Iceland in late June/early July

[munz6869]

I'm planning to stay in Iceland for a week or so in late June/early July, and I'll have my Wista 4x5 and Fuji 6x8 rangefinder with me. For those who've been, is there anything you'd recommend? A must seems to be the Blue & Glacier lagoons, although I suspect I will really like stomping around urban Reykjavik as well. Despite all the advice to the contrary, I'm not keen on hiring a car (so not used to driving on the wrong side of the road!!!), so I will need to plan ahead and study bus tours and the bus timetables carefully

Marc!

[jloen]

The Laugeveggur (hot springs) hiking region a few hours east of Reyk is extremely beautiful. You can get there on the bus, spend the day hiking/photographing, then return. We also enjoyed Thingvellir (the first parliament site). It's where the continents meet and the rift forms a ridge made of pillow basalts, which form some nice shapes for B&W.
Really just about anywhere you go in Iceland is heaven for a Wista 4x5. Some excellent landscapes including national parks and big glaciers are along the south coast east of Reyk, and the buses run regularly.
Personally I wouldn't spend much time at the Blue Lagoon tourist trap. There are so many places that are much better IMO. Yes, urban Reyk is very good, and you can get around well using city buses.
You will enjoy it! It's the best place I've ever been for hiking and scenery (two trips, planning a third). On our first trip we rented a car and drove the ring road. Unforgettable!

[munz6869]

Thanks Jloen! Great info!!

Marc!

[Daniel Stone]

Jokulsarlon(prononounced yo-kull-sar-lohn, a.k.a. "the iceberg lagoon") is usually part of most trips along the southern coast from Rekjavík. The Thingvellir(thing-vet-leer) is great as well, and the drive north out of Rekjavík is beautiful during the summer.

Hiring a car is a great way to be able to get "off the grid" so to speak, unless organized(and quite rushed IMO) tours are your thing. Iceland is a tremendous place, and has a lot to see/offer. Especially to us photographers . I was there last summer assisting Michael Smith and his wife Paula. Awesome experience!

Rekjavík is cool, but the countryside, IMO is where the "action" is really at. The southern coast(especially around the city of Vík(pronounced "Veek") can be absolutely spectacular!

FWIW: IF you plan on making some serious photographs of Iceland(especially with your 4x5), then I'd recommend going out on your own, rather than on the organized/rushed IMO tour buses. It was hard seeing people get out, basically have 30mins-1hr to see a place that we stayed 3-4 days at, and we were still able to make more photographs of(Jökulsárlon in particular). I talked with some people I met from Germany, and they planned on hiring a car once returning to Rekjavík and buying a tent, JUST so they could see places more in-depth, and experience the country outside of a comfy bed and hot meals all the time(I slept in my tent and on the ground for 2mo straight ).

whatever you decide to do, these are only recommendations from a 23yr old assistant, but I plan on going back ASAP, and after meeting some awesome Icelanders while there, and making some great new friends, its not just for the scenery!

have fun!

-Dan

[Steven Tribe]

Whilst there are no mosquitos in Iceland (unlike Greenland), there are other pesky flying hungry flies. They hatch at the time you are planning a trip but are very local to certain areas - wetlands/lakes. The "Blackfly" is probably the worst - these can occur in a density of 1 million per sq. meter. Full net head covering is necessary to avoid panic attacks.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Hello from France.
I'm sure that you'll enjoy your trip to Iceland
I've visited iceland 4 times, unfortunately with no large format camera.
I've been there mid-July to beginning of August.
Pay attention to the fact that at the period you are planning to go, many "roads" (unpaved roads, sometimes very rough) in the interior could still be closed.
The decision of renting a car or not is a very difficult choice.
Twice, I've been to Iceland with no car, using only the bus system, but I found it a bit frustrating regarding reaching nice photographic spots.
In Iceland, light can change very fast, if you are inside the bus you can't ask for a stop ...
On the other hand renting a car will cost you an arm and leg.

The ring road number one will probably be open end of June but please check in advance for road conditions, since due to a glacial flood at the last eruption at Eyjafjallajökull, the ring road had to be purposedly destroyed at some place near the great sands of the Skeiðara river (Skeiðararsandur) in order to let the water freely flow and preserve nearby bridges.
You can have a look at Google Earth with the key word skeidararsandur and you'l understand why maintaining a road there is a challenge for the budget of a nation with 310,000 inhabitants.

Well, considering that the ring road wil be repaired, you can simply travel along the ring road and visit the most spectacular places that can be reached from this road. Geysir and the Gullfoss waterfall are not that far from the ring road and regular bus carry visitors there. The Sakaftafell National Park is another favourite stop, wheather permitting.
In one of my visits, we had bad weather and could not even see the glaciers nearby... on another visit, we could climb as high as one can go without glacier equipement, 18°C, bright sunshine, a dream ... Svartifoss is one of the favourite "postcard-type" watefalls at Skaftafell.

On my first visit I took plane to the Wetsmann Islands and this was worth a visit. You can see most of the Heimaey Island on foot, this is the place where a catastrophic volcanic eruption took place in 1973, a paradise for bird watching (the first time in my life I could see so many puffins almost "handy" !)

Another place I visited twice are the North-West fjords, but probably this is for a second or a third visit.
The North-Wests fjords are magnificent although non-volcanic; they have been inhabited since the first vikings came just before year 1000, the grand views that you have over the various plateau-shaped mountains, cliffs, fjords, sandy beaches (with walrus colonies) are simply sublime .... wheather permitting as usual ;-)
Be prepared : I remember in 1983, my second visit with a group of British guys (an organized tour by Dick Phillips) after 3 days camping under heavy rain on a very wet terrain, one of the party members eventually ... departed from his legendary British self-control :
"Damn Country ! Wet, wet, wet .. and no beer !"
At the time, all beer sold in Iceland was virtually non-alcoholic.
Regulations have changed since, regarding beer but regarding water coming from the clouds, I'm afraid that the "regulations" did not change that much

[jloen]

Oh I should have added that on both trips to Iceland there were days of really bad wet weather. Like 33 degrees and 40+ mph winds (in August). We also traveled there in April/May and had to deal with snow storms. Prepare or suffer; in these circumstances it is best to have a car to retreat to. Even tents are iffy; in once case several tents at a campground were destroyed by high winds; the poles broken. Fortunately they seem able to predict such storms accurately.

I agree that the "golden circle" tours are not good for LF photos. You don't get enough time and you aren't really taken to the cool out of the way spots. Personally Geysir didn't do much for me, although some of the falls (Gullfoss) can be OK. Also on a tour you will be limited to harsh midday lighting.

If you take buses you will find yourself in uninteresting towns with a long (miles) walk to the plentiful natural areas. Renting a car really is the best way to go unless, for example, you fly to walkable place like Westmannisland and make that the focus of your trip.

[Two23]

I was there in mid July last summer for two weeks. It wasn't long enough. Some thoughts. Reyjkavik is nice, but the really great stuff is outside. You will be seriously crippled without a car. All of the major waterfalls are nice, but there are thousands (yes, thousands) more all around. The glacial lake you are thinking of was my one favorite spot, but not the lake. I liked the beach at low tide with the small beached icebergs. Wouldn't spend all day there though--would be missing a lot of other opportunities in other places. We had zero problem with bugs/flies. Most of the waterfalls are in the southeast quarter of the island. Since you don't have all that much time, you do need to find an area to concentrate on. All in all, Iceland is my favorite place. If the taxes there weren't so extreme, I would even consider retiring there. BTW, I was there with a family of four and we spent money like water out of a hose. Everything seemed expensive except the hotdogs.


Kent in SD

[munz6869]

Such great info folks - thanks heaps to you all! People seem to really really like Iceland - I'm quite excited...

Marc!

[jloen]

Yes, quite expensive. A bagel with cream cheese in downtown Reykjavik is $12. But there are other options. We brought our own food and didn't eat out at all. We also stayed in campgrounds. The main campground in Reykjavik is on the bus routes, and also is right next to a huge community hot springs spa.
Another approach is Holiday Farm Vacations, which are simply B&B's. These have a lot of character and you get to meet the people. Great experiences in all cases; we stayed in about 6 different ones. Boy did we get to meet some characters!
Yes, waterfalls. On the trail above Skogar Falls we must have passed 100 beautiful waterfalls in a few hours. Stunning.
Every day in Iceland is a treat, especially in the rural/highland areas. Unlike a lot of expensive places, we find it to be worth every penny (or Kroner or Euro or whatever they're using these days), but we're the kind of people that like roughing it somewhat.