think that it was a land covered in ice and discourage others from making the trip to Iceland. Other<\/div>\n
than that, we knew fairly little and we soon discovered that even our initial assumption was wrong.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.rent.is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/new-years-trip-to-iceland.jpg\" "\\"A")
<\/a>We picked up our camper van<\/a> on New Year\u2019s Eve. It had been warmed up for us and we were glad to get into the campervan and hit the road to Reykjavik. It was more luxurious than we had expected or in comparison to any of the vans we had travelled in before. Although the back only consisted of a bed and an excellent heater, we were more than happy to rough-it for the next 10 days. Arriving in Reykjavik, we look up at the sky and the first thing we get to witness is the Northern Lights. We would spend the rest of our 10 days hunting for them only to learn that sometimes they are there but you only see them as a green glow in the sky. That postcard image everyone thinks about when they think of Northern lights is definitely not the only way to experience this amazing phenomenon.<\/div>\n
<\/a>We picked up our camper van<\/a> on New Year\u2019s Eve. It had been warmed up for us and we were glad to get into the campervan and hit the road to Reykjavik. It was more luxurious than we had expected or in comparison to any of the vans we had travelled in before. Although the back only consisted of a bed and an excellent heater, we were more than happy to rough-it for the next 10 days. Arriving in Reykjavik, we look up at the sky and the first thing we get to witness is the Northern Lights. We would spend the rest of our 10 days hunting for them only to learn that sometimes they are there but you only see them as a green glow in the sky. That postcard image everyone thinks about when they think of Northern lights is definitely not the only way to experience this amazing phenomenon.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
New Year\u2019s Day consisted of a hunt for a breakfast and then a hunt for a supermarket. Not much is open on the 1st of January but it was lovely exploring Reykjavik early in the morning before everyone else woke from the previous night\u2019s celebrations. All the while we were itching to get on the road. We decided to head North. The driving conditions were constantly changing. The saying really is true: if you don\u2019t like the weather in Iceland, wait 10 minutes and it\u2019ll be completely different.<\/div>\n
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Iceland is a country that surprised us the whole way around the ring road<\/a>. ![\"Winter](\"https:\/\/www.rent.is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/camping-along-the-ring-road-in-winter.jpg\")
<\/a>We understood that travelling so far north in winter would mean few daylight hours but it still took us a couple of days to get used to the lack of light. The only plan we had made was to travel the full ring road in 10 days. Everything we had read made us assume that we would have plenty of time. By day 3 we weren\u2019t so sure.<\/div>\n
<\/a>We understood that travelling so far north in winter would mean few daylight hours but it still took us a couple of days to get used to the lack of light. The only plan we had made was to travel the full ring road in 10 days. Everything we had read made us assume that we would have plenty of time. By day 3 we weren\u2019t so sure.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Day 3 in the van was tough. We both struggled with the lack of light and felt that we hadn\u2019t seen anything other than either side of the ring road and the inside of the van. It was a little discouraging. The lack of light wasn\u2019t the only struggle. Cooking in such cold conditions is a serious challenge (and it wasn\u2019t even as cold as it normally is this time of year). We learned the hard way that gas bottles don\u2019t work well when the outside temperature is below zero. Standing with your hands wrapped around a freezing gas canister really isn\u2019t the ideal way to cook. But you do what you must to eat or have a cup of coffee.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n![\"Wintercamping](\"https:\/\/www.rent.is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/camping-in-akureyri-during-winter.jpg\" "\\"Wintercamping")
<\/a>It being winter, nearly every campground is closed. So in Akureyri we decided to make use of the swimming pool<\/a> so we could have a shower and just get out of the van for a while. The pools are all outside which is an odd concept when it\u2019s around 0 degrees, but they are all heated and it feels amazing getting into the warm water when it\u2019s so cold outside.<\/div>\n
<\/a>It being winter, nearly every campground is closed. So in Akureyri we decided to make use of the swimming pool<\/a> so we could have a shower and just get out of the van for a while. The pools are all outside which is an odd concept when it\u2019s around 0 degrees, but they are all heated and it feels amazing getting into the warm water when it\u2019s so cold outside.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Read more<\/strong>: Campsites in Iceland<\/a><\/div>\n
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Everything is clean and you are expected to shower thoroughly before getting in the water. May seem kind of strange at first but when you think about it it\u2019s hygienic and a nice thought that we are all clean before jumping into a communal pool. The pool in Akureyri was one of many that we visited along the way. It\u2019s a great way to hang with the locals and soak away any of the day\u2019s worries.<\/div>\n
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On day 4 everything changed for us. We pulled into the town of Egilssta\u00f0ir. Needing to refill our jerry<\/div>\n
can we found it hard to find a tap. All we wanted was to fill our water and find a solution to our<\/div>\n
inability to make real coffee in the van. The lack of coffee was soon remedied with a simple filter<\/div>\n
coffee kit. We left the kit in the van and hope that other travellers will get much use out of it.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n![\"Wintercamping](\"https:\/\/www.rent.is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wintercamping-in-egilstadir.jpg\" "\\"Wintercamping")
<\/a>Now we had coffee, we needed water… In Egilssta\u00f0ir there is a campground, which although closed in winter, have all their facilities open for use with an honesty box. We have never been more grateful. We could fill up our water, charge our phones and sit inside a warm common area while we ate our lunch and drank our first home brew coffee. We felt recharged and ready to tackle the rest of the ringroad!<\/div>\n
<\/a>Now we had coffee, we needed water… In Egilssta\u00f0ir there is a campground, which although closed in winter, have all their facilities open for use with an honesty box. We have never been more grateful. We could fill up our water, charge our phones and sit inside a warm common area while we ate our lunch and drank our first home brew coffee. We felt recharged and ready to tackle the rest of the ringroad!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
We needed a plan. Iceland was more expensive than we had anticipated so we needed to prioritise. It quickly came down to a list of 3 must-do tours (along with many other free things): ice cave tour, Silfra snorkel, and the Blue lagoon.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n![\"Snorkeling](\"https:\/\/www.rent.is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/silfra-snorkel-tour.jpg\" "\\"Snorkeling")
<\/a>The ice cave tour and the Silfra snorkel tour were spectacular and we were grateful that we managed to do both last minute. The blue lagoon was a different story. We had this planned for our last day but little did we know that it would be booked out.<\/div>\n
<\/a>The ice cave tour and the Silfra snorkel tour were spectacular and we were grateful that we managed to do both last minute. The blue lagoon was a different story. We had this planned for our last day but little did we know that it would be booked out.<\/div>\n![\"Hot](\"https:\/\/www.rent.is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Hot-Springs-Travel-Guide-300x101.jpg\" "\\"Hot")
<\/a>\u00a0![\"South](\"https:\/\/www.rent.is\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/South-Iceland-Travel-Guide-300x101.jpg\" "\\"South")
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