Iceland Ring Road: Jokulsarlon to Myvatn

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Jökulsárlón

   Jökulsárlón is a lagoon full of icebergs, and the first view of it can leave you simply standing by the bike. The ice comes from Breiðamerkurjökull, a tongue of the great Vatnajökull ice cap, which has been retreating for decades and leaving behind a deep, cold lake. The lagoon appeared in the 1930s and has grown steadily as the glacier melts back, and it is now one of the deepest lakes in Iceland, with the bottom lying a couple of hundred metres below the surface. Blocks of ice in shades of blue, white and black, striped with volcanic ash, float slowly toward a short channel where the tide carries them out to sea.

   Read the complete Jokulsarlon write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Jökulsárlón is where the day begins. Next is Hofn.

2. 2. Höfn

   Höfn is a fishing town that has spent decades staring at a glacier, and the glacier has finally started to answer back. It sits at the mouth of the Hornafjörður on Iceland's southeast coast, a small town of fewer than two thousand people on a low peninsula, with the vast white dome of Vatnajökull, Europe's largest ice cap by volume, filling the northern horizon. On a clear day, the tongues of ice that spill down the mountains look close enough to walk to, and at sunset they glow pink and gold. The name simply means harbour.

   Read the complete Hofn write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Höfn comes up about 65 km into the recorded legs. Next is Egilsstadir.

3. 3. Egilsstaðir

   Egilsstaðir is the capital of east Iceland in the way a village can be a capital: it has a population of about two thousand, an airport, a supermarket, a swimming pool and a good reputation. It sits on the flat shore of Lagarfljót, a long glacial lake that stretches south-west for about twenty-five kilometres and is said to be home to a monster. The Lagarfljót worm has been reported since the Middle Ages, and a few years back a farmer even filmed something floating in the water, which the locals prefer to leave unexplained. The lake is murky grey-green with glacier silt, so a monster would have no trouble hiding.

   Read the complete Egilsstadir write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 251 km into the recorded legs you reach Egilsstadir. Next is Myvatn.

4. 4. Mývatn

   Mývatn means midge lake, and the name is honest, because in early summer clouds of small, harmless flies hang above the water and rise from the shore in a shimmering haze. They are the foundation of an ecosystem that feeds one of the richest populations of breeding ducks in Europe, and in June the lake is crowded with them. Bring a face cover in still weather, and keep your visor closed.

   Read the complete Myvatn write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mývatn closes the day.