Iceland : Has anybody driven in Iceland before?

[Mercury1]

Dec is in winter, the ring road will be clear of snow but the smaller inner roads may not be. Some parts are also icy so drive with care. If ur driving out of the main areas best get a car with 4wd and snow tyres

 

 

I also went in dec haha

 

Oops.

already booked airline and car rental before i read this.

Departing early December.....

[Jtis]

Am in Iceland now, decided to make my second trip here since my previous trip was in summer. It is only October, but temps range between 3 to 5 deg most days, going as low as slightly below zero. Most highland roads, F-roads, already see ice on the road from overnight temps dipping below zero. Even with centre diff locked, my vehicle struggles for traction in the slush. Quite scary since all roads have no guard rails and usually have a steep drop....

 

IMHO, 4wd is a must if you intend to drive in Dec, get a proper 4x4 SUV rather than the 4wd station wagons(eg audi/skoda wagons) for better ground clearance. As it is, my SUV couldn't make it up to langjokull glacier on F550 due to insufficient ground clearance. F roads disallow 4wd cars as well, only 4x4 allowed

 

I also realised that many places are also closed for winter, only reopen during spring...

 

Dec is in winter, the ring road will be clear of snow but the smaller inner roads may not be. Some parts are also icy so drive with care. If ur driving out of the main areas best get a car with 4wd and snow tyres

 

 

I also went in dec haha

 

 

[Chowyunfatt]

Any Pictures to Share? ... 

[alphard96]

Dec is in winter, the ring road will be clear of snow but the smaller inner roads may not be. Some parts are also icy so drive with care. If ur driving out of the main areas best get a car with 4wd and snow tyres

 

 

I also went in dec haha

 

Thanks Mercury 1...Getting a 8-9 seater - not 4wd unfortunately.

Yes,will not attempt to drive around the whole island.

 

According to my wife who plan the route - besides Reykjavik main city, things to see/places to visit are

- jokulsaarlon national park

- eyjafjallaojokull volcanoes

- black beach

- golden circle

- thingvellir national park

- gulfoss waterfall

- geysers plate boundaries

 

Any advice, thanks.

[Hiphiphoray]

MCF SOP...........NPNT!

 

Am in Iceland now, decided to make my second trip here since my previous trip was in summer. It is only October, but temps range between 3 to 5 deg most days, going as low as slightly below zero. Most highland roads, F-roads, already see ice on the road from overnight temps dipping below zero. Even with centre diff locked, my vehicle struggles for traction in the slush. Quite scary since all roads have no guard rails and usually have a steep drop....

IMHO, 4wd is a must if you intend to drive in Dec, get a proper 4x4 SUV rather than the 4wd station wagons(eg audi/skoda wagons) for better ground clearance. As it is, my SUV couldn't make it up to langjokull glacier on F550 due to insufficient ground clearance. F roads disallow 4wd cars as well, only 4x4 allowed

I also realised that many places are also closed for winter, only reopen during spring...
 

 

[Mercury1]

To be honest I didn't have time to make it around the attraction below but they seem to be along the ring road which should be okay, check with your travel guide or car company espeically if the parking area is near or next to highway.

 

In short from what we encountered the ring road itself has snow plowers to clear it every few hours, so long as you stay on the main roads it shouldn't be an issue for 2Wd.

 

Its only when you start going inland to see the sights then things become trickier, for example off the ring road like Gulfoss waterfall

 

 

Once off the ring road the secondary roads still are cleared but less often, we drove off to hit Gulfoss and the road resembled the below, the skoda we got had 4wd but I seen a van take that road with no issues

 

If you gonna drive inland then be careful where you stop the car, some areas have 3 feet snow and your car can get stuck (mine did once), I recommend you ask the hotel for a windscreen ice scraper to scrape the ice off in the morning, you might wanna consider bringing a small shovel in case the car gets stuck and you need to shovel it out.

 

Also the worst are the roads not cleared much at all (usually inland roads), as @Jtis said those roads are icy and even a 4WD car with studded tyres will skid all over the road at 30 kmh. If you're gonna tackle these roads ask the locals if the snow plower will clear it and what time do they clear it.

 

If you intend to see the northern lights by yourself its quite tricky, I drove all the place and couldn't catch it neither did the special northern lights tour group down to luck really

 

Bear in mind the daylight hours also yeah, its very short I think you only get 6 hours or less of daylight, so long driving aint too feasible either. BEst plan lots of stops along the way, you can check out the hostels international site, they have locations spread out thru iceland and its quite decent/cheap to boot.

 

 

Check this out

http://chopmypassport.com/2014/07/23/iceland-winter-self-drive/

 

Thanks Mercury 1...Getting a 8-9 seater - not 4wd unfortunately.

Yes,will not attempt to drive around the whole island.

 

According to my wife who plan the route - besides Reykjavik main city, things to see/places to visit are

- jokulsaarlon national park

- eyjafjallaojokull volcanoes

- black beach

- golden circle

- thingvellir national park

- gulfoss waterfall

- geysers plate boundaries

 

Any advice, thanks.

 

Great point, I recall we tried to go and see one attraction and the snow blocking the road was half the height of the Skoda I rented lol, I will go in summer next time haha

 

Am in Iceland now, decided to make my second trip here since my previous trip was in summer. It is only October, but temps range between 3 to 5 deg most days, going as low as slightly below zero. Most highland roads, F-roads, already see ice on the road from overnight temps dipping below zero. Even with centre diff locked, my vehicle struggles for traction in the slush. Quite scary since all roads have no guard rails and usually have a steep drop....

IMHO, 4wd is a must if you intend to drive in Dec, get a proper 4x4 SUV rather than the 4wd station wagons(eg audi/skoda wagons) for better ground clearance. As it is, my SUV couldn't make it up to langjokull glacier on F550 due to insufficient ground clearance. F roads disallow 4wd cars as well, only 4x4 allowed

I also realised that many places are also closed for winter, only reopen during spring...
 

 

Edited October 15, 2015 by Mercury1

[Jtis]

I will try to post some photos of the places that alphard96 is thinking of going, but most of my photos are still in my camera, and all are larger than 4mb...

 

From my recollection, the golden circle as the most popular tourist attraction, should be accessible since it is on paved roads, as well as the jokusaarlon glacier lagoon,which is on the ring road itself....

 

I saw that there are 7-8 seater suvs available, with thule box mounted above. Ssangyong rexton, the kia sorento?, some toyota land cruisers, land rover discoveries...

 

The winds in iceland are ferocious. I once saw an on-coming subaru legacy wagon fishtail suddenly right in front of me and come head on towards me beyond recovering back to his lane... lucky i had that forewarning and braced for the cross wind, cos it damned near slammed me off the road...

[Mercury1]

Mate, that's superb of you if you can. 

 

Wah seh I didn't encounter strong winds when I was there during Dec but that does sound scary.

 

Drive safe !

 

I will try to post some photos of the places that alphard96 is thinking of going, but most of my photos are still in my camera, and all are larger than 4mb...

From my recollection, the golden circle as the most popular tourist attraction, should be accessible since it is on paved roads, as well as the jokusaarlon glacier lagoon,which is on the ring road itself....

I saw that there are 7-8 seater suvs available, with thule box mounted above. Ssangyong rexton, the kia sorento?, some toyota land cruisers, land rover discoveries...

The winds in iceland are ferocious. I once saw an on-coming subaru legacy wagon fishtail suddenly right in front of me and come head on towards me beyond recovering back to his lane... lucky i had that forewarning and braced for the cross wind, cos it damned near slammed me off the road...

 

[Angcheek]

Mate, that's superb of you if you can. 

 

Wah seh I didn't encounter strong winds when I was there during Dec but that does sound scary.

 

Drive safe !

 

is there anything to see other than white ? 

[Mercury1]

Well if you go to the Blue lagoon you might find some local gals to play patty cake with 

 

 

 

is there anything to see other than white ? 

 

[Angcheek]

Well if you go to the Blue lagoon you might find some local gals to play patty cake with 

 

 

 

Thats 1 very valid reason ......... I will plan for one kekekeke 

[Volvobrick]

I read that they have limited gene diversity due to small population.  You planning to contribute?

[Jtis]

Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon

 

Stokkur erupting at Geysir

 

Gulfoss

 

Black Sand Beach

[Mercury1]

I should have become a holiday advisor

 

Thats 1 very valid reason ......... I will plan for one kekekeke

[Sp4wn]

planning to go in Feb - I have very little experience driving in the snow though, so I'm guessing AWD car is a must with snow chains (though when I was living in boston, my room mate's car had snow tires, but he never bothered with the chains). 

 

probably going to do ring road, but i'll be the only driver, as my wife cant drive. im guessing driving for 3-4hours MAX a day should be ok for me, as i think anything more than that will be too monotonous. 

 

we asked for a few guided tours, but most of the prices are coming up to 7-8k/person for a full week guided tour, so i think it makes more sense to drive, spend extra on the car insurance too, (and maybe rent a diesel?)

 

i looked up the weather for feb and it seems to be around 0 or a few degrees below.

 

to see the northern lights - how much colder will it get? -10? (and with or without windchill?)

 

quite excited to go, just worried about the driving part as being the only driver means i must take extra, extra care to avoid fatigue also.

[Jtis]

Replying on mobile so will keep the reply short.

 

From my recent trip to iceland, seeing northern lights are not determined by temperature, doesn't have to be too cold but has to be dark. I saw the northern lights about 5-6 times, and it is usually about 1-2 hrs after the sun sets, and usually appears from the direction where the sun sets. U will know it when u see it. Seeing it is primarily determined by aurora activity and cloud cover. I found this a very useful website.

 

http://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora/

 

Ideally you will want aurora activity to be at scale 4 and above. But if the cloud cover is heavy, you wont see a thing. Check where u are staying on the map, and 'white' colour on map is good, dark green can go back and sleep or make babies.

 

 

 

planning to go in Feb - I have very little experience driving in the snow though, so I'm guessing AWD car is a must with snow chains (though when I was living in boston, my room mate's car had snow tires, but he never bothered with the chains).

 

probably going to do ring road, but i'll be the only driver, as my wife cant drive. im guessing driving for 3-4hours MAX a day should be ok for me, as i think anything more than that will be too monotonous.

 

we asked for a few guided tours, but most of the prices are coming up to 7-8k/person for a full week guided tour, so i think it makes more sense to drive, spend extra on the car insurance too, (and maybe rent a diesel?)

 

i looked up the weather for feb and it seems to be around 0 or a few degrees below.

 

to see the northern lights - how much colder will it get? -10? (and with or without windchill?)

 

quite excited to go, just worried about the driving part as being the only driver means i must take extra, extra care to avoid fatigue also.

[Giordanogavin]

Planning for a self drive trips in Iceland. Initially plan to go in June but chances to catch nothern lights seems almost zero as sky is bright in June.

But if go in Dec might be too cold and challenging to drive as road cover with snow. Any advice?

 

Seems some forumers here travel in Dec and Feb. do your manage to catch the northern lights?

[Friendstar]

This is one darn good thread!

 

Totally enjoyed reading.

 

Thanks for the amazing sharing