Classic Iceland self-drive tour

Begin your day in Reykjavík with a privately guided food tour with a local, discovering some of Iceland’s finest delicacies. You’ll have the rest of the day at leisure to explore the Icelandic capital.

Collect your rental car in downtown Reykjavík and drive into the Icelandic countryside. All insurances have been included for you, and a GPS navigation system can be added locally. Your destination today is the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. En route, detour along scenic Hvalfjörður and admire some of west Iceland’s most striking coastal scenery.

Spend a full day at leisure exploring the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, including Kirkjufell mountain, Snæfellsjökull National Park and Djúpalónssandur beach. This afternoon, you’ll join a small-group boat tour from Stykkishólmur out into Breiðafjörður Bay and taste freshly caught ‘Viking sushi’ straight from the ocean.

Leave the Snæfellsnes Peninsula behind and drive through Borgarfjörður and the rolling landscape of west Iceland. Your destination is Húsafell, a hamlet on the western edge of the extensive Langjökull glacier. On arrival, venture through a series of tunnels within the glacier on a small-group tour and learn about Iceland’s glaciers from your guide.

Drive south to the famed Golden Circle region, taking in highlights including Gullfoss, the Geysir Geothermal Area and Þingvellir National Park. After seeing the diverging continental plates above ground at Þingvellir, don a dry suit and snorkel through the fissure on a small-group guided tour. From here, it’s a short drive to the south coast where you’ll be based for the next few days.

Your focus today is the scenic south coast: home to some of Iceland’s most impressive waterfalls and volcanoes. On your self-guided tour, walk on Reynisfjara’s black sand beach, drive to the edge of Sólheimajökull glacier, and venture behind Seljalandsfoss waterfall’s veil of water. You might also like to stop at the LAVA Centre museum and learn more about Iceland’s unusually volatile geological position.

Travel further east along the Ring Road toward Vatnajökull National Park. En route, expect vast, haunting scenery as you pass through one of the world’s largest lava fields and through the desolate Skeiðarársandur black sand flood plains. At Skaftafell, you may wish to hike to Svartifoss waterfall, before watching huge bergs in Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon and on nearby Diamond Beach. At the end of the day, return to your hotel on the south coast.

Make your way toward Keflavík Airport, where you’ll return your car before your onward flight. On the way, take time to explore the otherworldly Reykjanes Peninsula, an eerie landscape dotted with volcanic craters, bubbling mud pools, emerald lakes and craggy lava fields.