Getting Around Iceland: Ring Road, F-Roads, Buses and Ferries

Route 1 circles the island through Selfoss, Vík, Höfn, Egilsstaðir, Akureyri and Borgarnes, and it is paved all the way. Plan seven days as the absolute minimum for the loop and ten to fourteen to enjoy it; the driving alone is about 17 to 20 hours without detours. The south coast from Reykjavík to Jökulsárlón is the busiest stretch, the east between Höfn and Egilsstaðir is the quietest and has the longest gaps between fuel and food.

The rules are simple and strictly enforced. Drive on the right, with headlights on at all times, day and night. Speed limits are 90 km/h on paved roads, 80 on gravel and 50 in towns, and speed cameras issue fines that rental companies pass on with a fee. The blood-alcohol limit is 0.02 percent, which in practice means none. Seatbelts are compulsory in every seat.

Three Icelandic hazards catch visitors. One-lane bridges (signed Einbreið brú) are common in the south and east; the first car to reach the bridge has priority. Where tarmac turns to gravel (Malbik endar), slow down before the change, not on it, because loose gravel is the most common cause of rollovers. And sheep wander onto the road all summer. Never stop on the carriageway for a photo, including for the northern lights; pull fully into a marked lay-by.

Hire desks are at Keflavík airport and in Reykjavík. Most cars are manual unless you ask; automatics cost more and sell out in summer. A small 2WD car is all you need for the Ring Road, the Golden Circle, the Snæfellsnes peninsula and the south coast between May and September. Rent a 4x4 if you plan any F-road, or if you are driving outside the capital between November and March, when a higher, heavier car with studded tyres handles snow and ice better.

Campervans combine car and bed, but must park overnight on campsites, many of which close from October to May. Get the insurance extras that matter in Iceland: gravel protection and sand-and-ash cover, explained in our Iceland costs guide. Hold the door with both hands when you open it in wind; doors bent backwards by gusts are a common and uninsured repair.

Many fuel stations are unmanned, and the pumps need a chip card with a PIN. If your card has no PIN, buy a prepaid card from N1, Olís or Orkan during shop hours. In the east and the highlands fill up whenever you pass a pump. Since 1 January 2026 all vehicles, rental cars included, pay a kilometre fee of 6.95 ISK per km; ask your rental company how it is billed.

Roads with an F before the number (F35 Kjölur, F26 Sprengisandur, F208 to Landmannalaugar, F249 to Þórsmörk) cross the highlands. They are gravel or lava tracks, open only in summer, usually from late June to early or mid September depending on snowmelt, and every one is listed on the road authority’s opening map. By law only 4x4 vehicles may use them, and rental contracts for 2WD cars forbid them outright.

Many F-roads include unbridged glacial rivers. These rise through the day as glaciers melt and after rain, and no rental insurance in Iceland covers water damage, so a flooded engine is entirely your bill. If you must cross, stop and walk the edge first, choose the widest and calmest point, cross slowly in first gear, and never cross in the afternoon after a warm day or alone. The rivers on F249 to Þórsmörk, including the Krossá, are beyond most hire cars; take the highland bus. Off-road driving, even a few metres off the track, is illegal and fined heavily.

Before every drive, check three things. The road authority’s live map at umferdin.is (the old road.is address redirects there) shows closures, snow and ice, and wind speed at each weather station; the same information is on phone line 1777. The Icelandic Met Office at vedur.is issues yellow, orange and red weather warnings. And safetravel.is runs the alert banner and lets you leave a travel plan.

Winter (roughly November to March) changes everything. Days are four to five hours long in December, and roads in the north, east and Westfjords close for storms, sometimes for a day or two. Mountain passes such as Hellisheiði between Reykjavík and Hveragerði, Möðrudalsöræfi between Mývatn and Egilsstaðir, and the Öxi shortcut (closed in winter) are the usual problem spots. Wind is the real danger: gusts over 25 m/s can push a car off the road or blow out doors and windows, and the south coast near the Öræfi district is notorious for it. Allow a spare day on any winter Ring Road trip, and if the road is closed, wait.

From Keflavík airport, Flybus runs to BSÍ bus terminal in Reykjavík in about 45 minutes, timed to every arrival, for 3,999 ISK one way ($32), with a hotel drop-off shuttle for extra. Airport Direct runs a similar service, and Strætó’s route 55 is cheaper but infrequent. A taxi costs roughly 20,000 to 25,000 ISK.

Inside the capital area, Strætó buses cover Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður and the other suburbs. A single fare is 690 ISK, paid by tapping a contactless bank card on board or with the Klapp app or card, and fares are capped at three rides a day. Ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Bolt do not operate; metered taxis (Hreyfill, BSR) are expensive, and Hopp offers taxis and e-scooters.

Domestic flights leave from Reykjavík’s city airport (RKV), 2 km from the centre, not from Keflavík. Icelandair flies to Akureyri (about 45 minutes), Egilsstaðir and Ísafjörður several times a day; Norlandair runs onward flights from Akureyri to Grímsey and the far northeast; and smaller operators fly to Höfn. One-way fares usually fall between 15,000 and 35,000 ISK ($120 to $280) when booked ahead.

Flights make sense when you are short of time or travelling in winter: Reykjavík to Akureyri is 45 minutes in the air against five hours on a snowy road. Ísafjörður’s approach between fjord walls means flights are often cancelled in wind, so do not book a tight connection out of the Westfjords.

The Herjólfur ferry links Landeyjahöfn on the south coast to Heimaey in the Westman Islands in about 35 minutes. Adults pay 2,700 ISK each way, children under 12 travel free and a car under 5 m is 4,050 ISK, according to the operator’s price list. When sand or swell closes Landeyjahöfn, mostly in winter, the ferry sails from Þorlákshöfn instead, a crossing of roughly two hours forty-five minutes, so check the day’s port before driving out. Book cars ahead in summer and on festival weekends.

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