Affordable Accommodations for Your Iceland Road Trip Adventure

This post will review 7 Iceland accommodations around the Ring Road and Golden Circle.

We booked our Iceland trip in two weeks. Leaving it this late was not planned and was a last-minute push because we had been hemming and hawing about it all summer. Should we go? When should we go? Ugh! Finally, we just bit the bullet and booked flights without even looking or thinking about hotel availability. Thankfully, Iceland has many reasonably priced accommodations without staying in a hostel.

We planned to drive around the Ring Road, going north first and saving the more accessible part, The Golden Circle, for the end of our trip. Remember that we arrived late and left early from most of the hotels. You can access the full itinerary blog here.

Clicking on a hotel name will take you to a booking site, where you can get more details on each location and check current pricing and availability. 

Hotel Halond – Akureyri

We arrived at our first hotel, and it was dark outside, and it was a little hard to find our unit. It’s like several rows of one-story flats, each with an entrance from the patio and inside the building. Once we found our unit number, we proceeded to the front door of the building for self-check-in. How does this work, you may ask? Well, it’s so much easier than we all thought. The hotel sends an email with simple instructions, including the building and room numbers. You enter the same code to enter the building and your room.

The hotel room had a nice-sized bed and a pull-out couch, a coffee maker, a mini fridge, and a nice shower. It also had a large communal kitchen area with tables and chairs, a microwave, a kettle, and a large refrigerator. Toaster?

We had 2 rooms across the hall from each other.

I could’ve stayed a week at this hotel and explored the nearby mountains and city of Akureyi.

As we continued around the Ring Road, we would stop at the Lake Myvatn area, Skutustadagigar craters and Dimmuborgir lava structures, Namaskard Geothermal Area, Dettifoss Waterfall, and Studlagil Canyon on our way to our next hotel.

How to Explore Iceland’s Spectacular Golden Circle and Ring Road in 8 Days

Framtid Apartments – Djupivogur

After this long day of driving and exploring all the amazing sights, I prayed that this hotel would be up to par. I was pleasantly surprised (again). One bedroom, large living room with a pull-out couch, lovely dining room table, and gorgeous kitchen. A washing machine was available for use, a comfortable bed and a BATHTUB! Of course, I took advantage of the bathtub and soaked for a good half an hour. All 3 of us stayed in this apartment, which was more than enough. Our apartment had a gorgeous view of the harbor, and I could’ve stayed to explore the area for longer.

The following day, we checked out and headed to our next destinations. Diamond Beach and Glacier Lagoon, then onto Vik for a Katla Ice Cave Tour, and ended our day on Reynisfjara Beach.

Edinborg Guesthouse

We arrived late, as usual, and it was a self-check-in situation. We received an email from the property with check-in instructions.

We had 2 rooms in what appeared to be an old house. The rooms were very basic, but a good night’s rest was all I needed. Although I’ve never stayed in a hostel, this may be the closest thing to one I’ve stayed in.

The best part is the location and proximity to our next destination, Skógafoss Waterfall.

We were the first to arrive at Skógafoss Waterfall and were so glad we could experience it without the crowds that would soon arrive.

We spent the day exploring different waterfalls: Kvernufoss Waterfall (gorge waterfall), Seljalandsfoss Waterfall (with access to a cave behind the falls), and Gljúfrabúi Waterfall (hidden in a gorge/cliffs).

Minniborgir Cottages – Minni-Borg, Selfoss

After another full day of exploring and driving, we arrived at our next accommodation, a cute two-bedroom cottage with a hot tub on the patio. Each room had a double bed under a single bunk bed. The bathroom was fine, and the living and kitchen areas were very spacious. Unfortunately, because it was a cottage, they did not include coffee, but they did have a kettle.

We woke up early before checking out and headed to a crater down the road, intending to return to the cottage to check out after being at the crater. The crater was so beautiful, and once again, we were pretty much the only people there. Perfection! After walking around the rim of the crater and down inside the crater, we headed back to the cottage to check out.

Everything went well checking out as we headed out to our next sights and adventures for the day.

Reykjadalur Guesthouse – Hveragerdi

As we got closer to Reykjavik, there were more hotel choices and restaurants available. We arrived at the Reykjadalur Guesthouse after dark. We were given a code to get into the building and a code for the key lock box on our room door through an email from the guesthouse.

This room was so nice! It was clean, had a nice large shower, a kettle with coffee available, and had 2 large windows that you could open for fresh air. Don’t let the outside fool you, the rooms are so nice!

Today, I opted out of my group’s adventure: snorkeling in freezing water. This gave me time to explore and meet up with a friend for coffee. I just love how things like this work out.

Checking out of the room was easy. All you had to do was put the key back in the lockbox. So, it should’ve been easy, but I just couldn’t get it! I saw a woman working there who did not speak English, but I managed to communicate that I couldn’t open the lock box for the key. She took the key and gestured everything was okay.

I left and then started to worry. Did she really work there? Had I just given a key to some random person? I decided to call the guesthouse’s phone number and explain what had happened. The woman on the phone was so friendly and assured me everything was okay, and the woman did work there.

This is one of the few places we had stayed where you could walk to cafes, parks, and restaurants. I went for a coffee at the Greenhouse Hotel and enjoyed lounging for a while. Then, I explored a few streets of the town, passing an interesting park and swimming pool for locals.

The guys met me at the Greenhouse Hotel, and we had a nice lunch before heading on our way. The restaurant was like an indoor food truck area with various food choices.  

Today, we had a tight schedule. We had a helicopter ride and then had to be at our next hotel by 6:00. It was a tight schedule, but we managed to get there with 10 minutes to spare. Whew!

Midhraun Lava Resort – Western Region

We had originally booked an apartment for the first night and a cottage for the second night, which meant that we would be changing rooms (again). Fortunately, they were nice enough to let us stay in the cottage for two nights. When you’ve been switching hotels every day, staying somewhere two nights in a row is such a treat!

The hotel offered a communal hot tub for an extra fee, which we opted out of because we just couldn’t be bothered. The cottage had two bedrooms, a large kitchen and living area, and a nice shower.

We checked in at 6:00, so we had an early night. It was great to get in bed before 9:00 and get a full night’s rest.

We got up early the next day to head to our next adventure. It was a cold and rainy day. We headed to the Rauofeldsgja Gorge in the pouring rain, stopped for a lovely buffet breakfast, went to the beach, showed up for a lava cave tour, and got to join the next group going down into the caves. Hey, it got us out of the rain!

It was a cool cave because it hadn’t been Disneyfied. Is that a word? What I mean is that it was still very natural. There was no smooth path, no fancy lighting, just very natural.

We found a grocery store and picked up our dinner to cool back at the cottage. Did I mention that Iceland is very expensive? We tried to save where we could.

We had an incredible breakfast at the hotel the following morning and took our time. There was little on the agenda for our last day in Iceland.

Hotel 201 – Kópavogur (near Reykjavik)

We headed out to Reykjavik, found our hotel, and were able to check in early. The woman at the front desk was so helpful in offering advice about Reykjavik.

The room was lovely, had a nice shower, and was clean.

We had planned to take a bus into the city, but apparently, it would cost more for three people to get there and back than it would to drive and park. We took their advice, drove into the city, and found free parking near the harbor. Win!

We explored Reykjavík, visiting souvenir shops, walking on Rainbow Street up to the incredible church, having a couple of soups, and relaxing.

We still had one more thing to do in Iceland: visit a lagoon. We were able to book the Blue Lagoon for 6:00 and I can’t recommend it enough.

You can read more about that experience here.

After the lagoon, we returned to the hotel for our last sleep before leaving this amazing country. Our room had a lovely shower and a comfy bed. I slept like a baby.

The hotel had a breakfast buffet, which we enjoyed as best we could before heading to the airport.

In my years of travel, I’ve stayed in some questionable places, but I have to say that each place in Iceland was charming, comfortable, and surprisingly affordable.

Iceland was an unforgettable bucket list trip, and I wish you all the best when planning your trip.

Happy Travels!