Iceland Grand Circle Road Trip Discussion

[HostDave]

I know this trip is still a loooonnnnggggg way off, but just in case anyone has suggestions or comments during the planning stages, here's the place to post.

[Marybeth]

Boy I don't check for a while and you are planning new trip. Are you going to drive around Iceland or take bus/train etc. My sister is just about back from a cruise that spend a couple of days in Reykavick(?). I'll ask her is she has any suggestions. I know they took the Grand Circle excursion. Nice y see you guys back.

[HostDave]

We don't have much choice...there are no trains in Iceland and we're not bus types So, we'll be driving. I think the excursion your sister took is the Golden Circle that is about an hour outside of Reykjavik. We'll do that, of course, but that's only one day out of our 36 (at the moment.) I'm still doing major tinkering with the itinerary. Mostly I'm hoping the roads in the north will be relatively clear in May, but no guarantees apparently. I'd be happy to hear anything your sister has to say since I know pretty much nothing at this point.

[pinfu]

We also try to avoid the tourist season during our travels but did learn one lesson for tundra-esque travel when we took a road trip through the Canadian Rockies many years ago. We chose late May, thinking we would have all those mountains to ourselves, and we pretty much did for good reason. Just to give you a couple of examples, I was really looking forward to seeing Lake Louise, but it was still frozen, and there was no iconic reflection to see in the water. Next we tried to move westward to visit a glacier only to run into a blizzard and have to turn back. If we had this trip to do over again, we would choose off-season in September after the summer warmth melted the lakes and turned things green rather than experience the grey after effects and late season rumbles of winter again.

I have no idea if Iceland has a similar climate or if you would find similar conditions there or if you would like to avoid the harshness of the previous winter or if hotels there stay open into autumn, but I thought I'd just throw this scenario out there before you get too far into your planning. It sounds like a great trip! Very different!

[HostDave]

Yeah, I've considered that scenario. Unfortunately, we can't travel in the fall (fire season here), so this is pretty much all we have to choose from. I think the weather in Iceland is unpredictable most of the year, so it is luck of the draw no matter when we'd go. I will rent a 4WD SUV for sure. Iceland has a website to check road conditions before setting out for the next destination, and I'm expecting we'll have to be flexible. That's why I padded the schedule with extra days in most towns. Makes it easier to adjust on the fly.

It's a bit of a drag, too, because this timing puts us in the height of the season for the road trip from Denver back home...we'll still be on the road over the 4th of July, which is something I'd never plan ordinarily! At the moment, it puts us in Taos, NM, so maybe not as bad as a huge city. We'll see!

BTW, I'm getting close to posting the preliminary plan for the US part of the road trip. Should be ready shortly. At the moment it is 41 days.

[YFlower]

About 15 years ago some friends and I went to Santa Fe for the 4th of July (it was the only weekend we all could make it). It was totally charming; pancake breakfast in the plaza, various low-key festivities, etc. I would think Taos could be even more so.

[HostDave]

That does sound more appealing than what goes on in most tourist places on the 4th, so maybe it will actually be fun

I'm still playing around with that part of the trip. I might re-work it to skip all of New Mexico and do that some other time. I was sort of trying to pass through Albuquerque because a guy I worked with at Disneyland 40-some years ago asked me to visit if we're in the area. But, this trip is really racking up the days...it is turning into a world cruise on land!

[HostDave]

I'm glad I have contingency plans ready to go "just in case!"

http://www.businessinsider.com/iceland- ... low-2014-8

[YFlower]

Thanks for the alert! I'm flying to Europe in September, so I hope it stays calm!

[HostDave]

Here is more about the volcanic issue from the authorities in Iceland:

http://www.iceland.is/press-media/seism ... n-iceland/