The best small towns and villages in Iceland

Ranked for a first or second trip to Iceland. Nights are the minimum that does the place justice. Every pick is a settlement on or near a driving route, not a viewpoint with a car park.

Vík and Akureyri are the two that work on almost any itinerary. Höfn and Egilsstaðir come free on a 10-day Ring Road loop. Húsavík, Ísafjörður and Seyðisfjörður are detours worth the driving only if you have 10 days or more.

We picked places that are settlements first: somewhere you can sleep, eat and walk to something worth seeing without a tour. A village with one guesthouse and no shop is a stop, not a base.

Second, we weighted position on the Ring Road (Route 1). Vík, Höfn, Egilsstaðir and Akureyri sit on it, so they cost you no extra driving. Ísafjörður, Húsavík and Seyðisfjörður are detours — better places, but only if the days are there.

Third, we looked at what the town gives you that the countryside does not: a harbour, a pool, a museum, a ferry, a whale boat, a langoustine dinner. Anything that was only a viewpoint was left out.

We did not rank on scenery alone. Iceland's best landscape is usually between the towns, not in them.

June to August is the window for the full Ring Road plus the Westfjords and the highlands. Expect the most traffic and the tightest availability; book beds in Vík, Höfn and Ísafjörður well ahead.

May and September are the shoulder: most south-coast and northern services run and prices drop, but some Westfjords and east-fjord places may be shut and mountain roads can still be closed. Check road conditions daily.

October to April, treat the country as the southwest plus a short reach east. Vík and Höfn are the usual winter stops on the south coast, and the ice caves near Vatnajökull run roughly November to March (check operator dates). Akureyri is reachable in winter by air or by the western half of the Ring Road, but the parent country guidance is to stay in the southwest and add buffer days for storms. The Westfjords and the east fjords are summer trips.

Fly into Keflavík (KEF) and pick up a car at the airport. A hire car is the practical way to reach every town on this list; buses cover parts of the Ring Road in summer but are slow and infrequent (check). Book an automatic and a four-wheel-drive if you are going to the Westfjords or any gravel road; check your insurance covers gravel and ash.

From Reykjavík, Vík is a few hours east on Route 1, and Höfn is a further long day beyond Vík — most itineraries break the drive with a night in Vík. Akureyri is a full day's drive north from Reykjavík, or a short domestic flight (check schedules). Húsavík is roughly an hour further east from Akureyri. Ísafjörður is a long drive — plan a full day from Reykjavík, or take the Baldur ferry between the Westfjords and Snæfellsnes in summer (check the timetable).

Seyðisfjörður is the Norröna ferry port for travellers arriving from Denmark or the Faroes; check the sailing schedule before you build an itinerary around it. Egilsstaðir, a short drive away, is the east's service town with fuel and shops.

Distances are short on the map and long on the road: single-lane bridges, sheep, gravel and 90 km/h limits. Three to four hours of driving a day is the realistic ceiling.