Iceland Ring Road Drive Times, Leg by Leg

How we checked: Google Maps on a computer, signed out, driving, “Leave now”, in the early morning of 5 November 2026 Iceland time, so these are clear-road estimates. Traffic, roadworks, weather and stops will add to them. Iceland’s road authority, Vegagerðin, gives Route 1’s length as 1,309.70 km since July 2026, after a new section near Höfn shortened it.¹ Many guides still say 1,322 or 1,332 km.

Drive times, leg by leg

Counter-clockwise from Reykjavík. Each line is the fastest route Google Maps offered, except the East Fjords leg, where we also forced Route 1.

The 16 hr 56 min total uses the Route 1 line for the East Fjords; the airport run is not included.

Three side trips we checked the same morning, one way only (we did not time the drives back): Reykjavík to Gullfoss by way of Þingvellir and Geysir, the Golden Circle, was 1 hr 44 min and 117 km; Borgarnes to Arnarstapi on the Snæfellsnes peninsula was 1 hr 34 min and 119 km; Reykjavík straight to Akureyri, if you only want the north, was 4 hr 50 min and 388 km.

To rebuild any of these with your own stops, add them in order; our multiple stops guide shows how, including the 10-stop limit. Adding a stop is also how you keep Google Maps on the road you mean, as the East Fjords leg shows.

The East Fjords shortcut Google Maps picks

From Höfn to Egilsstaðir, Google Maps’ fastest route labelled itself “via Hringvegur/Route 1”, but the line on the map leaves the coast at the head of Berufjörður and climbs inland to road 95. That is the line of road 939 over Öxi, and it is about 70 km shorter than Route 1 through the fjords.

Vegagerðin describes the Öxi road (Axarvegur, 939) as narrow, winding and steep gravel, with a 20% gradient on one stretch, and closed in the snowiest months.² Route 1 has run through the fjords via Reyðarfjörður since November 2017, when it was moved off the old inland road over Breiðdalsheiði (now road 95).³

In summer, in good weather, Öxi saves about 35 minutes. Outside summer, or in a small rental car, take Route 1: add a stop such as Fáskrúðsfjörður or Reyðarfjörður so Google Maps stays on it, and check umferdin.is for road 939 before you even consider it.

A 7-day plan

Driving time per day, from the legs above. Stops for photos, food and fuel come on top, so plan the day around the driving, not the other way round. November days are short, and a long leg plus stops can finish in the dark.

1. Day 1: Keflavík Airport → Reykjavík, 42 min. Pick up the car, sleep in the city.
2. Day 2: Reykjavík → Vík, 2 hr 29 min.
3. Day 3: Vík → Jökulsárlón → Höfn, 3 hr 10 min.
4. Day 4: Höfn → Egilsstaðir on Route 1, 3 hr 21 min (2 hr 47 min over Öxi, summer only).
5. Day 5: Egilsstaðir → Mývatn → Akureyri, 3 hr 6 min.
6. Day 6: Akureyri → Borgarnes, 3 hr 46 min.
7. Day 7: Borgarnes → Reykjavík, 1 hr 4 min, then 42 min to the airport.

This works in summer. In winter it leaves no room for a closed road: day 2 crosses Hellisheiði, day 5 the Möðrudalsöræfi plateau, and day 6 Öxnadalsheiði and Holtavörðuheiði, all high, open ground that can close in a storm while the lowlands stay open.³

A 10-day plan

The same loop with three extra days where people most often wish they had them:

• Golden Circle day from Reykjavík before the south coast: 1 hr 44 min out to Gullfoss, plus the drive back or on to the south coast.
• A second night at Mývatn or Akureyri, so day 5 becomes two easy days.
• Snæfellsnes from Borgarnes: 1 hr 34 min one way to Arnarstapi, then on toward Reykjavík the next day.

In winter, keep one of those days unbooked as a weather day instead.

The 2026 tolls Google Maps flags

Google Maps showed “This route has tolls” on two legs. Neither has a booth; you pay online.

Hornafjörður (near Höfn). A new stretch of Route 1 opened in June 2026, and tolls started on 1 September 2026: 1,500 ISK for a single trip in a car under 3.5 tonnes. Cameras read the plate.⁴ In a rental car, pay at spolur.is within 24 hours of driving through; after that the rental company is charged and may add its own service fee.⁵ Google Maps also offered a route via road 987, 12 minutes longer, but that old road gets winter service only five days a week, not on Tuesdays or Saturdays.⁵

Vaðlaheiðargöng (tunnel east of Akureyri). 2,216 ISK one way for a car under 3.5 tonnes, prices valid from 2 March 2026. Pay at veggjald.is or tunnel.is from 24 hours before to 24 hours after you drive through.⁶ The route over Víkurskarð skips the tunnel: 1 hr 17 min instead of 1 hr 6 min when we checked. It crosses a mountain pass, so in winter check umferdin.is before choosing it over the tunnel.

The Hvalfjörður tunnel north of Reykjavík used to charge; that toll ended in 2018, so ignore guides that still list it.⁷ To drive without tolls, Google Maps has Options → Avoid tolls; our avoid tolls, highways and ferries guide explains what it changes and why to check the road it picks instead.

Before you drive: the official checks

• Road conditions: umferdin.is, Vegagerðin’s live map, always has the latest; the 1777 phone line is open 06:30 to 22:00.⁸ Check the evening before and the morning of each driving day. Google Maps does not always know a road is closed, and SafeTravel tells drivers not to rely on it through a closure.⁹
• Weather and warnings: safetravel.is, where you can also leave a travel plan with ICE-SAR, Iceland’s search and rescue association.¹⁰ For weather along a specific route, our weather along a driving route guide shows how to check each stretch.
• Emergency: 112. The 112 Iceland app can send your location and open a text chat with the emergency line.¹¹
• Offline maps: signal is patchy away from towns. Download the island before you leave the city; our offline maps guide covers how and what still works without data.

Rules that catch visitors

• Drive on the right. Seatbelts in every seat, and the alcohol limit is 0.2‰, so in practice don’t drink and drive.⁹
• Speed limits: 90 km/h on paved roads outside towns, 80 km/h on gravel, 50 km/h in towns, unless signs say otherwise.¹²
• Headlights on, front and rear, whenever you drive, all year. Many cars’ automatic daytime lights leave the rear lights off, so switch the headlights on yourself.¹³
• Single-lane bridges: Route 1 still has 26 of them out of 229 bridges.¹⁴ They are signed 50 km/h; the car closer to the bridge has priority, but slow down and watch what the other driver does.⁹
• Sheep on the road are normal outside towns.⁹
• No off-road driving, anywhere. It is banned under Iceland’s nature conservation law.¹⁵
• Studded tyres are allowed from 1 November to 14 April; outside those dates only when conditions require them.¹⁶ Several guides say 15 April; the regulation’s ban starts on the 15th.
• F-roads (highland roads) close in winter and are not part of the Ring Road.¹

Plan the whole trip in Google Maps

For saving the stops, sharing the plan and keeping an offline copy, our road trip planning guide walks through the full set-up. The times above give you the skeleton; the official road map on the day decides the rest.