Car rental in Iceland – what you need to know

Renting a motor vehicle in Iceland will give you extra adaptability than if you vacation by community transportation or on an organised tour. You’ll be capable to cease when and exactly where you want, you will not be waiting around for others and you can travel a lot more independently. You can generate your personal itinerary (and modify it if situations dictate) and explore at your have tempo.

With all that explained, there are quite a few things to be informed of when leasing a auto in Iceland. This information covers a amount of concerns you are going to want to look at.

Program ahead!

Apart from the blip of the pandemic which influenced travel the earth in excess of, Iceland has been steadily soaring in popularity. International right away guests additional than tripled from 672,773 in 2012 to far more than 2.3 million in 2018. In 2022, it’s predicted to be around 1.6 million and may possibly properly drastically exceed that figure specified the global fascination produced by the most recent volcanic eruption in the country.

In shorter, demand for vacationer products and services continues to be superior and it pays to prepare in advance, especially with a little something like motor vehicle employ, which tends to be booked some way in advance, if you want to get your very first alternative of auto. Depart it way too late and desire might suggest you’ll obtain by yourself shelling out a high quality for an inferior vehicle.

Driving license

Driving licenses issued in the United states of america, Canada, the European Financial Area (EEA), Australia and New Zealand are legitimate for use in Iceland. If your driving license is issued from someplace else, then you are going to have to have to check out that it has a license amount, is printed in Latin characters (Roman alphabet), involves your photograph and has not expired.

If you are unable to fulfil all of these specifications, you can implement for an International Driving Allow which is a journey document regulated by the United Nations. It is essentially a translation of your domestic driving license so provide that together with you also. If in question, check with your auto rental service provider that you have the essential documentation.

If you’re travelling with yet another driver and approach on covering very long distances, it could possibly be worthy of contemplating including an extra driver. If you do this, you’ll require an proper license for that individual, far too, of training course.

Keep in mind also that, even though you can drive from 17 years of age in Iceland, you need to be at least 20 decades old to hire a car in the state.

Kind of auto

There are a selection of points to take into consideration when picking what car to hire. It goes devoid of expressing that you are going to want plenty of room for oneself, any passengers and any luggage. But for Iceland you also definitely want to be pondering about the place you are going to be discovering and at what time of year.

A 4×4 is a well-liked choice but tiny or medium vehicles may perhaps suffice if all you prepare to do is travel all-around Reykjavik. For Iceland’s F-roads (mountain or highland streets that are not regularly maintained), a 4×4 car is necessary, whatsoever the time of yr, and advised 12 months-round for selected areas this sort of as the West Fjords or northern areas.

Rental price tag

The cost of your car or truck rental will count on a range of things: the sort of car or truck, when you ebook, the time of yr you are scheduling for, the duration of your use interval and any extras you transpire to select. Scheduling in progress will probable help save you some funds while reserving a motor vehicle with computerized transmission will commonly charge you close to 10% far more than the equivalent vehicle with a handbook transmission. July and August is peak time in Iceland so leasing a car in the course of this time period will be much more pricey.

A Hyundai I10 from Icerental 4×4 can price tag you as tiny as 9,000 Icelandic krona for every day (close to 64 USD, 55 GBP or 64 euros at present trade rates), whilst a Mercedes Benz Vito (that can have up to 9 passengers and is permitted on some F-roadways) with platinum safety, an further driver, on-board WiFi and a roof box, for a week in peak season but booked in advance, will price tag you above 400,000 krona (all around 2,800 USD, 2,400 GBP or 2,800 euros at present-day exchange fees).

Insurance plan

Make sure your car arrives with all the insurance plan cover you’d like. Third occasion legal responsibility (TPL) and collision hurt waiver (CDW) insurance policy are a ought to and should really be considered as the extremely minimal deal with. Bear in brain that driving in Iceland is as opposed to driving in other countries, and the roads and landscape current some added hazards that you may possibly like to address for additional peace of mind.

In certain, you could possibly like to consider insuring in opposition to destruction triggered by sand and ash, as perfectly as gravel safety. At any time of the 12 months, but especially in the period from February to April, powerful winds can toss up sand and ash which can induce injury to your rental auto, expecially on the south coastline where by there are broad plains protected in particles. Likewise, with fewer than 50 % of Iceland’s 8,000 miles of road becoming paved, it’s not unheard of for free stones to strike your vehicle, however cautiously you travel.

Insuring for hurt incurred on highland streets – for example, water problems from river crossings – is also worthy of searching at if you plan on driving any of Iceland’s F-roads. Theft insurance is an additional thing to consider, although thankfully thefts in Iceland are unheard of. What ever level of deal with you select, it is vital to look at the conditions of your plan so that you recognize your settlement and there are no terrible surprises.

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Some remaining guidelines

When you rent a car, you should be presented a piece of paper highlighting any present damage. Just before you depart, make confident this tallies witn the car you’ve been presented and, if you see any dints or scrapes that have not been recorded, talk to the rental firm ahead of you generate absent. Check the windscreen and tyres (which includes the spare!), and make sure that you are driving away with a full tank of fuel since that’s how you’ll be envisioned to return it. A handy suggestion is to choose photos of your vehicle, or even to shoot a limited video of it, ahead of you push away.

It is also essential not to drop your rental settlement. It will inform you what motion to just take if you have a issue with your car or truck, and will probably incorporate make contact with details for a breakdown guidance support must you require one.

Check the smaller print, too. Are there any further prices this kind of as airport choose-up rates, and just one-way rental service fees or mileage fees? I would keep away from rentals that restrict your mileage as the distances in Iceland can be significant, and the price tag variation for endless mileage is often negligible.

Ultimately, leave loads of time when dropping the automobile back to the rental business. They’ll require to check out the motor vehicle above and provide you with a remaining statement. They might also want to supply you with a shuttle services to Keflavik airport as some of the rental businesses are a quick generate away. And there may well be plenty of other men and women returning autos at the very same time. Don’t spoil your getaway by not permitting your self adequate time to return your car and catch your flight.

See our major guidelines for driving in Iceland also!

Planning a journey to Iceland yourself? You can enjoy a online video from our trip to Iceland listed here:

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Icerental 4×4. Our journey to Iceland was also supported by Helly Hansen.