Get to Iceland. Independent travel to Iceland. Shopping and shops

My first visit to Iceland happened 3 years ago. By that time, I was so obsessed with the idea of this trip that when everything finally came together - vacation, season and the opportunity to go alone - I took the first tickets that were found in the search engine.
As a result, the trip turned out to be (according to my feelings) a benchmark - since then I consider myself one leg of a local. Reykjavik is the best city on Earth. And prohibitively expensive.

Everything had an impact. And the lack of a clear plan without any preparation, and the fact that the trip was solo - I could not share the cost of living or renting a car with anyone.

But this is my personal experience. And it absolutely does not justify the fact that we often love Iceland like a Hollywood actor - sigh longingly and do nothing.

Late May and early June are a great time to go to the island. The weather becomes less capricious, and daylight hours become almost endless. I'm flying there again, but this time with experienced friends. We completely calculated the budget for the trip with the help of our friends who live in Reykjavik - they gave us current prices for everything: from transport around the city to a sandwich in the supermarket.

The Icelandic adventure season is still a month away - with the help of this article you still have time to prepare for your trip!

For the convenience of further calculations, I will take two people, give them a car license, a little love for comfort, and send them to the island for a week.

Visa to Iceland

Although Iceland refused to join the EU, it is a member of the Schengen Agreement.

The ideal option is if you already have a multiple-entry Schengen visa. Along it you will calmly fly into the country.

If you do not have one, you can apply for a visa at the Iceland Visa Application Center in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Icelandic Schengen costs about the same as any other. But there is an unpleasant detail - there is a high probability that you will be issued a single-entry visa for the trip.

The second option is to obtain a visa from another state. Since there are no direct flights from Russia to Iceland, and you will still be applying for a visa in the transfer country, you can contact them. Or to the visa center of any country in whose favor you are sure - in this case you will need to book tickets and hotels for a package of documents. Keep in mind that if you get a Schengen visa from another country and never enter it before your visa expires, you may have problems next time.

Visa: 5,500 rubles.

When is the best time to fly to Iceland?

As I already said, summer is the best time to travel to Iceland, but keep in mind that from June 1, hotel prices almost double. You can choose the second half of May and save significantly on housing without much difference in the weather.
Autumn and spring are fraught with the fact that you will experience the legendary variability of the local climate - it is unlikely to bring you pleasure.
Winter is good with the northern lights and low prices, but its main disadvantage is the very short daylight hours. You will have 4 - 5 hours for walking.

How much does it cost to fly to Iceland?

The average price range for the Moscow/St. Petersburg - Reykjavik route is from 20,000 to 30,000 rubles. The figure is quite pleasant compared, for example, with such popular Bali.

There are often options with long (from 8 to 12 hours) daytime transfers. If a long journey doesn’t bother you, spend an extra day in Riga, Oslo, Budapest or another European city as a bonus. For example, I had an amazing walk around Munich - 9 hours was enough to travel around the entire center on a bicycle without panic.

Important. In case of a long layover, don’t forget to include it in your travel budget - transport from the airport to the center usually costs a lot of money, and you still need somewhere to eat.

Don't ignore flights from Vilnius, Helsinki and Riga. From here European low-cost airlines fly directly to Reykjavik - there were cases when you could fly from Vilnius to Iceland and back for 5,000 rubles. With such savings, it makes sense to slightly lower the level of acceptable travel comfort and get to the point of departure by train, bus or using the blablacar service.

Flight: 25,000 rubles.

Where to stay?

For a week-long trip, it's easiest to base yourself in Reykjavik and make day trips to interesting places.

District 101 Reykjavik - you are in the very center. District 105 Reykjavik - you have to walk 20-40 minutes. Try to stick to them and you'll avoid city transport - it's good but expensive. Save on housing, but spend money on travel and, as a result, reset all your benefits.

An apartment or a hotel is what you should take care of first. There is a total shortage of housing at affordable prices, and the closer you get to your travel date, the less chance you have of snatching at least something decent.
In June, an apartment for two will cost from 10,000 rubles per night, a room - from 4,000. The “the more people, the cheaper” scheme works well - so we rented an apartment for four for 11,000 rubles per day.
A double room in a guesthouse or 3* hotel will cost 10,000 - 20,000 per night.
But if you are traveling alone, then the best accommodation option in Reykjavik is a hostel. Almost all of them are very stylish, have friendly staff, cool guests and are centrally located. On the advice of locals, I lived in Hlemmur Square and was very pleased. Now he still has an excellent rating. The second tested hostel is Kex Hostel.A night in one of them in a room for 6 people (let’s not go to extremes and stay in a 12-bed dorm) - 4,000 rubles.
In May, any housing will cost 30 - 50% cheaper.

Accommodation for 7 days per person: 20,000 - 35,000 rubles.

How to get from the airport?

Keflavik is Reykjavik airport, located 50 km from the city.

City bus

Suitable if you have arrived light and are willing to walk a couple of kilometers to the Keflavik bus stop.

From here, bus number 55 goes to the center of Reykjavik, to the BSI bus station. Cost - 1130 rubles.
City carrier website.

Transfer Gray Line (Airport Express)

Significantly outperforms a city bus in terms of convenience at a comparable price. Departs from the airport and delivers to the hotel, runs around the clock according to the schedule, costs 1,350 rubles. There is wi-fi on the buses.
To buy a ticket

FlyBus transfer

Comfortable buses depart 35-40 minutes after the arrival of each flight.
Please note the price difference. To get to the BSI bus station will cost you 1,850 rubles, to the hotel - already 2,500. If the hotel is located in the center and you have little luggage, it will be more profitable to walk.
The site of the company.

Taxi

From 8,500 rubles one way.
Guys, you're crazy. But if you really want to enter the city like a king, you can order a car at the counter at the airport.

How to get around the country?

In Reykjavik you don't need transport - the city needs to be explored on foot, it is small and intimate, with interesting details at every turn. This will not require stamina, walking will be a pleasure.

But in order to get to most of the sensational Icelandic attractions - waterfalls, glaciers and geysers - you will have to drive or use the services of excursion companies.

Car rent

The most preferable option is that the costs will be slightly lower, and the freedom of movement will be much greater. So if someone in the company has a car license, feel free to use it. The roads here are amazing, the drivers on them are law-abiding, and we are accustomed to driving on the right, so driving will be a joy.

Plan out-of-town trips to understand the required vehicle power. Its cost will directly and very significantly depend on this.

If you do not plan to go around the island and climb into hard-to-reach places, then an ordinary passenger car - for example, a Kia Rio - will be quite enough. And it will cost 4,000 - 6,000 rubles per day, depending on the options (navigation, wi-fi, child seats, etc.).

For more serious trips, prefer a crossover or SUV - from 7,000 rubles per day.

It will be beneficial to rent a car for the second half of the week and return it at the airport - this option is free and will save on the return transfer.
Transport: 1,350 rubles transfer from the airport + 14,000 rubles per person for 4 days of car rental.

Excursion companies

My option on the first trip - unfortunately, I don’t have a license.

Bus excursions in Iceland are quite reasonable. The buses, of course, are comfortable and most often with wi-fi (you can immediately post photos), and in my case the driver was also a guide and was not particularly annoying - along the way he talked about where we were going, and on the spot he simply released the group and didn't bother me.

My friends and I, who traveled to Iceland before and after me, used the company's services bustravel and were satisfied. What's good: There are often package deals for excursions and transfers from/to the airport and Blue Lagoon. It turns out cheaper than buying everything separately.

But if you collect from them a package of all the most necessary excursions (Golden Circle and Glacier Lagoon), transfer and entrance to the Blue Lagoon, it will cost about 25,000 rubles.

Excursions: 25,000 rubles.

What to eat in Iceland

There are legends among travelers about suitcases full of buckwheat, which you need to bring with you to Iceland so as not to starve.

Let's figure it out. Yes, in Iceland, expensive catering is not the place where you will have fun in restaurants. And even in supermarkets the prices for the simplest products are very steep. But you don’t need to go to extremes and bring a full ration with you.

If you rent an apartment or hotel without breakfast, it is advisable to take portioned porridge with you. Many people bring nuts and dried fruits for snacks on walks; you can take muesli, cereal bars - something that won’t take up much space and is guaranteed to come in handy. Take your favorite tea or coffee with you, as well as a thermos.

It is better to buy products at the local supermarket chain Bonus - yellow emblem with a pink pig. This is something like an analogue of our “Magnit” - quite simple and budget-friendly, but has everything you need.

Remember that alcohol in Iceland is sold only in one chain of stores (Vinbudin), and the price directly depends on the strength and is in any case prohibitively high. It's easier to quit drinking than to get rid of a toad.

Therefore, try to buy everything you need at duty free - you can get into it at the exit, immediately after baggage claim. Prices here are 2-3 times lower than in the city.Buy beer at Vinbudin, a can of BUD 0.5 - 235 rubles.

Bread - 140 rubles
Ready-made chicken sandwich - 350 rubles
Pack of oatmeal cookies 300 gr. - 180 rubles
Smoked beef 1 kg. - 910 rubles
Yogurt Skyr 500 gr. - 230 rubles
Eggs 10 pcs. - 570 rubles
Processed cheese 500 gr. - 320 rubles
A pack of TUC crackers - 78 rubles
Sliced ham 95 gr. - 179 rubles

There are quite a lot of cafes and restaurants in the country. But eating here is really expensive. There is no point in looking for everyone's unloved, but sometimes life-saving McDonald's - the last restaurant of the chain was closed in Reykjavik in 2009.

But if you become completely lazy about cooking yourself, we are preparing for the following price range:

Burger with potatoes - 1300 rubles
Main course of meat or fish - from 1500 rubles
Soup - from 800 rubles (bread is often brought for free)
Beer or glass of wine - from 600 rubles

Check the portion size in advance - they are often quite large, and there is a chance to share one dish between two.

Meals: from 20,000 rubles per person per week.

Iceland itinerary for a week

Reykjavik

The whole city is like a handful of scattered children's cubes. Due to its small size and clear structure, you can walk along it without maps or questions and always get where you need to go.

Hallgrimskirkja

Be sure to climb this Lutheran cathedral in the city center, famous for its powerful, pointed shape. At the very top there is an observation deck - only here you can get a complete picture of how the city looks from above.

On the sitethere is a schedule of musical performances in the cathedral - in its very center there is a huge beautiful organ.

Entrance to the observation deck - 560 rubles.

Kharpa

My personal city gem, a spaceship made of hundreds of glass honeycombs pretending to be a concert hall, built in the port of Reykjavik.

Here you can simply relax, lie on the yellow poufs in the lobby, listen to the music coming from behind the closed doors of the halls and watch the ships in the port. In addition, in Kharp there is an open wi-fi network. I advise you to go to a classical music concert - from 1500 rubles or to a comedy performance “How to become an Icelander in 60 minutes” (in English) - 2800 rubles.

Perlan

A city boiler house with hot water tanks is much more prosaic, but the Icelanders have turned it into a tourist attraction. On the fourth floor there is an observation deck, this time free.

Arbajarsafn Folklore Museum

An open-air exhibition about old Reykjavik with detailed recreations of houses and a farm, an ancient forge and even the first railway locomotive. Looks better than the description suggests.
It is inexpensive - 1000 rubles.

Sunny Wanderer

A sculpture in the form of a boat on the coast - it’s better to come here at sunset. Symbolizes the dream of distant countries, the desire for freedom and hope for a new life.

Country program

If you are not a city fanatic like me, then all the most interesting things for you are still located outside the city limits. Most often they say - take a car and drive around the island, but you won’t be able to do it in a week. But you can travel around all the most iconic places - one day for each route.

Iceland Golden Ring

The most popular tourist route, but there is nothing wrong with that. Here you will see one representative of each of the types of local attractions: Thingvellir National Park, Kerid Crater, Heikadalur Geyser Valley and Gullfoss Waterfall.

One “but” - there are really a lot of tourists, leave early.

South of Iceland and Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon

You will see the amazing waterfalls Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss, the Jökulsárlón glacier and the charming town of Vik - very tiny, but with a powerful ocean and a black volcanic sand beach.

Thermal spring "Blue Lagoon"

There are a great many thermal pools in Iceland, the Blue Lagoon is the most famous and well-maintained of them. A heavenly colored lagoon with thick milky steam over the water - you've definitely seen it in the photographs.

Admission is paid - 4200 rubles.

The final budget per person for a week, if you travel together, in comfort, but without unnecessary luxury:

What do we spend on?	Lower threshold	Upper threshold
Visa		5 500
Flight	15 000

There are several ways to get to Iceland. If you are considering flights from Moscow and St. Petersburg, then in the first case there are no direct flights to Iceland and you will have to fly through one of the northern capitals of Europe (as practice shows, the cheapest way to do this is through Helsinki). There are regular direct flights from St. Petersburg to the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik. How economical the flight will be depends only on you and on when you start organizing your trip. If you do this 2-3 months before departure, you can save a lot on tickets, but you need to keep in mind that the peak tourist season in Iceland occurs from early July to mid-August. Prices at this time reach their maximum values, so I advise budget tourists to avoid traveling to the country at this time. In order to save money, you will definitely be advised to pay attention to the promotions that are carried out by various airlines, but here you need to understand that such promotions do not take place on an ongoing basis; they depend on many factors (primarily on the congestion of flights).

Recently, Iceland has become an increasingly popular tourist destination, and therefore the number of hotels in the country is not enough to accommodate everyone (primarily this concerns the high tourist season). It is advisable to book hotels about two months before the trip, but this will not affect the cost in any particular way. Private farms are somewhat popular among travelers, where, along with accommodation, you can take part in fishing, cattle breeding, and farming.

This is not to say that rooms on farms are much cheaper than staying in three-star hotels, but they are much more comfortable. The cost of living will depend on the chosen category: the first category provides the most modest conditions with a shared bathroom. In the second category, there is a washbasin in the room and living conditions are somewhat better. The rooms of the third category have all the amenities for a comfortable stay.

Iceland has a large selection of hostels of varying levels of comfort and cost. Among tourists, this type of housing is considered one of the most popular. But the most budget-friendly accommodation option is camping. There are special tent sites scattered throughout the country; renting one place per night will cost only 2-3 dollars, but this is provided that you have your own tent, otherwise you will also have to pay for renting a tent. Campfires are allowed on the campsites, allowing you to cook your own food. There are also a number of campsites equipped with small huts with showers and toilets. It is necessary to reserve places for a tent in advance, they are always available, but houses need to be ordered in advance.

Another important expense item is transportation. If you want to get acquainted with the main attractions of the country, then you need to provide a decent amount for transportation costs. Taxis and planes can be immediately discarded, but there is no railway transport in the country at all. The most extreme tourists prefer to hitchhike, but it is much more convenient to rent a car, but as in the case of accommodation and tickets, you need to deal with these issues in advance. In this case, you can save money and find a suitable model. You can find travel companions directly in the country, which will significantly reduce your transportation costs.

Iceland has a well-developed bus network, which covers almost the entire country, but here you need to compare the cost of traveling by bus with the cost of renting a car (if you are traveling with three or four people, then a car will be more profitable).

Taking into account the far from favorable conditions for farming, food in Iceland is expensive (even in an ordinary fast food restaurant, it’s unlikely that two people can eat for less than 40-50 dollars). To save some money, try to buy food in local supermarkets whenever possible and cook your own meals. Moreover, Icelandic-made goods are much cheaper than imported ones, but the latter are the majority in the country. You can also bring certain products with you (up to three kilograms per person).

It is best to go to Iceland in September, when there are significantly fewer tourists and prices begin to gradually decline.

I wanted to see volcanoes in another place. And finally everything came together and in 2017 we are going to Iceland!

The first thing you need to decide is for how long, in what season and in what format to go.

With the duration of the trip, it seems clear that the more time, the more relaxed it will be to see the sights of Iceland, but thoughts immediately come to mind: will it be boring, and am I ready to spend the whole/half/quarter of my vacation on one trip... For ourselves, we We decided that 7-10 days would be enough for the first trip, and as a result we ended up with 9 full days in Iceland.

When is the best time to go to Iceland?

Which season to choose for a trip to Iceland is a more interesting question - the most-most tourist season is July-August - quite warm and the most stable weather, but prices for everything increase by 1.5-3 times, in a more extended version the season is May -September - a little colder, more rainy (although depending on your luck), but prices are much more humane, and inexpensive plane tickets are easier to buy.

Format of a trip to Iceland - hiking or by car?

The third difficult decision is the format of the trip - a hike or a road trip. Both options have their pros and cons. We decided to make a sightseeing trip for the first time and chose a car. True, the question immediately arose: is a small car enough or should we get all-wheel drive? After looking at the map of the main attractions and estimating how much time we needed, we chose the light option - a small car, even if we didn’t get to all the cool places, but there would be something left for next time :) By the way, upon arrival in Reykjavik, we learned that the high mountain part, For which a jeep would be useful, it is still closed due to the large amount of snow.

So for ourselves, we chose May-June, a passenger car and 9 days, although the days were based on the tickets purchased.

As usual, the first thing we did was check the search engine for cheap flights, Skyscanner. It turned out that one of the cheapest options to fly from Eastern Europe is the low-cost airline Wizzair. They fly to Iceland from many cities, in Poland they are Katowice, Warsaw, Gdansk, and Wroclaw recently joined them. Tickets began to be monitored 5-6 months in advance, but as we wrote, the cheapest tickets from low-cost airlines are about 3 months before departure. Visair also often has discounts on air tickets on Tuesday/Wednesday. We did not find tickets with departure and return to the same city at a good price, but the combination worked - departure from Katowice and arrival in Wroclaw. Return/return tickets plus one baggage for four cost us about 150 €/person. Not the cheapest option, but not the most expensive either. A bonus for successful travel days: departure there on Friday evening - return on Sunday evening.

What to take with you to Iceland:

Although we decided to go by car, we were going to sleep in tents and sleeping bags, and that’s why we needed luggage. After all, it was necessary to put a lot of useful things there.

What should you take with you on a trip to Iceland? If you are going to live in a hotel and travel by car, then the set of things will not be much different from any other trip, but it is worth remembering that Iceland is located in the north and even in summer there can be enough It’s cold, so warm clothes, waterproof pants, jackets and good shoes (sneakers, boots - very preferably waterproof) are simply a must. Otherwise, you risk ruining your entire experience by getting cold and wet under the changeable Icelandic weather.

We were also going to sleep in tents, which means we will need tents, sleeping bags, and rugs. We already had all this, although there were some new items that were kindly provided by Red Point for testing: the Steady 2 tent, the Red Point Corbet sleeping bag.

One of the options for cheap (or rather not very expensive) accommodation in Iceland is camping, in our article about camping in Iceland you will find a lot of details about camping in Iceland, as well as tips on where to look for camping in Iceland and what to take with you

Iceland is a rather expensive country and we decided to cook on our own; we brought some of the products with us from Poland. True, they turned out to be too much (including equipment) for our luggage of 23 kg. When we loaded our only bag of luggage onto the scales at baggage check-in, it turned out that we were overweight by as much as 5 kg, and we had already run out of space in our hand luggage. I had to urgently repack the bags and some of the food was flying stuffed into the pockets of jackets, in one pocket there was a kilogram of buckwheat, in the other - oatmeal for breakfast :)

We decided to cook on a Kovea Booster Dual Max multi-fuel burner (we also took it as part of testing, so the results are coming soon), the main advantage of multi-fuel or liquid fuel burners on such trips is that fuel (gasoline) is always at hand and it’s not a problem to get it, unlike gas cylinders.

Another little thing that we would highly recommend taking is a thermos, because in the cool rainy Icelandic weather it is so nice to drink hot tea with a view of the volcano/waterfall/geyser.

At this point the preparation ended and the trip itself began. Before describing our adventures in Iceland, I would like to say a couple of general words/tips.

Upon arrival, we picked up our small car; it turned out to be a Toyota Yaris. They barely squeezed the belongings of four people, two tents, sleeping bags, and also food into it. It is worth booking a car for your trip in advance, especially if you have specific wishes. After all, rental cars in Iceland sell like hotcakes on market day. And the closer to the trip the price, the higher.

Speaking of food, we took with us porridge for dinner and muesli for breakfast, plus cheese/sausage for the first time. Just to avoid overpaying in Iceland. Subsequently, we almost constantly bought ourselves additional meat for dinner and bread.

In Iceland, in almost every supermarket you will find marinated meat, most often lamb, plus disposable grills. As it turns out, this is a great combination for a meat dinner.

In each region of Iceland there are tourist information centers where you can get a map of the region with attractions, and also ask workers about the details: opening hours of attractions, the season for some natural phenomena, whether it is worth going or not... You can read more about all the regions of Iceland at website vislandii.ru

Of course, there must be preparation for the trip, but many questions arise on the spot, which will be answered with pleasure. For example, when I noticed an icon with a seal on the map, I decided to ask what was there, and for good reason - when we stopped at the marked beach, we saw a lot of these cute mammals.

Have you decided to go to Iceland to see all its attractions live? Of course, one of the first questions is how to get to Iceland? The second question is how to get around the country? It is issues related to transport and Iceland that we will consider in this article. How to fly to Reykjavik inexpensively, how to get from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik and how to travel around the country - by bus or by car.

Flights to Iceland

The very first question that arises for travelers who want to get to Iceland is how to find an inexpensive flight to Iceland, or more precisely, in most cases to Reykjavik. Or more precisely, to Keflavik International Airport.

The first thing to remember is that low-cost airlines fly to Iceland. In particular, WizzAir from several European cities.

In addition to WizzAir, the following airlines fly from Europe to Iceland:

WOW-air
Icelandair
EasyJet
Norwegian

Unfortunately, there are no direct flights from Ukraine to Iceland, so the most profitable option would be to fly or drive to one of the cities in Poland, and fly from there with WizzAir.

From Russia to Iceland there are direct flights only from Moscow, and the airline S7 flies, the flight time is about 5 hours.

Most of the companies presented are low-cost airlines and if you require luggage, you will have to pay extra for it. And you will most likely need luggage if you want to stay at tent campsites.

But don’t forget that no one will stop you from taking one baggage for 2, 3, or even 4 people, you just have to choose a larger bag and invest in the kilograms and size provided by the airline.

How to get from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik

Keflavik is an international airport located 50 km from Reykjavik. There are regular bus shuttles to Keflavik Airport. Bus service is provided by two bus companies: Reykjavík Excursions and Airportexpress.

The cost of the bus is about $25 one way, you can also buy a ticket in both directions at once, then it will cost a little cheaper than two separate ones. And of course, Iceland is a comfortable country, which means you can buy a bus ticket with delivery directly to your hotel!

During the day, buses run every hour, at night a little less often. The schedules of the two companies overlap in such a way that buses to the airport run every half hour during the day. 99% of buses have empty seats, so whether or not to buy a ticket in advance is at your discretion, and if you drive a car and you are traveling with 3-4 people, then even renting a car for 1 day, just getting to Reykjavik will cost you less than three or four bus tickets. And at the same time, along the way you can see the thermal fields of Gunnukhver and the Blue Lagoon

Ferry to Iceland

If you want to travel to Iceland by car, then the ferry from Denmark to Iceland is the way to go. Currently, this is the only regular ferry service to Iceland from Europe. The ferry arrives at a port in eastern Iceland. During the summer season, flights depart twice a week, otherwise only once a week.

Read more about ferry connections with Iceland here:

Public transport in Iceland

Public transport in Iceland is very developed, although the population in the country is not that large. The bus network covers almost the entire island, at least the areas where human habitation is located, plus some areas of the Highlands with the most popular walking routes.

During the peak tourist season: from June to September, bus routes regularly travel along Road No. 1. This means you can see almost all the sights located along the ring road. Of course, some attractions will still have to be reached by local buses, and sometimes with organized tours. There are also bus routes to popular tourist areas in the southwest, to larger towns in the West and East Fjords, and on the Reykjanes and Snaefellness peninsulas. There are bus routes that pass through the Highland Mountains and stop at the start and end of the most popular walking routes.

In summer, 4WD 4WD buses operate on some roads marked F (mountain roads), including the Kjölur, Sprengisandur and Aska mountain roads (not accessible by 2WD vehicles).

Detailed timetables and routes for all bus lines in Iceland can be found at publictransport.is.

A free paper map of bus routes is readily available at all tourist information centres, of which there are many throughout Iceland.

If you want to learn more about public transport in Iceland, as well as bus passes and opportunities to save on buses in Iceland, read:

Domestic flights within Iceland

Cheap flights to Iceland - weird? It can not be so! You will say and you will be right and wrong at the same time!

You are right, because a flight from Poland to Iceland may cost you less than a flight from Reykjavik to Akureyri. And they are wrong, because. a bus ticket will often cost you more than a plane flight. It sounds surprising, but that’s why Iceland is an amazing northern country.

Bus transport in this by no means cheap European country is also not cheap. And especially during peak tourist seasons, but if you plan your trip in advance, you can very easily save time and money on moving by simply buying a plane ticket. Of course, this option does not work if you want to drive along Ring Road No. 1. But if you want to visit a certain part of Iceland, be it the Western or Eastern Fjords, or maybe the Northern region, a plane can be very useful.

And here’s an example for you - you flew to Reykjavik and want to go to the northern capital of Akureyri, and next to it is Lake Myvatn and other attractions of the North of Iceland. The most popular airline that flies to different parts of Iceland is AirIcelandic. A flight with this airline from Reykjavik to Akureyri starts from $75, and the flight itself will take about 45-60 minutes. Bus travel from Reykjavik to Akureyri during the season will cost you from $90 to $160 for a one-way ticket! And the bus takes about 8 hours... True, but you can see a lot of things outside the window.

Car rental in Iceland

You can easily rent a car from a rental agency if you have an international driving license, at least a year of driving experience and a credit card. You must also be at least 25 years old. It may be less, but then the rental cost will increase significantly.

The credit card with which you made the reservation must be with you, since the amount will be blocked on the card, consisting of the full cost of the rental and additional options that you order, plus a deductible, the cost of a full tank of fuel. The franchise amount is set individually for each case and largely depends on the class of the car being rented. The franchise amount limits your financial liability to the landlord. That is, no matter what happens to the car, you only pay the franchise amount and nothing more - that is, they do not return to you the amount blocked on the card. If everything is in order with the car, the funds on your card will simply be unblocked without any additional fees and only the cost of the rental will be debited.

In Iceland, all roads are free. Payment is only required for travel through the Hualfjörður tunnel, which connects Reykjavik with Akranes. The length of the tunnel is almost 6 km, of which 4 km pass under the seabed. The lowest point of the tunnel is 165 m below sea level. The fare for a regular car is 1000 ISK (8 euros) and 200 (1.6 euros) for motorcycles. But don't be lazy and take a ride around on the free road - the views are worth it.

The first thing that may surprise a driver accustomed to driving on European roads is the large number of gravel roads: outside populated areas, most of the roads are primers covered with crushed stone. The length of Iceland's road network is 12,890 km. Of these, only 4,782 km are covered with asphalt, the rest is primer.

But don’t be scared, these are Icelandic primers after all - an almost perfectly smooth surface, without holes or potholes. All dirt roads are regularly leveled by graders.

It's also worth keeping in mind that not all gravel roads are created equal. Roads above 300 m above sea level are classified as high altitude roads in Iceland. They are marked with an F index - this means that the road passes through mountainous terrain and may be impassable for ordinary passenger cars. Therefore, you cannot drive on such roads in ordinary non-all-wheel drive vehicles. But most of these roads pass through the mountainous region in the center of Iceland - the Highlands. You can drive the circular road in a regular car; we drove it in a Toyota Yaris.

Iceland seems to be created for autotourism, and by jeep you can get to any point where a dirt “trail” leads. The most interesting in terms of driving is the center of the island (Highland). And at the same time, for those who want to practice off-road, there are no restrictions on visiting any part of the island. There are no paid zones, paid attractions or paid parking near attractions anywhere.