Start point 1: Saint Raphaël in Provence. This days is a mix of nice roads and french highways. First part fo the day on the highway towards Sisteron from where the road towards the Luce pass will be riden. Highway to the east of Switzerland to reach the lovely Jura roads before catching the highway through Alsace. Overnight in Strasbourg.

Start point 2 : Strasbourg in Alsace. To make that long ride possible the tour will mainly take the highway/autoroute towards northern Germany. Overnight in Hannover.

From Hannover the ride goes on through Denmark up to the north and the Alborg region. Overnight in a Danish castle.

Start point 3 : From Alborg to the north west coast of Denmark is a short ride. We will meet with the ferry in the port of Hanstholm .

A day at sea. There will be a short stop (couple of hours) at the Faroe Islands.

Arrival in Island is scheduled around noon at the port of Seydisfjördur. The ride in Iceland starts here, after seeing some waterfalls, it goes through Egilsstadir towards the south and the coast. The coastal road follows the various fjords like the Berufjördur, Hamasfjördur and Alftafjördur ones. The day will end in Höfn, the most important town (2.000 people) around. The view on the Vatnajökull glacier is breath taking.

Leaving Höfn westwards the road takes the tour to one of the most famous places in the country: the Jökursarlon lake. This lake is where the huge ice blocs from the Breidamerkurjökull glacier fall, giving a polar atmosphere to the place. It is expected that in a near future the lake will open itself to the sea. The road will then go around Oraefajökull glacier (2119m high) before riding along the dark sand stretch of Skeidararsandur. Some more waterfalls on the way and another stretch of dark sand (Myrdalssandur) later will take the tour through Vik, from where it will be possible to ride to the Dyrholaey cliffs and do some bird watching. On the way to Hella the Seljalandfoss waterfall allows to walk around it (rain suit is a must). Hella and its 600 inhabitants will welcome the tour for the night.

Leaving the coast and the circular road some of the highlights of Iceland will be visited. On the right hand side the Hekla volcano (still active - 2000 is the last recorded eruption). One of the most visited natural sites in Iceland comes next: the Gullfoss waterfall, also called the "Golden fall". Falling from a height of 32m the water hits the basaltic "organs". Right after comes the Geysir site famous for its geysers (by the way the word geyser comes from this place). The Big Geysir is no more that active but his "little" brother (up to 20m) "Strokkur" springs every 5 minutes or so.

Before reaching Reykjavik the tour will ride through the town of Pingvellir where the Viking set the first parliament in the world, the Alfling, in 930 A.D.

The rest of the day is free to pay Reykjavik a first visit.

Rest day in Reykjavik. Enjoy the city, go for a swim in the Blue Lagoon or get on a whale sighting boat ride or just chill out!

Time to go north! Passing by the Hrnaufossar (coming out of a lava field) and Barnafoss "the kids fall") waterfalls and the sea town of Borgarnes before reaching Stykkisholmur at the entry of the Hvammsfjördur fjord.

With the fjord on the left hand the road follows the coast until it goes inland at the feet of the west fjords to reach the town of Brù entry point to one of the most fertile parts of the country. In Blönduos, important fishing place (1.000 inhabitants), a sulphur smell signals the presence of a warm water spring (used to warm the school's swimming pool). The Skagi peninsula has a special ambiance thanks to its lonely scenery made of high cliffs. On the east side of the peninsula the road follows the Skagafjördur fjord before it gets inland and rides by the most famous farm in Iceland: Glaumbear (now a museum for local culture). After riding through the impressive Oksnadalsheidi pass (550m) the tour will re ach the town of Akureiry. Second biggest town in Iceland (15.000 inhabitants) will welcome the tour for the night.

Today people who are tired can go for a short ride and rest or hike by the Myvatn lake where we will stay overnight. On the way to the east the Godafoss (The gods waterfall) waterfall, made of three falls in a semi-circle will help to wake up before getting to lake Myvatn. Only 2m average and max 4.5m deep this lake called after the many gnats fling around when there is no wind is made of two basin connected together by a canal. Due to its geographical position between America and Europe many birds stop over to breed. .

For the more adventurous ones after the Myvatn lake here comes the road 87 and its moon like scenery (the NASA sent the Apollo 11 astronauts there to get them trained for the moon flight!). After Husavik the road follows the coast until we reach the small village (184 inhabitants) of Kospaker. The most northern point of Iceland (only 2,5 km from the artic circle) is on the Hraunhafnartangi flatland (easy to see thanks to the lighthouse). If the wind feels cold is is quite normal: it comes directly from the north pole area.

A bit more of the nordic ambiance until we take a side road to rejoin with the route to the Jökulsarglijufur national park where one can see the Dettifoss, Selfoss and Hafragilsfoss waterfalls.

In Grimsstadir the tour will go west back to the hotel.

After an early breakfast we are back on the "Route 1" (Iceland's main road) for a ride eastwards to Egilstadir, right before getting to Seydisfjördur where the ferry will be waiting for us.

As on the way in there is a full day at sea with a short stop at the Faroe islands.

The ferry will reach the Danish coast by the evening. A short ride eastwards towards Aalborg and it is time to get a good dinner before catching some sleep and dream about Iceland and the last week of adventures.

Day 16

June 28

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