Eastfjords Road Trip: Itinerary & How Many Days

The Eastfjords are Iceland's quiet middle chapter. Most people meet them on day four or five of a full Ring Road lap, tired from the waterfall-and-glacier overload of the south, and treat the region as a transit corridor between Höfn and Mývatn. That is a mistake worth avoiding. This is where the crowds thin out, the road hugs the water instead of the interior, and small fishing villages sit at the head of long fjords with almost nobody in them.

Geographically the route threads from Djúpivogur in the south up to Egilsstaðir, the region's main town, following the coast in and out of one fjord after another. Route 1 does most of the work on good pavement, but the best of the east lives on the spurs off it: the ferry town of Seyðisfjörður over a high pass, the puffin colony at Borgarfjörður eystri, the dead-end fjord of Mjóifjörður, and a scatter of villages each with its own small claim to fame.

This is also the one part of Iceland where wild reindeer roam the hillsides, descendants of an 18th-century import that never spread elsewhere. In a campervan the east rewards a light, unhurried plan: short driving days, a village or two per day, and enough evening time to actually sit by the fjord. Treat it as a destination rather than a connector and it becomes many travellers' favourite leg of the whole loop.

Based on 60,672 price checks across 14 rental companies over the last 23 days (through July 23, 2026). Prices are in EUR and update as vendor availability changes.

June to September is the practical window. Puffins are at Hafnarhólmi from roughly mid-April to early August, so June and July give you both long daylight and reliable birds, while the village campsites and services are fully open.

May and September are quieter and cheaper but colder, with the puffins gone by around mid-August and some seasonal campsites winding down. The Fjarðarheiði and Öxi passes can still catch early or late snow.

Winter is for confident, well-equipped drivers only. Fjarðarheiði closes often in storms, the Öxi shortcut shuts entirely, and short daylight leaves little time for the detours that make the region worthwhile.

• ⚠The Öxi pass (Route 939) shortcut between Djúpivogur and Egilsstaðir saves around 70 km but is a steep, narrow mountain pass that has been through a major reconstruction and paving project; check road.is for its current surface and status before you commit. In bad weather or with a large van, stay on Route 1 around the fjords instead.
• ⚠Fjarðarheiði to Seyðisfjörður is steep with switchbacks and exposed to sudden wind and fog even in summer. Drive it in daylight and check vedur.is for the katabatic winds that funnel down the pass.
• ⚠Watch for reindeer and sheep on the fjord roads, especially at dawn and dusk.
• ⚠Wild camping in a campervan is illegal in Iceland. Overnight only at registered campsites, several of which are listed below.
• ⚠File a plan on safetravel.is if you add the gravel detours, and check road.is for live surface and closure status.

Both are the quiet, remote ends of Iceland, but they demand different things. The Eastfjords sit right on the Ring Road, run almost entirely on pavement, and slot neatly into a wider loop as a two-to-four-day leg with a 2WD camper. The Westfjords are a large, gravel-heavy peninsula off in the northwest that most Ring Road itineraries skip entirely, and they want a week and more confident driving.

If you are already circling the island and want a beautiful, low-stress stretch without adding a separate expedition, the east wins. If you have time for a dedicated remote adventure and do not mind gravel, the west is wilder. For most first-time campervan travellers doing the full loop, the Eastfjords are the realistic choice.