.JPG "Sunset Skaftafell")
This was the first time I wrote a travel diary and I want to tell some Iceland stories and also want to give hints and tips about travelling there by bicycle. As the people from Iceland have over a hundred words for snow, they might also have a hundred words for road conditions. For myself I experienced basically four different road types.
- Paved road
- Packed nature road
- Gravel road
- Washboard gravel and sand roads
Off road is of course not allowed. The vegetation is very sensitive and damages on the surface need centuries to heal.
There are also a few extras which require special skills, in this case it was climbing and crossing:
The next challenging thing was the weather. For Iceland go for the high tech gear. Grandma’s wool pullover might be nice to have, but up north you better go for the Tex and Gore stuff.
Also your tent and sleeping bag should not be of low quality, I recommend an alpine 4 seasons tent and a warm sleeping bag. I camped almost all nights and realized quick that my tent is coming into its years and I need to buy a new one soon.
I saw lots of bikers with a wide variety of bicycles, and I would say you can also cycle in island without having the top gear. If you have 3 weeks time you just need a street bike to go around the island on the ring road (Nr.1). I had more time and decided to see the inland as well so I went there with my road touring bike. I cycled also in gravel and dirt, only sand was a real problem so I had to push my bike trough. For inland I recommend a mountain- or touring bike with mixed tires.
My diary is divided in four big sections and I want to tell stories from my trip and as well give some information about the road, scenery and sights of Iceland. The four sections are coloured on the map, so yellow for the west, green for the north, red for east and southeast, and blue for the south back to Keflavík.
- “The West”: landed in Keflavík and a first war up ride to Reykjavík, the capitol city of Iceland. Then up north to Þingvellir (Thingvellir), a viking meeting place and later on further up to Blönduós to have a first rest day.
- “The North”: The North, full of sights! Whale watching in Husavík, crossing the inland and exploring the area around the Mývat.
- “The East and Southeast”: Passing the east fjords and continuing on the south coast watching the glacier tongues of the Vatnajökull reaching down almost to the sea.
- “The South”: The best stretch on this tour, cycling up to Landmannalaugar crossing rivers and climbing hard. A short stop at the Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar) and a nice ride back trough glacier shaped landscape to Keflavík.
Double click the map to zoom, hold mouse button to move around.