Our thoughts after touring Iceland in 2022.
Strengths: We originally planned Iceland for 2020 but Covid delayed us for two years. Finally we were able to re-book and plan 3 weeks in Iceland for 2022. We arrived in Seyรฐisfjรถrรฐur in mid July after a week in the Faroes. As the weather and forecast was good we set off touring the ring road anti-clockwise. The north is more scenic in our opinion, less touristy with much less traffic. The south has the big tourist stops, a lot more people and traffic.
The summer tourist season is short, June through August we had good weather except for a couple of days rain around Reykjavik. Whilst it was cold at night, the days were generally just like winter in Sydney 10-12ยฐ. You don’t come to Iceland for your tan. Most locals we dealt with had good English.
Buy a guide book. There were so many interesting stops we would have easily missed without the LP. Mind you our’s was a 2022 edition and it wasn’t really up to date.
If your 65+ make sure you ask for a seniors discount, most campsites, attractions and facilities such as pools offer a substantial reduction.
Weaknesses: The cost of our return passage to Iceland via the Faroes had risen 40% since we originally booked in 2019 . The ban on wild camping makes touring on a budget difficult. Campsites are plentiful, but more attuned to caravans and camping which are popular with the locals more so than motorhomes. They are relatively expensive varying from โฌ20-40. Electricity is generally extra, add another โฌ10.
Opportunities: Our first stop was to purchase Siminn sims for our mobile and mifi unit. Iceland has a comprehensive 5G network and the Siminn sims worked everywhere and we continued using them in the EU for the next two months.
Every village has a general store, so getting fresh produce is relatively easy. There are some excellent restaurants but finding them takes a little research. If you enjoy a swim Icelands the place for you. Every village has a heated swim centre, normally with a spa and the odd sauna.
Threats: We toured Iceland for 3 weeks, whilst we travelled at a relaxed pace we needed every day to drive the ring road and do the many tourist roads. Once off the bitumen the corrugated gravel roads are harsh on the camper. The roads are generally narrow, the edges soft, so drive to the conditions particularly if it’s windy.
We filled our LPG system in northern Denmark and managed the Faroes and Iceland for a month on that. There is no pump-in LPG, the local gas cylinders which are available at most servos have a unique instantaneous coupling. Take a small electric heater for those particularly cold mornings when you are on power.
