2020 Iceland Island Self-Driving Tour Guide

Iceland is a very marginalized country, because from our world map, Iceland is located in the northwest corner, which feels very far away from us. Iceland is rich in natural resources. Although most of it is extremely It is severely cold, but due to the unique geographical and landform characteristics, some areas are still relatively warm. Let me share with you a detailed self-driving tour guide to Iceland. Sunshine time

It is summer in Iceland from May to October, so the sunshine is very long. In winter, the sunshine is reduced to 5 hours from November to April.

Apps that must be downloaded: AuroraAlerts (Aurora forecast) Vedur (Iceland’s local authoritative weather forecast) Vegagerdin (Produced by the Icelandic Road Safety Authority) About the road conditions in Iceland. Network conditions

The Icelandic network is very poor , many times there is no signal on the mobile phone, it is recommended to download offline maps. It is also useful to buy a phone card at the airport and activate international roaming for 30 days. Car rental service

A credit card and international driver's license or domestic driver's license are required to rent a car. A translation is all you need. You need to rent an anti-skid car in winter, and you must turn on your lights when driving during the day. There are self-service payment machines in the parking lot. You can only pay by credit card at the gas station.

It is recommended to stay in a hotel in Iceland. B&B, a group of people live in a house, and it feels like the whole world is just us, chained to hot pot, drinking wine, and the world is full of ice and snow. This is the real Iceland, okay! Clothing guide + photo guide

Key points : Hat, scarf, gloves, Martin boots, knee-length down jacket, sweater, maxi skirt, tight pants, thermal underwear, all these clothes are necessary for taking pictures (yellow, black down jacket) You must buy Icelandic sweater. Bring two knee-length down jackets, take them off when taking pictures, and get in the car after taking pictures.

Where are the best places to take pictures?

The plane wreckage, black beach, and diamond beach are the best. There are parking lots next to every scenic spot in Iceland, and there are few people there. In fact, there are photos of the entire Iceland, and every scenic spot is still vivid in my mind, so everyone has to wear good-looking clothes and go out every day during the 11-day self-driving trip in Iceland. Itinerary

D1: Around the world—Reykjavik

D2: Reykjavik—Selfoss, Golden Circle—Thingvellir National Park—Geysers —Gullfoss—Icelandic church, live in: Selfoss

D3: Selfoss—Vik. Seliscoga Falls—Plane Wreck—Tirahori—Black Beach, Live in VIC

D4: VIC - Hof, watch the sunrise on the black beach, VIC church, live in Hof

D5: VIC - Hepburn (Hoffen) Skaftafell Glacier (this is the planet Mann, the filming location of Game of Thrones) Blue Ice Cave Adventure, Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Ice Beach, stay in Hofn

D6: Hepburn (Hofn). Finland) - Seydisfjordur. Bat Mountain - Lighthouse and bypass the eastern fjords, live in Seydisfjordur

D7: Seydisfjordur - Akureyri. . Detti Falls - Sulfur Spring - Waterfall of the Gods, Akureyri is the only city in the world with a heart-shaped traffic light. Love it, live in Akureyri

D8: Akureyri - —Snai Peninsula. Wheel Crater, living in Snai Peninsula

D9: Snai Peninsula—Reykjavik, Rhinoceros Rock—Straw Hat Mountain, living in Reykjavik

D10: Reykjavik - Blue Lagoon, stay in Keflavik

D11: Leaving Iceland

Iceland has also been a very popular tourist destination in recent years. When it comes to scenic spots, many friends will feel that when they go to an unfamiliar place, they don’t know if they can travel by car or if they can travel independently, so the editor of this article will tell you about it. Are there any problems?

We went to Iceland for two people to drive on November 1. We mainly went to some popular attractions and not near the volcanoes. Is there any problem with renting a small car (golf type)? Or we must rent an SUV (suv is 2k more expensive). Part of the road to the hotel is a three-digit road, which is a bit worrying.

The choice of car type is mainly related to the route and season. First of all, do you want to circle the island? Or just visit the southwest coast area? If you only drive the southwest coast area on Highway 1, you can consider a two-wheel drive car. SUVs are more suitable for driving outside urban areas. If you want to drive around the island, we do not rule out the possibility of snow in the north in October. If it snows, a four-wheel drive is definitely more suitable. After all, there is a lot of rain and snow in Iceland in winter, and the road surface will inevitably be slippery.

In addition, if some accommodations are on three-digit roads, then it is actually more necessary to drive an SUV.

You don’t need to take a small car (2WD) on Route F, but you can also walk slower on some gravel roads, such as the section to Little Glacier Lake, and the section to the Krafla volcano from the Myvatn Geothermal Power Station. It's just that the road is relatively steep but still easy to drive. In addition, it hasn’t snowed yet during the National Day. If you’re lucky, you can see the aurora more than once. The weather in Iceland changes a lot. If you have any problems near the hotel, I suggest you send an email to ask the boss to know more about the situation. Icelanders are very enthusiastic, so I think as long as it’s not too remote, it shouldn’t be a big problem.

How to choose a self-driving car

If it is just the ring road, it will be no problem in early October, but if you have three-digit small roads, it will be relatively troublesome. It depends on whether you have driving experience on ice and snow roads. If so, you should be able to If not, for safety reasons, it is more appropriate to choose an SUV. I went there in February, and the road conditions were quite bad. You are welcome to check out my Nordic and Iceland travel diary, which contains road conditions and other related strategies. I hope it can help. you.

The 2k cost is still worth it. During the National Day, the climate in Iceland is already very changeable.

Many of the three-digit roads are not paved.

If you don’t go around the island and just drive in southern Iceland, it won’t be a big problem. There are unforeseen circumstances, so if you want to travel around the island, consider spending the extra 2K.