Mrs Ampthill add I fancy going to Iceland at some point and next summer it looks like it might be possible.

We’ve never camper vaned before and as might get one at some point so this could be the chance to find out if van life is for us. We have camped lots together

Is camper the right way to see Iceland? They are very expensive to hire. Cheaper to pay for accommodation? We aren’t convinced that touring with a tent will work for us in Iceland.

It’s iceland a good destination? Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks

Oh it would be 14ish days late July early August

Aren’t the aisles a bit small to get a camper van round? Still, will make for a memorable holiday destination!

I travel to Skagaströnd fairly regularly, there are guest houses in every small town and hotels in all the bigger towns, in the summer a camper would be great.

Are the supermarket jokes even funny anymore?….

We went in 2013 and loved it.

Summer car hire and accommodation is also expensive so camper isn’t a crazy choice. Nice accommodation also books up way in advance (we struggled booking some places 6 months ahead). Unless lucky with weather tent camping would be grim. So on the whole a camper could make sense.

How long for? 2 weeks can be a race to get round the ring road,so consider concentrating on a smaller area or take an internal flight to Akureyri.

Drop me a mail and we can have a chat – got loads of books and stuff. Shame I’m not at hq in the near future or could have popped in.

M

Cheers Mick I remembered you’d been and liked it. We might have 16 Days. I’ll get in touch once I’ve got my head round the geography a bit more

I would imagine campervaning would be the best way to see it. Might not be cheap but nothing is in Iceland. You have so much freedom to camp in Iceland and the vans all come well equipped with decent heaters and cooking facilities.

Apparently camping freedom went in 2015. But it still looks like a good option

When pricing up maybe avoid all the rip off “ash damage” insurance stuff. Gravel roads are plentiful (not the mountain roads – just back roads here and there) so get your own insurance to cover underbody, tyres, headlights – all the vulnerable stuff the hire place insurancrs exclude. All the hire cars are plastered in tiny “reported damage” stickers for stone damage. So get everything recorded before you start the hire. Sometimes stickers can be subtly adjusted for new dints 🙂

And hot rivers are the best thing ever. Can be combined with mtb / hiking.

We went for a long weekend just to Reykjavik and loved it. Hired a car and driving was easy.

I’d love to go back in the summer in a camper,I think it would be ace.

I drove a Vitara around the ring road in January in 4 days. I’d have thought 14 days would be plenty of time, especially with more light (and roads not covered in ice & snow).

Eating out and average hotels are very expensive, so a campervan would probably still be the cheap way to do it. (Even if it looks expensive from here).

I thought the place was incredible for what it’s worth, felt like a real adventure.

Ps you don’t really have freedom to camp anywhere, that was made illegal. I’m not sure how often people are caught though.

https://guidetoiceland.is/travel-info/camping-in-iceland
says:

One of the most important changes here is to know, as of 2015, it is illegal to camp in tents, trailers, caravans, campervans, or anything of the like, outside of a designated campsite UNLESS there is written permission from the landowner.

At the end of 2017, the Chief of Police for Iceland’s South Coast also announced that “wild camping” in the region was no longer legal. Consequently, those who relieve themselves on land they are illegally inhabiting will be fined and made to clean up their own mess.

It should be considered that whilst specific rules for each Icelandic municipality differs somewhat when it comes to camping regulations, the zeitgeist of opinion appears to be moving in favour of the South. Before long, it is expected that all off-road camping in Iceland will be illegal.

There’s an excellent network of hostels all round Iceland that I’ve used a couple of times. Outside of the summer high season you can just ring in the morning to book beds so you can be flexible about your timetable. Still needs car hire though.

Have you looked at the cost of just getting there with a camper or are you renting when you get there?

Surprised to hear about the illegality of freedom to camp…doesn’t seem to affect people in Iceland too much from what I saw. wild Campervanning and camping is extremely popular with tourists and locals. There were no shortage of places to stop for the night. OK I guess an element of common sense applies…no pulling up at the side of the road, or doing it in the car park of a towns leisure centre, but there are plenty of off main road areas where people were camping and that’s what we did. Also spotted a number of people cycle touring who’d set their tents up a few hundred meters off the side of the road. So either it isn’t policed well or there are alot of these areas where it is allowed, though I didn’t notice any signage.

Anyway it’s big business over there and you’d be missing out if you stayed in hotels. It is a proper wilderness with scenery that completely blows your mind – nothing else like it on Earth, and being out within it is part of the experience.

I would be really interested to know what the rough costs you are looking at for the two weeks.

Bookmarked