Iceland; Any Experience Camping along the Ring Road?

[Haggis]

Next year will be my 60th orbit of the sun and as a gift my lovely wife Michelle offered to take me anywhere I wanted to go. Originally we were heading to the Orkney Isles of Scotland but than my son, Cameron, and his new bride honeymooned in Iceland and a seed was planted…

Well Iceland is a bit more rugged the the Orkneys and I’m not getting younger, if I want to fully experience the ruggedness of Iceland now is the time. And as we will probably only have one shot at this, we are going to make the most of it.

So after doing a bunch of research over the last couple months we just opened up the Clan coffers and booked airfare and a camping rig to spend 10 days at the end of July ‘25 to traverse the Ring Road and the F Road offshoots.

Researching camping in Iceland reveals there is no dispersed camping but instead, campground hostels for lack of a better word. Most have latrines, kitchen houses, showers and a scant few laundry mats. Most don’t need reservations while busy ones do. There’s a lot to unpack.

We are starting to lay out our trip itinerary figuring out places to see and where to spend the night. So I was wondering if anybody here had any insights on camping along the Ring Road.

This will be our F Road bomber in 9 months btw…

I figure the roof box will work well to store huaberk, shield, sword and winged spear for the troll hunting. Need to find out about getting a hunting permit for that though…

 

[Dave]

 

[WashingtonTaco]

On our places to visit!

 

[Haggis]

Planning is coming along as we work out a base itinerary. To be helpful to members here I thought I’d share the resources we are using to lay out this trip. Not that they’ll be the best for your trip but what is working for us.


So far the best resources we have found is the website Icelandthebeautiful.com, it offers an interactive map that can be set to show many different categories from campsites, lava fields, abandon buildings and the like. Once you select a category a list of what’s available is presented with descriptions, photos, directions and online links. Also once you select a site a list of nearby attractions will pop up as well allowing you to link sites.

Also the Gaia app has been useful as we find places we are interested in we drop a pin and it allows us to visualize the route. YouTube videos are a hit and miss as they are mostly “entertainment” and focus on all the same popular sites but there are a few that have more meat to them and we will glean an area we would like to experience. Those also get pinned in Gaia.

 

[smlobx]

This is on our bucket list as well either next year or the year after.
In doing some very preliminary investigation wild camping is currently not permitted as apparently there have been some issues with tourons not respecting the environment. If you find out differently please let me know.

Dan Grec from “The Road Chose Me” was recently there and has been posting several nice videos about his travels there. You might want to check them out.

Also, it’s my understanding that many rental vehicles aren’t allowed on the F roads. Is yours allowed?

 

[Haggis]

Camping is only allowed in approved campgrounds, more like hostels. All have showers, latrines and kitchen houses, a few have laundry. All the research I have done indicates it’s first come first serve. The is a Camping Card program that is a prepaid card with a fuel discount. But further investigation shows that not all campgrounds accept the Camping Card.

Yep, the Defender is F Road approved. F Roads are only open to 4wheelers vehicles. You must stay on the road, no pulling off except for sanctioned turnouts. Nor are you allowed to stop your vehicle on the road without using a turnout. There are large fines for both actions. Also top speed on any road is 70 kph and I guess it’s strictly enforced and the fines extremely expensive.

 

[Trump]

Camping is only allowed in approved campgrounds, more like hostels. All have showers, latrines and kitchen houses, a few have laundry. All the research I have done indicates it’s first come first serve. The is a Camping Card program that is a prepaid card with a fuel discount. But further investigation shows that not all campgrounds accept the Camping Card.

Yep, the Defender is F Road approved. F Roads are only open to 4wheelers vehicles. You must stay on the road, no pulling off except for sanctioned turnouts. Nor are you allowed to stop your vehicle on the road without using a turnout. There are large fines for both actions. Also top speed on any road is 70 mph and I guess it’s strictly enforced and the fines extremely expensive.

I will be watching this one closely. Iceland is one of those stops that I always seemed to miss out on during my travels, but has been high on my list. I'm guessing that even with the regulations in place for preservation purposes, this will likely feel far more remote than other places you've traveled.