Travel Advice

One of the YouTubes, recommended by the wind and gravel insurance which we did. I ended up thinking it's ridiculously overpriced. We stuck almost entirely to paved roads and there was little gravel danger. Only a few pieces of gravel hit the car on our entire trip so the risk was low. The only gravel road we took was 939 which cuts some distance off the 1.

The Golden Circle is overrated. If you only have a couple of days, it's a decent option but if you are planning on doing the whole Ring Road, you wouldn't miss much by skipping it.

If you've got the time, the Ring Road is worth doing. With four days, one could travel from Reykjavík to Höfn and back in and see the best the country has to offer.

From Husavik, we did the Rib boat also called speed boat whale watch tour. I think this is the best option vs the slower boats. The rib boats cover more area because they are much faster. We were concerned about the rid being rough. The day we went the seas were calm and so the ride wasn't bad.

Hiking boots are essential. Often I wear hiking shoes or trail runners. In Iceland, the trails are rugged enough that boots are warranted. On the hike up to Svartifoss, I slipped and would have twisted my ankle if I hadn't been wearing boots.

We did not get any ISK cash and had no issues. It was possible to pay for everything by credit card.

Instead of going to the Blue Lagoon, we went to Mývatn Nature Baths which are about half the price of the cheapest package at the Blue Lagoon. We had a good experience at the Mývatn Nature Baths and found the experience to be a good value.

Rain is possible at any time. We saw this advice in multiple YouTubes and it is correct. Bring good rain gear, both a jacket and rain pants.

Itinerary

Here's the itinerary we followed:

Day 1: Arrived at Keflavík airport at 2pm. Drive to Reykjavík. After checking into our hotel, we walked to downtown

Day 2: Golden Circle - Went to Þingvellir National Park, Geysir, Gullfoss. Drive to Vik. Stop at Seljalandsfoss. This made for a long day of driving.

Day 3: Vik to Skaftafell : Skógafoss. See puffins Dyrhólaey. Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon. Evening hike to a glacier in Skaftafell

Day 4: Skaftafell to Höfn - In the morning hike to Svartifoss. Then drive to Jökursálón Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach

Day 5: Skaftafell to Myvatn - This is a long day of driving. Take 939 to save some distance. It's unpaved but not a difficult road and quite scenic. Stop at Dettifoss

Day 6: Myvatn Area - Whale watching tour from Húsavík. Hike to the top of Hverfjall. Hverir geothermal area. Myvatn thermal baths.

Day 7: Myvatn to Snæfellsnes Peninsula. Stop at Goðafoss waterfall. This is a long day of driving. Stop at Kirkjufell. We didn't actually stop at Kirkjufell because the mountain was covered in clouds.

Day 8: Snæfellsnes Peninsula. Drive around the peninsula. We would have taken a glacier tour on Snæfellsjökull but the tour wasn't running due to inclement weather. Hikr up Saxhóll Crater. See Malarrif Lighthouse and Gatklettur ("Hole Rock"). We drove out to Stykkishólmur which was just ok. Ended the day at Kirkjufell. For most people, it would make sense to head back to Reykjavík. I wanted to give myself multiple attempts to photograph Kirkjufell and was glad I did.

Day 9: Snæfellsnes to Reykjavík - Moring at Kirkjufell. Earlier is better for photography since there are fewer people around. Afternoon in Reykjavík

Day 10: Reykjavík - Our flight wasn't too till the evening so this was a chance to catch a museum. Pósthús Food Hall had good options for lunch. Then back to Keflavík airport.

Itineraries I used in planning:

• Photographing Iceland. 10 Day Road Trip Guide. I used this as the primary resource for creating my itinerary. I think it's a bit too slow in the South and cut out a day
• Iceland Ring Road Itinerary: 7 to 10 Day Road Trip. The itinerary has 7 and 10 day options which is helpful for deciding what you want to include.

Photography Advice

I took a Nikon Z7ii and a Z8 and the following lenses:

• 14-24 f2.8 Zoom
• 24-70 f2.8 Zoom
• 70-200 f2.8 Zoom
• 1.4x Teleconverter

I used everything but could have left the teleconverter at home and not have missed it as I only used it shoot some reindeer. The 14-24 I only used occasionally but it was helpful at Svartifoss and essential Kirkjufell. It was helpful to have two bodies but if trying to minimize weight, I could have made do with one.

Traveling in mid-June meant sunset and sunrise were at odd hours with sunset around midnight and sunrise at 3am. Most of the days we were there were too cloudy for much of a sunset or sunrise.

For good images of the many waterfalls, a tripod, and neutral density filters are essential. I used my 6-stop and 10-stop filters frequently. The 6-stop was more useful. If you do not want to haul around so much gear but want soft water in your images, use Spectre iPhone app. Spectre does a great job of creating soft water. Sometimes it annoys me how good it is as I'm spending time setting up my tripod and getting out my neutral density filters