Iceland travel guide

Pick up at Keflavík (KEF), not in the city, and book four to six months ahead for summer: a small 2WD is €70–120 per day in July, €40–60 in October; a 4x4 €120–200. Take the gravel-protection and sand-and-ash cover — windscreen chips and Reynisfjara sand are the two claims everyone makes. Petrol about €2.20 per litre, mostly at unmanned pumps that need a card with PIN. Speed limits 90 km/h on tarmac, 80 on gravel, 50 in towns; cameras are everywhere and fines follow you home. Headlights on always; single-lane bridges give way to whoever arrives first; sheep own the road. F-roads legally require a 4x4, open roughly mid June to mid September, and river fords are excluded from every rental policy. The only significant toll is the Vaðlaheiði tunnel east of Akureyri (about €13, pay online within 24 h or the rental company adds a fee). One-way rentals KEF–Akureyri carry a €100–200 drop fee. Winter: rentals come on winter or studded tyres from November to mid April (studs are only permitted in that window); the car is not the problem, the wind and the closures are.

Rule of thumb: Two or more people, any season, anywhere outside the capital → rent a car. Highlands (F-roads) → 4x4 only, mid June – mid September only. Solo in winter → tours instead.

Strætó (the yellow public buses; Klapp app for tickets) runs Route 57 Reykjavík–Akureyri in about 6 h 30 for around €75–80, and Route 51 along the south coast to Vík and Höfn, once or twice a day. They stop in towns, not at sights. For the Highlands, Reykjavík Excursions' Iceland by Bus and Trex run 4x4 coaches to Landmannalaugar (about 4 h, around €65–70 one way) and Þórsmörk from mid June to mid September — the only way in without a 4x4. Day-tour coaches (Golden Circle from about €70, south coast €100–130) from Reykjavík are the winter alternative to driving.

Rule of thumb: No car and a single base → Strætó between towns plus day tours; never rely on buses to reach specific waterfalls or beaches.

Icelandair flies from Reykjavík's downtown airport (RKV, ten minutes from the centre — not Keflavík) to Akureyri (45 min), Egilsstaðir (1 h) and Ísafjörður (40 min), several times a day, €80–160 one way. Eagle Air covers the Westman Islands and a few smaller strips. Fog cancels Ísafjörður regularly. From late autumn Akureyri also has a handful of direct European services (easyJet from London, Edelweiss from Zürich), which makes an open-jaw KEF–Akureyri trip possible.

Rule of thumb: Fewer than eight days and you want the north → fly to Akureyri and rent there rather than drive the 5 h each way.

Herjólfur: Landeyjahöfn–Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands), 35–40 min, several sailings a day, about €13 per person and €20 for a car, and the car deck fills first; in winter storms it sails from Þorlákshöfn instead (2 h 45). Baldur: Stykkishólmur (Snæfellsnes)–Flatey–Brjánslækur (Westfjords), about 2 h 30 with car, the scenic shortcut into the Westfjords. Smyril Line's Norröna sails weekly from Hirtshals in Denmark via Tórshavn to Seyðisfjörður — two to three days each way, the only way to bring your own car or campervan, and worth it mainly for a month-long trip.

Rule of thumb: Westman Islands → Herjólfur from Landeyjahöfn as a day trip or one night, foot passenger unless staying; Westfjords loop → Baldur one way to avoid backtracking.

Keflavík is 50 km from the city. Flybus and Airport Direct coaches take 45 min for about €25–30 (hotel drop-off a few euros more); Strætó Route 55 does it for roughly half that but rarely and slowly; a taxi is €130–150 and not worth it for fewer than four people. In town everything central is walkable; Strætó city buses via the Klapp app cost about €4.50 a ride and a 24-hour pass about €15; Hopp e-scooters fill the gaps. Street parking is via the Parka app and enforced. Uber and Bolt had still not launched at the time of writing despite a 2025 law that allows them; the Hreyfill app books ordinary taxis.

The Ring Road has narrow shoulders, 20 m/s crosswinds and trucks. A minority of hardened tourers do it in July; for everyone else, bikes are for Reykjavík's harbour path and the flat lanes around Mývatn (rentals in Reykjahlíð). E-bike day rentals in the capital run about €40.