How to Series: How to drive in Iceland

If you’re planning a trip to Iceland and your thinking about doing some of your own driving while you are there first and foremost, it’s very similar to American driving. In this article we will attempt to outline etiquette, the do’s and don’ts, requirements for driving in Iceland and much more.

Requirements:

There are actually very few requirements for driving. We were able to easily rent a vehicle on the Internet, show up after getting off the plane and drive away. The desk clerk took a copy of our ID’s and ensured that we were both competent and registered drivers in our home country, but otherwise there were no unreasonable conditions.

Do’s:

Pay attention to roads markings – some roads are seasonal and you are not allowed on these roads if not operating a 4 wheel drive vehicle. You can be fined 100,00 ISK for disobeying this law.

Drive slow – Many roads are narrow, and even during normal conditions these roads can become difficult to travel.

Don’ts:

Travel during periods of inclement weather – Weather can change quickly in Iceland, and any excursion can be ruined by high wind, snow, or flowing lava. Be sure you know where your going to avoid being trapped!

Speed – Don’t speed! Your on vacation, enjoy it!

Difference from American Driving:

While you do drive on the same side as you would in the US, there are several differences in terrain and road types from the American road systems. To start, outside of Reykjavik we saw very few traffic lights, most places you would expect to see a traffic light you will likely see a traffic circle instead. These are particularly nice for travelers like us because if you don’t know where your going… just keep going around the circle until you decide which adventure you want to take.

Secondly, most of Iceland is farmland, you can drive for miles without seeing a town or even a home, for this reason plan accordingly. There isn’t gas ( or in our case diesel ) on every corner like there is in the US. fortunately our rental only needed to be filled about once a day. On the second day we noticed interesting signs, they showed an image of a town when you were entering the village limits, and when exiting the same image would have a large red slash through it. We assumed and later confirmed that these signs represented village limits. It was somewhat comical from time to time as we were driving Vik, going in and out of small towns, as soon as you saw the “leaving village limits” sign you would look up ahead and see nothing at all!

Check out another article > Iceland roadside signs