without feeling rushed. We’d have more time to stop at all the quirky little places and see natural wonders that are not crowded with other people.  

Image: Bianca Soffer