Iceland Ring Road: Reykjavik to Jokulsarlon

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Reykjavík

   Reykjavík is the sort of capital that you could walk across in an afternoon, and that is part of the charm. It sits on a windswept peninsula in the southwest of Iceland, with painted corrugated-iron houses, the great concrete spire of the Hallgrímskirkja church, and a harbour backed by the long snowy ridge of Esja across the bay. About two thirds of Icelanders live in this region, so by Icelandic standards it is a metropolis.

   Read the complete Reykjavik write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Reykjavík is where the day begins. Next is Selfoss.

2. 2. Selfoss

   Selfoss lies on the Ölfusá, the biggest river in Iceland by volume, which comes down from the highlands in a wide grey-green sweep and passes right through the middle of the town. With around 6,500 people it is the largest settlement in South Iceland, a farm and service town on the Ring Road, and for riders heading east from Reykjavík it is the first place with every kind of shop, cafe and fuel station.

   Read the complete Selfoss write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Selfoss comes up about 123 km into the recorded legs. Next is Vik.

3. 3. Vík

   Vík í Mýrdal is a tiny village on the south coast of Iceland with a red-roofed church on a hill, a long black beach below, and a reputation far larger than its size. A few hundred people live here, mostly in low houses below the cliffs, and the Atlantic crashes onto the sand in front of them with ceaseless force. Offshore, a group of tall basalt sea stacks called Reynisdrangar rises from the surf, and legend says they are trolls who were caught by the sun while trying to drag a ship to shore and turned to stone.

   Read the complete Vik write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 394 km into the recorded legs you reach Vik. Next is Jokulsarlon.

4. 4. 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 closes the day.