The first thing I learned about renting a campervan in Iceland is that the country is bigger than it looks on a map. The second is that the weather will not wait for you to be ready. And the third is that wild camping — the romantic image most of us have of pulling over by a fjord and sleeping wherever — is actually illegal here.
We booked our trip three months out, watched every Ring Road YouTube video we could find, and still arrived in Reykjavík completely unprepared for half of what the country threw at us. Some of it was good unprepared (the night the northern lights went off over Lake Mývatn and we sprinted out of the van in T-shirts). Some of it was the kind of unprepared that costs you money or wastes a day.
These are the eight lessons that, in hindsight, I'd hand to anyone planning a first Iceland campervan trip — plus the practical details on how we chose our vehicle, where we picked it up, and what it actually cost.
Iceland Campervan Trip in Numbers
Before the lessons, a few baseline numbers we wished we'd had in front of us before we started planning:
- The Ring Road is 1,332 kilometres (828 miles).
- A 7-day Ring Road loop covers the highlights; 10 days is comfortable; 14 days lets you add the Westfjords.
- Fuel costs around $1.80–$2.20 per litre. The full loop burns through $250–$350.
- Campsites cost $15–$25 per person per night.
- Wild camping in vehicles has been illegal in Iceland since 2015.
- Iceland has more than 170 registered campsites, listed on the Tjalda app.
- The Highlands are accessible only between mid-June and mid-September, and only by 4x4.
- The recommended booking window for a summer trip is four to six months in advance.
1. Distances on the map are lying to you
Reykjavík to Akureyri is 388 km — a five-hour drive on a single-lane road that bends around fjords and crests passes where the wind tries to push you sideways. Add weather and a coffee stop, and that's six.
Iceland looks small on a screen. The Ring Road is 1,332 km, and most first-time visitors try to do it in too few days. We did it in eight and it was tight. If you want to actually stop at the things you'll see in your photos later, ten days is the realistic minimum.
2. The vehicle choice matters more than you think
There are three main categories of campervan rental in Iceland: two-berth conversions for couples, four-berth family vans with full kitchens, and 4x4 campers with rooftop tents built for the Highlands.
I went into this assuming “campervan” was one category. It isn't. The two-berth shoebox conversions are cheap and basic but fine for couples in summer. Four-berth vans give you a proper kitchen and sometimes a small toilet. The 4x4 setups, often with a rooftop tent on top of a Land Cruiser or similar, are what you need if the Highlands are on the itinerary.
We almost went with the cheapest option until a friend who'd been the year before told us we'd regret it the first cold morning. He was right. After comparing operators, we ended up booking through Campervan Iceland, which had both the 2WD camper we needed for the Ring Road and the 4x4-with-rooftop option we'll be back for next year. The price gap between a basic 2WD and a properly insulated camper isn't enormous, and on day three at a windy campsite in the east, you'll know exactly which one was the right call.
3. Highland access needs planning (and the right wheels)
Iceland's interior — known as the Highlands — is closed to two-wheel-drive vehicles. The roads in are designated F-roads, unpaved, often involving unbridged river crossings, and legally restricted to 4x4.
Your rental insurance is void the moment you drive a 2WD camper onto an F-road, even by accident. If your itinerary includes Landmannalaugar, Þórsmörk, or Askja, you need a proper 4x4 camper — ideally with a rooftop tent setup so you can sleep up there legally on designated sites. The rooftop tent option matters more than it sounds: in the Highlands, dedicated camping shelters are rare, and a 4x4 with a roof tent gives you both ground clearance for the F-roads and a place to sleep where a regular van couldn't even reach the trailhead.
There's also the river-crossing question. Crossings on F-roads are usually unbridged, water levels change with the weather and the time of day (early morning is always lower), and you need a vehicle high enough to make it through without flooding the engine. The rental company should brief you on what's safe for your specific vehicle. If you don't feel confident at a particular crossing, take the long way round — turning back is always an option, and there's no shame in it.
We didn't do the Highlands on our first trip. We wished we had. We'll be back for them with the right vehicle.
4. Icelandic weather is not negotiable
Iceland's average summer temperature is 10–13°C (50–55°F), with wind speeds frequently above 30 km/h even in July.
You will check the forecast. The forecast will lie. Specifically, the forecast will be technically accurate but won't tell you about the wind. It's always windy in Iceland. In July. In the south. Always.
Pack a real waterproof jacket and trousers, not a “water-resistant” version that gives up in twenty minutes. Pack base layers in wool or synthetics — cotton is useless once wet. And budget at least one day of your trip for “weather we can't drive in”, because that day will come, and you'll be glad you didn't have a non-refundable booking waiting for you.
5. Wild camping is illegal, and the campsite system is actually great
Since 2015, sleeping in a vehicle anywhere except a designated campsite has been against the law in Iceland under the Nature Conservation Act.
We didn't fully realise this until we were already in the country and a local explained it. The good news: Iceland has more than 170 registered campsites, most are clearly marked on the Tjalda app, they cost $15–$25 per person per night, and almost all of them have hot showers.
Don't try to be clever and find a “quiet pull-off” for the night. There's a real fine if a ranger finds you, and rangers do drive around.
6. Food and fuel cost more than you think
A sit-down meal outside Reykjavík averages $40–$60 per person. Supermarket groceries at Bónus or Krónan are significantly cheaper than restaurant food and around 20% cheaper than convenience stores along the Ring Road.
We budgeted for hotel-style food costs and were genuinely shocked at how much we spent in the first three days. The fix: shop at Bónus or Krónan in Reykjavík before you leave the capital, stock the van fridge properly, and cook most meals on board.
Fuel costs around $1.80–$2.20 per litre, and a full Ring Road loop in a mid-size camper burns through roughly $250–$350. The bonus we hadn't expected: our rental came with unlimited mileage, so we weren't watching the odometer the way we would have with a regular car rental that capped daily kilometres.
7. F-roads will void your insurance — and you can hit one without realising
F-roads void rental insurance on 2WD vehicles in Iceland. Gravel protection and sand-and-ash protection are standard add-ons recommended for any Iceland rental.
The first time we saw an F-road sign, we knew to turn around. The second time, we almost didn't notice — the road just looked like any other gravel track. There's no warning beyond a small “F-something” road number sign at the entrance. If your insurance is for a 2WD vehicle and you drive through, your coverage is gone. The rental company will know. Modern campers have GPS data, and yes, they check.
Our base insurance was already included in the rental price, which we appreciated — some companies charge it as a mandatory add-on at the desk, which always feels like a bait-and-switch. On top of that we added gravel and sand-and-ash protection for around $15 a day extra. Neither is optional in real terms, both are cheap to add, and the alternative is an extremely expensive surprise.
8. Book earlier than feels reasonable
For a summer Iceland campervan trip, the recommended booking window is four to six months in advance. Campervan inventory fills faster than hotel rooms or flights because the supply is much smaller.
We booked our flights three months out and assumed that was plenty. It wasn't. By the time we tried to add specific campsite reservations (some of the popular ones in the south require advance booking in July), several were full. The Inside the Volcano tour at Þríhnúkagígur was fully booked for our dates. The Katla ice cave tours were limited.
For a summer trip, four to six months ahead is the comfortable booking window — flights, vehicle, popular tours, and a few key campsites. After that you're improvising, and Iceland is not a country that rewards improvisation in July.
How We Chose Our Campervan
A note on how we ended up where we ended up. After looking at maybe a dozen options across booking sites, we narrowed it down to three operators and went with Campervan Iceland for a few specific reasons.
Local company with track record. Campervan Iceland is an Icelandic company that has been arranging campervan rentals in Iceland since 2013 — more than ten years of operation locally. That mattered to us because we'd read enough horror stories about international booking platforms that disappear when something goes wrong. A company with a real Icelandic presence and a decade-plus of local experience felt safer.
Keflavík airport pickup. We landed at 11 pm and the last thing we wanted was a shuttle into Reykjavík. Pickup is at Keflavík International Airport, which saved us a tired evening of logistics.
Fleet range. Campervan Iceland handles both 2WD campers for Ring Road trips like ours and 4x4 setups with rooftop tents for the Highlands — which is what we'll be back for. Knowing both options were available through the same company made it easy to compare across categories on the same booking platform instead of jumping between different operators' websites.
The details that turned out to matter. Unlimited mileage was included — some operators cap you at 250 km per day, which is laughable in Iceland where any decent day is over 300. Insurance was included in the base price, not bundled as a surprise add-on at the counter. And customer service was available in English and Spanish, which made the pre-booking back-and-forth easier than we expected (we had a Spanish-speaking friend in our group of four who handled some of the conversation in his preferred language).
Quick Reference: Questions We Wish We'd Asked Earlier
Do you need a 4x4 to drive the Ring Road in Iceland? No. The Ring Road is fully paved and a 2WD camper handles it without issue in summer. You need a 4x4 only if you plan to enter the Highlands via F-roads (Landmannalaugar, Þórsmörk, Askja, and similar locations).
How much does a campervan rental cost in Iceland? A basic 2WD camper rents for around $80–$130 per day in high season (June–August). A 4x4 with rooftop tent runs $180–$280 per day. Local operators typically include insurance in the base price; international resellers sometimes don't.
When is the best time for an Iceland campervan trip? Mid-June to mid-September is the full window — the Highlands are open, weather is most stable, and daylight is at its longest. May and late September are quieter and cheaper but with shorter days and partial Highland closures.
Is wild camping allowed in Iceland? No. Sleeping in a vehicle outside designated campsites has been illegal since 2015 under the Nature Conservation Act. Iceland has more than 170 registered campsites; sites cost $15–$25 per person per night.
How far in advance should you book a campervan in Iceland? For a summer trip, four to six months in advance is the recommended booking window. Vehicles fill faster than flights or hotels because the supply is much smaller — particularly the 4x4 fleet, which is limited and often gone first.
Where do most Iceland campervan rentals pick up? Most are either at Keflavík International Airport directly or at depots in Reykjavík with a shuttle from the airport. Airport pickup is faster for late or early flights; Reykjavík depots are sometimes cheaper but add an hour to your arrival day.
Would I do it again?
Yes. We already have the second trip booked — this time in a 4x4 with a rooftop tent, through Campervan Iceland again, for the Highlands we didn't reach the first time round. There's something about a country where the geography is still being made that pulls you back. The campervan was the right call, the lessons were worth learning the hard way, and the parts of the trip we did well — the slow days at remote campsites, the unscripted detours, the morning we found ourselves alone at Diamond Beach at 6 AM — were exactly the parts that needed a van to happen.
Pack better than you think you need to. Book earlier than feels reasonable. Pick the right vehicle for what you actually want to see. The rest takes care of itself.