Driving in Iceland - Route 1 and the Westfjords

Driving in Iceland is quite different to driving in the UK, in this video I cover some of the different rules including speed limits and road types to help you prepare for driving in Iceland.
The makers of this video cannot be held liable for any consequences caused by any information that is in any way inaccurate, misleading or missing. The makers of this video are not liable for any person's driving other than their own, it is the responsibility of the person driving a vehicle to ensure they drive safely and within the law.
00:00 Legal age and roads
02:20 South & East coast
03:52 Headlights, tyres, alcohol and phones
05:02 When to do the ring route and emergency number
05:42 Concentration
06:30 Narrow bridges
07:21 Cost of fuel
08:02 Driving style
08:42 Large lorries
09:05 Unpaved roads
09:43 Road signs
10:23 Two ways to Dettifoss
11:07 Weather
12:29 Tunnels and tolls
13:14 Filling up with fuel
16:26 Groceries
16:44 Parking
17:23 Car hire
19:41 Westfjords
20:33 Wind blowing off doors
21:16 Westfjords roads
21:57 Fuel station food
22:18 Reykjavik
22:51 Traffic lights
23:07 The car
24:01 Outro

[@kubiixd]

Hey Richard and any possible tourist (maybe even a curious soul)! Polish resident of 16 years from a young age here! I want to make some corrections and statements. Firstly, speed limits: generally all statements are correct, they are really simple in principle, in town it's 50, 30 in "residential" areas (where there's houses or apartments), 60 is dual lane road where there are junctions and traffic lights and 80 is dual lane road where there are neither junctions nor traffic lights. 90 is the speed limit across all of out of town in Iceland (unless otherwise specified by signs, generally lowers to 70 when there is construction going on or there's an off ramp junction to towns or houses, or 50 for safety reasons such as the narrow 1 lane bridges), it's due to the road and weather conditions. Most roads aren't well maintained because the government isn't paying the road company enough money to keep them in a well maintained condition as it's really expensive due to the weather. The weather conditions are pretty bad and windy most days and just as Richard said, the roads are narrow. They wanted to make the dual lane road from Keflavik to Reykjavik, and Reykjavik to Selfoss a 110 kmh road but they stopped with that idea due to the road conditions and the winters which destroy the roads due to spike tipped winter tires. While on the topic of tires: it is obligatory to have winter tires during winter (year round tires are obviously allowed too). You have to have winter tires on from the 31st of October. You can have them on all the way until 15th of April but can take them off beforehand if the weather forecast says there's not gonna be any more snow or ice. It is obligatory to use summer tires (or year round tires) from 15th of April until 31st of October, that's because winter tires destroy and wear out the roads when there is no snow. These rules regarding tires can be changed depending on the weather forecast based on needs (in case there's gonna be snow or ice after 15th of April or before 31st of October). You will be fined if you don't have the appropriate tires. Fun fact about gravel roads, they used to be 70 but they recently changed it to 80 kmh. When it comes to paid tunnels, that only happens with tunnels that are either under construction or newly finished, you have to pay for the simplest reason of: paying the expenses of making the tunnel. Shops: Bónus is by far the cheapest store in Iceland. The second cheapest is Krónan then there's Iceland and Nettó and then the rest which are decently expensive. The price difference isn't huge between the ones I named and it really depends on what type of thing you're buying. Fueling up: most pumps work on a simple payment method, you select the amount you want to fill up for, it charges you that amount and then refunds you that money if you don't fill up for that amount, then depending on how much you fill up for, it charges you for that amount of petrol you filled up for. The "fill up" option is what I think is called a pre-authorisation payment, generally they are 30.000 ISK (about 200 euro as Richard said). For residents, none of this is an issue because we get instant charge backs, for tourists, the process of the charge back takes time due to the payment being charged back from bank to bank, which is why sometimes it can take days or weeks for the money to get back to you if you do any of those options. For example: you fill up for 10.000 ISK, but you only pump 9.000, your statement normally would show that 10.000 was deducted, then refunded and then that 9.000 was deducted that you pumped. Large lorries: it is not a coincidence, it's actually more a planned/coordinated thing that they drive during evenings or night time. I don't know the reason behind that but during the day you will see significantly less of them than the evening. As of writing of this comment (April 26th), the prices of petrol are anywhere between 290 and 320 ISK per litre depending on the station and location. I know this was a hefty read, I hope someone finds this helpful as much as Richard's video or at the very least informative. If you have any other questions regarding Iceland, feel free to send a reply to this comment!

[@RichardFanders]

Thank you for such an informative post.

[@RusNad]

That pedestrian traffic light is actually a design from the old East Germany (Ampelmann) that's kind of become a beloved cult symbol. Funny how one ended up in Iceland.

[@RichardFanders]

That's interesting, I didn't know that.

[@teleamor]

Thanks Richard for NOT putting annoying background music in your video. Very informative, best vid I've seen on Iceland!

[@Michael-gj8yy]

This video was brilliant thanks for sharing

[@lasse007]

Great video as always! Thank you for sharing your experience with the rest of the world

[@JayTheSheep]

Very helpful for my upcoming trip in october, thanks!

[@lightspeedmath8065]

Our trip to Iceland got me affiliated with your videos. Very helpful information.

[@OPOD1999]

Awesome video. Iceland looks very beautiful

[@michaelconroy5668]

Love your driving travel videos.

[@rockinrick1207]

Great job on the video. I was there in Southern Iceland in 2021 and heading back to do Ring Road in spring 2022

[@barsorrro]

I came across you through your driving instruction channel (although I'm not learning to drive or don't live in UK :)). And after watching two of your car reviews on this channel, I immediately subscribed. They were excellent, but... they didn't get me prepared to come across a gem like this video about driving in Iceland! What a fantastic job! It's super-informative, but even for somebody like me, who doesn't plan to be going there in the near future, it's just beautiful to watch!

[@takyiyakvsi]

Thank you so much for the experience. It's like I've been there after watching the video! The sheep at the end are so cute.

[@tommin76]

This is really well explained and useful, thank you

[@TheCabinman]

Excellent video, very informative and concise! Nice job!

[@strwtchr]

This is, by far, the most informative video I have watched. Thank you!

[@RedPanda_______]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing your experience! Scenery is very beautiful but I personally would be scared to drive on those roads because they look so narrow!

[@michaelwolff305]

I wish I had seen this video before I went to Iceland two months ago, this was GREAT.

[@anubiasab]

This was really useful. I’ll come back to this video again if I ever visit Iceland (which I hope I will).

[@janmoyen]

Great video and so informative about Iceland. I’ve been 8 times and have driven all over. One thing you should consider, the East Fjords are absolutely amazing and often overlooked. Westfjords are incredible too though.

[@linksauce_1]

I went to Iceland a few years back with my uncle and cousin. We drove from Reykjavik to Vik. Beautiful scenery. I can’t wait to go back. Would love to take enough time to drive the whole ring road next time!

[@MajorAddiction]

Very informative TY

[@drivemon]

Amazing!! I'm Japanese🇯🇵 but I love your videos because I'm interested in various traffic rules of foreign countries. Please make a video of Japan version if you have a opportunity. Japan is lefthand traffic as well as the UK. 🇯🇵🚘🇬🇧

[@artemkatelnytskyi]

I've heard, it is very hard to get a visa at the moment. Is it still the case?

[@RichardFanders]

Thank you, I may do in the future if I drive there enough.

[@doddsalfa]

Why is a wrong hand traffic in good old Japan?

[@user-tn1vc1xz5d]

I took my car on the ferry Norrona from the UK. Expensive but worth it as you get to visit the Faroe Islands too. I carried basic tools, materials for emergency/running repairs, water, and tyre sealant. Thankfully never needed but I was heading out into places where there were very few people (north east). The embankments are partly designed to stop snow drifting on the top, the snow drifts behind the bank instead. Some main roads are gravel in remote areas, a good road atlas will show these. There are few barriers, the highest mountain pass is gravel with no barriers. I flew over to Greenland for the day from Reykjavik City airport, well worth it.

[@garrydelday5816]

Great informative vlog Richard, visited in 2021 and did the ring road and returning next week to do Westfjords and Highlands. Hired a 4x4 in order to do so as it’s a legal requirement on “f roads” worth mentioning that on the approach to bridges you have to give way to any vehicle that is likely to get on them before you or already on them obviously but most of them you have a clear view to the other side provided there is no fog 😂 with regard to speed limits, the fines for breaking them are horrendous, usually a minimum of €300 so bear that in mind. Never use the “fill me up” option at fuel stations, as you say you won’t see a return for at least a week but at the same time never pass the opportunity to top up your tank, fuel stations can be few and far between in the remote areas but always opt for an amount. Don’t hit a sheep either, that will set you back €500 each 😉 they can cross the road at any time even on Route 1, they are not fenced off. Driving in Iceland is an experience in itself and you do have to concentrate at all times.

[@ZhangZhuZheFu]

Thanks Rechard for the comprehensive intro! I watched your extremely helpful European version before I drove over to the continent. And I'm here because we are going to Iceland next Month! Would you pls recommend some cars to hire in Iceland? we will do mainly the Ring road, very little F roads. Was thinking of Jimny 4x4 but I heard of reviews that it is noisy and not suitable for road trips. thanks!

[@dkroen17]

Thanks for all the info. Is a 4 wheel drive required in the winter?

[@artemkatelnytskyi]

What a beautiful country!

[@RichardFanders]

It is incredibly beautiful, reminds me of North West Scotland only more dramatic and even more remote. Very expensive though.

[@Mastermind12358]

Bónus is the most cheapest, Nettó isn't cheap at all. Go to either Bónus or Krónan.

[@cbv7207]

It's the legend from conquer driving!!!

[@bartoszbazejczyk8597]

Next your destination should be Poland:) great series

[@TellyMan200]

23:14 , had the same car Yaris MK22, wondefully economicaly little car and very handy for city driving. and carplay and android auto is a lifesaver since there is no inbuilt satnav

[@leonkauk6655]

Beautiful Iceland

[@vvv435]

Haha, when we went to Iceland half of our luggage was food, another half was camping gear, still managed to spend a lot of money there. I remember those hot dogs at petrol stations, had a lot of them 😂 hope you had a chance to try their heated open air pools and thermal baths, very nice 👌 Beautiful country, certainly a place to come back to.

[@RichardFanders]

We certainly did, the pools were very relaxing.

[@rickee1962]

I love driving in Iceland. Very Meditative

[@jaysonutube]

Yep..... was recently there and wasn't holding well onto the door....almost byebye door. Luckily it did get blown off but was an almost 2000 Euro repair! make sure your own travel insurance will cover this sort of damage which luckily mine did

[@jwills8822]

I enjoyed your video and you covered some good information and I was particularly interested in the Westfjords, but then you had very very little information so I was a bit disappointed with that part.

[@hoser7706]

Superb video and breakdown, thank you!! We head over in 2 weeks. Changed our car rental from a Toyota Aygp to a Hyundai Tucson. But was your small car okay? Fine in winds? Your fuel consumption stats were incredible!! Was it duesel or petrol? And was it an automatic or manual transmission? Cheers!

[@RichardFanders]

The Yaris was excellent in all the conditions it had to deal with. Including some quite bad roads. Not for F roads though.

[@herbbot8241]

Thanks for the video thinking of visiting Iceland and renting a car

[@saevaroa]

It is a legal requirement to always have your lights on both during day and night. Two reasons for this is the poor visibility due to weather conditions and then the darkness is more in iceland most of the year and also twilight zone is a lot longer here causing daytime to be like an evening during winter.

[@alexanderkubanski9563]

Great video mate. At 20 minutes 5 seconds, do you know what road name is, or the name of the nearest town? Sounds crazy, but I’m actually driving from London to Iceland at the end of next month! In my UK reg right hand drive 1.0 litre VW Lupo!😂😂 I hate the process of renting cars. Much rather drive my own car. Iceland+Ireland are the only 2 countries left me in that car. Then I would have covered all of Europe. Interesting tip with the wind blowing the door off!😱 I didn’t know that! Cheers for the tip. Will watch out

[@zerocoolsam5453]

Hi Richard, Which car rental did you opted for your 7 day trip ?

[@chrisharder4854]

Great video and tips..I'm off to Iceland in June for the first time..I'm hesitant about renting a campervan or a car..any thoughts on that? Where did you stay during your trip?

[@RichardFanders]

We stayed in hotels and Air BnBs. I don't know much about camping sights as I didn't look into it.

[@kubiixd]

Hey! Unless you have the money to rent camper vans, I would suggest to either use a tent in designated camping locations or stay at hotels/air bnbs. My friends and family fairly frequently use tents when going on trips around Iceland, it's very safe to do so here. If you don't plan on renting a car then hotels and air bnbs are honestly your only options unless you happen to find a driver when going on trips out of town. Wish you best of luck and hope you enjoy your stay here!

[@paddym27]

great video. to note it seems to be impossible to rent a car without having had a license for at least a year

[@michaelarcher6278]

The bridges are very similar to New Zealand ones and as for the overtaking cars, I found NZ drivers doing exactly the same thing. Weird 😱

[@zachymooo]

Hiya! Don't know if you're still reading comments on here, but I've rented a Toyota Yaris 2022 and am going on a somewhat similar route to you in Iceland. I was wondering how much did you spend on fuel approximately?

[@RichardFanders]

I hope you enjoy enjoy it. I honestly don't remember but I think it was 73 imperial mpg and about 1600 miles. At the end of the video I think I talked about economy and distance.

[@oliviawolowiec8788]

I did a roadtrip in April across the USA and have never experience such strong winds. My boyfriend and I had to open our doors one at a time, and couldnt have more than one open so I wonder if it's that bad. I'll atleast be preppared lol

[@RichardFanders]

Parts of the USA are renowned for strong winds.

[@wclifton968gameplaystutorials]

In the UK you can also use 112 for emergency calls, not just 999 but yes, the main number is 999...

[@RichardFanders]

I didn't know that, makes sense though.

[@wclifton968gameplaystutorials]

@@RichardFanders It's also the same case in Ireland and a few other places (e.g. Channel Islands) even though 999 has been in use longer than 112 or 9-1-1

[@lvgio]

my local sainsburys has terrible reviews for its petrol station, people saying they put in £20-40 worth of fuel and it charging them £100 for days!!

[@unsalted-dan]

how about the parking there? i'm used to reverse parking where im from. im afraid it would be awkward to park head-first.

[@vsg24]

do Denmark please

[@berkowk]

When I traveled in Iceland it was locals who overtook - they know where speed cameras are)

[@irfanullahkhan6379]

In iceland is right hand drive or left plsehelp thanks

[@animationcreations42]

With the lack of locking wheel nuts, I wonder if it's just because you need to change tyres so often that it's not worth the extra faff! Having said that, I really don't see the point in locking wheel nuts unless you've got some pretty expensive wheels. I never bothered putting them back on our cars when I did the brakes, and the Smart car never even came with them!

[@RichardFanders]

That's true, if you are more likely going to need to change a tyre then locking wheel nuts are even more of a liability.

[@ovi_sensei]

he he love your videos

[@MrLost_KWT]

Im 18😔 i was planing to visit Iceland on September but unfortunately as u said u cant hire a car if u were 18

[@danielledocherty2058]

I swear we are just back from Iceland and I said to the husband why over take then sit there? I just don't get it.. lol. Thanks for confirming it's not just us.

[@johnhall4917]

That Toyota was amazing on fuel! 70 - 80mpg 😮

[@RichardFanders]

It is very good.

[@derniederrheiner4518]

How do you avoid the gravel roads in the Westfjords? We were in Iceland again this year. With the combination.Focus on the Westfjords. They're working on asphalting the roads there too, but they're far from finished. Latrabjarg, for example, cannot be reached without a gravel road. All these "rules" do not apply to motorcycles. And apart from that, I have repeatedly encountered individual cars on "F" roads. Although it would certainly be appropriate with three-digit "F" numbers. I wouldn't want to ride the F910 on my own. . . You can pay by credit card everywhere, but not at every petrol station. There you often have to use prepaid cards specific to the filling station. If you are lucky, the supermarket at the gas station, if there is one, will sell these cards.

[@mccarraa]

15min get a fuel receipt, very interesting point

[@zzhughesd]

Any Wind and Sand cover hire car Colchester Richard??? Colle is UK's oldest town/city/settlement. Guess Colchester isn't known as Colle !!!????

[@radivojkosovac1436]

06:00 nice seatbelt

[@edwinbab3205]

Is it worthed if.im.one person rent and drive

[@caareystore5058]

Australia should be the next destination.

[@renataavgeri1132]

Roads seem quite normal and good actually to me but then im from Greece where all roads are like that😅

[@seanfarrell7396]

Were there any cat's eyes on the road?

[@RichardFanders]

I don't remember seeing any.

[@wclifton968gameplaystutorials]

In the Nordics and Germany and a few other places they tend to use side markers road instead of cats eyes which is essentially just a post with a reflector on each side because the snow covers the cats eyes...

[@fannarbirgirsson8446]

It used to be 90 kmp on bridge, but they changed it because britsh people were killed on the bridge, so they changed the speed to 50 kmp

[@manafa.8386]

Come to finland

[@RichardFanders]

I would like to one day, one of my goals is to drive to the very top in Norway. North Cape.

[@manafa.8386]

Welcome! hopefully we can meet you! I always tell my family about your videos how much are useful

[@phunk8607]

Locking wheel nuts... wtf. How bad is the UK

[@nobbynobbynoob]

For crime? Far worse than Iceland, but not that bad by general international standards.

[@p226g36]

Can I turn right in RED traffic light ?

[@RichardFanders]

I can't remember now, it's been a few months. I don't think so though.

[@kubiixd]

Hey! Resident of 16 years here! You are not allowed to pass any red lights here, not even when turning right. Only exemptions are if you must do so to let emergency vehicles pass through or if otherwise instructed by a traffic officer.

[@janmcpsnegle2264]

Please translate 50 km/h to 30 mph to avoid the unlucky bad number.

[@SteveM-ly7oy]

Sorry to be pedantic but I think you should pronounce your lady as "Goshia" rather than "Go-she-err", I mean, if I had a romantic partner who kept on calling me Stefan instead of Stephen it would piss me off no end. It's basic respect for your partner. Anyway, I guess you've been told how to say it by now, since this content is over a year old! At least, I hope so... apart from that, what a great video and it's encouraged me to visit Iceland. All I need to do is sell my house first so that I can afford the flights, hotel, car hire and food and beer.

[@SquirrelKnight50]

Well at least it's not Italy, where tailgating is treated as a national sport!

[@oyvind-b]

Funny how different nationalities view driving. Depends on what you are used to, and of course the car. A Yaris is 2WD and short between the axels, this ok on paved roads but terrible on other surfaces. I would like to see your face doing rivercrossing on f-roads 😂. F-roads FTW