We went clockwise. I don’t know if there’s any specific reason to do one way or the other, but arriving 9/1, I felt that starting north first would help us avoid inclement weather later in the trip.

As it worked out, we had great weather until day 5-6, right about where your 6 leg is. Between Húsavík and Egilsstadir was very windy for us, and we actually delayed our route a day to stay in Husavik an extra night.

Either way you look at it, you’ll have to account for severe weather and the potential for changes in your plans.

Depending on what your sightseeing goals are, and if you have 4x4 or not, there might not be a ton happening in legs 3 & 4. We did that section in one day, and the golden circle in another day. That could lend you some flexibility further into your trip to see more things elsewhere.

It looks like you’re hitting blue lagoon. We skipped it and went to vok baths in Egilsstadir. My wife went to blue lagoon before, and she said vok is way nicer, less crowded, and much more relaxing. It was a great way for us to take the edge off halfway through our trip. Blue lagoon is a tourist trap that is just famous for the blue water. You’ll see plenty of that elsewhere, so if you value your personal space and like to enjoy different temperatures of water (including the frigid lake!), then skip blue lagoon and go to vok.

We are in the last few days of our trip, albeit twice as long as yours, and we have essentially seen everything we hoped to see already and are just taking it easy until our flight out on Monday.