Camper Van Iceland

[countrygirl99]

We are planning a camper van trip for June 2024. Not sure of duration yet but 10-14 days. Ring road and possibly Westfjords. Any tips - particularly amazing campsites, van hire recommendations?
Plan to go whale watching in Husavik, possibly a glacier hike and or volcano hike. Any recommendations?

We loved Landmannalauger - is in the interior and fantastic hiking, complete with a thermal river for a dip. There is a campsite there - BUT - you have to have 4 wheel drive vehicle to go on certain roads in Iceland, and this is one of them. Jokulsarlon is the main place for glacier viewing - lots of boat rides to be had. We hadn't booked in advance and everything was booked so we ended up round the corner on a trip which was still really good - the Fjallsarlon glacier I think. There is a great canteen style restaurant here - help yourself - we had a massive late lunch here - salmon, salads, potatoes - was great value and tasty! We went on a whale watching boat trip from the west coast (Snaefellsnes Peninsula) as wanted to see Orca - which we did. I know a lot go from the north coast - best to have a look at the operator websites to see what you are likely to see in June. Skaftafell reserve is good for hikes - and there is a campsite there. Very popular but still nice. General tip - take sun lotion - they had a heat wave when we were there! Eat in small eateries - basic looking places, rather than posh restaurants unless you want to spend a fortune. Some of the "tourist" places were not too bad. Fish and chips are nice too. There seems to be plenty of campsites - some looked lovely! We had a 4x4 and stayed in cheap farm stays/huts etc. Hope you have a fab time.

We were looking at a West and North route but it used F35 which I've seen often doesn't open until late June/early July which sadly doesn't fit us for various reasons. There's a night time boat trip from Husavik that looks interesting for mid to late June. DH is very into wildlife photography so less boats around is appealing. Did you see orcas?

You'll have a great time 😊

I recommend that you look at the weather forecast every day. The Icelandic people do this as it's so very changeable. I was on a small group tour on the ring road last September and our wonderful tour guide had fortunately done this and drove us away from the threat of the storm. We saw lots of cars heading into the storm (NE of the Island) as we drove out of it - they were clearly oblivious of the forecast. 200 cars were written off that day and the farm B and B we had stayed at the previous night had 70 extra guests that night !

We saw camping people saving money by using the hot water at stop off points for Pot Noodles. (Everything is very expensive).

We went to the Secret Lagoon as well as the Blue Lagoon. The Secret Lagoon far cheaper and enjoyable in my opinion, but the Blue Lagoon is more beautiful (though full of people).

The town Akureyri (north of the island) is both charming and whale watching trips go from here.

My stand out from the trip was the glacial lagoon - and we also hiked to an ice cave - not sure if the company as it was part of our tour. Just surreal.

I've always wanted to go to Iceland since the Blue Peter trip decades ago (showing my age there!).
I admit I don't fancy the Blue Lagoon, it looks a bit too busy for us but will no doubt try plenty of others. Secret Lagoon looks more our sort of place. Geosys looks good as well.
We decided on self catering in a camper van because we would rather spend our £ on activities than food.
I've seen tips about keeping an eye on the weather apps several times a day. 200 cars is a lot!

Yes we saw Orcas - we were right at the end of the season and were really lucky :)

I would love to see Orcas. What time if year was it? I've seen winter is best for Orcas.

It was in July - middle I think. June might be good for Orcas - but am not sure if it is just the Snaesfellnes peninsula or if it is the north coast too. They were amazing to see - they cam pretty close to the boat and there as a male with a MASSIVE dorsal fin sticking right up! The water was crystal clear so we got a very good view :)

Thanks I'll look into that.

We went in July, hired a car and drove round the ring road. What surprised me was that it was nothing like we expected. Weather was amazing. We didn’t find food expensive. There are great take out options like fish and chips and hot dogs. And if you eat in restaurants you can save a fortune by just drinking water - everywhere we went had a tap to help yourself.

Our favourite things were when we got away from people and not the main sites. Diamond Beach was one of the best days of my life

Really enjoying researching this trip 😊

I know you are planning to hire a campervan, but if you change your mind, we stayed here for a couple of nights https://lambhus.is/ - worked well with a family

Looks nice

What sort of costs are coming up for flights, van hire, fuel and spending money?

Flights aren't up yet but June this year is highly variable depending on day. We'll do Easyjet from Luton and the basic fare is from £32 to £120 each way. Van hire will be around £150 to £200 a day I think, need to confirm dates, but we will go fairly basic. Spending money will be £££ because we want to do 2 whale watching trips plus a volcano hike with a geologist. We'll probably live on pasta to save money.

We did find food shopping pretty expensive - but tuna pasta or something is a good option - I might even take some stuff with me next time! Service stations sold "cheapish" snacks.