Iceland

wicked! will be going all the way round, yeah. Want to visit Westfjords very much, then also some of the East like the Lunga school in Seyðisfjörður. Some central places like Akureyri and Myvatn. And I have a friend working on Vatnajokull so going up on that.

We're going for nature and art, seems like we won't be disappointed.

I thought Akureyri was beautiful, it had a very 'Icelandic' feel to it. Some of the houses on the hills above it would have been spectacular to live in.

Mostly not applicable for you but for anyone thinking of cycling there I wrote about my last trip.

https://www.jonathanrankin.com/play/#/cyclingiceland/

great read! I particularly like your description of the headwind as being "strong enough to blow couscous back into its packet". thanks.

I recommend staying off Route 1 in the vicinity of Reykjavik especially on the southern coast where most of the tourist are. The highlands can simply be dangerous (as described here above) and always take a good look at the weather forecast. Best months to travel are probably May to August, outside that period it is almost guaranteed you will hit shitty weather.

Thanks for the advice. We will try and stay away from the tourists. Sadly April is my only choice for travel, luckily we are in a decent car and very experienced in horrible weather conditions.

Is there any spot anyone can recommend renting mountain bikes? Like a half day fatbiking around a volcano kind of thing...does it exist? thx

Saw these people all over iceland https://www.extremeiceland.is/en/activity-tours-iceland/biking-tours/fatbike-iceland but looks like the only do from May. Could fire them an email and see if you can rent one without the tour.

Well, if you are travelling by car then it's not really a problem but always monitor the weather and road conditions. vegag.is and vedur.is are very good resources for this kind of info.

icebikeadventures.com are the best if you want to take a trip on a mtb. I think they offer trips all year round. They might be able to rent you a mtb if you want to do it without a guide but I also know you can do the same from orninn.is, the Trek dealer.

i'm just about to head to iceland and this looks awesome...though pricey! 180 quid...

Everything is expensive!

Thinking about an Iceland trip this summer for some gravel cycling plus other activities, exploring etc. Assuming best to go with a guided organised rides due to the exposed terrain etc. Anyone had a trip there and ridden in Iceland recently?

I'm about to head for 3 weeks in the Westfjords/Hornstrandir, whilst I've not gone out yet I'm sure the folks at Westfjords Way could give ya plenty of tips and help
If not that, I'd personally be looking at a Chris Burkard-esque traverse from east to west through the interior, there's a cracking youtube video of it that's very well shot