I wanted to do an extra post on rental cars in Iceland. In the following post I will describe some things about Iceland’s roads.

Plan the roadtrip from home. Why?

1. To save time – searching for the right route can be tough.
2. The streets are really different. If you plan a glacier tours or if you want to travel into the inner parts of Iceland you need to get an off-road car. The insurance has to apply to the underbody. If you drive through a river and the car gets crashed it can get really expensive.

Look for a matching car

I linked some car rental companies below. Most of them are in the center of Reykjavik or at the airport.

• Little cars are enough for the city
• If you want to explore the island off-road you should take an SUV, an off-roader, 4×4 or a Pickup.

Read your insurance papers!

I think there is no other country where you have to insure so much. Don’t take the risk – it can cost a lot. You can insure your car against sandstorms, volcano ash, storm damage etc. Don’t ignore it when you choose your car. Some cars are not insured against damage in the lower part of the car (caused by off-road, river crossing etc.). If you’re in Iceland it can happen that you have to cross a river. þórsmörk is known for that.

Internet for the car? Yes!

You can buy a MiFi (mobile Wifi). It’s not that expensive. Mifis are for 3 GB and 3 days, which costs exactly 30 Euro. If you use the whole 3 GB, you can buy a new 3GB pack.

If possible get a car with an automatic gear and a cruise control, because that’s much more comfortable.

Weil es einfach angenehmer ist, wenn man Hunderte von Kilometer fährt. Ich glaube, dass die vielen Off-Road Fahrzeuge aber kein Automatik haben. Da kenne ich mich zu wenig aus. Hier sollte man am besten den Vermieter fragen und sich das Auto genau ansehen.

Navigationsystem in the car

Since our routes where already planned and we had the Mifi, we didn’t get a car with a GPS.

Driving License & Age

You have to be at least 23 years old to rent jeeps and mini-vans. For all the other cars you have to be at least 20 years old. You need to have your driver’s license for at least 1 year and if you want to drive bigger vehicles like a bus you need to own the right driver’s license. The reservation has to be made by the driver, who has to be present when pickup up the car. They charge for any additional driver.

How to pay?

You will need a creditcard and your driving license. I think all car rentals accept creditcards like American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Diners. You can inform yourself here. Most petrol stations offer cheaper gas, when you serve yourself („Sjálfsafgreidsla“). You will need a credit card for this. Don’t forget your PIN.

Rent on Location or online?

I’d inform myself online first, check the car, insurance and then rent the car on location. It’s cheaper if you do it there and we only had to wait for 20 minutes until we got our car.