I am off to Iceland in 10 days and i am looking for up to date information about traveling in Iceland after the eruption of the volcano.
So i am wondering:
- is it still possible to drive the ringroad for its complete stretch or are there stretches blocked at this time? And which stretches are not passable?
- can any of the sights in Iceland not be reached by car at this time?
- what can be done and what can not be done?
Greetings
Bernardo
The whole ring road is open and easy to drive, there is though a small stretch on the south coast, which can be a little ,,ashy" but really alright.
All the sights that are usually acessable this time of the year, are Ok. Except Thorsmork valley.
You can do everything that you had planned, like before. And now you get a real volcanic eruption as a bonus, and it´s magnificant !
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054978&id=1075907659&ref=mf
So no sweat, enjoy your Iceland tour !
See this: http://www.visiticeland.com/
B-)
Edited by: Borkur
Hello!
You can check road conditions on this website: Icelandic Road Administration
Ring Road is 100% open as far as I know.
At the moment the area closed for safety reasons due to the volcano is the following:
News Release, April 27th Restricted area around the volcano
Good luck!
All the sights that are usually acessable this time of the year, are Ok.
To be clear, in late May/early June, many sights in Iceland can't be reached by car, but that's nothing to do with the volcano, it's because most summer-only roads don't open that early.
(Amusingly, Ok is a volcano to the west of Langjokull. But he's not talking about that.)
I read in today's news that there has been some significant new ashfall with visibility down to 2m in some localities. So disruptive happenings are still possible. http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=29314&ew_0_a_id=362304
The previous link was wrong (the one with the map of restricted area).
The correct one is:
map of restricted area around Eyjafjallajokull
Sorry for the mistake!!
Just to echo what other posters have said, I got back on Tuesday after a brief trip and there's very little disruption to speak of.
We stayed in Reykjavik and went as far east as Vik (well, almost to Vik) and also explored the Snaefellsnes Peninsula. We encountered no road closures (beyond closures for winter, which as far as I'm aware is normal) and certainly the ring road was open even near the volcano.
There's a section of gravel - tarmac - gravel - tarmac where I think they broke the ringroad to let water through, but slowing down for that probably only adds five minutes to your journey.
The most noticeable thing for us was the emptiness of the two hotels we stayed in. Not sure if that's normal for this time of year. Oh, and Keflavik Airport seems to be closing every now and then as the ash cloud moves about, so check your flights. I think they've been using Akureyri airport as an alternative, so you might be looking at a lengthy bus ride when you arrive / leave the country.
Have a good trip - it was my first and I can't recall being so impressed by a new place.
Cheers,
John.