Three days of stops and highlights await us in this article as we headed around Iceland's famous Ring Road! Join us on our Iceland Ring Road Trip for Part 3/5.

1. Exploring Vik and Surrounding area:

• I had a VERY cold and rainy half marathon training run!  Had to run 10 miles in a downpour with 50 MPH winds on little to no sleep :).  This is not a mandatory must do on your trip haha.

• Dyrholaey and Reynisfjara walking, exploration, and photo opportunities.

• Labor Day BBQ on Black Sand Beach lol! Picture above. The wind was so fierce we couldn’t keep the grill lit hahaha!

2. Skaftafell National Park/Overnight Stay

• Camped on a sheep farm at Svinafell.

• Hikes: Svartifoss Waterfall and to the top of the Vatnajokull divide in the park.  Great loop hike that took us about 2 hours when combined with the side hikes.

Did you miss Day Two of our Iceland Road Trip? Check it out HERE!

Backyard Canyon Hike

• A Lonely Planet Specialty.  We went into the house of an Icelandic farmer who openly and graciously shared a hiking trail map of his backyard.  This was not an ordinary backyard as you will see below!  This was a truly unique and off the beaten path experience and I can't recommend doing this like this when you travel enough!  This hike was about 12 miles and led to a Grand Canyone Esque trail in this "backyard."

More Ring Road Highlights!

•  Overnight in Hofn: Best meal of the trip for me!  The fresh fish, dessert, and red wine was top notch. Overall the food was great in Iceland but this meal in Hofn is still memorable to me!

• Jokulsarlon Iceberg Lagoon: Great photo opp, long walks, and lagoon boat tours.  A MUST DO!

• Days three, four, and five involved just more of the incredible touring that we had started to expect in Iceland.  Waterfalls, scenic drives, epic hikes, incredible meals, friendly people, etc.

• We would also not have been able to do what we do these three days without our campervan rental! Rent the van if able!

Iceland Ring Road Trip Must Stops that we made on this portion of our trip:

• Overnight in Egilstaddir at their campground where we go to see the Northern Lights!  This was the only time of the trip we saw the Northern Lights as we went in early September and they typically aren't out yet.

• Glacier Hike/Trail to Skalalfellsjokull...say that fast three times!  About a 10 mile loop that was full of breathtaking scenery and wonderful terrain.

• Myvatn/Thermal Region.  A must stop...the Yellowstone of Western Europe!

• Thermal Baths: The natural and much less commercial version of the Blue Lagoon in West Iceland.

• Dettifoss: The most powerful waterfall in Europe!

Two Iceland Ring Road Tips from these three days!

1. Don’t plan your trip on seeing the Northern Lights especially if you aren't there in the winter. Ours was accidental but we didn’t miss out on anything trying to “chase them down” in shoulder season.
2. Make this trip an extra day or two if possible, ours was 8.5 days so I would recommend 10.  As you will see in the next post we added a lot more driving the final two days and this would be great to have very small mileages in between areas and each day.

Have you booked your trip to Iceland yet?  Leave your comments below, sign up for our emails in the footer, and thanks for being here!

Because Adventure Feeds the Soul,

Mike and the #Hashtag59 Team