Camping in Iceland: Everything You Need to Know and More!
We can’t say it enough…camping in Iceland is an awesome way to experience the country.
Why? Let me count the ways…
It provides the most flexible and cheapest way to travel around the country!
You get to immerse yourself in Iceland’s natural beauty, waking up next to waterfalls, or beaches, or…sheep….
Rather than basing yourself in one spot and limiting where you can go from there, choosing to keep your home on wheels and go wherever the day takes you allows you to see and experience so much more! See a cool waterfall you didn’t know about and want to go check it out? Done! Drive by a random dirt road and want to know where it goes? Go for it! Iceland is your oyster when you camp!
And trust us when we say that Iceland knows what it’s doing when it comes to camping. It’s like it was made for it. The infrastructure for camping in Iceland is so well done… campgrounds can be found all over the country and have pretty impressive facilities…laundry, kitchens, showers, you name it!
However, that flexibility comes with a price. Iceland is rugged, its weather is unpredictable, and it takes an adventurous souls and a bit of preparation so that your time camping in Iceland is safe and memorable…in a good way.
So what do we know about Icelandic camping? Well, we spent two weeks camping all over Iceland… all along the ring road, in the highlands, and out in the remote Western Fjords. We camped in both a tent and a campervan. And we experienced the whole gamut of Icelandic weather…from a solid week of rain and wind, where everything stayed thoroughly soaked (including us!) and during which our spirits were put to the ultimate test, and a solid week of pleasant weather and sunny skies, where I remember thinking that I wanted to live this way forever.
We’ve gone through the best and worst of what it’s like to camp in Iceland, and we want to share our most helpful information and tips with you to make your camping experience in Iceland the best it can be! From the when, where, and how to camp, we’ve got you covered here.
Article Contents
As you can see, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so try to stick with us because once you’re done reading, you’ll hopefully be armed with all the information you need to plan an Iceland camping trip for your next adventure!
Best Time to Camp in Iceland
In theory, camping in Iceland is a year-round possibility. With that said, generally the warmer summer months are the most popular times, as you might imagine.
But, when you come to Iceland should depend on what kinds of things you hope to see and do. Different seasons bring different activities and adventures. We personally camped in Iceland at the end of summer and the beginning of fall so we could take advantage of lower prices but still be able to hike in the highlands.
Here’s a brief rundown of each season in Iceland:
Summer (June-August): The summer months of Iceland are warm (er), with daytime temperatures hovering in the high 50s. You won’t get to see the Northern Lights, but you can experience the midnight sun, meaning more daylight hours for fun and exploration.
Other popular summertime activities include puffin spotting, going on a whale watch tour, and visiting the highlands in Iceland’s interior. The highlands are an otherwordly place with epic hiking and insane scenery. Landmannalauger is one of the more popular and well-known places in the highlands for hiking, however, it can only be accessed on your own (with a 4x4) during these summer months when the roads are clear of snow.
Generally, getting around the country is a bit easier and safer during the summer, without snowy and icy conditions.
The flip side is that because of the longer and warmer days, it’s Iceland’s peak season, so the crowds are big and the prices are high.
Winter (December to February): The winter months are colder, but might not be as cold as you may think for a subarctic country. During the day, temps hover in the 30s, and get down to the 20s at night, which is actually rather mild for this part of the world. But, the 30s are still cold, especially for camping! This means a lot of warm layers, warm gear, and a willing-to-really-rough-it personality.
Winter camping is possible, but we would only recommend it for people with the absolute right cold weather gear and for those with a superhuman tolerance to cold (not me!). We would also only recommend camping with a van with a heater so that you can stay warm at night.
But keep this in mind! Campgrounds are generally only open from about May to October each year, though this may vary depending on the location of the campsite. There are a select few that are open year-round. However, many of the campgrounds that technically “close” allow campers to stay overnight for free during this time, it’s just that the facilities remain closed, which means no access to bathrooms or kitchen facilities. So, camping in the winter in Iceland is a good way to save money but you will have to be very independent and self-sufficient.
If you think you can handle it, camping in the winter can be ideal for a lot of things, especially for hunting the Northern Lights! Days are short…getting down to just four hours of dim daylight around the winter solstice in December, making your chances of camping under those swirling green lights a very high possibility.
Other perks are that the prices are lower, crowds are thin, and winter activities, such as ice caving and snowmobiling, are available.
Shoulder seasons of spring (March to May) and fall (September to November): These are great times to camp in Iceland. Prices are noticeably lower for accommodations and rental cars (though not quite as low as in winter), and the crowds are a little thinner than the peak of summer.
If you hit the shoulder seasons right, you can get the best of both worlds…lower prices but the possibility of still being able to hike (as roads into Landmannalauger stay open generally until mid-September) or, if you can stay up late enough, you may even have a chance of seeing the Northern Lights.
The temperatures are a bit cooler during these shoulder seasons as well, so you’ll have to make sure you have warm camping gear with plenty of layers.
In summary: There is so much beauty and adventure to be had in any season, so really, no matter what time of year you go to Iceland, you won’t be disappointed!
What to Pack for Iceland Camping
Note the gloomy skies, the wet slippery paths, and how thoroughly soaked my rain gear is! Come prepared for Icelandic weather.
If you plan on camping in Iceland, it’s important to be prepared…first and foremost for that unpredictable Iceland weather! Here’s a starting list of must-haves to pack for camping in Iceland.
Rain gear: The very first and foremost thing I will tell you to pack…rain gear!!
It rains in Iceland, a lot. And even if you’re the luckiest person in the world and somehow manage to avoid the rain (which you won’t), you’ll probably be visiting and getting up close to some of those famous Icelandic waterfalls. And you’ll wish you had rain gear. Being properly prepared for rain is especially important when camping in Iceland and you don’t have a nice warm hotel bed to go back to at the end of the day.
Bring a good wind and rain proof jacket.
Invest in some rain pants! This was the single best item I packed with me to Iceland and they kept me so dry. I felt so bad for all the people walking around in the whipping rain in jeans and sandals. It did not look like fun!
Dry bag: This is good to have to keep important gear like camera equipment or extra warming layers.
Bring plenty of warm layers: Because Iceland’s weather varies so much throughout the day, you can be in a rainstorm in the morning, and then in the warm sun in the afternoon, and then encounter fierce winds at night. Layering is key. Yes, even in the summer months!
Cold weather sleeping bag: We camped in September when the nights were starting to dip in temperature, and my zero-degree sleeping bag did the trick. For Kevin, he was fine in his 20 degree bag, but he’s a natural furnace (lucky him!). Bring this even if you plan on camping in a van rather than in a tent, as campervans usually don’t include warm blankets or sleeping bags unless you rent them at an extra cost.
Bring sturdy shoes, even if you don’t plan on doing any major hikes. Access to many popular tourist attractions, especially to waterfalls, can be rocky, wet, and slippery, and having the proper footwear makes it so much easier and safer. Bonus if they are waterproof.
A towel: For showering at campgrounds or at the local town hotsprings.
Baby wipes and hand sanitizer: To get you through those days where you can’t find a shower, or are eating on the go!
Extra packing essentials for tent camping in Iceland:
All cold weather camping gear: This includes, in addition to a tent (obviously! - and one with a very good, reliable, and completely waterproofed rain fly!) and sleeping bag, a good sleeping pad to insulate you from the cold ground at night, a good light weight camping pillow, and a warm sleeping liner. Oh, and make sure you stake down that tent and rain fly WELL. Again, that rain and wind in Iceland is no joke.
Cookware and utensils: When tent camping, we love to bring our jetboil for cooking. It’s super compact and easy to use and can be used to make a variety of quick meals on the go.
Quick note: If you have campervan, rentals will come with cookware, utensils, and often a stove, so you’ll be covered there.
Facemask: This might be helpful if you’re camping in Iceland in the summer…the midnight sun means it will be light out through most of the night, which might make it hard to fall asleep.
What if I don’t have all of this gear but I still want to camp?
We get it, not everyone will have all the essential gear. Or, maybe you just don’t want to pack all your camping gear with you, which can be a hassle when flying.
No need to worry! There are places where you can rent camping gear in Iceland. This is a more expensive option, especially the longer you plan on camping, as gear rentals are charged per day, but it’s very convenient and allows you to pack lightly.
Some campervan rental companies will even rent out gear to you as well on a per rental or per day basis.
We personally like to pack all all gear with us on the plane. It helps to save some money by not renting things we already have. We fit all of our camping gear into one suitcase that we check on the plane, and then use our carry on items for clothes and everything else.
Should You Tent Camp or Rent a Campervan in Iceland?
Here’s the deal. We did both. We spent our first week in Iceland living in our tent. We wanted to rent a 4x4 SUV so that we could drive into the highlands for some hiking and a backpacking trip, and so we wanted the flexibility a 4x4 SUV – tent combo could give us. Good plan, right?
Unfortunately for us, on the day we flew into Iceland there was a giant storm bigger than the entire country making a B line straight for us. The next several days there was non-stop rain and wind. And the rest of the week, there was lingering and patchy rain every day. We didn’t let the rain hold us back from doing what we came to do, so we still explored, and…we got wet. Our tent never had the chance to dry, and neither did we! By the end of that week, we were both a little disheartened (but hey, we were still in Iceland and it was still amazing!), and saying we were tired of rain is a giant understatement. What kept me through was knowing we had a campervan coming our way, and that life would get better.
And better it got indeed. Our time in Iceland was my first experience with a campervan, and now, I can confidently say that I am all about that #vanlife! I absolutely loved it and never wanted to come home once we got that campervan. Because our trips to this point have consisted of tent camping for the entirety of 2 to 3 weeks and really roughing it, this campervan felt like total luxury. It also helps that, I kid you not, from the day we got our campervan, the rain stopped and we experienced mostly sunny skies for the rest of our time in Iceland! We only hit rain on our very last day and night, and it was then that I fell in love with the campervan even more…
So, in the tent vs. campervan debate, I think you probably know where I stand…
A tent!
Just kidding… the campervan was the clear winner for me. But it could be different for you.
Things to consider when choosing a tent or campervan in Iceland
Camping in a tent and a campervan Iceland doesn’t differ too much with respect to logistics. You camp at the same campgrounds and pay the same fees. What really makes the difference are the issues of weather, price, and comfort desired on your camping trip. Let’s go over the major points here:
Weather: This is the biggest consideration in the tent vs. campervan debate in our opinion. Chances are it will rain on you in Iceland. Sure, we got hit pretty hard and it probably rained on us a little more than usual, but it’s Iceland, and you have to come prepared for, and expect, anything to happen…
Having to set up and break down wet tents that never seem to dry, or having your tent thrashing in the wind at night, sometimes just isn’t fun. A campervan gives you an extra layer of protection from the elements and keeps you and your things dry (not necessarily warmer, unless your campervan has a heater…but dry, which is key).
Drying out our camping gear after a week of non-stop rain in a tent. So happy to have that van!
Comfort and convenience: Tent camping requires set up and break down each night and morning – the tent, the sleeping bags, the sleeping mats, etc. And if it’s raining out, you and everything else just gets wet. With campervans, you can pull into your spot, do some minor rearranging on the inside, and stay cozy and dry inside the van…no set up required. Your sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets are already splayed out, ready for you to snuggle in for the night. It’s so so great.
Cost: Campervans may be a little bit more expensive than renting a car and tent camping. We say may be because in our experience, the campervan was actually a tad bit cheaper than the tent car combo! But that’s because we rented a 4x4 vehicle to drive into the highlands. Had we rented a smaller 2 wheel drive car, it would have been cheaper than the campervan route.
That said, after our experiences, the extra cost was very worth it for us in a country whose weather is as varied and unpredictable as Iceland’s. And that’s saying something coming from the person writing this, who happens to be a gigantic penny pincher! But after a full week of experiencing the elements in full force, Iceland did break us a bit and the campervan was our saving grace.
Extra perk with campervans: Another way that campervans might save you some money is that they often come with all the cookware and utensils you’ll need. So, with a campervan, you don’t have to pack as much for the trip. You won’t need to pack (or rent) a tent, sleeping pads, and cookware, which can save you a lot of room in your suitcase or a lot of money from renting or buying this gear.
Let's sum up some of the pros and cons of tent camping and campervanning here:
Cons of campervanning
May be a little bit more expensive than tent camping, especially when you factor in gas costs. This is the only con we can think of!
Cons of tent camping in Iceland:
Requires a bit more of a hardy person who can tolerate cold, wet and windy conditions
Requires set and break down each day
Requires that you bring or rent all additional camping gear needed
Pros of a campervan in Iceland:
Better protection from the elements - you’ll stay warmer and drier
No set up and break down required each night, which means more time to enjoy Iceland!
More comfortable all around, as you’ll be sleeping on an actual mattress
Usually, campervans will come with lots of the gear you’ll need, such as cookware and utensils, meaning you don’t have to pack or rent these extras
Pros of tent camping in Iceland:
Potentially cheaper than a campervan (if you rent a standard 2WD vehicle)
Allows you to be a little bit more flexible for doing overnight hiking trips
If we’ve convinced you that a campervan is the way to go, another question remains, and that is…
How to choose a campervan in Iceland
We didn’t realize this until we were actually in Iceland, but there are a ton of campervan rental companies there.
Before our trip, we had looked into maybe five different companies and their prices…the ones we came across most frequently in our research… but in Iceland, we saw probably 20 different campervan companies on the road. Lava, rent.is, CampEasy, Go, Happy Campers, Kuku Campers, Cozy Campers, Pro Campers, Indie Campers, Nordic Campers, Cheap Campers, Affordable Campers… the list goes on.
Not all campervans are created equal and not all campervan companies are created equal either.
If you’re anything like me, the abundance of choices might paralyze you. So, how’s a person to choose a campervan?!
Well, there are a few things to consider when shopping around for a campervan:
Size: Van sizes vary based on the number of campers they sleep. Prices increase noticeably the more people who need to fit in there, so keep that in mind if you’re looking for a roomier 4 person van for only 2 people.
Comfort level: Campervans range from the simplest bare bones models to spacious vans with practically full kitchens (with sinks, mini fridges or coolers to store perishables, etc), to those with pop up roof tents. This is based purely on what comfort level you are good with. Of course, prices increase as amenities and fanciness increase.
Heating system: Not all campervans will come equipped with a heating system. Those with them will cost more, so really consider if you’ll need one. In the warmer summer months, you should be okay without one. We camped in our campervan the first week of September without one and were fine with just super warm sleeping bags.
Transmission: You can opt for an automatic or a manual transmission campervan. Keep in mind most are manual so you’ll have to pay a little bit more for an automatic.
2 or 4 wheel drive: 4x4 vehicles are absolutely necessary to drive on the gravel F roads that lead into the interior highlands of Iceland. If you don’t plan on driving these roads, a less expensive 2WD campervan will be sufficient, but do keep in mind that most roads that detour off the ring road, even though not labeled as F roads, do turn into gravel, and they can get rough. So use caution, and turn around if you don’t feel comfortable driving it.
Extra costs: Does the price include extra drivers at no cost? What kind of insurance does it include or will that be extra?
Gear rental: Many campervan companies will rent out extra camping gear at an additional cost. Check to see what’s included or available to rent and how much. Renting on a per day basis can really add up, which is why we always try to bring as much as we can from home. But, some thing you just can’t pack and some things you might just not have. You can rent things such as camping chairs, coolers, sleeping bags, pillows, tables, blankets, maps, and Wifi.
Pick up/ drop off: Does the company offer free pick up and drop off to and from the airport?
Perks: Does the company offer freebies that could potentially help you save some money? Things like coupons for free coffee (yes, those do exist!) and gas cards for discounted gas prices at the pump.
Reviews: We looked very carefully at reviews when we were looking at both cars and campervans in Iceland. They can tell you a lot about the service of quality. We read lots of horror stories about various rental companies and tried to stay clear from those, so all we can say is, do your research!
So, what did we choose?
If it helps at all, the most common campervans we saw on the road in Iceland, by far, were Kuku Campers and Happy Campers.
We went with Kuku Campers, primarily because it was the best deal that we could find at the time. They are definitely an eccentric company, with quirky informational handouts and tag lines (it’s always fun to have “Don’t worry, be sexy!” splayed across the side of your home on wheels!). Each van has unique artwork painted on one side, which can range from mildly uncomfortable to fun and cute. We were super happy with our awesome Mario and Yoshi van (and grateful it wasn’t some of the other designs we saw on the road)!
We have no complaints with the company at all. They are very thorough with each customer and go over everything you’ll need to know during the check-in process. They also give you a chance to personally inspect the van and mark down all existing damage…which we highly recommend doing. In fact, take pictures of any damage on the campervan that you notice, just in case. We read many horror stories about people being nickel and dimed for existing damage to the car (not by Kuku Campers, though! But it’s still better to be safe than sorry…).
They also take plenty of time to go over general safety information regarding driving on Iceland roads, what to look out for, how to avoid tolls and fines, which roads you can and cannot drive, etc.
Kuku Campers also gives you a lot of useful informational packets…road maps, coupons for free coffee! (they gave us enough for one free coffee per day per person!...which is super useful for saving lots of money if you’re a coffee drinker), and they give you a gas discount card to save money at N1 gas stations. And, if you rent with them, you have the option to purchase/rent plenty of additional camping items on a per day basis.
Note: They are located between Keflavik and Reykjavik (closer to Reykjavik) and they do provide free airport pickup and transportation to their office, but for some reason do not provide free airport drop off and instead charge at 60 Euro fee. So, getting to the airport was a little bit of a hassle (we ended up taking the public bus system).
Our campervan
We opted for the most bare bones model that Kuku Campers had. It was a small two-person van that consisted solely of a bed, and a single shelf for storing cookware and food that hovered over the bottom half of the bed. And that’s it. It worked out great for us, but we are used to camping with even less, so like I said before, this was luxury for us. It was a little bit of a weird setup and I thought it would be make us feel claustrophobic with a shelf over our beds, but it didn’t at all actually. Not all of their vans are set up this way, so be sure to browse around their website and take a look at all their campervan layouts.
In the end, we just highly recommend doing your research, checking reviews, and going with whatever company offers the best vehicle for your needs and comfort level.
Should I purchase extra insurance for my campervan?
Kuku campers, and I think most other campervan companies, give you free limited CDW insurance. However, they will also give you the option to purchase other types of insurance, particularly gravel insurance. This will run you somewhere around 10 extra Euros per day.
If you have a 4x4 and plan on driving F roads, I would absolutely recommend you purchase the gravel insurance. These roads are rough, washboarded, and full of rocks and gravel. It’s inevitable that stones will be thrown up at the car as you drive, and, for me anyway, it was pretty stressful listening to all the high-pitched dings as stones were hitting the side of the car. Having insurance will give you extra peace of mind. Even if you don’t plan on driving F roads, it’s good to have, since, like we said above, many roads immediately off the ring road turn to gravel.
F road requiring a 4x4 vehicle
Here are some other tips to avoid damage to the vehicle:
Don’t tailgate! Especially on gravel roads. A lot of damage comes from people driving to close to the back of someone else and having the car in front of them throw gravel up to the windshield. Not good.
Hold onto your doors! It’s true, and you’ll hear this from a lot of people… a lot of damage comes from strong winds causing car doors to blow right off the hinges! If you can, park against the wind, and never leave your car door open if you aren’t getting in or out.
Keep your eyes out for wildlife…especially sheep! They are everywhere, including in the middle of the road. They cannot only cause a lot of damage to the vehicle, but you’ll have to pay a fine to the farmer who owns the sheep as well. Plus, it would just be a very sad thing to hit a sheep in general. So be on the lookout.
Ok, so you’ve picked out your perfect campervan. When should you book it?
Great question! Usually the rule is, the earlier the book, the better, right? So that’s what we did. We booked our Kuku campervan in February, about seven months out, and when a sale was going on. We booked it for a price of about $80 USD a day.
Over the summer, I noticed that a lot of sales were happening for fall campervan rentals…particularly from Happy Campers. They essentially were running a 50% off sale for fall rentals, which would have ended up being significantly cheaper than what we had paid and for a nicer van with more amenities (sink, heater, etc)!
Then, about two weeks before leaving for our trip, we noticed that Kuku campers was having a last minute fall sale. The same exact van we rented was significantly cheaper to rent at that time than when we had rented it 7 months prior. We emailed them to see if they could work with us to honor their sale price, and they were able to cancel our current reservation and rebook us for the sale price, but they charged us a cancellation fee in doing so. Still, we saved over $100 USD in the process, which we really appreciated!
I won’t sit here and tell you to wait last minute, because that is usually not a great strategy and could backfire and vary throughout the years. But, if you are trying to plan a last-minute vacation, there may be some deals out there! I think the off-season months (fall, winter, spring) are where you can find more of these types of deals, as the companies try to attract more customers during the low tourist seasons. And don’t be afraid to reach out to the company if you spot a deal even after you’ve already booked.
Campgrounds in Iceland
Ok, you’ve booked the campervan for your Iceland adventure, or you’ve got the tent ready, and are ready to hit the road! But…
Where do you camp in Iceland?
The first thing that needs to be said here is, only camp in designated campgrounds! It’s actually now against the law to camp outside a designated campground without written permission from the landowner. It destroys the beautiful landscape and vegetation that has taken decades to grow.
Plus, Icelanders (and other tourists alike) don’t appreciate people using Iceland and as their own personal toilet. They actually have signs for it all over…
So, while I know you may want that sweet Instagram #vanlife picture of your feet in front of open van doors and a black sand beach, unfortunately that will likely not happen. But I’d say protecting Iceland’s natural landscapes is more important, wouldn’t you?
And luckily, campsite are super easy to find in Iceland and are pretty awesome…
How to find campsites in Iceland
This is an easy one. Campgrounds are literally all over the country! They are in most towns along the ring road, and anywhere your Icelandic adventure takes you, you’re likely to be near one. They are very easy to spot off the ring road, as there are well marked signs with the tent symbol on them wherever they happen to be.
However, it’s still always good to have some idea of where campgrounds are located in advance. It helps you plan out a loose itinerary of where you would like to end up each night, and leaves you with no surprises about how long you’ll have to drive before you can set up camp.
There are some great sites out there that show all of Iceland’s campgrounds, their prices, their amenities, their locations, and their open dates. Check out this Iceland campground site by Cozy Campers.
Our campervan rental recommended using inspiredbyisland.com. You can select a region to search, and this will bring up all the available campsites in the area.
How much do campsites in Iceland cost?
All campgrounds charge per person, not per site, making camping slightly more expensive than those in the U.S., but the facilities are super nice.
We usually paid between 1500 ISK to 1750 ISK per person. There are certainly cheaper ones out there (we saw some as cheap as 1200-1300 ISK), but they usually did not line up with our schedule and it wasn’t worth the detour or the delay in schedule to save a few hundred krona.
On the flip side, there are also more expensive campsites. For example, those that are in or near National Parks are usually pricier. The Reykjavik campground was the priciest one we came across, at 2400 ISK per person. However, it was quite an extensive place, with lots of amenities and a convenient downtown location.
You can also expect the campground price to have a small city tax (usually 500 ISK per site) in major towns and cities such as Reykjavik, Selfoss along the southern coast, and Akeuryi in the North.
The Iceland Camping Card:
There is an option to purchase an Icelandic camping card. This card is a one -time purchase of 19,900 ISK that is valid for up to two adults and two kids to camp at a select 41 campgrounds around Iceland. It lasts for 28 days from the time of purchase and only between May 15th and September 15th. This can be quite an economical option for a family camping for more than one week. However, it does limit where you can camp using this card.
Some campervan companies even offer deals on the camping card. For example, Go Campers sometimes runs a seasonal special for a certain percentage off a campervan rental and a camping card combined when you book through them.
How to pay for a campground:
At many campgrounds, reception is open until about 10 pm and you can pay (all places take cash (USD and Krona) or credit card). If you arrive after reception has left, they may leave a sign on the door asking that you pay in the morning. Some sites don’t have a reception at all. Rather, the campground host will periodically walk through the campground and collect payments. Again, no reservations necessary!
Campground amenities
The space
So first of all, don’t expect seclusion. In the U.S., a lot of campgrounds are very forested and you usually have your own little semi- private site with a picnic table and fire pit. You won’t find this in Iceland. For the most part, campgrounds in Iceland are open fields where it’s sort of a free for all in terms of where you pitch your tent or park your van, and you’ll often have very close neighbors, especially in the busier campgrounds.
However, in the more off-the-beaten-path locations around the ring road, particularly in the eastern and northern parts, you might be one of only a few people there!
In our experience in the early fall, campgrounds started getting busy around 8 pm or so. Quiet hours were usually midnight to 7am, but noise was never an issue for us. Weather keeps people inside, and a lot of people are there to just get sleep and continue on their way.
Facilities
The facilities at Icelandic campgrounds are super nice! The biggest thing that we noticed is that they are SO CLEAN…the showers, the bathrooms, the kitchens. It’s actually very impressive.
Kitchen and hang out space: Most campgrounds have a heated indoor space with some seating, outlets for charging things, and a kitchen with a sink, stove, and sometimes cookware. The seating in these places tend to fill up fast, by around 8 pm, so you have to go in a claim your spot early if you want to eat inside.
At the very least, campgrounds have big outdoor sinks for washing dishes if they do not have these indoor kitchens.
Showers: Most campgrounds have showers, and this usually involves an extra fee, somewhere around 500 Kr per 5 minutes of shower time, but this varies from campground to campground. There are some gems, though, that have showers included! We somehow were able to find these campgrounds every couple of days to take some free showers. You can find these campgrounds by looking at the Inspired by Iceland site we mentioned above.
A lot of people like to recommend going to town pools to get their showers in. Every town in Iceland has a town pool that is fed with warm geothermal water. They are pretty cheap to use, somewhere around 500 – 600 ISK. But you get use of the showers, the pool, and sometimes they’ll have saunas, hot tubs, waterslides, and other features that you can use as well. So, it’s about the same price as a shower at a campground, but you get more out of. The catch is that it’s an absolute requirement that you shower without any clothes or bathing suit before getting into the pool in open space showers, but if you don’t mind that, you’re good to go! We didn’t go to any of these, so can’t say much more on them.
Laundry: Many campgrounds also have coin-operated laundry. We never needed this but planning on doing laundry once or twice in your trip can help you pack a little lighter.
Internet: Many campgrounds have Wifi, and in many cases it’s free, although there are some places that charge you for timed usage. Often, the Wifi doesn’t reach all the way out to your actual campsite, though, and you have to be in or near the reception area to get good service.
What to Eat While Camping in Iceland
Eating out is always an option, but it is an expensive one. We actually didn’t go to restaurants at all while we were in Iceland, and this helped us save a ton of money.
A great way to travel to Iceland on a budget while you’re camping is to cook yourself! Renting a campervan makes cooking pretty easy, since the rental likely comes with cookware, utensils, and some sort of stove for cooking.
Alternatively, when we camped with our tent, we used our jet boil, which limited what we could eat to whatever could be cooked with just a pot of boiling water, but you can always pack, rent or buy some inexpensive cookware to use.
Bonus and Krogan are Iceland’s two discount grocery stores, with Bonus being the absolute cheapest. Try to stock up on as many groceries as you can when in Reykjavik, so that you won’t be stuck having to buy too much food at more expensive places as you travel through less populated areas.
We didn’t have a refrigerator or a cooler, so if we wanted perishable items we had to stop at a grocery store every couple of days, which is doable as you are traversing the ring road, but it might not be possible to hit a Bonus or Krogan every time. We found that prices in these stores weren’t toooo much more than those found in the states, especially if you don’t buy a lot of meat. We stuck with things like oatmeal, rice and pasta and this kept our food bill pretty low.
Also keep in mind that many grocery stores, especially those in less populated towns, open late and close early. Many have hours of around 11 am to 6 pm. So plan on getting groceries midday rather than waiting until dinner time when after you’ve found a campsite for the night.
Another bonus about camping in Iceland is that campgrounds often have areas in or near the kitchen where people leave food for other people to take. There are often tons of things here you can pick through… a lot of pasta, rice, noodles, instant coffee, etc. There are often partially filled fuel canisters for camp stoves and jet boils, which is super great to come across given that buying these can be expensive in Iceland.
Finally, another option for food is the infamous Icelandic gas station…known most notably for their hotdogs. The hotdogs can be a cheap meal on the go as far as Icelandic prices goes, but still way more than what you would pay in the U.S. And hot dogs are pretty much the only inexpensive items on the menu in gas stations. Prepackaged foods and sandwiches are especially pricey. So feel free to indulge once in a while, but don’t rely on this as your sole means of food!
Where to Go on Your Icelandic Camping Adventure
Wherever your heart desires! The world, or at least Iceland, is your oyster when your home is on four wheels. That’s the beauty of camping around Iceland!
A popular choice for those who wish to camp in Iceland is to tour the ring road. This brings you around the perimeter of the entire country, taking you through a sample of all the best that Iceland has to offer. Check out our favorite stops along the ring road to help you plan your own adventure.
There is so much more to Iceland than just the Ring Road, though! We have plenty of information on other places to include on your Iceland camping itinerary. Some fun detours off the ring road if you have time include:
If you have a 4x4 campervan or vehicle (if tent camping), traveling the F roads in the highlands of Iceland is an awesome opportunity. You’ll venture over lesser-traveled gravelly mountain roads that will make you feel like you truly are in the middle of nowhere!
Just some notes to reiterate if you are planning on driving around Iceland during your camping trip:
Even if not planning on driving on F roads, be prepared for roads to turn into gravel if you deviate off the ring road at any point and turn around if you don’t feel comfortable or confident.
Play it safe and get gravel insurance. It can be stressful hearing all those teeny tiny stones coming up and hitting the side of the car, and you want to make sure you are insured!
Don’t speed! Iceland’s speed limits are plenty fast, and you don’t want to get fined hundreds of dollars with a speeding ticket. Plus, there are lots of things to keep on the look out for…sheep, which are literally everywhere, tourists stopping in the middle of the road to take pictures (please don’t be that guy…there are plenty of pull offs), and blind hills and turns.
Always make sure you fuel up before going anywhere remote. On the ring road, it’s pretty much not a problem and we were never worried about running out of gas. Stop and fuel up through every major town you pass through and you should be good.
Final Tips for Camping in Iceland
A HUGE tip is to download the google maps of Iceland onto your phone before going. It actually doesn’t take up too much space (because there are so few roads in Iceland!), and it will be super helpful when you’re on the road trying to look up campgrounds, grocery stores and destinations on the fly without the need for wifi or cell service.
We do recommend, though, that you have some way to have cell service in Iceland, either through a Wifi router rental with your rental vehicle, or by purchasing a sim card (at the airport or a cell phone carrier store in Reykjavik – Siminn, Nova, or Vodafone).
A sim card would be the cheaper way to go, and we didn’t even use 1 GB data on our two week camping trip through Iceland. We used it to check the weather each morning, quickly research specific destinations we were interested in, and to use the internet and/or make phone calls to make last minute booking for buses and guided trips. This is a good reason to have cell service. You might have to wait until getting to Iceland to make bookings for activities, or to make cancellations, based on weather or road closures.
One of our best tips for driving around Iceland, though, (and advice we wish we took more ourselves) is to search for those off the touristy path places and do some random exploration that’s off your itinerary. Even along the crowded southern coast, you can still find hidden gems by just simply driving the ring road and taking a turn where you see a sign for something interesting. There’s something special about finding these isolated places and feeling more in touch with the nature around you. That’s the reason you came to Iceland after all, right? Remember to be a bit flexible and spontaneous with your itinerary… pad in extra time for cool things you see along the way, or for when you have to delay or adjust plans for bad weather.
The popular high-tourist attractions in Iceland are popular for a reason. They are stunning and deserve to be visited, and you should absolutely visit them. However, try to also venture a bit more off the beaten path if you can. Even in the early fall when crowds are starting to dwindle, we were getting a little overwhelmed during our first week sticking around the south coast and being around constant hoards of people at all the popular tourist destinations where everyone is trying to fight to get those instafamous shots. To be honest, we couldn’t wait to break away and venture into the much less traveled parts of the eastern fjords and northern coast.
And most importantly, have fun!!
Still have questions?
We hope that we’ve convinced that camping is the best way to experience Iceland and that these tips help you plan a fun-filled stress-free camping trip! We’ve armed you with a lot of info here, but, as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to comment below or contact us! We love to help!
