General stuff
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We booked the 14 days tour in smalles possible rental car (Toyota Yaris, probably the most frequently seen car in Iceland!)
with a specialised German travel agency Troll Tours and payed 1710 EUR
per person (for the car, the flights and B&B). As we brought some food along from home, and breakfast was included in the
package, we hardly spent any additional money (there are pretty much no entrance fees to pay in Iceland, with the exception
of the odd church or rebuilt Viking farm).
The accomodations (mostly farms and guesthouses) where booked in advance and equiped with maps and vouchers you travel past
these “stations”. Changements to the route are possible and shouldn't be a problem (at least they told us), but in my opinion
the different legs where already chosen idealy.
As 14 days pass quickely (but due to financial reasons and lack of time) we had to leave out the beautiful Westfjords. Also
lacking a 4WD (again, the money...) we couldn't visit the highlands (the “Interior”) and a number of other areas and sights
either.
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Timing
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Traveling towards the end of August has a few advantages. On the one hand, the tourist season is pretty much ending, but the weather
is still quite “bearable”. To be more specific, we stayed there between the 14th and 28th of August. A bit of a bummer was, however,
that all the cute puffins have left already :.( and also the wales decided to go somewhere else. Nevertheless, the few tourists left
didn't ruine the nature experience anymore nor spoiled the photos.
But for two rainy days we were very lucky with the weather, as you can see on the
photos.
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Stages
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Iceland has a top speed limit of 90 km/h, which is only reasonable considering that most of the roads are extremely narrow and curvish
and have plenty of blind spots. Also, most of the roads are not sealed, and at the end of your holidays you are going to be an experienced
gravel road driver. So, as you also would like to see some of the magnificent landscape, you should never try to go farther the
400 km a day — and that's pushing it.
More realistic would be a maximum of 250 km per day, especially, if you want to talk about “holidays” ...
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Maps
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Try to get maps in advance from your local automotive association, as the material you get with the rental car might be quite sparse.
Definitely try to get a map in advance, as they are quite expensive in Iceland (actually, everything is expensive in Iceland...).
However, for most purposes the maps you find in your decent travel guide (book) should be fine.
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Statistics
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· Total distance driven: 3809 km
· Average distance per day: 293 km
· Standard deviation from mean: 16.5 km
· Shortest trip: 106 km
· Longest trip: 518 km
Overview of our route:
Map in higher resolution (418 kb)
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Day 1
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Keflavík — Reykjanesviti — Grinvavík — Keflavík, 106 km
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Day 2
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Keflavík — Glymur — Borganes — Eldborg — Ytri-Tunga, 277 km
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Day 3
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Ytri-Tunga — Anarstapi — Ólafsvík — Stykkishólmur — Ytri-Tunga, 261 km
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Day 4
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Ytri-Tunga — Hindisvík — Hrútey — Akureyri — Engimýri, 518 km
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Day 5
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Engimýri — *foss — Ásbyrgi — Húsavik — Myvatn, 389 km
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Day 6
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Myvatn — Vindbelgarfjall — Viti — Krafla — Hverfjall — Myvatn, 106 km
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Day 7
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Myvatn — Raufarhöfn — Þorshöfn — Vopnafjörður — Egilstaðir, 441 km
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Day 8
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Egilstaðir — Hengifoss — Reyðarfjörður — Djúpivogur — Brunnhóll in Mýrar, 457 km
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Day 9
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Brunnhóll in Mýrar — Jökulsárlón — Skaftafell — Brunnhóll in Mýrar, 215 km
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Day 10
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Brunnhóll in Mýrar — Kirkjubæjarklaustur — Vík — Mýrdalur, 307 km
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Day 11
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Mýrdalur — Hvolsvöllur — Þjófafoss — Stöng — Sel in Grímsnes, 295 km
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Day 12
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Sel in Grímsnes — Nesjavellir — Þingvellir — Gullfoss — Sel in Grímsnes, 230 km
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Day 13
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Sel in Grímsnes — Selfoss — Krýsuvík North — Þorlákshöfn — Reykjavík, 207 km
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Day 14
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Reykjavík
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