Shit I think the wind broke our door
Amanda, 2016
It is quite a romantic idea, to roam the wilderness of Iceland in a cosy campervan. Just you, your partner, and the sound of the waterfall serving as your all-natural lullaby.
That’s what Abel and I wanted for our honeymoon you see. So in
The objective was to see the Northern Lights and bath in some natural hot springs, but the idea was to all this in a glorious campervan. Meet, The Bodyguard:
This hulking mass had to be clambered into. You couldn’t simply “slide in”. It is really quite large! The front had seats for a driver and a passenger, the back had been transformed into a bed of sorts with a heater that charged during the drive, a cooler for your cold things and a little cabinet to store things. At night Abel and I rolled down the windows, pulled out the tiny gas stove and cooked dinner while looking out at the stars through the sunroof.
After that, at about
We pulled off 8 days around the Icelandic Ring Road while living in that four-wheel drive! It was raw! It was rough! It was glorious! Long story short, it wasn’t as romantic as we thought it would be, but we had a great time and we came back full of memories and plenty of tips for friends who want to travel that way too.
10 Tips For Travelling Through Iceland In A Campervan
Get A 4×4 Drive
Iceland roads are pretty remote. And a lot of the best spots that really give you that “Iceland is not of this world” feeling is down a pothole-filled road, up a twisty, narrow mountain pass, or through some pretty rough terrain along the F-Roads (those are the through hell-and-high-water type roads that stretch across the plateau of wilderness across Iceland’s centre). To survive all that you’ll need a hardy 4×4 drive and most family-friendly campervans won’t survive that. We got our Dodge Durango at Kuku Campers! They are so helpful, friendly, efficient and make returning a super easy process to return.
Make sure your 4×4 is equipped with:
- A cooler / fridge (you’ll want food for those nights you’re far from a supermarket)
- A portable gas stove with basic cookingware (same reason as above)
- A heater – it is REALLY cold at night
- A sunroof – so you can enjoy the beauty of the sky while keeping warm
Supplies You’ll Need
- Toilet rolls (Remember I said rollS – with an S!)
- Lots and lots of socks
- Cushions to act as pillows (We stopped by Reykjavik’s Ikea to get some for under $5, best investment ever)
- Blanket (same, we got it at Ikea for cheap too)
- Rain poncho or umbrella (you don’t want to hike all covered in rain)
- Your own towel (two, if you can. Decathlon has some quick-drying, easy-to-store ones)
- Bathing suits (bring at least two)
- Slippers (for the bathroom)
- A portable clothesline (if you use hot springs as much as we do, trust me, it’ll take time for your swimsuits to dry)
- Food: Hotdogs, mustard, a bit of cheese, bread, some instant noodles or rice and
cronions . We LOVE CRONIONS. They’re basically crunchy onions that make any meal 10 times more delicious. We brought tubs home. And basically whatever food you know keeps for at least a week. (We stopped by the supermarket before heading out for our drive) - Music player and a portable speaker (you’ll need it at some point)
Don’t Travel In A Campervan in Winter
We stopped to stay in a Bubble Tent on our second last night. It was located on a farmhouse and the farmers were the “hotel concierge” that sent us to our rooms and stuff. We were having a good chat with them when the topic turned towards tourists and the wife sighed, “I wish the government would put out signs telling people to stop camping in winter.”
“Oh! But isn’t that the best time to catch the Northern Lights?” I asked.
“It is! But all the campsites are closed, and you can’t just sleep in your van – it’s too cold! And because all the hotels and hostels are already fully occupied by other tourists, a lot of farmers now get backpackers, campers and people like that knocking on our doors in the middle of the night asking for a room to stay.”
“It is terrible.” Grumbled the farmer.
Yikes. We were close to becoming one of those.
A good time to go would be in September
In particular the end of September. So according to the farmers, 30 September is when the attractions and activities start to close for the winter. So you’re left with pretty much nothing to do except sightseeing in the cold.
The last week and a half of September is when there are fewer tourists (the summer people have left, the winter people are about to come in), the Northern Lights have started to emerge and the days are short enough for them to have regular day and night hours.
Here’s a picture of our Buubble Tent if you’d like to book it! We had a spectacular evening there.
Bring Lots of Coins
While a credit card is good enough to pay for most things in Iceland, for some showers in some campsites you’ll have to put in coins. I’d suggest bringing a bagful and changing loads at the airport might be a good idea.
Shower facilities at campsites around Iceland are extremely clean. But a number of them are paid per minute, like those old payphones. Hot water runs for about 3 minutes before you have to pop in another coin or risk either freezing cold water or just… no water at all. Bring a little stack with you!
Bring A Tripod
For dreamy photos with Iceland’s otherworldly scenery in the back, bring a tripod and take photos remotely with a bluetooth controller.
You’ll also need one to catch the Northern Lights on long exposure (with little blurring).
You’ll get photos like these:
Don’t Leave Your Doors Open
The winds in Iceland are amazing. Brisk, occasionally cutting, but almost a living force on its own. The sun could be out and shining, but the wind would just whip your hair out of your face and send your door flying.
We were warned by our car rental company to be careful when we opened the door. To ensure that we didn’t open it that far or we risked having it blown out of our hands and off its hinges.
But when I saw that were were closing in on Godafoss, I pushed the door and quickly ran to the edge. There was a huge CREAK as the wind pushed the door an inch further than what it was actually able to do. We spent the rest of the trip nursing a permanent crick in the door. Poor thing.
You Can’t Park By Waterfalls (Or Any Attractions Actually)
Surprise! That dream you had about waking up next to a waterfall – crushed. It is a bit unfortunate, but imagine, if they allowed every tourist to camp by their favourite waterfall, it would be a pretty crowded place indeed.
But never fear, campsites are a-plenty and many of them are beautiful. You park on fields of green with an expanse of land stretched out in front of you. Sometimes there are so few campers, you pretty much have the whole space to yourself.
My advice, after a quick morning shower or refresher, head to the waterfall of choice, prop your feet up on your car’s dashboard, and tuck into a bowl of Skyr.
Visit Small, Remote Towns In The Fjords
Don’t just stick to the grey blocks of Reykjavik, or even the picturesque town of Akureyri in the north. Every winding road leads to a hidden spot in the fjords where you’ll find a pocket-sized town.
Yes, there aren’t many spots to sightsee, but you’ll fall head over heels for the quaint pleasures of small-town life. You’ll find one or two touristy curiosities that you can pop into, but aside from that, take in the fresh air, the endless greenery and the breathtaking scenery.
One of my favourite spots was this town we discovered: Borgarfjorour Eystrinor. Googling it won’t yield much results, but that’s just simply how hidden it is. It’s literally on the east edge of Iceland, with only about 100 residents in the area.
To get there, we travelled off the main road, made some hairpin turns up and down the mountain – as long as you have a sturdy four-wheel campervan you should be fine! We even stopped at the top to survey our surroundings before making our way down to the town. Breathtaking.
And when we got there, thanks to our excellent wi-fi dongle, we found out that this place was a well-known Puffin-spotting area. We rushed over to a little mound overlooking the Norwegian Sea hoping to catch sight of those adorable puffers, but there were none to be found – we had just missed Puffin season.
Small matter, there were a ton of other things to explore – for one, we parked along a hillside to a lonely blue box, just behind a field of sheep. It was a lemon-scented toilet with a sparkling white toilet bowl and sink. It was amazing. In the town itself, a little are was cordoned off for a whimsical little cottage, complete with turf-tufted roof and bright red walls.
As the light faded, we self-checked into the campsite – it was just us and another couple. We found out that they came here specifically to chase the Northern Lights and had been staying at the campsite for two days. This was their last night and their final chance to see the lights. At about 9pm, they zoomed off, getting a tip off that it was going to be visible at a cove about an hour away. We didn’t follow – we were too lazy.
Tucked comfortably into our sleeping spots, we soon dozed off, but then my husband starting yelling at me at about 12.
It was the lights.
It wasn’t at the cove.
It was here.
It was fleeting, about 10 minutes was lights dancing across the sky, eventually swallowed by a dark cloud on the horizon. But it was beautiful.
You see, this is what you find, when you stop to explore small towns and stay in open fields in the campsites. Only possible with the freedom of a campervan!
Soup, Hot Dogs, Chocolate Cake
In a campervan, you should get a little portable gas cooker. Along with several pans and whatnot. When you live on the road, if you want to eat, you better learn to cook!
In Iceland, food is easily available, but for those long drives, Abel and I stocked up on bread, plenty of hot dogs (Iceland is famous for them), a couple of instant meals (I got my Asian husband his weekly rice intake), and some fruits and vegetables.
But what you’ll find in common in every town, is soup and desserts.
In every restaurant, they served hearty soups, served with a slice of ryebread. You’d also find desserts – everywhere. My favourite was this chocolate cake we found in a random town general store:
Bring A Spare, Lighter, Backpack
I know, I know, why bring a smaller bag when you can just chuck everything into the car?
But it is perfect for those sudden hot springs you discovered in the middle of nowhere like the Hoffell Hot Tubs (so obscure it doesn’t even exist, use these coordinates:64.39233, -15.34302:
I mean it was a little hump in a giant field surrounded by makeshift little hot tubs! Don’t you just want to jump in? I did. Good thing my spare backpack already had my towel, my swimsuit, slippers and a light big shirt that I could pull off and on easily.
You’ll want to keep this stocked with these items cause you could be on a hike, and you might find a piping hot river to jump into at any time!
Travelling by campervan is a totally different experience, you have the mobility to discover things you’ll never discover on a tour. You get a really hands-on experience living in Iceland and it is life-changing.
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