Planning a trip to Iceland with kids
When I began preparation for our trip to Iceland 7 months before our scheduled departure, I knew we wanted to drive the Ring Road and I knew we wanted to do it on our own, not with a tour group. The planning was extensive and overwhelming at first, but I'm so glad we did it our own way, not least of all because seeing those ginormous tour buses drive down those skinny roads, there would have been some serious upchuckage in our family. So, if you have a kid who gets car sick, skip the buses! (ok in our family, I’m the one who would have been green and heaving, but still, no one likes a puker). Even if you don’t have this to contend with, I urge you to rent a car and do it on your own. There were so many benefits, including being on our own schedule and lots of time fighting, I mean bonding, in the car.
If you’re driving the Ring Road, the first thing you want to do is decide which direction to go in. We decided to go counterclockwise from Reykjavik. I can’t speak to the benefits of doing it the other way, but I thought, with kids, the way we did it was the way to go. Arguably the best sights are in the south, which you will hit up first if you go counterclockwise. There is a ton to see and it is, for the most part, right off the Ring Road. We were hopping in and out of the car every 15 minutes to an hour. Everyone's energy level was way up, as it is at the beginning of every trip, and the frequent stops and otherworldly scenery kept them engaged and excited. By the time we got around to the northeast and north, where things are a little farther apart and farther from the road, they were already hooked on Iceland and already in the groove of being in the car every day. They also started to grow a little exhausted by the idea of hiking to another waterfall, and so, at that point we skipped some of the natural stuff and headed to the town pools. I feel if we did it the other way around, we may have tried to pack in too much on the front end and by the time we got to the really cool stuff in the south, fatigue would have set in. And while the town pools are seriously legit, I’m not about to skip seeing the glacier lagoon at Jokulsarlon to go to one. Amirite?!
The next thing you need to decide is where you are going to stay. Do this as early as you can, like if you want to go to Iceland when your newborn is 10, now is a good time to start booking rooms. Seriously, there just aren’t a lot of places to stay and that’s because there just aren’t a lot of people in Iceland, which was really hard for me to fathom until we got there. Everyone is kind of doing the same trip around the Ring Road and there are only so many places to stay. It seems like this is changing, as some big hotel chains are starting to pop up, but we stayed mostly on family owned properties, which I would recommend. I used airbnb and booking.com for all of our stays. If I were to do it again, I would try to do it all on booking.com. I really liked their app and most of the places have free cancellation, some up to a week before you go. Airbnb has a cancellation fee. As a side note, I think because of the free cancellations on booking.com, when I looked around a month before we left, several places seemed to have opened up again. My guess is people book when they aren’t 100% sure they are going, and then end up canceling. So, if you want to switch up a place, one month prior and then one week prior are good times to look.
The next question is, do you pick a couple of base locations: Reykjavik, the south, the Eastern Fjords, and the north, stay a few nights at each and venture out each day, or do you keep moving, staying at a new place every night? We did the latter, and while I was nervous to be constantly moving, especially with the kids, it worked out really well. Our trip was 10 days with 8 of them on the Ring Road; this meant an average of 2.5 hours of driving each day. This was a totally manageable amount, especially with the endless day light (we went in July) and so much to stop and see along the way. While choosing a couple of base locations does mean you get to settle in a bit more, it also means backtracking, which I just couldn’t get behind, mentally. I attribute this to being raised in America: capitalism, progress at all costs, manifest destiny and all that…which is kind of messed up, but you know what, a lot of things are messed up. Anyways, I was also worried about the check in and check out process sucking up so much of our time and energy each day. To combat this, each morning before heading out for the day, we would pack everything we needed for that night and the following day in one of the kid’s suitcases. Then, when we arrived to our new place in the late evening, exhausted from a day of adventure, we just had to grab the one suitcase; everything else stayed in the car.
We stayed in the following locations, each for one night: Reykjavik, Selfoss, Vik, Hofn, Djupivogur, Egilsstadir, Husavik, Akureyri, Reykjavik (2 nights). Our last drive was the longest at 4.5 hours. We originally were going to go to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula to break it up, but it would have still been four hours to get there and then another 2 to get back to Reykjavik. If we had more time, that’s where I would have added a night. Other than that, there is nothing that stands out as something I would change.
So, it goes without saying, you’re spending a decent amount of time in the car with your children. Couple of suggestions there. First, get a car that fits you comfortably. We rented a Land Rover Discovery, and it was perfect for the 5 of us and our luggage. It never felt cramped and was great on the roads. My husband really wanted to get a Defender, but I can’t drive a stick shift (insert embarrassed emoji) and I really wanted to drive! I’m really glad I pushed back because the driving was so fun! ... and the non-driver has to do that awkward turn around thing every time a kid drops a pencil or a water bottle or a goldfish. Which leads to my other suggestion, bring stuff for your kids to do in the car! Before we left, I did a secret shopping spree at Barnes & Noble where I got each of them 3 or 4 high quality activity books. I spent a lot of time picking them out, ensuring they were specific to each child’s likes and needs. They were all well loved by the end of the trip, but the biggest hit were those scratch art books. I also brought stickers, wicki-sticks, washi tape, blank drawing pads and markers for each kid. With all of this, plus a bunch of car ride games and the epic scenery, they didn’t even ask for the iPads! (Ok on that last long car ride we handed them over, which was a needed break from 20 Questions for everyone involved).
Another car tip, our rental company offered us a wifi hot spot for $5 a day. Not only was it great for the road, but we took it with us wherever we went: hiking, restaurants, etc. It's not that we can't disconnect, but it was nice to have when we were scouting out our next location or needed a map. Kind of genius. Also, we can’t disconnect.
All you need to do now is pack. Packing for Iceland was daunting. Living in the northeast, I am no stranger to seasons, but packing for all four in one week felt overwhelming. Below is what I packed for each kid. Again we stayed for 10 days in July and were able to do laundry half way through our trip. Everything on this list was used at least once. It was generally in the 50’s while we were there, but it ranged from high 40’s to low 70’s. It rained a fair amount, usually just a misting but we definitely got a downpour or two, and we saw the sun almost every day as well.
4 short sleeve shirts
4 long sleeve shirts
2 sweatshirt/fleece
1 fall type coat (fleece, puffy coat/vest)
1 raincoat with hood
5 pairs of pants (sweatpants, leggings, hiking pants)
1 pair of rain pants
2 bathing suits
Flip flops
Hiking shoes, preferably waterproof
Regular sneakers
6 pairs of underwear
6 pairs of socks
Gloves
Hat/buff
Eye mask - for the plane, everywhere we stayed had blackout shades
3 pairs of pjs
Backpack
Water bottle
I was going to skimp on the footwear and just bring sneakers, but I’m so glad we brought real hiking shoes. There’s so much climbing to be done, much of it on wet, unsteady, steep, rocky surfaces, and my kids are climbers. We also brought an Ergo for our 3 almost 4 year old, and while she looked like a small adult in there, I’m so glad we brought it. Trying to carry forty lbs in a raincoat, while also wearing a raincoat, is like trying to hold a newborn in a sudsy bathtub - slippery little suckers.
Finally, and perhaps this is the packing move I am most proud of, Kevin and I doubled up our stuff into one suitcase, leaving an entire carry-on for snacks. Snacks, people!! If you haven’t heard, the food in Iceland is damn expensive. If you also haven’t heard, kids like snacks, especially in cars. So I filled one whole bag full of granola and fruit bars, peanut butter, bagels, cereal, pretzels, goldfish, oatmeal, ramen, mac and cheese, etc. Not only did this help out on the road, but we had several of our breakfasts right out of that snack bag and a dinner or two as well. My only regret is that I didn’t bring more. Before we left I was thinking how stupid I would feel if we came home with a whole bag of American snacks, so I didn’t quite fill it - as if a bag filled three-quarters of the way would be less embarrassing - but I should have jammed that thing full because we ran out towards the end of the trip. (And also, who exactly was going to make me feel embarrassed.) The bonus part, we had an empty bag ready to go for souvenirs at the end of the trip!
So that’s it! The only other thing you need now is your flight. My only suggestion there is do NOT fly Wow airlines. No matter how much cheaper and tempting it is, do NOT do it. We did not, but I used them for another trip and WOW was it the worst travel experience of my life. Hopefully, enough said.
If you want to see our full itinerary, click here. Let me know if this was helpful/not helpful in the comments. Have a great trip!
