Iceland Travel Guide - How to travel Iceland | Ring Road Trip

[Music] Iceland the Land of Fire and Ice there are not many places on earth that offered the same level of natural diversity than Eisler impressive waterfalls hot springs 50 mile long heights with no civilization in sight Iceland has something for any type of traveler from the lush green summer months where the Sun never sets to the dark cold winters illuminated by northern lights Iceland offer a host of activities no matter the season I was able explore this impressive country spending ten days driving around the famous Ring Road visiting the many different attractions along its route if you're looking to do the same or just need a bit of inspiration for your own upcoming Iceland trip then this video is made for you [Music] before we go on this road trip here's a few things you need to know before arriving in Iceland although considered a part of Europe Iceland is not a part of the EU the country is however part of the Schengen Agreement which means visa-free for most EU citizens to check whether you need a visa before arriving in Iceland visit UTL is the country's official language is Icelandic the country's currency is called Crona where 1000 Crona is about 8 US dollars or 7 euros Iceland is known to be an expensive country to travel it prices here around 60% higher compared to the European average so if you're on a budget carefully planning out the travel expenses is a good idea so what is the best season to visit Iceland well it depends summer is the most popular season to visit Iceland it's also the best season for anyone interested in hiking or exploring the highlands as many of the activities are accessible during the warmer months however since it's high season expect inflated prices and tons of tourists alternatively you can lower your cause and avoid the crowds by visiting during the shoulder months of spring and autumn prices are substantially lower due to it being offseason however the Highlands and the major hiking trails will be unavailable during this time winter is the best season for Northern Lights and if you're interested in exploring ice caves as some of them are only available during the winter months the winter may not be ideal for a ring road trip due to the unpredictable weather but it's still possible if you really must and most would argue that Iceland is more scenic during the warmer months but I think that's totally subjective the best way to see Iceland is by car and you have three options a regular car is the most affordable option as long as you stay at campgrounds that means you're sleeping in the car or you're bringing your own tent you can offer hotels but that's gonna increase your overall cost by a large margin you can also go with a four-wheel-drive but in my opinion they're not really necessary unless you plan to explore the Highlands or drive on F roads renting a four-wheel drive will also cause and add a premium so overall it could be the most expensive option on the list but it is the ultimate adventure car in Iceland so if you want the added feel of security and not worry about where you can or cannot explore it and go with a four-wheel drive [Music] lastly a campervan this is also the option I opted for it's not the most expensive nor the most affordable it sits in the middle in terms of price but it has the advantage of being your accommodation and transportation rolled into one with included benefits such as heating gas stove etc to make life easier at campgrounds regardless of what vehicle you choose it's important to know the driving laws in Iceland while I won't go through everything these are the things you need to know the general speed limit in cities is 50 kilometers an hour it's 70 on gravel roads and while on roads outside of urban areas such as the Ring Road is 90 there will be plenty of speed cameras set up all around Iceland so I recommend not to risk it unless you want a heavy fine at the end of your trip you also have to be 20 years of age to rent a car and 23 for larger vehicles car headlights must be on at all times and off-roading is illegal in Iceland if comfort is the most important thing for you then go with hotels they're by far the most comfortable to stay you can get ask for the downsides other than a high cost you might find check-in times to be restrictive especially if arrived late at night so you may have to adapt your schedules accordingly hostels or guest houses are a more affordable option but sacrifices some of the comforts you'll get from a regular hotel expect shared bathrooms kitchens on some instances sharing rooms with other travelers depending on your accommodation choices you can book hotels and hostels on price comparison sites such as poking calm I will be leaving a few recommendations in the description box below [Music] finally campgrounds by far the most budget-friendly option and ideal if you're going with a campervan or bringing your own tent since while camping in Iceland is illegal it can be the least comfortable option depending on the person but what I like most about campgrounds is that you can arrive at any time so if you arrive late a night and you find a reception to be closed just find a free spot stay for the night and make sure to pay the fee the next morning the price ring is between 1,500 and 3,000 crona's per person for a night you can search for campgrounds on child about is or in search for one on Google Maps which I did a number of times when I was on the road so how much did it all cost I get a lot of budget questions when I do these type of videos so I wanted to give you guys an idea of the total cost for such trip so by far the most expensive thing was the camper van but in total I spent about two thousand three hundred US dollars on this Iceland trip your cost might vary depending on the season you visited as well as vehicle you plan to rent while you're in Iceland [Music] Landen Catholic Iceland's main International Airport straight away we get to our campervan and start our journey we jump on route 1 the famous Ring Road that loops around the entire island just 50 kilometers from Reykjavik we find the ever-popular Golden Circle the Golden Circle is an unofficially recognizer but it's a popular tourist destination as includes a number of attractions along its 300 kilometer loop it's arguably the most popular tour destination in all of Iceland and works well as a day trip outside of the city I won't cover everything but here's some noteworthy highlights familiar National Park located between two tectonic plates the park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and perhaps the most important historical place in Iceland as it saw the birth of the national parliament is a nice place to take a stroll and win some of the unique natural landscapes of the area [Music] carrot crater it's striking red cliffs and aquamarine colored lake carrot is a relatively young volcanic crater lake its age plays a key role in its colorful appearance as these striking colors are fdtd remaining minerals and rocks as well as the minerals seeping into the water below - giving it this green town [Music] the famous brothers gay seer and stroker although it's been here since the Great geese here last erupted it you'll find that his younger brother gladly picks up the slack erupted in between every five to ten minutes [Music] the majestic Gullfoss its name translates to the golden waterfall it also where the golden circle gets its name from and it's impressive waterfall and one of the main highlights of the loop [Music] although there is a more famous hot spring in this region my personal favorite has to be the Haruna lock hot spring oh it's warm [Music] not bad hot spring becomes with you this small secluded hot spring is nestled away between hills and requires a little bit of searching to find it but it's well worth it in DNS it's a charming little place that's absolutely beautiful unfortunately I've heard from multiple sources that the hot spring has been dried up due to tourists leaving trash all around and the landowners understandably being sick of it it's a real shame if it's true but it just goes to say that we should all show a little more respect towards these places and the people who owns them otherwise more wonderful places such as this will disappear nature here is fragile and we should all make a little effort for serving it for future generations three timer is a geothermal tomato farm famous for its tomato themed menu and is a beautiful place for lunch other than food you can also pay Pope a visit to the greenhouses and learn more about the process of greenhouse horticulture here in Iceland for example you learn how they're able to cultivate their tomato crops in such a cold climate by using the Earth's geothermal energy [Music] after finishing the golden circle we continue towards the southern part of Iceland and find one of the most iconic waterfalls selling on us with its 60 meter waterfall drop sailing on us is part of the settle ons river that has its origin from a volcano glacier it's unique as you can walk behind the waterfall itself and really get a sense of its scale just make sure to bring d-ring code [Music] there's also a nearby cave with a hidden waterfall of its own worth paying a visit while you're here further along the route you can find one of the many pools here in Iceland and this has a particular difficult name to pronounce and I think that's gonna be a common theme here in this Iceland video it's quite a bumpy road to get to the parking area of this pool and from there it's a relatively short 20 minutes walk to reach the pool and to be honest it was a rather warm pool rather than a hot pool and it's also a bit crowded at least when we were there so if you want to enjoy the place for yourself get here early not too far from the pool you'll find skogafoss which is another famous waterfall here in Iceland is one of the biggest waterfalls with a you width of 25 meters and a drop of 60 meters it said there was once a hidden Viking treasure behind the waterfall itself until it was further lost with only a chess ring remaining which is on display at this gogo Museum continue along the route you will find these Solheim asunder or plane wreck this is where you find the abandoned US Navy plane which crashed landed here in 1973 you have probably seen plenty of photos of this place so it won't talk too much about it as always get here early to avoid the crowd as it'll take a good and either 30 minutes walk from the parking area to reach in plain sight if you are unable to walk there is a shuttle bus that goes from the parking area to the wreck site for a small fee rain is Fiera is the most famous black sand beach here in Iceland the black sand is formed by lava hitting the ocean waves and turning the lava into small volcanic rocks and stubbles giving the beach its black color the beach is also famous for DS basalt columns formed by lava as well these two nearby sea stacks which according the Icelandic folklore used to be trolls which were turned into stone when they were pulling ships into Shore [Music] not far from Ren espera you'll find dear Haleh which means the door he'll island it's known for its rock art and the lighthouse of the same name once you reach to the top of the lighthouse you'll have a fantastic view of the southern coastline which is well worth the short height and the best thing it's free as we continue east you'll come across this beautiful Canyon with a very difficult name to pronounce so I'm not even gonna attempt but this Canyon was believed to be formed at the end of the last ice age unfortunately when I was there the canyon was closed so you might have better luck than me but I think it's definitely worth paying a visit [Music] onwards from the canyon we reach one of my personal highlights of the trip the subpoena fellas you cool glacier this glacier is what's called an outlet or tong glacier of the much larger bot no you go glacier which is said to be Europe's largest ice cave it's quite the surreal experience getting see the closure up close and it's a place where you can really see the impact of global warming as many of the glaciers are unfortunately shrinking or email at least one having completely disappeared highlighting the importance of us all contributing in the fight against global warming [Music] nearby subpoena fills your cool you'll also find fee el salón which is another outlet glacier the unique thing here is you can get on a boat or and really get up close to the icebergs and the glacier itself if you're interested [Music] not too far from the two glaciers he'll find diamond beach although it's not officially named that but it's a name it's rather picked up due to the many washed up piece of glacial ice which creates a stark contrast between it's black sandy shores [Music] diamond beach also marks the end of southern Iceland as we continue along the road we start entering the eastern part of Iceland Vesta horn is one of my favorite places in Iceland is also known as stock nests which is a set of pointing mountains often the subject of many landscape photos here in Iceland it's known for its reflective Shores where you can take some really cool shots it caused a small fee to visit the place but the fee also includes a visit to a nearby Viking village film set which apparently was never used the view of the mountains south to be honest is a worth the entry price as we continue with this Iceland roadtrip we head northeast following along the cliffside roads until we arrive at the small town known as cities fielder say this theater is known for its rainbow-colored Street which leads up to the town's landmark the blue church the town itself is surrounded by mountains and located near a Fuhrer I also recommend popping into the Nordic restaurant or a nice little brunch before you continue on your journey you may also want to pay a short visit to a nearby small waterfall called Khufu it's located just outside of the town on the main roads that leads to here we sidetrack a little off the Ring Road to find Hankey Fox it actually takes a good 30 to 40 minutes hike from the parking area to reach the waterfall and I actually had to do this twice because I forgot my camera but I do not regret it all because this is a stunning waterfall thanks to its red clay and black basalt patterns bring that perfect backdrop to its 128 meter fall [Music] as we unfortunately won't be covering the Highlands in this video a consolation would be the waterfall circle hi cat Lagerfeld just getting to log Rafael was an experience in itself and the hike was a great surprise with some wonderful waterfalls during the route I highly recommend doing this short to the four hours high if you're in the area or at all interested in hiking [Music] as we finish up our hiking and lagerfeld we move back towards the ring road and head into the northern part of Iceland where we make a stop by the mighty dettifoss located in what's known as the diamond circle dettifoss is regarded as the most powerful waterfall in Europe the waterfall is made of glacial water from several glacier outlets and it's a great display of the power in scale of Iceland's remarkable nature as we continue back on the Ring Road we arrive at the move out an area which is known for civil attractions first is the geothermal area known for its bubbling pools of mud and steaming fumaroles the smell here is not surprisingly pretty bad due to the sulfur but it's a unique location that is worth visiting at least once while you're here in Iceland [Music] you can also find this quirky shower located at the side of the road towards krafla I don't know the exact purpose of this other than the water is quite warm and nice but I wouldn't necessarily recommend taking a shower [Music] not too far from here you can find the krafla viti created with his own colorful crater lake that is very similar to the Kari crater found in the golden circle if you didn't manage the vistas carat at the Golden Circle then definitely ad krafla viti crater episode [Music] the VFL crater is a 2000 year old crater known as a tuff ring volcano and about one kilometer in diameter it's connected to the very active craft la volcanic system and you can climb the crater and walk around its rim to get a better look at it it's definitely one of the more impressive craters in Iceland [Music] there are many other attractions to visit while you're here in Nevada including this beautiful lava cave with its own geothermal hot spring the cave was famously featured in the game of Thrones and you might be tempted to take a dip into it but that's unfortunately strictly forbidden so I recommend not doing that and following the rules as the cave is on private land as we exit the MoveOn area our next stop is go to us go to Fox has long been regarded as one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Iceland its name is literally the waterfall of gods it was giving the name from folklore when the country was converted to Christianity with a prominent person foreign all of his statue of the Norse gods into the waterfall itself hence its name the waterfall of gods the next one is yet another off the Ring Road side attraction but definitely one of the more personal favorites the graphic is a small turf church and is parently the oldest one in Iceland with the oldest account of the church being from around the Year 1240 it sat on a picturesque backdrop of a wide-open field and a mountain range is just a beautiful location or an equally beautiful small church and having it all to ourselves with no tourists around may thing just even better [Music] as we move towards the northwestern part of Iceland we make a quick stop at vit Sukkur located on the beach this 15 meter tall sea stack is of volcanic origin we arrived here during blue hour which really helped set the mood and tone of the location some of my most favorite shots during my slim trip was taken here [Music] as we head west we enter a region known as the West shorts although the West shorts aren't technically a part of the Ring Road experience and definitely consider more of a side track adventure we decided to add it in our roadtrip we rarely saw any tourists while driving around which really gave that sense of solitude that the area is known for as for some highlights during our days here this lovely hot pool was definitely one of them you miss it if you didn't know it was there as it's located on the side of a gravel road the water was scorching hot as I found it but it was nice to have the place all to ourselves after a long day of driving there's also a shirt and easy four kilometer hike to the waterfall ravine called bulla kill if you're aching to move your feet [Music] while exploring the westfjords you also don't want to miss Dean Johnny the biggest waterfall in West Shores and considered the jewel of the West fyords [Music] if you're into abandoned ships then visit the guard our ba 64 which is a ship that was stranded here since 1981 [Music] if you thought that all the beaches here in Iceland were black then you should go pay your router sound or beach a visit the name routers on door means rats and dude it's orange red colored shorts [Music] there's a lot more to explore about the Westeros and I hope to be able to cover this area more in a future video as we move out of the West for them back on the rainbow we then start to enter the Stephanus Peninsula here you can find several attractions but the most famous one is Kyra felt known as the church mountain dis 463 metre tall mountain is one of the most photographed places in all of Iceland and you can see why as displaces absolutely stunning [Music] not too far from cuckoo fell you also find us a lovely trip that we grabbed a few photos up as well there's also these swore to love lighthouse Andi Gattaca Latour rock arch there's also the Buddha Church a small and beautiful minimalistic Church [Music] as we move out of the sniffing s Peninsula we complete our loop around Iceland and spend our remaining time in Reykjavik and while we were here we spent a lot of time tasting a bunch of amazing food while exploring the many sights of the city and dare you have it that was my Iceland ring road trip now obviously I couldn't cover everything there's to do onto the trip and I simply cherry picked the activities and experiences that I wanted to have while I was in Iceland I also do want to apologize for any name butchering occurring during the video Icelandic is tough guys so I do hope you cut me some slack but I hope the video was helpful and at the very least gave you some inspiration if you're planning to do a similar trip I do think that a ring road trip is by far the best way to explore and see the country if you're coming in for the first time if you have any questions or feedback do leave it in the comments below and I'll try to get back to them I will also list a few additional links that you might find helpful in the description box if you're planning a trip to Iceland that is but yeah as always if you liked the video hit the like button it truly does make the difference for my channel and subscribe for more content I will continue to post these more informative videos after my travel films but anyways hope you enjoy the video and I'll see you guys in the next one [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Allan Su

Views: 969,115

Rating: 4.9653916 out of 5

Keywords: iceland, iceland guide, iceland travel guide, how to travel iceland, how to do the ring road, iceland ring road, iceland ring road trip, iceland ring road guide, ring road trip, ring road guide, guide to iceland, ring road, iceland itinerary, what to do in iceland, things to do in iceland, ring road iceland, visit iceland, travel iceland, going to iceland, travel tips iceland, allan su, iceland travel, iceland travel tips, iceland road trip

Id: XPGEGEBb6PE

Length: 30min 40sec (1840 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 15 2019