Iceland
Trip Report Summary
| Travel Dates | May 21-May 30, 2016 (10 Days) |
| Highlights | Everything |
| Format | Living out of a car |
| Would do again? | Yes |
The route I took can be found here. There are some missing segments simply because I forgot to turn on GPS...
The complete photo set can be found on flickr
The Longer Story
Iceland has been in the books for a few years now (before moving to Germany) but it was always delayed for some reason or another. With the cheaper flights to Iceland, I figured it was time to go. I invited two of my friends to join, but as expected they bailed at the 11th hour, so this was the first extensive solo road trip.
The trip was pretty straight forward; pack my tent, rent a car, and if in doubt, turn right. The trip involved traveling the ring road. The road is well maintained and well marked with signs that inform you what villages are coming up, and what facilities are available there (it doesn't get easier than that). I limited my driving to a maximum of 4hrs a day and tried to minimize my backtracking. It's recommended the ring road is done in 12 days, but with 24hrs of sunlight, there is no sense of night and I could travel on my own schedule. It is also legal in the country to camp anywhere for one night, so having to stop at a site to sleep was fairly common and accepted (in my mind at least).
However, despite the legality of it, I slept mostly in designated campsites. Pretty much every village had facilities and I did not need to worry about booking ahead. The only pain I found was the exposure; there are no trees or cover, so setting up a tent with the vicious Icelandic winds can be a pain. I only had to sleep in my car once throughout the entire trip due to a raging storm; that was unpleasant. I rented a tiny car from Blue Car Rental and it was tiny. I learned a valuable lesson that night; you can trigger the car alarm if you lock the door and open the passenger door.
A highlight of the trip, that was off the ring road, was Borgarfjarðarhöfn. It's about a 1.5hr drive off the ring road from Egilsstaðir. You're driving on some unpaved roads but you end up in this tiny little village where there's an observation deck literally on top of a puffin colony. The best time to go there is early in the morning when they're just cleaning their dens and coming in and out. They would literally be just a few meters away from you and if you're lucky they'll venture off onto the deck and walk past you. A few birders there talked about their experience there and I was happy to have made the slight detour.
Apart from the puffins, what surprised me was probably how well connected the country was. Regardless of where you were, you could always pay with a credit card. Going into the country I already knew this, but to actually experience being out in the middle of the mountains and seeing a tow truck get your ass out of a ditch because you fell asleep behind the wheel and paying by card for the service on the spot is actually kind of amazing. Also walking through a mall and seeing kids ask for donations where you can 'tap' and donate is something else entirely.
I budgeted the trip to be 1000; I camped everywhere I could (~20$ a site). Since I arrived during the shoulder season, a few places actually weren't even open, so I could camp for free but didn't have access to their facilities. The biggest hit to the budget was probably the gas and car since their premium gas was about 2$/L, but I think a rental car is necessary for the freedom of exploration. In terms of food, I bought the majority of my meals from the supermarket to maximize my time outdoors. When I got tired of eating salami, cheese, and crackers, I would head in town for a proper meal, which was about 20$. The price is comparable to an entree in Toronto. The food is quite good, and you can get a variety of unique food, such as whale (highly recommend a sampler), or puffin.
Iceland is an amazing country with a lot of variety. You can have a completely different landscape within a day's drive. I will definitely try to make my way back to Iceland again, preferably during the summer so I can explore the central highlands of Iceland and visit the notorious Þórsmörk.
