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Iceland's Ring Road

Facts verified 2026-08-03Updated 2026-08-03Driving

Route 1 — the legs with real distances, today's road status, and what fuel costs right now.

Route 1 curving through the ochre geothermal ground below Námafjall in north-east Iceland, with a volcanic crater on the horizon.
Route 1 below Námafjall, north-east Iceland. Photo by Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Short answer

The Ring Road is Route 1, the single paved road that makes a complete loop around Iceland — roughly 1,300 km, though published figures disagree. It is paved the whole way and needs no 4x4; the highland F-roads that do are a separate network. Most of Iceland's best-known sights sit on it or within a short detour, which is why the loop is the default shape of an Iceland road trip.

Right now: Reported open, 76 stretches reported. See which stretches →

The loop, leg by leg

Distances below come from our own road-authority route data. Two legs carry no number: we do not hold a sourced figure for the east fjords or the north-east run, and a guessed distance on a road trip is worse than no distance at all.

  1. Reykjavík → Vík — 186 km, ~2.5 h
    Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss and Reynisfjara all sit on this leg. The stretch under Eyjafjöll is one of the windiest roads in Iceland.
  2. Vík → Jökulsárlón — 184 km, ~2–2.5 h
    Derived: Jökulsárlón is 370 km from Reykjavík, Vík is 186. Sand plains, then the glacier tongues.
  3. Jökulsárlón → Egilsstaðir — distance not held
    The east fjords. We do not hold a road-authority figure for this leg, so we do not print one.
  4. Egilsstaðir → Akureyri — distance not held
    Across the north-east, past Mývatn and Námafjall — the view in the photograph above. No sourced figure held.
  5. Akureyri → Reykjavík — 388 km, ~5 h
    The north-west run home over Öxnadalsheiði and Holtavörðuheiði — the two passes that close first in winter.

Fuel on the loop, today

The cheapest petrol in Iceland right now is 232.3 ISK/L at Costco Iceland Kauptún. Prices move daily and rise away from the capital area, so the cheap fill is the one you take before a long empty leg, not on it. All 247 stations, live →

Cars & campers

−12%exclusive discountFree cancellationKEF airport pickup 24/74.8
Dacia Duster 4x4
SUV

Dacia Duster 4x4

Cheapest real 4WD in the fleet — gravel, the Westfjords and easy summer F-roads without truck prices.

TransmissionManual
FuelPetrol/diesel
Seats5
Drive4WD
From
5,355 kr6,300 kr/day
Reserve −12%
VW Caravelle
9-seater

VW Caravelle

Whole family or friend group in one car — gear in the back, room to stretch.

TransmissionAutomatic
FuelDiesel
Seats9
Drive2WD
From
12,750 kr15,000 kr/day
Reserve −12%
Key Camper Wild Duo
Camper

Key Camper Wild Duo

Sleep right by the trailhead, wake up at the falls — F-road ready from mid-June.

TransmissionManual
FuelPetrol
Sleeps2
Drive4WD
From
5,304 kr6,240 kr/day
Reserve −12%

Ring Road — questions people actually ask

Do you need a 4x4 for the Ring Road?
No. Route 1 is paved for its entire loop and a 2WD car drives it in summer without difficulty. A 4x4 only becomes necessary if you leave Route 1 for the F-roads into the highlands, which are a different road category with their own opening dates. In winter the question is tyres and weather, not drive type.
Which way round should you drive the Ring Road?
Either direction works and neither is faster. Clockwise (south coast first) front-loads the busiest sights — Seljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, Reynisfjara, Jökulsárlón — which suits a short trip. Anticlockwise puts them at the end and gives you quieter roads first.
Is the Ring Road open all year?
It is maintained year round, but individual stretches close in winter storms — most often the mountain passes in the north-west. That is a live question, not a general one: our Ring Road status page reads the road authority feed directly and tells you which stretches are closed right now.
How much does fuel cost around the Ring Road?
Prices move daily and vary by station, which is why this page shows today’s cheapest rather than an average that ages badly. Fuel is generally dearer away from the capital area, so filling up before a long empty leg — particularly the east fjords and the north-east — costs less than filling up on it.
How long is Iceland’s Ring Road?
About 1,300 km, though published figures disagree by roughly 20 km depending on how the route is measured. Our duration guide sets out the competing numbers and works through how many days the loop actually takes rather than picking one figure and asserting it.

Hero photograph: Route 1 below Námafjall by Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Road status: Vegagerðin. Fuel prices: gasvaktin.is. Distances: our own route data.

Iceland nowfrom 19 Sep 06:10
8°C · overcastWind 2 m/sRing Road (R1) openAurora Kp 2.67Daylight 07:02 – 19:39Webcams