Iceland Nomads: The Ultimate Road Trip Around Iceland

👉 I highly recommend checking out this road trip – it’s one of the most incredible trips I’ve ever done!

What is Iceland Nomads?

Iceland Nomads is a 7-day road trip around Iceland in a rooftop tent.

The trip is run by Travelbase, who take care of almost everything for you: the car, rooftop tent, sleeping bags, all your camping gear, a fully curated itinerary, and bookings for seven nights of campsites around the country.

You can also choose to add one of three unforgettable experiences to your trip: snorkelling in Silfra, whale watching in Húsavík, or riding Icelandic horses. 

Plus, they can also provide you with a full food pack for the week, so you won’t even have to worry about buying groceries!

If you’re looking for an affordable way to experience Iceland and see so many of the most incredible spots, Iceland Nomads is a brilliant option. 

The trip costs between €690 and €780 per person, depending on your chosen date, and runs during the peak summer season, from June 9th to September 19th.

Considering this is Iceland’s busiest (and most expensive) time of year, it’s seriously great value.

The only extras you’ll need to budget for are your flights, fuel, parking fees, and entry to some attractions. That’s it — the rest is all taken care of.

👉 If you love adventure, you’ll have the best time on this road trip!

Day-by-Day Itinerary Overview

So, let me give you a little rundown of what we got up to each day. We travelled from Saturday to the following Sunday. Day 1 was our arrival day, and Day 8 was when we handed the car back.

Travelbase trips last 1 week, so we stayed an extra day (the Sunday), but organised this ourselves and stayed in Reykjavik.

There is honestly so much to see in Iceland that even if we repeated this exact same route again, we’d discover totally different places. So if you’re worried about running out of things to do… trust me, you won’t!

Day 1 – Arrival & Start of the Adventure

On day one, we flew into Keflavik Airport. Iceland Nomads offers a paid shuttle bus to the base camp where you collect your car and gear, but it only runs once a day, at 3pm.

Since our flight landed at 9am, we decided to make our own way there.

Getting there was actually pretty straightforward using local buses. We did have about a 15-minute walk at the end, but nothing too difficult.

You can check in from 2pm, so we passed the time by wandering around the area and grabbing a drink at a nearby café.

If your flight also arrives early and you’re looking to make the most of the day, this is the perfect time to visit the Blue Lagoon.

It’s only about 20 minutes from the airport, and soaking in the geothermal waters is a fantastic way to kick off your trip before picking up the car.

Once we arrived at the Iceland Nomads base camp, we saw a line of rooftop tent cars waiting to be collected! That’s when the excitement really started to kick in!

The Travelbase team were super welcoming and walked us through everything: how to set up and pack down the tent, how to use all the camping gear, and how to follow the road book (which was super detailed).

We also picked up our food pack for the week.

From there, we hit the road and began our adventure by heading straight into Iceland’s famous Golden Circle, which is home to some of the country’s most iconic sights.

It was the perfect way to start the trip!

👉 We highly recommend this road trip – it’s one of the most incredible road trips I’ve ever done!

Days 2 to 7 – The Route Around the Island

The next 5 days blended into a whirlwind of incredible sights and scenery. 

After the Golden Circle, we drove down along the southern coast. We stopped at Iceland’s most famous waterfalls, exploring black sand beaches, and even spotting puffins in the wild – a definite highlight!

On Day 3, we pushed further east, past Iceland’s biggest glacier.

We explored more waterfalls, hiked through dramatic canyons, and visited Diamond Beach, littered with huge glittering icebergs.

Day 4 took us along the quieter and more remote east coast as we headed north.

We stopped at the towering Hengifoss waterfall, saw the surreal basalt columns at Stuðlagil Canyon, and visited Dettifoss, the most powerful waterfall in Europe.

Days 5-7

On day 5, we were in the north. We visited the area around Lake Myvatn, exploring caves, geothermal hot pots, ancient lava fields, and volcanic craters. 

We saw geothermal hot pots, eerie lava fields, volcanic craters, and caves. The colours here are insane, and it felt like exploring another planet.

Day 6 was one of my favourite days on the entire trip. We drove into the Icelandic Highlands to visit Kerlingarfjöll, and I completely fell in love with the area.

The colours, the rugged beauty, and the sheer scale of the mountains and geothermal valleys were just next-level.

Day 7 was our final day exploring before we headed back to base camp. We wrapped things up with one last epic hike to one of Iceland’s tallest waterfalls, before making our way back to base camp. 

It was the perfect way to end an adventure that left us feeling both incredibly happy and wanting more.

👉 The Iceland Nomads Road Trip is the perfect way to see the best of Iceland in just 7 days!

Day 8 – Hand Back the Car and Return to Keflavik

As with any car rental, the final day started with returning the car. But, there are a few extra steps to know about with Iceland Nomads. First, you’ll need to remove all your belongings and top up the fuel tank before heading back to base camp.

You’re also required to clean the car inside and out before returning it. Luckily, Travelbase provides the location of a free self-service car wash, complete with brushes and hoses. It’s simple and quick to use. 

There is a paid cleaning option available, but it’s very expensive, so we recommend doing it yourself – it only took us about 20 minutes.

Once the car is clean, you’ll return to the base camp. This is where you’ll spend your final night, and it’s pretty cool to see all the nomads’ tents lined up in a row.

When it comes to checking out, you have two options:

• Check out the night before after 8pm, which is ideal if you have a super early flight.
  
• Or check out in the morning before 10am, which works well if your flight is later in the day.

Even if you check the car out the night before, you can still sleep in the tent that night, so you won’t have to book an extra hotel room if you choose this option.

The team at Travelbase will do a quick inspection of the vehicle, checking for any damage, confirming the fuel level, and making sure all the camping equipment is accounted for.

After check-out, you’ve got a couple of options. Travelbase offers a shuttle service back to the airport, but, as with the drop off, it only runs once per day, this time at 3:00 AM  – which is perfect for early flights.

Our flight was at 10:30 AM the following day. We decided to stay an extra day to explore Reykjavik, which was another great thing about booking through Travelbase – they give you the flexibility to do this.

So, we opted to make our own way back to the city centre using public transport. And just like that, our Iceland Nomads road trip was at an end!

Our Accommodation and Campsites

Travelling by rooftop tent was one of the parts of the Iceland Nomads trip I was most excited about – and honestly, a little nervous too!

Every other time we’ve visited Iceland, we stayed in hotels. This was our first time exploring the country in a camper setup.

My biggest concern was the cold. Icelandic weather, even in summer, can be unpredictable, wet, windy, and downright chilly at times. I worried about freezing overnight in a tent, but as it turns out, I didn’t need to stress.

There were several times in the tent that I was actually too hot and ended up unzipping my sleeping bag.

Travelbase provides thick, warm sleeping bags, and we brought our own thermal sleeping bag liners. I also wore fleece pyjamas and brought my hot water bottle with me.

There was only one night, at a rather windy campsite in the north, when I felt a bit chilly at first, but I warmed up quickly once we were settled in.

The tent set-up

The tent itself was much more comfortable than I expected. The mattress was soft, there was plenty of space for two people, and the sleeping setup felt genuinely snug. 

In fact, our only challenge with camping was the wind. Iceland is famously windy, and we definitely felt it.

Trying to cook on the hob was occasionally problematic, and there were many times when the wind blew our gas out even though we’d brought a wind guard from home.

Also, if you’re camping on a windy night, you’ll need to park into the wind or you’ll feel the tent rocking. 

The campsites

As for the campsites, they were fantastic, but a few definitely stood out.

Campsite 2 was surrounded by absolutely stunning scenery and is one of the most beautiful places I’ve stayed in Iceland. 

Our third campsite had the best facilities, with a full indoor kitchen area, hobs, a kettle, a toaster, and plenty of seating. Campsite 4 had gorgeous ocean views, and campsite 5 had its own hot springs!

The variety and uniqueness of each campsite really added to the experience. Waking up somewhere new each day, often in the middle of nature, was one of the things we loved most about this trip.

It was unlike any way we’ve ever travelled in Iceland before.

👉 We highly recommend this road trip – it’s one of the most incredible road trips I’ve ever done!

Overall…

This 7-day road trip around Iceland with Travelbase was hands-down one of the most unforgettable travel experiences I’ve ever had. The beauty of Iceland’s landscapes is just incredible. 

What made it even more special was the simplicity of it all – just us and the roof tent. We saw so much of Iceland in the 7 days that we had, explored some stunning scenery, and everything was conveniently mapped out for us.

If you’re looking for a super fun and affordable way to explore Iceland, without the stress of planning, I can’t recommend this trip with Travelbase enough.

So, if Iceland is on your bucket list (and it should be), this is your sign to make it happen.

👉 Planning on spending some time in Reykjavik too? Here are my favourite things to do in Iceland’s capital.

This post is sponsored by Travelbase. All opinions are my own.

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