A guide to Iceland.

ICELAND: A land of ice and fire.

From the arid scarce landscape to the extensive snow topped mountains, Iceland is a magical country that should be at the top of everyone’s bucket list. Every road leads to a different natural wonder, and whether it’s a cascading waterfall or a stunningly steep cliff hike, Iceland truly is the country that has it all.

Ever since I was little, Iceland has always been one of my dream countries. One of those places that I’d constantly fantasize about, and manically research to the point of obsession.

There wasn’t one thing that drew me in, it was a combination of everything; the wild Icelandic horses, the semi-active volcanoes, the monumental glaciers and the long stretches of roads, teeming with beautiful sites everywhere you looked.

When Jamie and I were planning our trip, I tossed up the idea of Iceland. My parents had just visited, and they’d said it was the best country they’d ever been to. Jamie was more than happy to go along, and so we decided to make our dreams a reality and visit the Land of Ice and Fire.

Getting There

There are no direct from flights from Australia… heck, there are barely any direct flights from Australia to anywhere! We flew from Dublin directly to Iceland with WOW Air, but there are quite a few places you can fly to Iceland from including London, Copenhagen and Paris.

Flying with WOW Air was cheap, and it wasn’t hard to see why. The seats were extremely uncomfortable, but for the two hours it was worth saving the money and bearing the pain. Our tickets came with 20kg of luggage and 12kg of carry-on, which was more than enough for our 2 week trip.

From the Keflavik airport, you can catch the shuttle bus to Reykjavík. Alternatively, if you’ve hired a car or a campervan they may offer you a shuttle or the ability to pick up your car directly there. Us? We hired a Kuku Campervan and were met at the airport gates by a lovely Kuku employee named Sandra.

Sandra picked us up in the special Kuku van and drove us to the Kuku office in Hafnarfjörður, where we met the team and our beautiful van (who we lovingly named Violet the Van).

Getting Around

Depending on how long you’ve got in Iceland, there are a few ways you can get around. If you’re spending only a couple of days in Iceland and want to make the most of your trip, I’d recommend exploring the south coast with a few tours.

Go see the Golden Circle and get up to Jökulsárlón if you can; the most beautiful place on Earth. We did the Glacier Walk with Arctic Adventures and it was phenomenal. You can read more about it HERE.

If you’ve got at least 7 days (10 is more preferable), then I can’t recommend going around the Ring Road with your own car/campervan enough. The pros of going with an awesome Campervan company like Kuku Campers is that you don’t have to commit to any hotels or hostels. You can work to your own time, explore the land and not have to rush to make it to a certain spot.

You’re driving yourself and your super comfortable accommodation around, and you are your own boss. We travelled around the entire ring road in 12 days, and it was the most spectacular trip I’ve ever been on.

You can read the full 12 Day Itinerary for Iceland Camper Van HERE.