8 days along the ring road 9th july to 16th th july

My friend and self planned this trip some time back and explored several options before we finalized this itinerary with some help from the forum and lonely planet.
I will do a separate review of the lodging. We had glorious weather on all days with bright sunshine, and hence could not ask for more.

8th - we got into Keflavik late evening. It was overcast and rainy. We were picked up on arrival by the B&B Keflavik where we spent the night. The rooms are large and they provide free shuttle service for pick up and drop off.

9th- after breakfast picked up our 4 WD Toyota land cruiser from Hertz. Took the comprehensive insurance.
Left B&B at 11.30 and took the coastal route to Kerid. The landscape changes dramatically every 50-100 km and this is something we had not experienced in our earlier travels, which makes the drive very scenic. We kept repeating this over the next 8 days and 2500 kms.
Kerid is a must see. Our next stop was thingvelir where one portion was closed as some repair work was on.. Next stop at Geysir to see the eruptions. Last stop of the day was GULFOSS. With all the sunshine the rainbow made it special.
We stayed the night at Iceland air hotel fludir. Very nice hotel with an excellent setting. Dinner was at the café opposite the hotel where the food was excellent.

10th- Left for Landmannalaugar at 10am and took route F208 which involved some minor stream crossing.. We stopped at a very nice crater about 30mins before our destination. We went on a small hike to see the mountains. The place was crowded with campers and hikers. As it was a day of long driving we stopped by at Sellajandfoss to walk behind the falls. Our night stop was at country hotel Anna. The food was very good.

11th- First stop was skogarfoss. It’s a very nice fall and the rainbow formation made it spectacular. Next on to Dyrrholey . This place on a clear day is stunning. Spent a lot of time seeing the puffins up close. Spent some time at VIK and then left for Klaustur where we stayed at the Iceland air hotel.

12th- action packed day. First off to Skaftafell where we hiked to the face of glacier tongue. Then on to Jokulsarlon for our ZODIAC boat tour. The morning tours were cancelled as the lack had too m much ice. This is a must do and the we were lucky to see a huge calving. A quick lunch and then off to Glacier Jeep for the Vatanoujkull super jeep tour. Easily the highlight of the trip. Stayed the night at Brunholl Farm. The best lodging on our trip.

13th. We drove Lake Myvatn via Eglisstadir. Had prepared ourselves for the long drive via Dettifdoss. We went to the East side as we wanted to see Selfoss also.
Before entering Myvatn we stopped at Hverir to see the sulphur pools.
Stayed the night at Sel Hotel.

14th- Started the day by visiting Dimmuborgir and then hiking to the crater top. After that went to Myvatn Nature bath for our hot pool experience. A quick lunch and we were on our way to Godafoss. A truly beautiful waterfall. Then we drove via Akureyri to our night at Hotel Varmahlid.

15th Drove to Snaefelness via Styykishilmour. Reached Hotel Budir and relaxed for a while. From the hotel setting one can see the snafesjokull glacier, beach, lava field and water fall.
In the evening we went to Grundarfjordour for a tour with Laki Tours. Nice boat trip and got to see the different birds as well did some fishing.
On the way back saw the midnight sun.

16th. Our last day , spent some time at Arnarstapi and then the kids did the horse riding and left for reykjavik. We did a detour to see Hraunfossar which was a big surprise.
Had dinner at Austur Indian .Best Indian food we have had on holidays. Then back to our B&B at Keflavik to take our flight on 17th.

Before concluding wanted to mention some points, which keep coming up in the forum

1. We kept buying the N1 card to fill up gas as we did not have the pin on credit card. This was actually more convenient as we could stop and fill up anywhere

2. Food was very good at all the places specially the café at the gas stations.

3.Since July is a peak month we had booked all accommodation 6 months ago.

4. All the waterfalls were different.

5. The landscape was amazing and the drives will be etched in our memory for a long time.

6. The people are very helpful and we got a lot of information from the hotel staff at every location.
7. The car was checked thoroughly on return , hence followed the rental instructions. Convenient to have 4WD as we could go off road and drive on gravel roads as well as visit Landmannalaugar.

8. Wish we could have spent 2-3 days more .

We will definitely come back in winters to see this amazing country.