The DOs and DON’Ts of Driving in Iceland

Hire car stuck in mud, Iceland

Driving in a foreign country can be an exciting and enriching experience, but it also requires careful preparation and awareness of local regulations and customs.

There’s a whole host of things to consider, and for many, the most challenging aspect is dealing with traffic. Countries like Italy and China are notoriously hectic, however, when it comes to Iceland, there’s no need to worry. The roads are long, smooth, and free from traffic.

This doesn’t mean that driving in Iceland is always easy. Due to Iceland’s ever-changing weather conditions, particularly in winter, it’s important to research the road conditions before setting off on a journey.  Be prepared for varying road conditions, such as narrow roads, winding mountain passes, or unpaved surfaces.

On one of my road-trips to Iceland, I had to deal first-hand with getting the wheels of my hire-car stuck in an unpaved surface. Read more to see what happened, including the rescue!

Hiring a car

Alex and I arrived at the AVIS office, situated just on the outskirts of Reykjavik centre. We were given the keys to a Volkswagen Golf automatic and were rearing to go after filling out a few forms.

I would highly recommend renting an automatic if you are at all nervous about manual drive. Let’s face it, they’re much easier. Also, if you’re looking for Iceland road trip itineraries or inspiration you can find it here.

We requested a Sat Nav for our travels in Iceland, and was offered one featuring a program called myway. Basically, myway acts as a virtual tour guide to three routes in Iceland; The Golden Circle, The Reykjanes Peninsula and The South Shore. Since we wanted to head towards The Golden Circle (probably the most popular tourist route in Iceland) we pressed that route and began our journey.

driving in Iceland

The tour begins from the Avis office, and takes you along the paths of your chosen routes, telling you interesting historical and geological facts about many of the locations along the way and also a variety of stories. The great thing about myway is that it can easily be turned on or off at any point, which makes visiting areas not shown on your tour really manageable – and then when turns back on it recalculates your route from your current location!

For inspiration about driving routes in Iceland, take a look at my 2-week driving itinerary around Iceland.

Where it started to go wrong

Since we had a car we certainly wanted to take advantage of the freedom hiring a car affords by pulling up to admire all the different views along the way. HOWEVER, remember when you were young and all the children’s books warned you to ‘never stray away from the path’ like in Little Red Riding Hood? Well…. we didn’t listen. When we drove past a little side road that piqued my interest, I told Alex to do a U-turn in the road (the roads were clear I’m hasten to add!)

I could see a waterfall in the distance and assumed the side road led to it, but as we drove further the road became narrower and narrower until the ‘road’ appeared little more than a dirt track.

Finally listening to our instincts we decided we should turn around to head back on the main road, but as we moved forward to reverse, our front wheels began to sink into the ground and surprise, surprise – we were STUCK.

Hiring a car in IcelandOh dear…

Literally, as soon as we realised we were stuck, a young British couple who also had gone in search for the waterfall came past. They stopped and told us that they had reversed back before reaching it because they were worried about becoming stuck but luckily they had a 4-wheel drive to avoid the same fate as Alex and I. They kindly got out of their car and tried to help us push our car forward but it was all to no avail. There was nothing they could do so I thanked them before they drove away.  We needed either the world’s strongest man to walk past or someone with a tow-truck to miraculously pull up next to us.

By now, and true to form, the weather was raining heavily and we couldn’t see a way of getting out of the situation by ourselves so we called Avis and told them what had happened. We had only been driving for an hour so we couldn’t have felt anymore idiotic calling to ask for help already.

A call to Avis

They told us they would get someone to help, but it would cost around £250. There was no way we could afford it so we told them we’d call back.

We decided to wait and see if anyone else would come past for help. So we waited, and waited and not one person came past in nearly two hours (that was the only time I wished Iceland had a bigger population!).

We tried everything. From piling stones in front of the back wheels in a vain hope that they would provide some surface grip, to scooping away the mud with my (now deceased) notebook that I was using to jot down travel notes. In retrospect, using a flimsy notebook as a spade was a comical idea, but desperate times call for even more desperate ideas.

Hiring in a car in Iceland
Sulking and waiting for a saviour!

After all our ideas had failed and no other person had been stupid enough to drive down the same path, we called Avis back up and they put us in touch with someone else.

We called up the number and the man was very helpful, he said he’d be able to find someone who lived close by to where we needed ‘rescuing’ and the cost would be significantly cheaper because they wouldn’t have to drive all the way from Reykjavik. Phew! In a small country like Iceland, everyone seems to know everyone at least through six degrees separation. 

Soon after, a man came down with his Jeep and processed to pull out our car with absolutely no struggle. It was obvious that we weren’t the first tourists he’d helped and I’m sure we wouldn’t be the last. We paid him about £80 and although still expensive for our budget, it was still a lot less that our initial quote of £250 so we counted ourselves lucky.

Driving in Iceland
Our Hero!

Thankfully no more mishaps to report

After that incident, driving in Iceland was magnificent. We had the greatest time exploring the South Coast and Thingvellir National Park, seeing Strokkur Geyser, Gullfoss and Kerid Crater.

Driving The Golden Circle, Iceland

We drove for hours along smooth meandering roads, and watched the scenery evolve around us. One minute we’d be driving through lava fields as far as your eyes could see, the next minute we’d be surrounded by meadows, watching the beautiful wild horses roam.

Whenever we saw something we liked, we’d jump out and take a closer look. We stopped for waterfalls, ocean views, cute churches and black sand beaches. Sometimes it felt like we were driving for hours without seeing a single car or person. At night we pulled up to watch the sunset and listened to sound of nature.

Driving the west coast of Iceland

Photo taken on coastal lava rocks along the thrilling south-west peninsula of Iceland.

Everywhere in Iceland is sign-posted very well so there’s no need to worry about getting lost (and even if you do, the scenery is just so inspiring that getting lost could be a good idea!). Driving in Iceland really is a fabulous experience and is the best way to truly explore this beautiful country. Returning back to the UK roads, I can safely say that I miss driving in Iceland!

Tips for driving safely In Iceland

DOs &

DON'Ts

If  you follow these tips then there is no doubt you’ll have an unbelievable time driving in Iceland!

Driving in Iceland

Icelandic horse

Tips and advice for driving in Iceland

Have you driven in Iceland? Or are you planning a trip to Iceland?

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Hi, I'm Shing

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30 Responses

  1. I did the same route 10 years ago and would absolutely recommend it to anyone. Having that ‘otherworldly’ landscape to yourselves is such a rare experience Great job not panicking and jumping on that hellishly expensive €250 and weathering out the problem.

    1. Hi Mike, I’m pleased you feel exactly the same way as me! I couldn’t recommend this route and others highly enough, and you’re right about having the landscape to yourself. We barely passed any other cars, especially on the west coast – adding to the overall experience and ease of driving in Iceland.

  2. Welcome back, culture young woman!
    I can afford 250 pounds, but I would have declined too. I’d rather pulled the car out with my teeth than paying such an unreasonable amount.
    That mud is deceptive… it looks like gravel.
    We’ve been to Ireand recently. My GPS stated: “caution: drive on left!” That was fun, after three years driving on left came as natural as yesterday.
    Sceneries in your photos are wonderful and I envy you for visiting Iceland. But you know what it inspires me the most? The quietness most of them convey. By looking at your photos I realized how much I loved that feeling of being surrounded with total silence but the wind.

    1. Thanks Tuscan – really happy to have completed all my uni work to get back to travel related passions!!
      Yes, I hate it when I need to spend money on something just because there is no other alternative… but luckily our reluctance to cough up paid off!
      I’m surprised you noted the quiteness in my photos… but you’re right, Iceland fills you to the brim with nothing but the sound of nature… the wind and sound of crashing waves – wonderful!
      (I see some of your photos from Ireland replicate that same feeling!)

  3. I’m so glad you guys made it out of there okay and not too much out of your pocket. My husband did all the driving in Iceland and we had a VW Golf too. We loved the open roads and the feeling that we had this amazing landscape to ourselves. Of course, we drive on the same side of the road, was sunny and brought our own GPS so it helped a lot 🙂 Beautiful shots, Shing! Very helpful tips indeed and like you, highly recommend driving and be inspired by the scenery.

    1. Ahh we thought it was pretty funny, the only thing we stressed a little over was the money before we managed to get a cheaper quote, and the fact that we were wasting precious hours we should have been spending on the Golden Circle route!

      I’m glad you think the same as me Mary… Iceland is a truly amazing place to explore, and having the roads to yourself makes the ride so much more enjoyable and easy!

  4. Along with these tips, if you’re an American driving in Iceland, learn how to navigate roundabouts (we don’t have that many here), familiarize yourself with the common road signs before you take to the roads, and obey the posted speed limits. There are speed cameras everywhere, and the rental car company will just charge your credit card for any tickets they receive for the time you rented their car. If you are driving in winter, make sure you ask for a car with winter/studded tires.

    1. You’ve added some important basic points that I should have added, so thank you! Iceland is sign posted very well, and studded tires are a good idea during the winter! However, many of the main roads are snow-free because they are heated by Iceland’s geothermal heat which I was very impressed by!

  5. What an adventure! It definitely made for a great story though! Apart from this incident, it sounds like driving in Iceland is a magnificent experience!

    1. I can definitely look back and laugh with warm memories, but at the time I was swearing and sulking – it wasn’t a pretty sight! 😀

  6. Oh, I haven’t been here for a while and I see you finally made it to Iceland. I remember that when you were writing about Northern Lights in Norway, we had a short “talk” about Iceland in the comment box and I wrote that you should definitely get a 4×4 car 😉 Well, now you know why 😀 But good that it ended without any bigger problems. Did you manage to go all the way round the country or did the weather prevent you from going up north?

    1. Hahahahaha I bet you read this and said ‘I told you so’! Grrrrr you must be looking very smug 🙂 Yeh, yeh you’re right, but at least I have a funny story to tell :-s

      Unfortunately time prevented me from going north and east… but I will definitely be back for more. Iceland is a very moreish country, isn’t it?!

      1. I imagine you want to go back there. I do as well, though probably not in the next couple of years.

        you ended up in one piece and that’s the most important thing about this story 😉 and yes, you have something to talk about 🙂 aaand next time you’ll know better and thanks to you also all the people who will look on the internet for some tips before going to Iceland 😉 so, it’s not that bad 🙂

        1. Haha you’re right – if I manage to prevent at least one person from driving into a muddy ditch then I consider my incident not so regrettable!

  7. Thanks for the tips little Miss Culture 😉 Flying there tomorrow and because of your advise we decided to rent a Hummer, which hopefully will do the trick and won’t get us stuck. Also looking forward to the Blue Lagoon and climbing a couple of peaks in the South East around the Vatnajökull.

    1. You certainly won’t have to worry in a Hummer Dan! It sounds like you have quite the itinerary – you’re so lucky to be going to Vatnajökull, I really want to see the nearby Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon with all the floating icebergs so make sure you don´t miss it! Enjoy hiking around Iceland, not everyone can say they’ve hiked across volcano territory! Peace 🙂

      1. Yes we have got quite a programm for the next 7 days but the hiking around Vatnajökull is for sure gonna be a highlight and the glacial lagoon also seems to be a must see. Have been hiking across Volcano territory before, however that was on Big Island / Hawaii, which I can only recommend 🙂 That’s a location which would suit your already impressive list of destinations you’ve been to 😉
        Peace indeed and all the best!

        1. Hawaii (and the rest of the world) is on my never-ending list! Well I hope you’re having a brilliant time in Iceland, and the weather isn’t too rainy? :s I’d love to know how you got on with the hummer, and how you got on with Iceland in general!

          1. Jeez, this was almost a year ago…. But hey, I found your blog again 😉 Iceland was brilliant to say the least. In fact it was so amazing that we are planning to to move there beginning of 2017! Seriously! About the Hummer, that thing broke down on the way from the Blue Lagoon Clinic Hotel (fantastic private Lagoon!!) to Reykjavik… Got a Jeep Wrangler as a replacement, which worked out fine. At one point though, just before we arrived at the Skaftafell national park, I thought this is the end, winds of around 90 miles and hour and the feeling that the jeep will be blown off the road any moment provided some scary moments, nonetheless a very memorable experience. The hiking up to the Svartifoss and on to the Kristínartindar was also superb. I have never experienced such quietness in my live, so peaceful. And yes, Jökulsárlón is something you NEED to see. I rank it as high as seeing the lava flowing into the ocean on Hawaii, stunning! Well, I could go on for hours, seen so much there and really fell in love with the place. Next stop: Big Island / Hawaii in November and then again to Iceland April 2015 🙂

  8. Hi Dan, welcome back! So glad to hear you had such a fantastic time, and the fact that you are planning to move there speaks for itself really. No other comments needed, other than – can I come? 😀

    It’s funny that you should tell me to prioritise Jökulsárlón, because guess what? I’M GOING AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER!! I can’t tell you how excited I am! Also going to Stykkisholmur, Búðir, Vik, Höfn and hopefully the West Man Islands so you’ll have to come and snoop around here again.

    Funny to hear about the Hummer, is that a classic case of something being all looks and no substance? 🙂 I’ve made a note about hiking up to the Svartifoss and on to the Kristínartindar – thank you so much for the tip.

    P.S. Stop going to Hawaii. It’s not fair on me.

  9. Good to be back 🙂 You’ll have to come, we’re planning to open a guest house for hikers and people who are looking for solitude or nature lovers in general. But it’s all just a the beginning and looking at it realisticly, we are only gonna be ready middle of 2017, earliest. Unfortunately I’m tied to my job until end of next year and they don’t want to let me leave any earlier…
    Re Kristínartindar, be aware that you have to be properly equipped if you want to go all the way up to the peak. Very happy for you that you can go again soon, one can really feel your passion for it. Höfn and Vestmannaeyjar are places on the list for next year as well. I’m sure you will enjoy the drive, it’s so fantastic in the south. Very windy but magical nonetheless and so much to see.
    I guess with the Hummer it was more a case of bad luck or maybe other tourists not really taking care of it well enough, these monster engines of American cars are usually pretty solid.
    Most definitely I will look out for your next report, after all you have been the one that tought me about driving in Iceland 🙂
    PS: Been to Hawaii 10 years ago for my honeymoon, so time has come to repeat this wonderful trip. After all not many would have thought that someone who got married in Las Vegas, will last this long 😉

    1. Forget the rest of the conversation. You got married in Vegas?! You’re the first person I’ve spoken to who has actually done that! And you know… if I ever get married, I’ve always said it would be a quick affair in Vegas (I’m not bothered for a long, drawn-out wedding, in fact I’m not bothered about having a wedding or getting married in general, but I thought, if I met the right person and he wanted to, then Vegas would be it!)

      Great story, and you’re right… never thought a Las Vegas marriage would last so long. Well done 😉

      Keep me posted about your Iceland venture. Maybe I could be one of the first people to stay in it come 2017? 😀

  10. I thought this was about “The DOs and DON’Ts of Driving in Iceland”

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