Iceland Planning

Summary

The grand plan is to traverse the mainland of Iceland, starting from the northernmost lighthouse, Hraunhafnartangi, and ending at the southernmost lighthouse, Dyrhólaey. Our little team of three plan to begin the journey in July 2025. We’re currently in the planning stages, and we’ll be updating our progress as things develop. We’re incredibly excited about this adventure and are happy to share our plans so far.

Routes

The most direct route, which is commonly chosen by others, is 564 km long and primarily follows 4×4 gravel roads. However, we’re aiming for a different approach—spending less time on roads and more time exploring Iceland’s remote areas. Our priority is to focus on interesting landscapes and unique experiences rather than efficiency, so we’re considering alternative routes.

Given that conditions in Iceland can change rapidly, the feasibility of routes may change as well. We’re keeping our options open for now and will make decisions about alternative routes based on our progress, weather conditions, and the safety of river crossings. A more detailed analysis of these alternative routes can be found here.

Map 1. Direct route is in magenta and alternative routes are in cyan.
Resupply Points

Our journey is expected to take 35 days, which means carrying enough food for the entire trip is not feasible. Since much of our route crosses remote wilderness, we will need to pre-arrange resupply drops.

On a previous trip, Shirley and Stephen carried 14 days of food, while Elise managed an impressive 22 days. For this trek, we plan to limit our food load to a maximum of 10 days, 8 days of walking plus 2 emergency days, by setting up three or four resupply points. we plan to resupply at the following places:

  1. Ásbyrgi (GPS: 66.02469º, -16.49652º) is around 80 kms from the start, or Day 4.
    • We can leave our package at the tourist office. We will use our rental car to drive there and drop the package.
    • Alternatively the drive from Akureyri to Kópasker takes us past Ásbyrgi. So we can drop it as we head to the northern lighthouse.
  2. Mývatn/Reykjahlíð (GPS: 65.6414192º, -16.911114º). At the 152 kms mark, or Day 9.
    • Like Ásbyrgi, we plan to use the rental car to drop the package. It is 1 hour drive from Akureyri. The round trip with both Ásbyrgi and Reykjahlíð from Akureyri is 4 hours.
    • There is also supermarket in Reykjahlíð. So, can likely buy some fresh goodies as we pass though.
  3. Dreki Hut (GPS: 65.04203º,-16.59782º). At 240 kms from the start, or Day 15.
    • We can drop the package in Akureyri with an organization that runs tours to Dreki. They have not yet confirmed that a tour is running, but we suspect this will be possible. If not, then we will carry this package from Mývatn/Reykjahlíð.
    • This location is on one of the alternative routes, but as a team we have decided we want to go to Dreki.
  4. Landmannalaugar Hut (GPS: 63.99056, -19.06134). At the 456 km mark, or Day 27.
    • Local tour operators can take food packages to the Mountain Mall bear Landmannalaugar. Took many phone calls to arrange this, but all sorted now.
Map 2. Potential Resupply Points.
Drinking Water

Iceland is famously wet, but there are places where getting drinking water is a problem, including the Ódáðahraun Desert. We take a deeper look into drinking water supplies here.

Maps

We are planning on a combination of digital and printed maps. Our little team of three are keen to carry printed maps, which are not only good to backup the digital maps, but allow us to sit around the map and do planning and get inspired. We have the north-east and south-east maps from Mál og Menning. The maps are at 1: 300 000 scale. Looks like they were last published in 2018. But also looking into printing our own maps!

Also, the National Sciences Institute of Iceland has a portal to view digital maps, with arial photography etc. But the best arial photography we have found is from map.is.

In the meantime, we are using online digital maps and satellite imagery. Below are some useful map brochures that we found online:

Bail-Out Options

Life happens, and one or more of us might need to bail-out from the walk. The current route is divided into 11 stretches, and the non-emergency bail-out options for each stretch are analyzed as:

  • Stretch 1 (0 to 14 kms). Alongside a road. Less than 1 day to bail-out.
  • Stretch 2 and 3 (14 to 43 kms). Along isolated track, no significant change in elevation. 1 day to bail-out.
  • Stretch 4 (43 to 81 kms). Along road. Less than 1 day to bail-out.
  • Stretch 5 (81 to 111 kms). Track along side of river. This is a touristic area. 1 day to bail-out.
  • Stretch 6 (111 to 116 kms). Along tourist road. Less than 1 day to bail-out.
  • Stretch 7 (116 to 152 kms). Isolated track with road crossing track at each end. Route also crosses road at 138 kms. Maximum distance to road is 22 kms. 1 day to bail-out.
  • Stretch 8 (152 to 164 kms). Along road. Less than 1 day to bail-out.
  • Stretch 9 (164 to 324 kms). Isolated track. Road 12 kms from 186 mark. Road at Drekaskáli is 21 kms from 221 km mark. Maximum distance from a bail-out point is 60 kms. 2 days or less to bail-out.
  • Stretch 10 (324 to 538 kms). Along F or mountain road from 324 to 454 km mark. Some traffic possible along this road. From 454 to 490, 490 to 510 and 510 to 538, roads crossing route at both ends of these stretches, so approximately 20 kms to get to a road. Given all of this, 1 day to bail-out.
  • Stretch 11 (538 to 564 kms). Along road. Less than 1 day to bail-out.

Maximum bail-out distance appears to be approximately 60 kms. There is a more remote alternative route, where the bail-out times would increase by a further day. So, appears maximum non-emergency bail-out is 3 days or less. The decision to take the alternative route would likely be made during the journey and based on local conditions and team condition.

Map 3. Bail-out Times.
Weather

What will the weather be? Iceland is known for having high winds, lots of rain, and sand storms. The Veðurstofa Íslands (Icelandic Meteorological Office) was super kind and provided us with weather reports from various stations for the years of 2010 through to 2019. The following map shows weather stations of interest to us for our walk. More information on weather can be found here.

Map 4. Five weather stations in Iceland of interest

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