Self-drive routes, campervans and the open road — from Iceland's Ring Road to Patagonia's end of the world.
The Routes We Actually Drove
No theoretical itineraries. Every guide here comes from behind the wheel — rental cars, campervans, a Defender with a rooftop tent — across single track roads, mountain passes and everything in between. Real routes, real timing, real interactive maps you can follow.
Route Guides & Itineraries
Complete driving itineraries with timing, stops and everything you need to follow the same route yourself.
road-trips
by Stace · Oct 25, 2016
We spent 12 days in Iceland in mid-October driving the full Ring Road in a campervan. The weather was not perfect. It was still one of the most stunning trips of my life.
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road-trips
by Stace · Oct 26, 2016
The Golden Circle is Iceland's most famous day trip — Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss in a single loop. Here is what to expect and how to make the most of the day.
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road-trips
by Stace · Oct 28, 2016
The South Coast is the most spectacular driving day in Iceland — waterfalls, black sand beaches, glaciers and one of Europe's largest national parks all on a single route.
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road-trips
by Stace · Oct 28, 2016
The Eastern Fjords are the least visited section of the Iceland Ring Road — which means dramatic landscapes, almost no crowds and the only place in Iceland where you can spot reindeer.
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road-trips
by Stace · Oct 31, 2016
North Iceland is completely unlike the south — geothermal vents, active volcanic craters, the most powerful waterfall in Europe and the night we finally saw the Northern Lights over Lake Mývatn.
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road-trips
by Stace · Nov 2, 2016
The Westfjords are Iceland's most remote region and the least visited. Not many tourists make it out here — which means extraordinary landscapes, wild hot springs and Dynjandi waterfall almost to yourself.
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road-trips
by Stace · Nov 9, 2016
After the Westfjords we boarded the Ferry Baldur to Snæfellsnes for the final leg of our Iceland road trip — Kirkjufell, Hraunfossar and two days in Reykjavik before the Blue Lagoon and home.
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road-trips
by Stace · Jul 11, 2017
We visited Iceland's Blue Lagoon on the last morning of our 12-day road trip. Spectacular setting, expensive, very busy. Here is our honest verdict — and the alternatives that are genuinely better.
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road-trips
by Stace · Jul 11, 2026
A road trip around Scotland's North Coast 500 and on to the Isle of Skye in a Defender with a rooftop tent — John o' Groats fish and chips, whisky distilleries, Smoo Cave, the Old Man of Storr and Dunvegan Castle.
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road-trips
by Stace · Sep 8, 2025
A week through the deep South Island — Milford Sound, Mount Cook, the Nevis Bungy, Dunedin and the wild, largely undiscovered Catlins coastline. The best week of my New Zealand trip.
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road-trips
by Stace · Mar 25, 2026
Most people take the bus to Torres del Paine. We drove — with a three year old, a grandmother and a boot full of camping gear — and the drive itself turned out to be part of the experience.
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road-trips
by Stace · Mar 11, 2019
Rugged scenery, freedom camping every day and stunning wildlife at every turn — this is exactly what our Alaska Highway road trip delivered. Here's our full 2-week RV itinerary from Whitehorse to Calgary.
Read more →Practical Guides
The practical side of road tripping — driving rules, freedom camping, renting an RV and everything else that isn't a specific route.
road-trips
by Stace · Jul 11, 2026
Left-hand drive, one-lane bridges, deceptively long distances between towns — here is everything you need to know before you get behind the wheel in New Zealand.
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road-trips
by Stace · May 25, 2019
Ten days, roughly 800 kilometres, a Land Rover Defender with a rooftop tent, and one of the most dramatic road trip routes in the world. Here's everything I learned about driving in Scotland — most of it the hard way.
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road-trips
by Stace · Jul 11, 2026
Freedom camping is one of the best ways to see New Zealand — and one of the most misunderstood by first-time visitors. Here is what it actually means, where it is legal, and how to do it properly.
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road-trips
by Stace · Feb 8, 2019
After our campervan rental in Iceland, we wanted to relive the fun of wild camping in something bigger. This time we rented an RV for the Yukon to Jasper and Banff route — here's everything we learned the hard way.
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road-trips
by Stace · Aug 8, 2019
Scotland was a mystery to us until our New Zealand trip fell through and we booked a road trip up to Inverness instead. Here's our full North Coast 500 itinerary, backwards, in a campervan.
Read more →Free Tool
The Wandering Bajans trip planner lets you build your full itinerary, packing list and budget in one place — free, no sign-up required. Open it alongside any guide and plan as you go.
Packing lists
Itinerary builder
Budget tracker
Affiliate Links
Everything here has been on a real road trip. Some links are affiliate links — if you book or buy through them I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
We use this before every single road trip. It compares rates across companies in one search and consistently finds better prices than booking direct with a single rental company — particularly useful for one-way rentals where fees can vary enormously by direction.
Filters directly from rivers and streams — used it on road trips through Iceland and Scotland where fuel stops are scarce but clean water sources aren't. No batteries, no fuss, and it eliminates the need to carry heavy bottled water across long driving days.
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