North Iceland and the Diamond Circle in 5 days

The north is the part of Iceland where the arithmetic favours the aeroplane. Akureyri is 380 km from Reykjavík on Route 1 — about 4 h 45 min each way at legal speeds — and 45 minutes by the Icelandair domestic flight, which leaves several times a day from the city airport (check the schedule; the frequency changes with the season). With five days, flying turns two driving days into two days at the lake and the harbour. The ledger then comes to about 360 km and 5 hours at the wheel across the whole trip, an hour a day. It is a route for a party of two to four who want the north without the Ring Road, and it is one of the few ledgers on this site that still works in February, because everything in it except the northern half of Route 862 is paved and ploughed.

The arithmetic: Route 1 segments from the Icelandic Wikipedia article for the drive alternative; the Diamond Circle legs routed over OpenStreetMap with OSRM; 80 km/h on paved road and 60 on gravel, rounded to five; flight at the scheduled block time. Stops on top.

#Day 1 — Reykjavík to Akureyri by air, 45 minutes

The domestic airport is in the city, not at Keflavík; an international arrival the same day needs the 50 km Route 41 transfer and an hour of margin. The flight is a turboprop over the highlands, and on a clear day the left-hand side sees Langjökull and Hofsjökull. Akureyri airport is 3 km from the centre; collect the car there. The town has the big supermarket, fuel and the pool with the slides, and nothing else on the day's ledger.

The drive alternative, for the record: 380 km on Route 1 by the Wikipedia segment count (66 to Borgarnes, 89 to Staðarskáli, 80 to Blönduós, 51 to Varmahlíð, 94 to Akureyri), 4 h 45 min at legal speeds, two passes, and the same again on Day 5. It is the choice when the car has to start and finish at Keflavík without a one-way fee, and it turns this into a seven-day trip.

#Day 2 — Akureyri to Mývatn, 120 km

Route 1 east through the Vaðlaheiði tunnel (toll, paid online within 24 hours of passing) to Goðafoss at the Bárðardalur junction, 36 km, half an hour on either bank. Then 49 km to the lake. The ledger counts the 36 km loop around Mývatn on Routes 848 and 1 — Skútustaðagígar, Dimmuborgir, the view from Vindbelgjarfjall if the legs allow — and Hverir, the steaming ground below Námafjall 8 km east of Reykjahlíð. The geothermal baths above the lake are a neutral mention; they are there, they charge, and the ledger does not rely on them. Reykjahlíð has fuel and a shop; fill up here for Day 3.

#Day 3 — Mývatn to Húsavík by Dettifoss and Ásbyrgi, 150 km

The Diamond Circle proper. Route 1 east for 25 km, then Route 862 north across the lava for 24 km to the Dettifoss car park on the west bank — paved since 2011 — with the fall 15 minutes' walk away and Selfoss a further 15 upstream. The northern part of Route 862 to Ásbyrgi has been rebuilt in stages; its surface on the day is on umferdin.is, and in winter it is the one section of this ledger that may be closed, in which case Dettifoss is an out-and-back from Route 1 and Ásbyrgi is reached from Húsavík on Route 85 the next morning. Ásbyrgi is the horseshoe cliff with the visitor centre at its mouth and a flat path to the pond at the head. Route 85 then runs west along the coast past Tjörnes to Húsavík, 63 km. Nothing sells fuel between Reykjahlíð and Húsavík.

#Day 4 — Húsavík to Akureyri, 77 km

A morning on the harbour. Húsavík is the whale-watching port; boats leave from the quay in front of the wooden church, several companies run them, and none is recommended here. Route 85 south and Route 1 west to Akureyri is an hour. With the day spare, Siglufjörður at the end of Tröllaskagi is a 157 km return through the Héðinsfjörður tunnels, with the herring museum on the harbour; the ledger leaves it out so the fourth day stays short.

#Day 5 — Akureyri to Reykjavík by air, 45 minutes

Return the car at the airport and fly. A same-day international departure from Keflavík needs the 50 km Route 41 transfer and a connection that Icelandair's own tickets through-book; separate tickets need three hours between landing and check-in.

#What it costs

Fuel: 360 km at 7.5 l/100 km is 27 litres, priced at the dated figure on the Iceland country page — the smallest fuel line of any ledger on the site. The flight is the fare that replaces it: Icelandair publishes it with the booking date and it is not quoted here. Accommodation: four nights in the mid band across three towns; Reykjahlíð has the fewest beds and books out first in July. Food: supermarkets in Akureyri, Reykjahlíð and Húsavík. Fees that exist: the Vaðlaheiði tunnel toll, the pools, the baths if used, the museum at Siglufjörður if added; no car-park charges were found on this route at the time of checking.

#What goes wrong

The flight, in winter: Akureyri's approach is between mountains and the domestic schedule is the first thing cancelled in a northerly gale, so a February trip wants a day of slack on either side. The northern Route 862, in winter, as above. The lake, in summer: the midges that gave Mývatn its name are thick on still days in June and July, and a head net is the whole solution. Safetravel.is's twelve tips apply; the one for this ledger is "no stopping in the middle or on the side of the road for photos", because Route 862 across the lava invites it.

#Variations

Three days: fly in, drive the Diamond Circle in a single 230 km day from Akureyri with one night at Mývatn, fly out. Seven days: drive both ways from Keflavík and add Siglufjörður and a night in Hvammstangi. Ten: the Ring Road, which passes through this ledger's Day 2 and Day 3 in the other direction.

#Sources

Route 1 distance to Akureyri: Icelandic Wikipedia's Route 1 article, segment lengths. Diamond Circle legs: OSRM over OpenStreetMap, computed 1 November 2026. Route 862 and 864 surfaces: English Wikipedia (Dettifoss). Flights: Icelandair schedule, check at booking. Speed limits: Ísland.is. Driving rules: safetravel.is. Road status: umferdin.is. Ledger checked 1 November 2026.