Which highway in Iceland forms a ring road around the island?

Iceland’s Route 1, usually called the Ring Road or Hringvegur, forms a road loop around the island.

The route is Iceland’s main trunk road and connects most of the country’s largest towns and populated districts. It does not pass through the Westfjords, but it circles the rest of Iceland and provides access to major attractions such as Mývatn, Jökulsárlón, Skógafoss and the southern coast.

Route 1 was completed in 1974, a milestone timed with celebrations marking the 1,100th anniversary of Iceland’s settlement. Its completion greatly improved travel between southern communities: before then, journeys between places such as Vík and Höfn could require a much longer route through northern Iceland.

The Ring Road is about 1,322 kilometres long and is mostly a two-lane paved road. Travellers sometimes confuse it with local numbered roads such as Route 54 or Route 76, but those roads serve regional areas rather than circling the country. Weather, mountain passes, glacial rivers and single-lane bridges can make conditions challenging, especially in winter.