Iceland: the Full Ring Road
Most Iceland weeks are the Golden Circle and the south coast, out and back. That is a quarter of the country and the busiest quarter. The whole ring takes nine days and turns the trip into something clients cannot buy off a shelf.
The turn comes at Jökulsárlón. Past the lagoon the traffic thins, the east fjords have one road and eleven villages, and by Mývatn clients are somewhere that feels genuinely remote rather than merely photogenic.
We use farm stays and small hotels rather than Reykjavík bases with long day-drives out, which is both better and, on this route, simply necessary.
Straight from Keflavík onto the lava fields of the peninsula, and a first night outside the city.
The rift valley and the old parliament site early, then east past Seljalandsfoss to a farm under Eyjafjallajökull.
Reynisfjara’s basalt columns, the Dyrhólaey arch, and the canyon at Fjaðrárgljúfur on the way to Skaftafell.
A Zodiac among the bergs, the black sand of Diamond Beach across the road, and the quieter Fjallsárlón after.
North along the one coastal road through Djúpivogur and Fáskrúðsfjörður, and a night in a fishing village.
Inland over the highland plateau, the Krafla lava fields, and the nature baths at the end of the day.
Dettifoss, the Ásbyrgi horseshoe canyon, and whales off Húsavík in the afternoon.
The long drive round the north, then out onto the peninsula for Kirkjufell and a black church at Búðir.
Back to Reykjavík along the whale fjord, a last harbour lunch, and the transfer to Keflavík.
Related itineraries
Bergen and the Western Fjords
Eight days between two fjords, reached by mountain road rather than cruise berth.
Banff, Jasper and the Icefields Parkway
Eight days on the parkway, with the lake shuttles booked the day the system opens.