Welcome to an Iceland Winterland- the Good, Bad & Beautiful

1. Driving in Iceland

       You maybe afraid of hiring a car and venturing out into the great beyond but it was one of the best choices we made as we had so

       much freedom and could see so much more of the country, plus it was cheaper than tours. We are Australian, so we drive on the other

       side of the road to Iceland and have never driven in snow, however, we survived without any issues, so you can too! Here is a few 

       things we encounter and you should be aware off to make it easier for you and have no surprises.

 

1. Credit card

For hiring a car, a credit card makes life simple and something we did not have. We very much wished we had one however it is possible to get bye without one, just carry a lot of cash. A credit card can be used for insurance however a

 

1. Car – insurance, companies

First up, its winter, hire a 4wd. Larger car made us feel safer and with fast winds it can be. Secondly hiring a car in Iceland requires a upfront ( (one of the only countries I am aware of that does this). The options where either $4000AUD upfront or we pay for their insurance which equates to 40 euros a day and we only had to provide $700AUD. Now you will get that upfront payment back if you don’t damage the car this includes scratches and dints and windscreens, so drive carefully.

We hired our vehicle through Gaysir car rental. We where handed a Jeep Renegade (I loved the car, very spacious and good for the roads), however, the company provided incorrect information to us while we were emailing enquires to them. In writing they stated that if we payed 20 euros a day we would only have to provide the $700AUD upfront, upon arriving they say we had to pay 40 euros a day to have that. Which obviously put a ding in our finances as we did not prepare to pay more for the car, we showed them the email and they apologised and said that 40 euros was there price and that the person who emailed us was wrong. We kidnly asked them to ensure that they provide the correct information in the future as it is double the price quoted.

 

1. Safe travel

   • This is a service provided in Iceland for their visitors, its free 😊

   • Before driving watch the 2 videos on that site to learn the road rules

   • Log your adventures on the site as well, this will let authorities know where you are and alert them if you never arrive. If you choose to set a checkup with them make sure you sign in when you arrive otherwise you will be having authorities looking for you.

 

1. Road conditions (websites)

This is the first country I have seen that the weather just changes from winter to summer in a minute. We constantly passed patches of grass and then white snow everywhere in the space of 10 minutes. So here is the best things to do before driving that day

1. Look up the official Icelandic weather website that will tell you all of the road conditions. These websites are: road.is and vedur.is

2. The worst condition we drove on was slippery roads (the light blue), these roads where fine and we never had any problems while driving.

3. Daylight

To make life easier, travelling during daylight will make you feel much safer, problem is there is roughly only 5 hours of it in Iceland during winter. So, plan ahead and make sure you are not driving those backroads when that sun falls.

• Tips

  1. In Iceland there is not a lot of traffic in winter so use up the road, I drove in the middle of the road for most of our adventuring, wherever there is less ice.

  2. I chose to put my wheel on snow instead of ice when I had the chance.

  3.  Drive smartly and to the conditions. If you don’t feel safe slow down, we passed 3 crashed during our time, it happens often.

  4. Speed cameras do exist, even though everyone speeds. These cameras appeared to be only on the main highways so just be cautious of those. The country is expensive so imagine the speeding fines!  

  5. Please don’t be stupid, it’s a too expensive country to be hurt in and a too dangerous country to be lost in!

 

1. Fuel stations

During our 4 days of owning a car we only needed to fill up once and a second time to just top it up, so we can hand it back (need to return the car with a full tank). Roughly around $50AUD all up, the pricing was reasonable however you don’t really have much choice. The major stations are N1 and Olle, these are located in most proper towns during our travels. If you are heading on a road trip out of towns (maybe towards Hofn) then consider where you will fill up so you don’t run out.

 

1. Weather

Iceland is the third windiest place in the world, so its extreme sometimes. Winter is no different, the temperatures are below freezing however that wind drops it much lower. Even in the capital it was hard to walk around in. The further North you go in the country, the colder the temperature gets.

 

1. Northern lights

The most popular aspect of Iceland and for a good reason. These lights are very tricky to actually see, the sky needs to be completely clear and the strength of the lights themselves needs to be high. The weather was good for us on the first night however everyday after that it was always overcast and stormy. The lights strength can be found on a website, we never actually looked it up as everyone else told us the information, but look into this to determine the best night to go see these beautiful material lights. Within Reykjavik, there is a tour that is dedicated to the northern lights, this is booked through Reykjavik Excursions. They will pick you up from your hostel at 9pm and take you to the best spot they recommend, still not guaranteed to see the lights however it’s a higher chance. You can not see the lights within Reykjavik itself as there are too many lights.

1. Flexible ( plans will change)

This is important, in a country so versatile, our plans and booked tours kept getting cancelled. We where refunded however it was very inconvenient and sucks as it may prevent you from seeing that part of Iceland. So be flexible and roll with it, take whatever opportunities you can and make the most of it. We where lucky and met a someone who we teamed up with to travel around. Try doing this if you need to.

  

1. Cant explore whole country

It’s a small country, yes, but its winter! A lot of the roads are blocked. So don’t be expected to see the whole country in winter, go in summer for that.

 

1. Moisture is needed!

Due to the high wind frequency in Iceland, make sure you pack lost of moisturiser if your skin does dry up. Makes your life much nicer during your stay.

 

1. Clothes

Its winter and its windy! Pack thermals and layers to put overtop. Make sure you bring waterproof clothing and include gloves (with inners) and boots. Also, would be a good idea to bring a neck warmer or at least a scarf to protect that noise, you will need it to smell all that delicious food.

 

1. Money!

It’s an expensive country, normal living is quite high in comparison to Australia. So too make it work here is what we did…

1. The hostel we where staying in had a kitchen, so we brought simple things like

   • Milk

   • Oats

   • Potatoes

   • Frozen veggies

   • Frozen meals

Too survive the everyday meals however we also enjoyed eating out at times, check out our highlights

 

1. Shops (bonus, 1011)

Besides small grocery stores the 3 main supermarkets in Iceland are Bonus, Kronan and 1011. Bonus and Kronan are very similar in pricing, sadly they do close around 6/7pm. 1011 is a more expensive option for groceries but they are open 24/7 and a easy go to for emergency snacks.

 

1. Money exchange (airport had good rate)

 

 

1. Tipping

You are not required to tip in Iceland so save those few extra dollars and buy an ice-cream.

 

1. Transport

   1. Bus tickets ($6 through rek)

ADD in airport buses (Cherie wrote it)

Getting around Reykjavik is fairly easy, we used the public buses. We purchased tickets from our hostel reception prior to that day’s adventures. It was $6AUD per ticket and you need two (2) per person, one there and one back. We just caught a bus into the city and then walked everywhere in Reykjavik that we wanted to go and then caught it back to our hostel.

 

1. Taxies

Reykjavik does have taxies however they are expensive, we avoided them. Talking to other tourists they said that they paid roughly $200CAD to get from the Reykjavik to the airport which is a 45 to hour drive, is this reasonable pricing? that’s up to you.

 

1. Make a friend with a car

If you can, make friends with someone with a car and join them on their adventures so you can still see the country. This is a good option if your plans keep getting cancelled.

 

1. Accomodation

We stayed in the Reykjavik City Hi hostel, which was good. It Is a hostel, so you can either get bunk rooms or private rooms. We experienced both, they were both clean and well maintained and served the purpose. If you do go with a HI hostel, I would suggest getting the membership card (you can purchase on arriving there, about 3000 ISK) every dollar counts right? You pay for what you get though so if you don’t like hostels try a hotel.

1. Free FOOD

In the kitchen in hostels there is generally free food that people have left behind after leaving, we abused this and managed to score ourselves a fair bit of odds and ends that we cooked up and ate. Saved us a bit of money.

 

1. Airbnb – anna and ollie great!

The other Option is Airbnb, we did this up in Snaefellsnes. We stayed in wooden cabins on a farm near the famous mountain, Kirkjufell (was in Game of thrones and such). The farm had sheep, rams, goats and three border colies that where so cute. Not to mention the owners of the farm, Anna and Ollie, We enjoyed many cups of tea and numerous chocolates while chatting away with them. Speaking to the locals we learnt a lot about Iceland. A experience that you must try, we would highly recommend staying at Anna and Ollies Airbnb.

 

1. Maps/phone tips

Getting around the country will require some sort of maps, if you are old school there will be plenty of maps available at reception in hotels, just ask. If you are talented person with a phone then here is the tips on using that device in Iceland.

 

1. Sims (simmins, Vodaphone, at 1011 – $30, make sure phone unlocked)

Firstly, make sure you phone is unlocked and will take it. Sims are very easy to get in Iceland and work like a charm. The main carriers are Siminn, Vodaphone and Verizon, we purchased a Siminn at a 1011 store in Reykjavik. The deal was for 30 days we got 5GB of data, 50 minutes of calls and 50 sms all for 3,000ISK, which was good. We only wanted the data for maps however we should have abused the calls and sms but we wasted them. 5GB of data was an ample amount for our 4 days of driving however we only used it for maps really.

 

 

1. Off line maps

There is ways to get around not having data, if you are not familiar with off line maps then have a look at them. They work well and allow you to save your places of interest and show you how to get there, with no data!

 

1. Split wise – App to make your money tracking easy

This is a nifty app that we discovered on our trip, it allows for you to keep track of money. This worked well as we are splitting our costs so this app allowed us to determine who owed who how much and was very easy to use. Just a hot tip to make your life simpler.

 

1. Wi fi ( most places around rek (free) 

This is a big thing in Iceland, it is everywhere and its usually free. Most of the cities stores, restaurants and buildings will have free Wi-Fi. Hostels and hotels will also have it free, its not the greatest however works for your basic apps and lets you communicate with your family. We abused this property of Iceland and made sure we looked at maps before leaving and downloaded off line maps to get around.