Ring Road (Route 1) · short arc

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Near Reykjavík

   Reykjavík is the only real city in Iceland, and for most riders it is where the Ring Road begins and ends. The capital spreads around a bay on the southwest coast, with colourful corrugated-iron houses, the tall concrete church of Hallgrímskirkja on its hill and the glass honeycomb of the Harpa concert hall by the harbour. Across the water rises the flat-topped mountain of Esja, often streaked with snow, and on a clear day the glacier of Snæfellsjökull can be seen far across the bay to the north.

   Read the complete Near Reykjavík write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Waypoint 1 is where the day begins. Next is Waypoint 2.

2. 2. Waypoint 2

   The south coast of Iceland has a way of making even the Ring Road feel like an expedition. Around this point you are close to Vík and the great black plain of Mýrdalssandur, a flat, dark expanse of volcanic sand laid down by glacial floods from beneath the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap. Under that ice sits Katla, one of the country's most closely watched volcanoes, and the floodwaters it can unleash are the reason the sandur looks the way it does. The road runs across it in long straight lines, with very little to break the horizon.

   Read the complete Waypoint 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Waypoint 2 comes up about 187 km into the recorded legs. Next is Waypoint 3.

3. 3. Egilsstaðir

   Egilsstaðir is the main town of east Iceland, set at the head of Lagarfljót, a long, dark glacial lake, with the Fljótsdalshérað plain spreading around it. For anyone riding the Ring Road around the island, it comes as a pleasant change after the empty highlands of the northeast, because suddenly there are trees. Iceland's largest forest, Hallormsstaðaskógur, grows along the lake's eastern shore, and the town has shops, a swimming pool and a handful of cafes.

   Read the complete Egilsstaðir write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 634 km into the recorded legs you reach Waypoint 3. Next is Waypoint 4.

4. 4. Akureyri

   Akureyri calls itself the capital of the north, and with a bit under eighteen thousand people it is the second city of Iceland by some margin. It lies at the head of Eyjafjörður, the longest fjord in the country, with steep snow-streaked mountains rising straight from the water on both sides. The air is sharper than in Reykjavik and the winters are colder and drier, and in summer the town has a gentler, greener feel than most of the island. The church, a tall concrete building designed by the architect Guðjón Samúelsson and completed in 1940, stands above the town at the top of a flight of steps, and its stained glass includes a window rescued from a church in Coventry after the war.

   Read the complete Akureyri write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Waypoint 4 closes the day.