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Stick your thumb out, wave to cars, and have fun; it shouldn't take too long to attract a ride. Most Icelanders under 40, and many above, speak excellent English; in fact, they may begin the conversation in that language. Make sure that, if they can't take you all the way, it will at least be possible to drop you off near or in a village.
From Akureyri, it is possible to hike beside Route 1 to the town's edge. Rides are more scarce here, since there are fewer long-distance travellers. There is some traffic between the city and villages down side-roads; if someone can only take you to a highway motorway intersection, make sure the village is within walking distance. Weather changes rapidly in Iceland, even more so on the north coast. It's no fun to be stuck out in an arctic blizzard all day, miles from the next town.
Another starting point is to take Bus 15 to Mosfellsbær and walk along Route 1 until you find a suitable spot (See map). Then you don't have to pay the fare to Akranes and you begin closer to Route 1.
Hitching from Reykjavik to Egilsstaðir, some 700 kilometers, is doable in a week or even less (down to two days) if you're in a hurry. Like anywhere, getting out of a major city ([[Reykjavík]]) is difficult (read up on the good spots in the [[Reykjavik]] article), but many people on Icelandic roads do drive long distances. People are nice, and Iceland is ridiculously safe, with the exception of some dogs and cows that like to chase hitchers. Getting to [[Hella]] is easy and can be done in less than a day, but the next leg/road from Hella to [[Höfn]] is more difficult to hitch, although with some patience you will get your ride, too.
The last leg, from Hofn to Egilsstadir, is the hardest route to hitch on Highway motorway One (the highway motorway that goes all around the Icelandic coast). For the rest of the route, there are generally five cars, or less, per hour. That does not mean it is hopeless to hitchhike on such roads: on the contrary, it is very often the fewer cars there are, more likely the drivers will not ignore a lone hitcher in the middle of nowhere. After Höfn, there are two ways to get to Egilsstaðir: you can hitch from Höfn until you get to the juncture between Highway motorway 1 and a mountain route - this may be faster, but '''only doable with a 4x4''', and there is no way it is anywhere near as scenic as to continue along Highway motorway 1 - the untouched nature between Höfn and Breiddalsvík is magnificent. From Breiddalsvík you take the road that goes through Breiddalur (a wide valley) and eventually gets you to Egilsstaðir.
== From [[Reykjavik]] to Landmannalaugar ==
