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Driving in Iceland
Aug. 19th, 2024 10:28 amI didn't write down exactly how many kilometers I put on the rental car in Iceland, but it was at least 400 (which equals 250 miles for us Americans). Herewith, some thoughts on driving in Iceland.
1) Not specifically driving-related, but in general. Iceland did once have a day in the mid-80s, but in general it's chilly. Highs were in the mid-50s when I was there. Weather systems blow in quickly from the ocean, and depending on if you're on the hill or in a hollow your local temperature can vary. Dress in layers.
2) Don't bother with the rental car shuttle bus at the airport. It's a bit of a shit-show and the rental car place is barely a 5-minute walk from the terminal. When I returned my car, I walked to the terminal.
3) Iceland does have some expressways, but even on an expressway, they think nothing of having that immediately transition to a roundabout, or having multiple roundabouts in a row. Get your GPS. I used the one on my iPhone and it was invaluable.
4) Regarding GPS, the audio of your GPS is going to pronounce street names in proper Icelandic, which may not be spelled how you think it should be. For example, the "th" sound in Icelandic is spelled with a funky-looking P. You'll need to look at the GPS readout to correlate the audio to the road sign.
5) I rented a Kia Stonic from Blue Car Rental. It's not sold in the US and it's billed as a small SUV. Personally I'd call it a plain-ole-hatchback. Whatever you call it, I found it perfectly adequate for tooling around Iceland.
6) Many tourist guides talk about the Golden Circle, which is a group of nature tourist sites easily seen just outside of Reykjavík. You would assume that the road would have special signage. You would be wrong - it just marked with regular road numbering. Again, your GPS will be helpful here.
7) Speed limits in Iceland are low. The fastest limit I saw posted was 100 KPH which is 60 MPH. People seemed to be generally observing the posted limits.
8) Parking in town is a bit tight - the tourist areas especially were laid out back in horse-and-buggy days. You'll have to pay for parking - fortunately there's a kiosk system which can be set to English, takes credit cards and will track your car via the license plate - no printed ticket required. It's actually quite slick.
1) Not specifically driving-related, but in general. Iceland did once have a day in the mid-80s, but in general it's chilly. Highs were in the mid-50s when I was there. Weather systems blow in quickly from the ocean, and depending on if you're on the hill or in a hollow your local temperature can vary. Dress in layers.
2) Don't bother with the rental car shuttle bus at the airport. It's a bit of a shit-show and the rental car place is barely a 5-minute walk from the terminal. When I returned my car, I walked to the terminal.
3) Iceland does have some expressways, but even on an expressway, they think nothing of having that immediately transition to a roundabout, or having multiple roundabouts in a row. Get your GPS. I used the one on my iPhone and it was invaluable.
4) Regarding GPS, the audio of your GPS is going to pronounce street names in proper Icelandic, which may not be spelled how you think it should be. For example, the "th" sound in Icelandic is spelled with a funky-looking P. You'll need to look at the GPS readout to correlate the audio to the road sign.
5) I rented a Kia Stonic from Blue Car Rental. It's not sold in the US and it's billed as a small SUV. Personally I'd call it a plain-ole-hatchback. Whatever you call it, I found it perfectly adequate for tooling around Iceland.
6) Many tourist guides talk about the Golden Circle, which is a group of nature tourist sites easily seen just outside of Reykjavík. You would assume that the road would have special signage. You would be wrong - it just marked with regular road numbering. Again, your GPS will be helpful here.
7) Speed limits in Iceland are low. The fastest limit I saw posted was 100 KPH which is 60 MPH. People seemed to be generally observing the posted limits.
8) Parking in town is a bit tight - the tourist areas especially were laid out back in horse-and-buggy days. You'll have to pay for parking - fortunately there's a kiosk system which can be set to English, takes credit cards and will track your car via the license plate - no printed ticket required. It's actually quite slick.
