Car Camping In Iceland For First Timers
I’ve been wanting to take a campervan road trip for a couple years now. Once I had finally set my sights on going to Iceland, I figured why not drive the entire Ring Road in a campervan?
We spent quite a bit of time looking at different websites and many many blogs to weigh out the pros and cons of each company, but ultimately we decided on Soulstice. They had a bunch of great reviews online, their vans are pretty discreet (no huge branding on the side) and they were a bit cheaper than other companies during off season. It was a fairly simple process — you book online, get a confirmation with details and pick up your car from the parking lot in the bus terminal in Reykjavik (car keys are in a lock with a pin code) After your trip, you drop the campervan off at the same parking lot.
I won’t delve in to deep in regards to different companies and prices and best bang for buck, but here are a couple tips to make campervan-ing in Iceland smoother.
1. Buy travel insurance/buy gravel insurance.
You never know when your GPS will make you take a wrong turn onto a dirt or bad gravel road that damages the car. That way you’re covered if you accidentally… drive into a water trench, much like another couple that we saw. Also that way you’re covered if halfway through your trip you start asking yourself, “Did we have a missing hub cap to start with?”
Take pictures of the car before and after to cover your ass in case they charge you for something you didn’t damage.
2. Find the size that fits you. If you don’t have a lot of stuff, a Ford Transit Connect will be just fine. Different companies will have different builds inside so take a look at what fits you.
Ours did not have a built in kitchen. The whole backside was a bed, raised up for storage underneath. It fit one small carry on, our 35/40L backpacks, and the cooking equipment + utensils + table + camping chairs the rental provided. (They also provided bedsheets, blankets, sleeping bags, and a cooler)
3.Figure out a really good organization system early on.
Some vans have some more drawers and organizational features built-in into the car, but Soulstice was a bit more bare in that sense. We would constantly lose small things in the back underneath our sleeping bags and spend extra time trying to reorganize or find our crap. Wallets and keys often got lost, much to my annoyance.
Also, do spend the extra 10/15 minutes in the morning to get the campervan organized again. You never know if you’ll be getting to your campground late and a messy van will make setup more difficult.
We kept our shoes either in the back corner (pictured below) or on the sides of the car right behind the sliding door. No messy muddy beds for us!
We also brought along Luminoodle Color Light Rope (the one with magnets) and put them up on our van for lighting. No headlamps needed!
4. Figure out how to use the parking heat timer before it’s dark and cold.
Learned that the hard way. Learn how to use the GPS tablet the company gives you as well. We actually never figured this out, and used our phones instead with the wifi hotspot they provided us.
On that note, test out all the equipment given to you by the rental company before you embark on your adventure. We ended up having to contact Soulstice to get a replacement inverter the first night.
5. Plan out a few meals in advance.
If you’re traveling outside of summer time, try to think of a few options that are easy and quick to make in the morning or at night when it is cold. (This is not going to be a big deal if you rent a car with a built in indoor kitchen) Some campgrounds will have cooking facilities, though it may be outdoors.
6. Plan out campgrounds in advance
Take this map and add it as a layer on your google mymap in addition to all that you’ve pinned. We generally had an idea of which campground we wanted to hit by the end of the day, but had a couple backup plans just in case and always referred to this map. It has a lot of information about the campgrounds, such as the cost, what facilities they have, and pictures.
Not really a tip, but a warning? Watch out for reindeer in South Iceland.
The Verdict: would I do it again?
Yes. I think I’d branch out and try a different company, even though my experience with Soulstice was pretty positive. My only gripe is that they didn’t have instructions on how to use anything, and that the sliding doors had a hard time shutting. If you pull slightly too softly, it doesn’t close. But if you pull just a bit too hard, it bounces and doesn’t close anyway.
All in all, the slight comforts you give up are worth what you gain in return. We weren’t bound by any schedule except for the one airbnb we had in the middle of our trip and the 2 tours we had around Vik. Every morning, it was really easy to just “get up and go” and not have to worry about packing everything all over again just to unpack it again at another hotel in 10 hours.
We got to slow down and enjoy the ride, and the views we woke up to every morning were pretty spectacular.
I’ll be honest — if I was all nice and cozy in a hotel or AirBnb room, I probably would be more reluctant to leave that warmth to go outside to look for the Northern Lights.
Our campervan in all her glory, with her missing hub cap.
First time campervan experience: 9/10
https://www.solsticecampers.is/
I’ll be back for you, Iceland. It’s a true wanderlust paradise for landscape photographers.