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Diamond Circle

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Overview

The Diamond Circle is an approximately 250-km circuit in North Iceland. It is perhaps the country's second-most well-known itinerary after the Golden Circle, but passes through more secluded serene points of interests.

Facts

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Coordinates

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Source

WBP almanac

External sources

Wikivoyage

Media

From Wikipedia248 words

WBP editorial3

Driving the Circle as a photographer’s rhythm

The geometry of the Diamond Circle invites a paced road‑trip where each kilometre feels deliberate. Start early from Akureyri, then use the new Route 862 as a quiet interlude before the roar of Dettifoss. The road’s gentle gradients and occasional pull‑outs are ideal for setting up long exposures of mist‑shrouded basalt cliffs, especially around Ásbyrgi where the horseshoe shape frames the sky. Because the pavement is now continuous, you can afford to linger at unnamed basalt columns or steaming vents without fearing a sudden turn‑back. Pack a polarising filter for the reflective lake surfaces, and consider a mid‑day stop at the geothermal area of Laugar where steam offers subtle, ever‑changing back‑drops. The route’s predictability lets you map a shooting schedule that captures the region’s contrast of tranquil water and raw volcanic energy.

Seasonal nuance beyond the summer rush

Most visitors associate the Circle with bright summer days, yet the shoulder months reveal a different character. By late September, the daylight dwindles to just four hours, casting long, golden shadows across the basalt formations and turning the waterfalls into silvery ribbons. The cooler air sharpens volcanic aromas, making the sulfuric scent around Dimmuborgir more pronounced. Winter, now feasible thanks to the paved Dettoss link, offers a silent landscape where ice clings to the rim of Goðafoss, and the occasional aurora dances above the open road. Travelers who time their journey for these periods avoid crowds and encounter local fishers in Húsavík mending nets, providing a glimpse of everyday life that guidebooks seldom highlight.

Local flavours and the travel craft of the north

The Diamond Circle is not just scenery; it is a corridor of community practices that enrich a road‑trip. In Húsavík, the harbour’s weekly fish market is a living exhibit of Icelandic cod, haddock, and the occasional Arctic char, best savoured with locally baked rye bread and a dollop of skyr. Further inland, small farms near Lake Mývatn still produce geothermal‑grown potatoes, which appear on modest roadside stalls as a sweet, earthy side dish. When you pause at one of the few family‑run guesthouses along Route 85, you’ll often be invited to share a story over a glass of locally distilled Brennivín, an opportunity to learn how the volcanic soil shapes both the landscape and the palate.

Introduction

Tourist route around Húsavík and Lake Mývatn in North Iceland Dettifoss Waterfall is one of the most popular attractions on the Diamond Circle in North Iceland. The Diamond Circle (Icelandic: Demantshringurinn [ˈtɛːman(t)sˌr̥iŋkʏrɪn]) is a popular tourist route around Húsavík and Lake Mývatn in North Iceland. The route is fully paved and easily accessible during the summer. The southern section of the route follows Route 1 (Ring road) from Akureyri, before turning north along Route 862, the new road to Dettifoss. Then it joins Route 85 at Ásbyrgi Canyon and follows the coast through Húsavík and eventually re-joining Route 1. The four primary stops on the route are the town of Húsavík, Ásbyrgi Canyon, Lake Mývatn and Dettifoss Waterfall, the most powerful waterfall in Europe. Other stops include Vatnajökull National Park, Goðafoss Waterfall, Dimmuborgir (Dark Castles), Eider Falls, The Whispering Cliffs and Laugar. The Diamond Circle covers an area rich in volcanic and geothermal features. The completion of the 55-km new paved road to Dettifoss, Route 862, replaced a difficult old gravel road which was impassable during winter. The road was opened in stages from 2010 to 2021. This represented the last paved section of the Diamond Circle to be completed, linking the Route 1 and Route 85 by Ásbyrgi Canyon. This made the route from Dettifoss to Ásbyrgi canyon much more accessible, especially during winter. The Diamond Circle Society is a non-profit organization that works to promote and protect the Diamond Circle and surrounding areas in North Iceland.