Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Bus F35 Reykjavík-Akureyri, F35a Akureyri-Reykjavík (one daily mid-June to early
September). It's 13 hours to do the full journey - treat it as a day tour if you like, as it takes
in stops along the Golden Circle (including Gullfoss and Geysir) and pauses for 2½ hours
at Kerlingarfjöll, 30 minutes at Hveravellir. A ticket for the full journey is Ikr13,900.
CAR
Drivers with 4WD vehicles will have no problems on the Kjölur route. You won't find a
car-rental agency that provides insurance to those with plans of taking a 2WD.
Note that if you're in a 2WD and curious for a taste of the highlands, the first 14km of
the route (north of Gullfoss) are sealed.
Sprengisandur Route
To Icelanders, the name Sprengisandur conjures up images of outlaws, ghosts and long
sheep drives across the barren wastes. The Sprengisandur route (F26) is the longest
north-south trail, and crosses bleak desert moors that can induce a shudder even today in a
4WD.
Sprengisandur offers some wonderful views of Vatnajökull, Tungnafellsjökull and Hofs-
jökull, as well as Askja and Herðubreið from the western perspective. An older route, now
abandoned, lies a few kilometres west of the current one.
The Sprengisandur route proper begins at Rte 842 near Goðafoss in northwest Iceland.
Some 41km later, you'll pass through a red metal gate as the road turns into F26. There's a
poster explaining the sights and finer points of the route, and 3km later you'll happen upon
one of Iceland's most photogenic waterfalls,
Aldeyjarfoss
. Churning water bursts over the
cliff's edge as it splashes through a narrow canyon lined with the signature honeycomb
columns of basalt.
After the falls, the Sprengisandur route continues southwest through 240km of inhospit-
able territory all the way to Þjórsárdalur. There are two other ways to approach Sprengis-
andur, both of which link up to the main road about halfway through.
The route generally opens around the start of July.
