Driving in Iceland | Do NOT do this!

Renting a car and driving around Iceland is a great way to experience the best spots in the country. BUT there are certain rules you need to follow when you're driving the road, so DO NOT do these things!

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[sindriatlason]

as an icelander thank you for mentioning not to stop at the side of the road.

[Halli]

A tip regarding the sheep along the Icelandic roads: If you see a ewe on one side of the road and one or more lambs on the other side, SLOW DOWN TO A WALKING PACE! The moment the lambs notice the approaching car, they WILL bolt towards the ewe, straight across the road.

[Simbi]

If you are planning on visiting Iceland please read this

I am an Icelander and I am in general very accepting of tourists, but there are two things that constantly infuriate me. At the top without a doubt is when tourists stop on the side of the road. It is so ridiculously dangerous and I have almost had a car accident because of it on several occasions.

Second is when tourists drive on roads or conditions they have no business being on. Roads, that are either marked as impassable (usually during the winter) or roads that their rental car is incapable of driving on, (usually applies in the summer).

Driving on mountain roads, especially in the winter is something that should not be entered into lightly.

It requires considerable general and driving knowhow, preparedness and equipment (which definitely includes a four by four on huge tyres that is capable of dealing with deep snow and has all the other equipment required in it. I haven't heard of a rental car like that yet).

Tourists usually fulfill none of those requirements.

Weather in Iceland during the winter can change on a moments notice and even if the forecast says all clear, tourists traveling on mountain roads often find themselves snowed in and trapped in stormy weather. It is a bit of a nightmare for the local search and rescue team.

Please don't think I'm saying that all tourists are hopeless unprepared mountaineers that are incapable of driving in tricky conditions. But it doesn't really matter how good of a mountaineer you are if you're not familiar with the conditions in Iceland. I sometimes think car rentals should do a better job of explaining how dangerous it can get in the winter and how likely you are to damage your rental car or worse if you venture through tricky mountain roads in the summer

[irisesberry]

I would like to add that if you are not used to driving in bad weather or on icy roads don’t drive too fast. You might not see the ice either so if its cold make sure to look out for that and be careful. And if the road is icy DON’T PRESS THE BREAKS. Also watch out for reindeer’s in the winter especially at night because all you can see is the road when it’s dark and 30 reindeer’s could just come out of nowhere all of a sudden. So just drive slower than it says when it’s winter and it’s dark.

[eirmynt]

As an Icelander, I'd like to add two that need to be known:

1) if a road is closed, it's closed for ALL vehicles! Doesn't matter is you have a 4x drive, no one can use the road except for Ice-sar and police. Some people just can't swallow this thinking they´re better then everyone else with a 4x drive. You're not a special little snowflake *facepalm*

2) the inner circle in a roundabout has the right. If you're in the outer circle and someone in the inner circle wants to exit you need to stop and let them pass. I know it's the other way round in other countries. It's a common driving accident for tourists to crash into locals cars in the roundabout.

[josuemendoza]

We're going to Iceland on September and your tips are super useful! Keep 'em coming!

[rocsund]

in addition to the tips, careful to the single-lane bridge, yield and just give way

[vvsandgaming]

With the sheep. PAY ATTENTION TO BOTH SIDES OF THE ROAD. If you see a lamb on one side, BE AWARE that the older sheep WILL cross the road before the younger one will and they don't care if a 1 ton metal slab is coming at it at to die for speeds... ALSO if there are sheep on both sides of the road THEY WILL cross over to the largest group, BUT if the ram is on the side with the lesser flock the other group WILL cross over to him.
SHEEP DON'T CARE, WE DO. :D

If you DO hit a sheep and kill it or injure it in a bad way, call 112 and let them know so that it can be reported to the farmer that owns it and leaving it on the side of the road is a health code violation.

[benjaminwilson]

Another of Jeannie's advisory videos that is spot on! We just returned from a perfect July week in Iceland! Hoping to not hear anything from those traffic cameras!! And yes, gasoline is like 2.28Kr per liter which is about $8USD per gallon. However cost per passenger mile and the freedom to stop at every special place for as long as you want is worth it (compared to travelers being herded on and off a tour bus). Shop hard for rental car rates as there are over a dozen different agencies available there.

[stormybets]

Your videos and information are great! Your peppy personality makes your videos fun to watch. We are headed to Iceland in two weeks!

[jasonbarney]

Jeanie, your videos inspired me to rent a car on my trip in Iceland when I was there in October for a one day stopover (in lieu of doing the safe and easy tour). I'm so glad I did this, BUT it was not without its challenges. Being jet-lagged and learning the roads on my first ever attempt driving in a foreign country was, well, interesting. I did a day trip of the Reykjanes Peninsula before heading to Reykjavik to spend the night before catching a flight the next morning. Here are some of my observations from my one day drive around the Reykjanes Peninsula and driving around in Reykjavik.

1) Despite your warnings, people DO stop in the middle of the road and don't seem to care if they're blocking traffic. I encountered this a couple of times. It's shocking just how the mesmerizing scenery will make drivers do insane things!

2) Drivers are aggressive the closer you get to Reykjavik despite what I've heard and you've said about Iceland drivers being courteous. I was going the speed limit, and people were speeding past me, cutting me off, and generally road raging and bullying me because I was "in the way." Something I'm not used to. But I'm also a more aggressive drive back home. Maybe they knew I was a tourist in my Toyota Yaris rental car and this was my initiation?

3) Driving in Reykjavik was a nightmare. Google maps is not reliable in Iceland. That led to some frantic moments navigating busy Reykjavik traffic, driving narrow streets for almost an hour because Google maps is glitching out, and even ending up on a street that was dead-ended for construction by a giant pile of asphalt with no warning signage for street closure. There's construction everywhere in Reykjavik, and Google maps is struggling to keep up.

4) Since we're on the subject of Google Maps, I almost missed my shuttle to the airport from the car rental drop-off early the next morning because Google Maps kept routing me on roads near the airport that don't even exist. Luckily I was able to stop and look at a paper map and make it just in time. The moral of the story is have a PAPER MAP for wherever you're going and don't suffer like I did.

5) I would do it all again and can't wait to return for a longer road trip! If you're a good common sense driver, driving in Iceland is manageable. Just take it easy, don't do anything foolish, know how to drive a manual transmission, and prepare to navigate dozens of roundabouts as you are driving into Reykjavik!

[kathythompson]

Thanks for good and logical tips, I appreciate all of them!

[JayNJoy]

Thank you for the information. We are celebrating my birthday in 3 weeks time in Iceland and we are looking a lot of information that we could get. Thank you so much.

[KahSing]

one thing u should highlight too is the single lane bridges, those really freaked me the firsT time but eventually its all abt patience n manner.

[jullinn]

actually the speeding tickets just got raised 1st may. if you drive 160 on 90 road its 240.000 isk witch is about 2.400 dollars

[orvarsigurgeirsson]

And don't turn on the hazard lights because you have stopped at the side of the road to read a map, just use the turn signal! This has ruined "good old Iceland" when people would stop to check if you had the hazard lights on.

[GivemeTHEfoodNOW]

As a german who has lived in Iceland there is also one thing to mention: if a sign says "danger" or something along those lines, in Iceland they mean it. !

[lizbohnen]

Thank you for this. So many people want that Instagram photo so bad they lose all common sense.

[Ublomor]

I am from US, I'll be stopping on the side for pictures and drive off-road!!!

[omerafghan]

Iceland is a good place to visit and. I have been there. People r helpful. All rolls there in Iceland are for safety reasons not for annoying.