Gerards fairytale adventure in Iceland

Our fairytale adventure came true when we booked a camper van with rent.is. The campervan gave us the freedom to stop and go whenever we pleased. We travelled the entire island over 5 days and this would not have been possible without our trusty Renault Kangoo; we will be back to you rent.is!

  

  

We landed Sunday lunchtime at Keflavik airport and strolled to rent.is, in the airport car park. Our camper van was waiting for us, we gave the Kangoo a once over and were shortly on our way.

Our first pit stop was to Discount Grocery Store, as eating in restaurants etc. can be prohibitively expensive. It was just a few minutes away from the airport in the direction of Reykjavik. We gathered food for our week on the road. A fridge is provided in the camper van, so we stocked it with Skýr yogurt, milk, cheese, chocolate and other goodies for breakfast and lunch.

Read more: Camping in Iceland

   

At home, we had made an itinerary of all the sights, but while driving the Ring road, we stopped and admired many unexpected hidden gems that are not talked about online. We had no choice but to pull over and inhale the breathtaking power of the water or smell the blooming Lupins.

Our first stop from our itinerary was Seljalandsfoss, a 60 meter high waterfall with a footpath that allows you to walk underneath the cliff and do a full circle around the waterfall. There is also a folk story that tells of a troll living underneath!

A little further along the Ringr oad, we spotted Gljúfrabúi and spent a longtime admiring this beautiful waterfall.

Our last stop before Vik was Skógafoss, one of the biggest waterfalls in Iceland and the steps next to the waterfall mark the beginning of one of the most admired hiking trails in Europe.

Our first night in Iceland, we parked our rent.is camper van in Vik Campsite. It was great to see so many like-minded campers sharing Vik with us. Vik campsite is a few km from the Black Sand Beach and is clean and spacious surrounded by beautiful scenery. We drove just over 200km on our first day.

  

  

We continued on the ring road, taking in sights like Skaftafell and Jökulsárlón,  where we parked our Kangoo and had a large bowl of chowder and hopped on a boat to tour the large glacial lagoon.

Finally we finished day two with some typical Icelandic grub in the harbor town of Höfn while watching the UEFA Euro, England and Iceland football match. There was great excitement when Iceland won 2-1! It was still bright after dinner and we were on a high from our adventure that we decided to continue our drive along the East coast of Iceland by night. This was some of the most beautiful and dramatic scenery. We came across a black sand beach, waterfalls, canyons, basalt pillars, spits, every physical geography feature you can remember from school!

  

  

Along this route we pulled over for diesel in Egilsstaðir, and finally reached Mývatn Campsite around 4am. We made a lot of stops between Höfn and Mývatn to take in the sights.

We also may have got engaged at some point, if only we had a photo to remember it by! Where better than the north east of Iceland?

Mývatn Campsite is a beautiful quaint setting with a gift shop and clean hot showers.

  

  

We set our camper in the direction of Akureyri and stopped at Goðafoss, one of the most dazzling waterfalls in Iceland.

We had a tasty, reasonably priced lunch in Akureyri.  After lunch we drove in the direction of Húsafell and stopped at Kolugljúfur canyon and waterfall in Víðidalur valley. This was one of my favourite spots.

Along the route to Húsafell Campsite we also enjoyed Grábrók Crater.

Before reaching Húsafell Campsite, we pulled over for petrol in Handverkshúsið Langafit, which sells antiques and handmade produce in the gift shop.

After all our sightseeing, our camper brought us safely to Húsafell Campsite where we awaited our pre-booked adventure with Into the Glacier for the following day.

  

  

We left our camper parked in Húsafell campsite while we hopped on a bus to take us to Langjökull Glacier. This was an amazing glacier wonderland where we walked through manmade tunnels and we saw the majestic world inside the caves of Langjökull glacier. After the bus dropped us back to our rent.is camper, we went for lunch in Hverinn and had a relaxing game of chess. (more fun than it sounds )

  

  

We then continued on our road trip in the direction of Reykjavik stopping at Strokkur Geysir and Gullfoss waterfall.

Having free WiFi in the camper was our most invaluable possession while driving around Iceland. If you don’t plan in advance it is very easy to miss a beautiful waterfall or canyon. However, we used camper’s WiFi continuously during our trip to make sure we would not miss out on anything. It worked like a charm!

We went for a reasonably priced dinner that night and set up camp in Reykjavik Campsite. It is a large campsite within walking distance of the city center and has every amenity you could imagine.

After a peaceful sleep, we went for coffee in town and strolled through the city before our drive to Silfra where we had booked a diving adventure between the two continental plates with Dive.is. This was one of my favorite activities. There were only four of us snorkeling with a brilliant instructor and guide.

  

  

After this adventure we went back to Reyjkavik and had a huge bowl of mussels,chips and a beer at le Bistro for about €24 each. We meandered around Reykjavik until our booking at 10pm for the Blue Lagoon.

We chose this late time to avoid crowds and it was perfect. We watched the sun set as we relaxed in the natural hot spring. We took advantage of the sauna, steam room and had a smoothie and a glass of champagne without leaving the water at the outdoor bar. A great way to finish our stay!

Yes, the camper rental was perfect for us, the route was amazing, the sights were breathtaking,  the food was expensive but great.

All shops, restaurants and campsites we encountered took bank cards. In addition, many campsites and shops will take euro and give you back change in Icelandic Króna if you get caught, some gift shops and restaurants had very competitive exchange rates!

5 days might be a bit tight for the route we took, but it didn’t seem rushed, a week might have been better. 5 stars from Ireland, we’ll be recommending it to everybody!

  

Read more: Craig’s Camper van trip in Iceland

Happy Camping #CamperStories