My daughter and I visited Iceland May 24-31, 2026. We made extensive use of your Iceland Guidebook. Overall impressions: Iceland is wonderful! We rented a car at the Keflavík airport and put about a thousand kilometers on it. As the book says, driving in Iceland, at least in late May, is very easy. We did five tours described in the Guidebook: Golden Circle, South Coast, Westman Islands, Snæfellsnes Peninsula, and Reykjavík. All really good. Highlights, at least to me, were Heimaey Island (amazing scenery, puffins), Skógafoss, Gullfoss, and Snæfellsjökull National Park. Two observations/additions for the Guidebook: 1) We saw four or five gas stations on our drive around the Golden Circle. We filled up before leaving Reykjavík, per Rick's advice, but realized as we went that it isn't as critical now as it was when the Guidebook went to press. And 2), there is no longer a toilet/WC at Djúpalónssandur Black Sand Beach on the Snæfellsness Peninsula. We saw the spot by the parking lot where it may have been. We didn't find a WC until we got to Arnarstapi. Oh, yes. We found the little town of Ólafsvík quite delightful. We stayed in a very nice hotel, Vest Mar, overlooking the harbor, and ate very well at the adjoining Sker restaurant. Also kudos to the Café Loki in Reykjavík for a fine Icelandic dinner. And one more: There is a high-quality gift shop on the ground floor of the Harpa Concert Hall.
Posted by
CA
2314 posts
I absolutely loved Iceland!
Posted by
Snohomish, WA
4098 posts
Thank you for sharing! We adore Iceland and have been many times but I still get excited when I read others reports)
Gas stations are plentiful enough in the GC as you saw, but once you go past Jokulsarlon up to about Myvatn, that's where they are few and far between. Or of course the Highlands and Westfjords.
Snaefellsness is one of my favorite areas of the country:) Yes, the gift shop inside Harpa is really good! Although in March I needed a new hat and found one there. I didn't pay attention to the price as I just needed one and yikes, it was about $135! They always have really nice items in there though.
Posted by
OP
Bountiful, Utah
14 posts
I was thinking of gas stations between Reykjavik and Gullfoss. Too bad we didn't have time to drive the whole loop around the island on Highway 1. It was possible, but it would have been mostly driving and not much sightseeing. On the bucket list.
A question: How far in advance do you need to reserve places to spend the night when you drive Highway 1 all the way around? We were only two months out and figured it was a bit late to try. Did fine in Reykjavik, Vestmannaeyjar, and Olafsvik though.
Posted by
Pennsylvania
470 posts
Glad to hear you liked Iceland!
If you want to officially submit RS Guidebook updates/feedback, you might try this link.
But I personally appreciate your Iceland advice, since we will be visiting there next summer!
Posted by
Snohomish, WA
4098 posts
Phil--normally places book out 9-12 months in advance. I booked two hotels yesterday and today for late May (10 months out) and both places already had very limited availability. IME you were smart to not do the ring road in just a week. There is so much to see and truly never enough time. My 10th trip is in May and there is still a lot that we have not explored.