Iceland - Final Thoughts
Over my trip to Iceland I kept some notes about my experiences.
One thing I learned is to not necessarily focus on the Ring Road, (Route 1). Many guides talk about completing the loop although don’t treat it as a target to get around. Use parts of it to get to places you want to visit. If you’re riding the Route 1 as a goal then you could be focusing more on getting it done rather than exploring and getting deeper into areas. Especially being flexible due to weather is important. The smaller roads are quieter and nicer, especially in the far north.
Mapping like Google Maps and Garmin can be a bit sporadic and sometimes will route around unpaved roads or even take you routes you didn’t expect. A great resource to find routes in Iceland, especially the F-roads, is the Vegasjá road view website. It’s also important to check the the Icelandic Safe Travel website before you ride, even in summer. Especially in early summer where melt-water can make river crossings impossible. Also the Epic Iceland detailed list of F-roads website contains guides and drive-throughs to help plan your ride.
The E roads are amazing although can be very tough. You need to be self-sufficient. Also early summer could be really challenging because of the meltwater causing high river levels for the crossings. Go with other people or have enough spares and a sattelite communicator, even though mobile signal is really good in Iceland it’s not everywhere.
The Icelandic Met Office is a really helpful resource, especially for the wind forecasts.
Going end or beginning of season might mean it’s quieter but the “big” sights are always busy. Avoiding those spots and heading north or to the Westfjords means you’ll get a much quieter experience. Late July or in August would be fine if you’re not in the tourist spots.
Campsites are really set up for camper vans and mobile homes, not so much for tents, so they can be a little noisy with diesel heaters running all night and doors slamming. Try to camp away from them if possible. The sites are generally quiet during the day then people arrive in vehicles in the evening, really just to park overnight.
Even if you think it’s still summer the wind is cold and it can be very wet. Layer up: base, mid layer (fleece), outer, and potentially a waterproof layer too. Take thermal gloves also. At night use a four season sleeping bag. You’ll be cold at night otherwise.
Take a manual watch. Changing zones means your phone sets automatically which can be confusing, especially with “ship time” if you’re on the ferry. Having a phone or smart watch means they’ll change automatically and it can be confusing hat the actual time is, so setting to ship time means you know when you need to pack up or disembark.
Make sure you’re prepared with the right kit.
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