Hi there, really nice video about my tiny island! April is really the best time to travel Iceland if you want to experience it in winter. Although most would call it spring, that just doesnt come along until mid may here up north. In april, you are still likely to have plenty of snow, especially in the highlands, you are getting ever increasing daylight and the weather, although still a bit unpredictable, a lot more manageable than the preceeding winter months. Most campgrounds close or greatly reduce their service level over the winter months. Only a handful have active service over the winter months. Most campgrounds open in the middle of may and close mid to late september. If you want to experience the summer season, then the weather is likely to be best from early july to middle of august. If your campground is lacking a shower, just look for the nearest swimming pool. Much more fun to relax in a hot tub looking at the sun going down and then shower in their facilities and then head to the campground for some grub and stargazing. Hope you will return for a summer experience here. Recommend renting a 4x4 Suv capable of travelling the highlands. Make sure to talk with your rental car company about the use of a rental car on a F-road. It will open up so much more for you during the summer months. Just remember to stay on the trails on your car. Offroad driving is illegal and highly damaging to the soil. It is very fragile because of very short summers.
andrifsig thank you so much for watching and sharing all of that info about your tiny island! It was a wonderful trip and I DO hope to be back again soon for a summer adventure! :) Thanks again for the tips! I’m sure a lot of people will find them very useful.
I watched this video more than 10 times and booked some of the same campsites and travelled there in winter!! Words can't explain the experience...thank you!!
I was stationed in Keflvik in 1983 for 12 months. In the summer we took a two week Camping trip all around the island. We ended it at the Summer Fest on the Vessmann islands. We had a wonderful time.
I was just searching camp area for iceland in April. We are thinking also rent a campervan but we couldnt sure that the winter time is good for campervan or not. but after watch this definetely we will go. This video has great details and information. Thank you, very helpful.
@@akfasso thank you! Yes! A return trip but have not been to the east and your video was tremendously helpful in choosing Skaftafell Campsite! We will absolutely be going there. Thank you x1000!
Im planning to rent a Cozy Camper for 21 days around Iceland in October, how did you all like your camper van? Im planning to rent the "Cozy 2" so a little smaller & not 4x4 like the one you all were in.
Andrea, we absolutely loved our Cozy Camper! It was the perfect size for just the two of us and was very well built - outlets where you needed them, dishware available and any add-ons you might like (we added a bbq, WiFi, and folding chairs). More importantly, the people who work at Cozy Campers were so genuine and friendly. They really cared what we thought about our experience. I really appreciated that and look forward to hopefully renting from them again! I hope you have an amazing trip! Let me know what you thought of the Cozy 2.
No. All of these campsites were right off of Ring Road, so no 4x4 was required EXCEPT for the last campsite. I can’t recall if that was an official F-road, but it was not paved.
This is perfect!! We are planning a trip to Iceland next April and we're planning on traveling via camper van. Maybe it was in the video but I missed it, did you need a 4x4 van or were the roads good enough that time of year for 2wd? Thanks!
Thanks for watching and I hope you have a great time! The only reason I would recommend going for a 4x4 in April is because you can still get caught up in a snow storm at that time of the year (which we did)! Ring Road itself is 99% paved, but it’s really the weather that you have to watch out for. Also, some of these campground were off the beaten path and definitely required a little bit of off-roading to get to. Let me know if you have any more questions! Can’t wait to hear about your trip.
Hello. First of all, what a great video. I love that you share all the details that matter. I want to ask, what's needed to deal with the weather? I'm not used to cold in my country (portugal) so some tips would be great. Also, is the camper heated at night? Or just a sleeping bag is enough?
Hi! Thanks for the compliment. I’m glad you found the video helpful. :) To deal with the cold weather, you first need to consider a vehicle that does well in snow. It’s not NECESSARY to have 4-wheel-drive, but it was comforting to know I had it if I needed it. Next, clothing: I’d suggest layers. I usually had on a winter jacket, warm hat, sweater and teeshirt. If I was warm, I could remove a layer. It’s always better to bundle up than not be prepared enough (in my opinion). Lastly, the camper was heated throughout the night. I made another video all about the camper itself, so be sure to give that a look. Most importantly, have fun!
Great video and really helpful. My wife and I are planning a trip in October but my wife wanted to know if you ever got cold at night in the campervan? Did you do anything extra at night because of the cold?
Hello Ashley, thank you for your beautiful footage & useful content. I've only now discovered it. I'm planning a trip in October. Finding campground details was not easy. It was great Finding yours. Questions, how much actual Islandic cash did you take? Where did you get it? Did your credit card pin work like for gas? I travel to Europe a fair amount & quite frequently my card pins don't work. Not a good situation with an attendant free fueling station. Really appreciate your content. Best Always.....Bob
Hi Bob! Great questions! I took very little Icelandic cash (maybe the equivalent to $200 USD). Iceland really promotes credit card usage over cash, so you can pay for just about everything that way. As for gas stations, it’s been a couple of years, but I do remember having trouble with my pin specifically at the gas stations. I can’t recall how I successfully paid, but yes… there was something wonky with pins at gas stations. Sorry I can’t be more helpful on that front!
@@akfasso Hello & thank you for getting back to me Ashley. I really appreciate the feedback. You reinforced my concerns about our credit card pins. US pins are hit & miss abroad. Mostly miss. I'll get a prepaid Islandic gas card upon arrival with enough for emergency use. Your content has been very helpful! Thank you!!! Best....Bob
Hi, I know your video is a couple of years old, but let me tell you, soooo helpful. We are heading out in the Cozy Camper in a couple of weeks here, basically the same time frame you guys went. Would you suggest packing food to save on some money and or packing a jetboil? I was thinking some dry goods that would be in a checked bag? And what extras would you have brought for comforts in the van? Thanks!
Happy to help! I’m so excited for your trip. I hope you love it. In regards to food, we added on (for a small fee) the portable stove top from Cozy Campers and used it multiple times a day. The fridge in the van is small, but I do recommend stocking it as much as you can especially if you are doing Ring Road. There’s not a whole lot of restaurants along large sections of that drive, so it’s great to be able to cook up a meal of your own. We stopped at a Bonus (grocery store) in Reykjavík before we left and stocked up again at a supermarket in Egilsstaðir (east Iceland). You can get dry goods at these places as well, which I recommend. You don’t want to be cooking every meal. We pretty much had breakfast/lunch with dry goods and then cooked dinners. As far as extra comforts in the van - the only thing that really comes to mind is maybe some sort of clothes line. If you swim in any hot pots or trek through snow, you’ll have some wet clothes. I could never really figure out how/where to hang dry those things. To be honest, I’m not sure where you’d even attach a clothesline to, but that’s the only consideration I’d make. :) Otherwise, Cozy Campers did a phenomenal job making sure it was as comfortable as can be!
Also, I’m not sure if you saw, but I have a whole Iceland playlist that you might find helpful, specifically this video on the Cozy Camper rental itself: ruclips.net/video/pHWx9DHMODE/видео.html
@@akfasso This is great info! Thank you so much. And once again your videos are helpful and have a great balance to them. I read some of your blog too. Be safe and keep on keeping on!
Hey I really enjoyed your vid! I have a question about booking the camp sites online. Is there wifi or cell reception at the sites? Or do you use a hot spot? I imagine cell reception or Internet is spotty out there. Thanks!
Hey there! Thanks! We purchased a personal hotspot from our campervan company and used that the entire trip, so unfortunately, I can’t speak to how good the service was at each campground. In general, though, I’d recommend a hot spot, because the further you get from Reykjavík, the more remote it gets. I can’t imagine there being good cell reception in some of those more obscure campgrounds in the north and east.
Hello 👋 We will take a trip in the spring with our Campervan, we will go to the campsites you mentioned in the video but I would like to know where you rented the Airbnb, I found they are very nice and cozy and we would like to go there too. Can you please write me where they are and what are their names please? Thanks in advance. Lots of love 💕 Anna
hi! great video, thanks :-) we are planing a similar trip end of march and will probably stay at most of the sites you showed in the video (Hamragardar, Skaftafell, Modrudalur, Illugastadir)... we can't find anything about "camping illugastadir" though. of course it is on the map, but i can't find any contact information. did you contact someone before arrival? :-)
Thank you for watching! I hope you have a great trip. :) To answer your question, we did not contact anyone before arriving at the Illugastadir campground. We had money to pay for our one-night stay, but could not find anywhere to deposit it other than a small coin box for the bathroom facilities. We knocked on a few nearby houses and no answer. We did not see a single person the entire night! Honestly, it was one of my favorite places to stay during our trip. It was a long, unpaved road to get there, but the remoteness and views were well worth it! Please pop by after your trip! I'd love to hear about your experience.
@@akfasso sorry different profile, same person 😉 i will for sure make a video. probably not such a nice documentary than yours, but for sure a travel video. subscribe to see it (wink 😁). yeah illugastadir looks fantastic. will try the same than you then. maybe this time the sheep accept the money 😁 Modrudalur looks fantastic too. i contacted them to check if one of the cabins is available. they offer all sorts of accomodation, but still its a bit confusing how it really works. i hope they clarify a bit by emailing 😀 we won't have a 4x4 campervan. i asked the rental company two times if i need one and both times they said "naaaaaah, you are 100% ok with a normal van". i like their honesty. for sure a 4x4 would "feel safer"...
Just subscribed! I look forward to your videos! A 4x4 is definitely safer in the winter. We pretty much experienced a blizzard the first day. Ring Road is nearly 100% paved, but it’s the weather you need to watch out for. As for the campervan... I think that’s a personal choice. We loved the flexibility of cooking on the road and having a guaranteed comfy place to sleep every night :)
@@akfasso thanks! i can not "heart" your comment, so here is your heart: ♥ 😁 our rough itenary is something like: Gulfoss(campground nearby), Hamragardar, Skaftafell, Vestrahorn(trying to camp in front of the "viking cafe", i hope thats open, they dont answer), Modrudalur (looong driving day, meh), Myvatn (very short driving day, yay), Illugastadir (again bit long), Reykjavik. still finetuning here. and i know we need to stay "flexible" because of the weather... looking forward to your next videos. thanks for the infos!
I love it!!! Definitely on my to do list.. Although trying to get my wife away from the tropics for a winter camping vacation would prove to be the hardest thing ever. Creating world peace my be easier for me. You guys are great!
I look forward to the world peace then! ;) This may sound crazy, but I was actually drawing a lot of comparisons to Hawaii while we were in Iceland. From the unimaginable landscapes (although covered in snow) to the significance of nature in their culture... Iceland may be more familiar to you guys than you initially think.
hi i am planning to take Iceland in four sections ie south west and west with west fjods and north and ease and south east.what was the cost for camper van and stay in camp sites apart from food.thanks
this video is what I'm looking for! thanks for the very informative video! planning for a trip same time next year. just have a few questions. 1. is it really required to sleep on a campsite? I was thinking because if you are going with a campervan which has almost everything, the purpose of the campsite is only for the toilet and showers. can we just pay for those instead of the whole fee to save some money? 2. do the campsites accept cash? for how many hours can you stay for the fee that they charge? what if a campsite is closed?
Thanks so much for watching and I'm glad you found it helpful! I'm also secretly jealous that you are in the planning stages... I'm eager to go back! To answer your questions: 1) Yes. As of 2015, it is illegal in Iceland for you to camp anywhere other than designated campsites unless you have gained explicit permission from a private property owner. So, unfortunately, you can not just pull over anywhere and park for the night. 2) Campsites do accept cash, but Iceland is more about the credit cards, so using cash is a lot less common (though, still accepted). There did not appear to be any rules regarding the number of hours we could stay for the fee we paid. It seemed like most places were pretty flexible as long as you did not stay overnight again without paying. As for closed campsites, we encountered a few. One campsite had a sign telling us to pay through their website and another campsite had a small deposit box to drop change in. Both of those campsites, though closed, left their bathroom facilities partially open.
@@akfasso You should go back! This summer perhaps? If in case we push through, it'll be our first time and we are so eager to see the northern lights as well! I'm glad that you highlighted that campsites have different ways of booking so we'll look deeper into that since we need to plan carefully. We don't want to go to a closed campsite in the middle of the night! Do you suggest any website that has all those campsites?
Renz Pineda last year, the Happy Campers website had a winter camping map that they claim they personally update each year. I can’t find the link at the moment, but if you browse the website, I’m sure you can find it. I also just posted a new video today that has a clip of the map I made with last years winter campgrounds that were open. I wouldn’t study it too closely, because I’m sure it changes every year, but hopefully it can give you a loose idea of availability.
Hi! The Golden Circle was fairly easy to do as a day trip. In fact, there are a lot of tours that leave Reykjavík for just a single day experience around the circle. For us, we were in our campervan and our first stop was to the visitor center where we obtained a map and decided what things we really wanted to see. We could have squeezed in everything, but we wanted to take our time, so we prioritized Strokkur Geysir and Gulfoss. We did not see Kerid or the Thingvellir area (where the two plates of the earth separate) mostly because we did not completely close the Golden Circle loop and return back to where we started - instead we exited at a location that allowed us to begin our larger Ring Road adventure. Hope that makes sense! I would recommend 5-6 hours around the Golden Circle to budget for sightseeing, relaxing and enjoying the open road.
@@akfasso thank you very much! We are looking forward and at the same time, scared because I know the wind gusts in Iceland is worse than here in Norway. But I guess i have an idea how bad it can get, but again, it's just an "idea" 🤣. I'm so excited for this trip!
Hi, super info, well authored, very helpful! I'll be going in April 2020 with my son, starting to plan now. Four Qs: 1. When were you there in April, beginning or end? 2. How busy was the ring road and the sights? I want to specifically go when it's less busy... 3. Did u rent a 4x4? 4. What program did u use for the animated map overviews? Thanks!
Thanks for watching and I’m excited to hear you are planning a trip! 1. We were there the first week of April. 2. Ring Road was not busy at all. There were tourists, but not an overwhelming amount. After we passed the town of Vik, there were very few tourists. 3. Yes. Our campervan (from Cozy Campers) was a 4-wheel drive vehicle. 4. I built the animations using Adobe After Effects.
View a MAP of my complete itinerary and recommendations here (100+ pinned spots!): www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=3TQNMR4MVES5Y
Hi there, really nice video about my tiny island!
April is really the best time to travel Iceland if you want to experience it in winter. Although most would call it spring, that just doesnt come along until mid may here up north. In april, you are still likely to have plenty of snow, especially in the highlands, you are getting ever increasing daylight and the weather, although still a bit unpredictable, a lot more manageable than the preceeding winter months.
Most campgrounds close or greatly reduce their service level over the winter months. Only a handful have active service over the winter months. Most campgrounds open in the middle of may and close mid to late september. If you want to experience the summer season, then the weather is likely to be best from early july to middle of august.
If your campground is lacking a shower, just look for the nearest swimming pool. Much more fun to relax in a hot tub looking at the sun going down and then shower in their facilities and then head to the campground for some grub and stargazing.
Hope you will return for a summer experience here. Recommend renting a 4x4 Suv capable of travelling the highlands. Make sure to talk with your rental car company about the use of a rental car on a F-road. It will open up so much more for you during the summer months. Just remember to stay on the trails on your car. Offroad driving is illegal and highly damaging to the soil. It is very fragile because of very short summers.
andrifsig thank you so much for watching and sharing all of that info about your tiny island! It was a wonderful trip and I DO hope to be back again soon for a summer adventure! :) Thanks again for the tips! I’m sure a lot of people will find them very useful.
@@akfasso no problem. You just gained a subscriber so I am hoping for more videos and especially a summer video in iceland...😁
andrifsig that means a lot! Thank you. :) I‘ll definitely reach out to you before my next Iceland trip.
I watched this video more than 10 times and booked some of the same campsites and travelled there in winter!! Words can't explain the experience...thank you!!
So glad you had a great time! I love hearing when people try out some of the spots I’ve visited. :) Can’t wait to go back!
The best campsite I experienced was Svinafell. Gorgeous views and extremely clean.
I was stationed in Keflvik in 1983 for 12 months. In the summer we took a two week Camping trip all around the island. We ended it at the Summer Fest on the Vessmann islands. We had a wonderful time.
That sounds lovely!
I was just searching camp area for iceland in April. We are thinking also rent a campervan but we couldnt sure that the winter time is good for campervan or not. but after watch this definetely we will go. This video has great details and information. Thank you, very helpful.
Glad the video helped! April was a lovely time of year to travel there. I hope you have a great trip. :)
Thank you for the video! We are going to Iceland in June/July and we got a Cozy Camper 😅
Have a great time!
This is a terrific video!
Thanks! Assuming you are planning a trip to Iceland? Have a great time!
@@akfasso thank you! Yes! A return trip but have not been to the east and your video was tremendously helpful in choosing Skaftafell Campsite! We will absolutely be going there. Thank you x1000!
Are you planning a camping trip in Iceland? Do you have any follow-up questions? I'm happy to answer!
Unsure. I don’t know what regulations are in place for that, but I did not see any barrels at campgrounds or observe any other campers having fires.
I am planning to Winter camp in 2 weeks, March 2020. Our second trip, but first in Winter.
Im planning to rent a Cozy Camper for 21 days around Iceland in October, how did you all like your camper van? Im planning to rent the "Cozy 2" so a little smaller & not 4x4 like the one you all were in.
Andrea, we absolutely loved our Cozy Camper! It was the perfect size for just the two of us and was very well built - outlets where you needed them, dishware available and any add-ons you might like (we added a bbq, WiFi, and folding chairs). More importantly, the people who work at Cozy Campers were so genuine and friendly. They really cared what we thought about our experience. I really appreciated that and look forward to hopefully renting from them again! I hope you have an amazing trip! Let me know what you thought of the Cozy 2.
How long did you spend on your trip ?
Thank you for the wonderful series. It is really informative. Just curious, theses campsites need campervan with ability for F-Road?
No. All of these campsites were right off of Ring Road, so no 4x4 was required EXCEPT for the last campsite. I can’t recall if that was an official F-road, but it was not paved.
Great info, deserved a sub!
Really appreciate it! And please check back in after your trip! Would love to hear what has changed.
This is perfect!! We are planning a trip to Iceland next April and we're planning on traveling via camper van. Maybe it was in the video but I missed it, did you need a 4x4 van or were the roads good enough that time of year for 2wd? Thanks!
Thanks for watching and I hope you have a great time! The only reason I would recommend going for a 4x4 in April is because you can still get caught up in a snow storm at that time of the year (which we did)! Ring Road itself is 99% paved, but it’s really the weather that you have to watch out for. Also, some of these campground were off the beaten path and definitely required a little bit of off-roading to get to. Let me know if you have any more questions! Can’t wait to hear about your trip.
what amazing views!!!!
I can’t wait for you to go!! Ugh... one of the most beautiful places in the world.
@@akfasso I am SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!! ( look at al those exclamations points!)
Hello. First of all, what a great video. I love that you share all the details that matter. I want to ask, what's needed to deal with the weather? I'm not used to cold in my country (portugal) so some tips would be great. Also, is the camper heated at night? Or just a sleeping bag is enough?
Hi! Thanks for the compliment. I’m glad you found the video helpful. :) To deal with the cold weather, you first need to consider a vehicle that does well in snow. It’s not NECESSARY to have 4-wheel-drive, but it was comforting to know I had it if I needed it. Next, clothing: I’d suggest layers. I usually had on a winter jacket, warm hat, sweater and teeshirt. If I was warm, I could remove a layer. It’s always better to bundle up than not be prepared enough (in my opinion). Lastly, the camper was heated throughout the night. I made another video all about the camper itself, so be sure to give that a look. Most importantly, have fun!
Great video and really helpful. My wife and I are planning a trip in October but my wife wanted to know if you ever got cold at night in the campervan? Did you do anything extra at night because of the cold?
Never felt cold in the campervan! The heater was super warm and stayed on all night, so we were perfectly comfortable. Have fun!
@@akfasso awesome!! Thank you!!
Hello Ashley, thank you for your beautiful footage & useful content. I've only now discovered it. I'm planning a trip in October. Finding campground details was not easy. It was great Finding yours. Questions, how much actual Islandic cash did you take? Where did you get it? Did your credit card pin work like for gas? I travel to Europe a fair amount & quite frequently my card pins don't work. Not a good situation with an attendant free fueling station. Really appreciate your content. Best Always.....Bob
Hi Bob! Great questions! I took very little Icelandic cash (maybe the equivalent to $200 USD). Iceland really promotes credit card usage over cash, so you can pay for just about everything that way. As for gas stations, it’s been a couple of years, but I do remember having trouble with my pin specifically at the gas stations. I can’t recall how I successfully paid, but yes… there was something wonky with pins at gas stations. Sorry I can’t be more helpful on that front!
@@akfasso Hello & thank you for getting back to me Ashley. I really appreciate the feedback. You reinforced my concerns about our credit card pins. US pins are hit & miss abroad. Mostly miss. I'll get a prepaid Islandic gas card upon arrival with enough for emergency use. Your content has been very helpful! Thank you!!! Best....Bob
Hi, I know your video is a couple of years old, but let me tell you, soooo helpful.
We are heading out in the Cozy Camper in a couple of weeks here, basically the same time frame you guys went. Would you suggest packing food to save on some money and or packing a jetboil? I was thinking some dry goods that would be in a checked bag? And what extras would you have brought for comforts in the van?
Thanks!
Happy to help! I’m so excited for your trip. I hope you love it. In regards to food, we added on (for a small fee) the portable stove top from Cozy Campers and used it multiple times a day. The fridge in the van is small, but I do recommend stocking it as much as you can especially if you are doing Ring Road. There’s not a whole lot of restaurants along large sections of that drive, so it’s great to be able to cook up a meal of your own. We stopped at a Bonus (grocery store) in Reykjavík before we left and stocked up again at a supermarket in Egilsstaðir (east Iceland). You can get dry goods at these places as well, which I recommend. You don’t want to be cooking every meal. We pretty much had breakfast/lunch with dry goods and then cooked dinners.
As far as extra comforts in the van - the only thing that really comes to mind is maybe some sort of clothes line. If you swim in any hot pots or trek through snow, you’ll have some wet clothes. I could never really figure out how/where to hang dry those things. To be honest, I’m not sure where you’d even attach a clothesline to, but that’s the only consideration I’d make. :) Otherwise, Cozy Campers did a phenomenal job making sure it was as comfortable as can be!
Also, I’m not sure if you saw, but I have a whole Iceland playlist that you might find helpful, specifically this video on the Cozy Camper rental itself: ruclips.net/video/pHWx9DHMODE/видео.html
@@akfasso This is great info! Thank you so much. And once again your videos are helpful and have a great balance to them. I read some of your blog too.
Be safe and keep on keeping on!
@@akfasso I've watched them like 10 times! 😉
Hey I really enjoyed your vid! I have a question about booking the camp sites online. Is there wifi or cell reception at the sites? Or do you use a hot spot? I imagine cell reception or Internet is spotty out there. Thanks!
Hey there! Thanks! We purchased a personal hotspot from our campervan company and used that the entire trip, so unfortunately, I can’t speak to how good the service was at each campground. In general, though, I’d recommend a hot spot, because the further you get from Reykjavík, the more remote it gets. I can’t imagine there being good cell reception in some of those more obscure campgrounds in the north and east.
Hello 👋
We will take a trip in the spring with our Campervan, we will go to the campsites you mentioned in the video but I would like to know where you rented the Airbnb, I found they are very nice and cozy and we would like to go there too.
Can you please write me where they are and what are their names please?
Thanks in advance.
Lots of love 💕
Anna
Have a great trip! Here’s the info for the AirBnbs:
Bragdavellir Cottages: abnb.me/zEvaWMLj5ub
Second Airbnb: abnb.me/rExkprSj5ub
hi! great video, thanks :-)
we are planing a similar trip end of march and will probably stay at most of the sites you showed in the video (Hamragardar, Skaftafell, Modrudalur, Illugastadir)...
we can't find anything about "camping illugastadir" though. of course it is on the map, but i can't find any contact information. did you contact someone before arrival? :-)
Thank you for watching! I hope you have a great trip. :) To answer your question, we did not contact anyone before arriving at the Illugastadir campground. We had money to pay for our one-night stay, but could not find anywhere to deposit it other than a small coin box for the bathroom facilities. We knocked on a few nearby houses and no answer. We did not see a single person the entire night! Honestly, it was one of my favorite places to stay during our trip. It was a long, unpaved road to get there, but the remoteness and views were well worth it! Please pop by after your trip! I'd love to hear about your experience.
@@akfasso sorry different profile, same person 😉 i will for sure make a video. probably not such a nice documentary than yours, but for sure a travel video. subscribe to see it (wink 😁).
yeah illugastadir looks fantastic. will try the same than you then. maybe this time the sheep accept the money 😁
Modrudalur looks fantastic too. i contacted them to check if one of the cabins is available. they offer all sorts of accomodation, but still its a bit confusing how it really works. i hope they clarify a bit by emailing 😀
we won't have a 4x4 campervan. i asked the rental company two times if i need one and both times they said "naaaaaah, you are 100% ok with a normal van". i like their honesty. for sure a 4x4 would "feel safer"...
Just subscribed! I look forward to your videos! A 4x4 is definitely safer in the winter. We pretty much experienced a blizzard the first day. Ring Road is nearly 100% paved, but it’s the weather you need to watch out for. As for the campervan... I think that’s a personal choice. We loved the flexibility of cooking on the road and having a guaranteed comfy place to sleep every night :)
@@akfasso thanks! i can not "heart" your comment, so here is your heart: ♥ 😁
our rough itenary is something like: Gulfoss(campground nearby), Hamragardar, Skaftafell, Vestrahorn(trying to camp in front of the "viking cafe", i hope thats open, they dont answer), Modrudalur (looong driving day, meh), Myvatn (very short driving day, yay), Illugastadir (again bit long), Reykjavik. still finetuning here. and i know we need to stay "flexible" because of the weather...
looking forward to your next videos. thanks for the infos!
I love it!!! Definitely on my to do list.. Although trying to get my wife away from the tropics for a winter camping vacation would prove to be the hardest thing ever. Creating world peace my be easier for me. You guys are great!
I look forward to the world peace then! ;) This may sound crazy, but I was actually drawing a lot of comparisons to Hawaii while we were in Iceland. From the unimaginable landscapes (although covered in snow) to the significance of nature in their culture... Iceland may be more familiar to you guys than you initially think.
hi i am planning to take Iceland in four sections ie south west and west with west fjods and north and ease and south east.what was the cost for camper van and stay in camp sites apart from food.thanks
Hi , if the other campsite is closed we can park there for the night but we cant use facilities right?
this video is what I'm looking for! thanks for the very informative video! planning for a trip same time next year. just have a few questions.
1. is it really required to sleep on a campsite? I was thinking because if you are going with a campervan which has almost everything, the purpose of the campsite is only for the toilet and showers. can we just pay for those instead of the whole fee to save some money?
2. do the campsites accept cash? for how many hours can you stay for the fee that they charge? what if a campsite is closed?
Thanks so much for watching and I'm glad you found it helpful! I'm also secretly jealous that you are in the planning stages... I'm eager to go back! To answer your questions:
1) Yes. As of 2015, it is illegal in Iceland for you to camp anywhere other than designated campsites unless you have gained explicit permission from a private property owner. So, unfortunately, you can not just pull over anywhere and park for the night.
2) Campsites do accept cash, but Iceland is more about the credit cards, so using cash is a lot less common (though, still accepted). There did not appear to be any rules regarding the number of hours we could stay for the fee we paid. It seemed like most places were pretty flexible as long as you did not stay overnight again without paying. As for closed campsites, we encountered a few. One campsite had a sign telling us to pay through their website and another campsite had a small deposit box to drop change in. Both of those campsites, though closed, left their bathroom facilities partially open.
@@akfasso
You should go back! This summer perhaps? If in case we push through, it'll be our first time and we are so eager to see the northern lights as well! I'm glad that you highlighted that campsites have different ways of booking so we'll look deeper into that since we need to plan carefully. We don't want to go to a closed campsite in the middle of the night! Do you suggest any website that has all those campsites?
@@akfasso also, need to consider toilets and bathrooms 😅
Renz Pineda last year, the Happy Campers website had a winter camping map that they claim they personally update each year. I can’t find the link at the moment, but if you browse the website, I’m sure you can find it. I also just posted a new video today that has a clip of the map I made with last years winter campgrounds that were open. I wouldn’t study it too closely, because I’m sure it changes every year, but hopefully it can give you a loose idea of availability.
@@akfasso thank you for the tip! To be honest you've done so much already since there is little info about the campsites in youtube
Hi! We are going to iceland next month! I am wondering how did you squeeze the golden circle trip in just a day? Tips? Thank you very much.
Hi! The Golden Circle was fairly easy to do as a day trip. In fact, there are a lot of tours that leave Reykjavík for just a single day experience around the circle. For us, we were in our campervan and our first stop was to the visitor center where we obtained a map and decided what things we really wanted to see. We could have squeezed in everything, but we wanted to take our time, so we prioritized Strokkur Geysir and Gulfoss. We did not see Kerid or the Thingvellir area (where the two plates of the earth separate) mostly because we did not completely close the Golden Circle loop and return back to where we started - instead we exited at a location that allowed us to begin our larger Ring Road adventure. Hope that makes sense! I would recommend 5-6 hours around the Golden Circle to budget for sightseeing, relaxing and enjoying the open road.
@@akfasso thank you very much! We are looking forward and at the same time, scared because I know the wind gusts in Iceland is worse than here in Norway. But I guess i have an idea how bad it can get, but again, it's just an "idea" 🤣.
I'm so excited for this trip!
Ma. Aileen Amoto have a great time! The wind can be strong, but it’s nothing that stopped us!
Should i book campgrounds in advance?
It wasn’t entirely necessary during the winter, but I would recommend it for the summer.
I want to know how you charge your camera battery. Where to go when you need to charge your batteries once you reach your campsite?
We charged everything off of our campervan.
How much the campervan cost you ?
Did you go early or late April?
The first week of April.
Hi, super info, well authored, very helpful! I'll be going in April 2020 with my son, starting to plan now. Four Qs:
1. When were you there in April, beginning or end?
2. How busy was the ring road and the sights? I want to specifically go when it's less busy...
3. Did u rent a 4x4?
4. What program did u use for the animated map overviews?
Thanks!
Thanks for watching and I’m excited to hear you are planning a trip!
1. We were there the first week of April.
2. Ring Road was not busy at all. There were tourists, but not an overwhelming amount. After we passed the town of Vik, there were very few tourists.
3. Yes. Our campervan (from Cozy Campers) was a 4-wheel drive vehicle.
4. I built the animations using Adobe After Effects.
What kind of clothing would be acceptable to climb into that waterfall?
Waterproof footwear and rain jacket/pants. It didn’t look terribly deep at all, but water was splashing everywhere.
The best campsite I experienced was Svinafell. Gorgeous views and extremely clean.