We hired a 4x4 Dacia Duster from ‘Ice Rental 4x4’. They pick you up from the airport and drop you back afterwards and personally we had a very good experience with them. We hired the car for the whole week which I would recommend as well as it allowed us to make our own way to other sights like the Fagradalsfjall Volcano and Hrunalaug Hot Spring. Petrol stations can be found roughly every hour along the route although some of these are self-service which we struggled to get to work with our bank cards. If you are having issues you can purchase cards with a certain amount of credit from inside the petrol stations and fill up with these instead.

There were plenty of places to stop along the way for food and drink, especially in Selfoss (an hour from Reykjavik) and Vik (half way point), as well as at all the petrol stations. Food and drink is expensive in Iceland though so we chose to make sandwiches to take with us along with our refillable water bottles. We also bought cinnamon buns from Brauð & Co in Reykjavik to take with us and these were ideal for breakfast the following morning. The petrol station hotdogs in Iceland are famous though and should definitely be tried. They also all had nice, clean toilets available and only a couple asked for a donation of 100kr or so to maintain them. 

In the summer months, you can walk behind this magnificent waterfall. Get here at sunrise to beat the crowds! The car park is a short walk from the main waterfall but there is also a 10 minute walk to the left of it where you can see some smaller falls and caves. There is even a secret waterfall at the end of the trail which can be accessed by wading up the stream into the canyon. 

This vast waterfall has to be seen to be believed. On a sunny day, you might even catch a rainbow forming across the mist. The waterfall is a short walk from the car park but there is also the option to ascend a steep staircase to the top of the waterfall for another magical viewpoint. 

We arrived here as the sun was setting. As the name suggests, all the sand on the beach is black as it originated from lava. There are also vast walls of basalt columns which are formed by heat pushing rock up to the surface then as the rock cools it contracts into almost perfect hexagons. It’s really hard to believe they occurred naturally. Out in the ocean are great jagged rocks which are said to be petrified trolls who were frozen when they saw the sunrise. 

Before you embark on the long leg to your lodgings for the night, take a moment to visit this cafe inside a school bus. It’s a bit of a squeeze inside but they make incredible coffees and hot chocolates and even sometimes have a resident cat. Note: they are closed from mid December until March for the Winter. 

Get here just before sunrise to beat the crowds. Huge icebergs are scattered across a perfectly still lagoon and if you’re lucky you might even spot a seal! The icebergs originated from the glacier and are layered with black ash from volcanic activity as the glacier formed.

As the sun rises above the horizon, cross the road over to Diamond Beach. Stay on the same side of the bridge for bigger chunks of ice. Smaller chunks of ice from the lagoon have ended up on this beach and appear like diamonds in the sun. 

This is an easy 5km hike to the waterfall and back but crampons are recommended in the winter as the trail becomes icy. Svartifoss is surrounded by basalt columns similar to those at Reynisfara. It is said to have inspired the architecture of the Hallgrimskirkja church in Reykjavik. 

With the philosophy of taking the path less travelled, we couldn’t resist following the track to the viewpoint of this glacier. It’s only a 10 minute drive from the main road but was completely empty. The sun setting also gave the orange rocks a beautiful colour to round off our roadtrip.