Kjölur (Road 35): Gullfoss to Akureyri, 250 km 4×4 Crossing

The Kjölur route (road 35) cuts straight across Iceland’s interior between two ice caps — Langjökull and Hofsjökull — linking the Golden Circle to the north coast. It is the “easier” of the great highland crossings: unlike Sprengisandur, its main rivers are now bridged, so there are usually no big fords — and after those improvements the road administration no longer classes it as an F-road. But it is still a rough, remote gravel road where rental terms require a 4×4, there is no fuel in the interior, and it opens only in the short summer. You drive on the right.

Day 1 — Gullfoss to Hveravellir (100 km)

Leave the Golden Circle at Gullfoss waterfall, where the tarmac ends and the gravel road 35 climbs onto the highland plateau. Detour to the rhyolite peaks and steaming ground of Kerlingarfjöll if you have time, then reach Hveravellir, a geothermal oasis with a natural hot spring, a hut and a campsite — a magical place to overnight in the middle of nowhere.

Day 2 — Hveravellir to Akureyri (150 km)

Continue north across the plateau, descending to the Ring Road near Blönduós, then head east to Akureyri, the capital of the north, on its fjord. Fill up, eat well and soak in the town pool after two days in the wild.

Costs

Use the cost calculator to price fuel and nights for your exact dates. Budget a 4×4 rental (Kjölur is no longer an F-road, but rental terms still exclude ordinary cars from it), plenty of fuel — there is none in the interior, so fill up at Gullfoss/Reykjavík first — and a hut or campsite fee at Hveravellir. There are no tolls on Kjölur; the country’s one toll tunnel (Vaðlaheiði) is only if you drive on past Akureyri. This is a strictly seasonal route: in 2021–2025 it opened on average on 1 June, according to the road administration’s records — check conditions on umferdin.is before you set off.

This trip is also in the free Roadcut trip planner: change the number of days and where you sleep each night, pick your vehicle to see the fuel cost, check the weather on the road, and open each day in Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.