Iceland Driving Tips & Unwritten Rules Tourists Wish they Knew About
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
- Driving in Iceland is not always easy. Here 's an ,,Iceland driving guide'' to help you get around safely.
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This video is for travellers planning their first time in Iceland but also for those who're visited before. There could be some driving tips you didn't know about. Let's talk about the weather, sheep, speed limits, off-roading and fines, things you shouldn't do and more.
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⏰ Chapters ⏰
00:00 Don't be ,,that guy''
00:18 Stuck on 100 ways
01:31 Wildlife Collisions
02:37 Thing tourist do and locals hate
04:05 Speed
05:31 Gravel roads
06:24 Don’t do this!
06:47 One step ahead the weather
#iceland #icelandtravel #janiniceland
I think this is a very important video for many tourists. I know that most truckers are mad at tourists that can't drive at a constant speed, they see something interesting and slow down to about 50km/h and then speed up again to 100km/h and it makes it really hard for the truckers to overtake. I have also experienced tourists in the highlands where it is impossible to overtake unless the front car moves over. So if you are driving in the highlands and see a car behind you, he most likely wants to overtake you but also not stay in the dirt cloud trailing you.
I would have liked to see you mention roundabouts in Iceland, as tourists cause the majority of accidents in them.
Also you are required to keep your lights on all the time when driving in Iceland, lots of tourists just keep them in "auto" but it most of the time just leaves tiny lights on in the front of the car but none at the back. This can be really dangerous when driving in fog or at night.
Thank you for sharing this! A lot of good points there, I might have to do part 2 in the future, there's probably a lot of other things too we could come up with. This here is what I personally experienced a lot as once I almost crashed into the car that stopped behind the hill in the road. And agree with he situation with inconsistent speed is very common, it sometimes it is even hard to say if the person driving is even aware of the traffic behind him, slowing down, going from lane to lane, often feels dangerous to even try overtake the vehicle. Some people just need to be more thoughtful and realise they are not the only ones on the road. Hope this video will help with it at least just a little bit.
I miss Iceland already 😢 I did leave with Covid (picked up just before I left home) 😡 but I did manage the Snaefellsness trip, totally awesome ❤. Loved the ‘submarine’ analogy 🤣 I put my hand out once to steady myself, in the snow, well I ended up on my bum & couldn’t move for laughing. I did extricate myself 😅. Using common sense, I fear that is sadly lacking at times!
Oh no, I hope you will get better soon Kate. Snæfellsnes is absolutely amazing, I should plan a trip there some day soon! But all in all I hope you enjoyed your time here despite the covid. What was the weather like?
@@janiniceland I did enjoy my first 2 days although I was struggling from the beginning, but I think that was Covid 😏 not much fun when you’re on your own, the hotel were 😏 no help so I had to go out 2 days to get food 🎻🎻🎻🎻 lol The weather was fantastic, no rain & just the one dumping of snow. Once I get home to Australia I’ll see my doc & the Long Covid team & make a plan for the coming months. What this means is that I need 😜 to make another trip back to Iceland but I think that will be next year! Don’t worry as I’ll be keeping up to date with all things Iceland 🇮🇸
i drove around iceland in 19 days...so fun
19 days , that's amazing, I am always happy for those who decide to take more time here, I feel like it make for more relaxing experience
19 days? Nice! I made my first Rd No.1 road trip all around in 3 days in April 2017.
Kind of a race not travel, still nice... ;-)
So much useful information! People can use these tips no matter where they live or visit. The fines for off-road driving are very high! Thank, Jan!
Thank you Mary! Yes they are and it is a good thing, sometimes it seems like one could drive anywhere here especially in highlands where it is often just flats with packed dirt, but if everyone did that I can imagine it would have quite a negative impact with tire tracks everywhere. I also just hope that the rental companies are doing a good job in informing tourists about this.
I lived in Iceland in 2017, Mar-Oct, and had 'only' an old Toyota Avensis Station front wheel drive, but with studs for the legal season. Yes, driving in Iceland is hardcore, but I never got stucked.
Just take the signs for real and use common sense and it should be fine. Sadly because of my car I was unable to explore the highlands, not even in mid 'summer', but all the rest of this beautiful, much to windy, country was easy to reach ...
More people should see your info here, bc I know the regular tourists have no clue about the regulations and fines, especially when it comes to off road driving.
Thanks Jan! ...
Thank you for sharing Pete! I think that having any car is essential here, can't imagine not having one here, it opens up so much opportunities for travel. To be honest, I do get stuck mainly just in the winter because of where I live, then in the summer I've been in cars that managed to get stuck in rough terrain in highlands. I used to have a truck and it was great for exploring highlands but for other 90% of the year I didn't need a car of this size so I sold it. Now i miss it and am thinking about buying one again haha.
Yes I hope this video will help some people. I'd like to think rental companies are doing a good job in informing tourist about all those things, but from my experience it often doesn't seem like they do.
@@janiniceland Yeah, when I came to Iceland in March 2017, I first had no car for a couple of weeks what used to be a part of my working contract, that did suck. Nearest bus stop was in Graferholt, about 1.5 miles away from my home downhill, and you know how 'good' the bus connections are in Iceland...
After I made enough pressure on my employer we bought this old Toyota, the cheapest driveable thing we could find in the Reykjavik area. But damn it, cars are really expensive in Iceland! For what we paid for that one I could have get easily at least 10 (!!) of the same in Germany. Ok, I know everything is extremly expensive and rare in Iceland... ;-)
Without a car you can hardly go anywhere or see anything in Iceland, it's a must have! Here in UK I don't mind having no car. Public transport brings me everywhere at all times, at least here in the south England and London region...
I used to have a truck myself, an old MB double cabin short bed, while living a long time in Portugal a while ago. Nothing better than a proper truck, especially when living in country side! When I moved away from Portugal to Germany where it wouldn't have passed the local MOT (TÜV) anyway, I sold it to Africa. Gosh, I miss that one...
But to come back to talk about the informations about driving in Iceland...
In my time I could see the government flyers informing and warning about it at nearly any public place. I got my first one at my Landsbankinn, but they're also at every tourist information centre and elsewhere. So actually tourists should know about it, if they dare to inform themself about the country they are currently in, but I know many don't...
Iceland is a special place for me! There has been no other county I lived before, and I lived in many, that I hated and loved in the same way the same time than Iceland. Iceland is like my first girlfriend ever, a classic hate-love relation. I couldn't be with her nor without her so did she, but she stays always in my mind!
If Iceland only would have better weather I would call it paradise, but than it probably would be over crowded as well...
Cheers from London...
Thanks for all these amazing stories Pete! It sound like you travelled a lot. I think that everyone should try that at least once even if just for a month, in my opinion one just start looking at things differently and start appreciating what he has in live.
I absolutely love the girlfriend/Iceland analogy. Somehow for me me though, the love side is still stronger and I guess that's why I am still here. That could change in the future if I discover a place I like even more, who knows. But man the weather here is really tough sometimes haha. Without that it would be probably too good.@@PeteDarrell1972
Yeah, I travelled a lot. I did grow up as a little boy in 3 countries already, Germany, Holland and Spain. Since then I could never really settle somewhere. Before 2000 I stopped making holidays like others do till date, instead I only take 'one way tickets' for a new destination. Usually by car (or better said trucks or vans & trailors), but for Iceland and the UK I did move by plane. Life is too short to wait for 'retirement' (who knows if someone makes it till then anyways?) to see and live the world. But I never made it out of Europe till now, apart from Iceland, where I obviously lived on the North American plate near Reykjavik...
Actually I wanted to move to Vancouver Island, Canada after my stay in Iceland, but while my job there ended earlier than expected I needed to make new plans. So I ended up here in the UK for the moment. For a long, maybe too long. moment... ;-) But it's OK so far, I have some roots here anyway...
I get you with your opinion on my girlfrind statement and I would be with you, if things were different. Most of my working life I maybe worked too hard on my body. In my 7 month in Iceland I had constantly pain in my neck and back, due to the cold and mainly the wind. I couldn't get dressed against it. It's somehow sad, while I actually love rough weather, but I obviously can't handle it anymore in the cold North. Iceland made me think twice, so Canada is cancelled (Not to talk about political reasons not to go there...). If I'm in mild, warm or hot climate, I feel perfectly fine. Maybe I make it some day somehow to go to South America, what is my plan all my life already anyway... ?!
Just watched your latest video about your cabin home in the snow. Looks beautiful, but I can feel my neck already just by watching it... ;-)
@@janiniceland
Thank you! Btw I agree with so much what you said. And I thhink it is amazing that you live your life like a one big adventure. It's true, everyone's planning for retirement like it's guaranteed...I wish more people saw it this way.
The pain thing - i'ven actualy heard it from more than one person who's live here. It seemes that the cold can cause the stifness of the back muscles. I haven't esperienced it too much, but man still, the icelandic cold wind can really get under your skin haha.
And to be honest, I've been playing with a thought of finding myself maybe a second -just a bit warmer home where I could escape perhaps the darkest winter months. Just having a van on Madeira or some of Canary Island could be really nice... well, will see what the future holds :)@@PeteDarrell1972
Thank you perfect timing.We head to Iceland in march and have hired a 4x4…..these tips will come in handy, especially the weather and road sites.
I'm happy if this helps at least a little bit :) enjoy your trip and I hope you will get some good weather!
👍very useful info! It is also good to know about the one lane tunnels and how to drive in them
Thank you Fanny! That's a good point, I will have to do part 2 sometime, there's still so much I can dive into😀
Those wind gusts can be offputting in a high sided vehicle. Better to choose a 4WD estate car from Volvo, Audi or Subaru.
I have a van so when its windy like that it takes all the focus fighting the strong wind gusts. Sometimes you could even call it a free gym haha. I think the worts scenario is people driving large campervans who don't have any previous experience driving in windy conditions. There's always many of them per year we see flipped on the side.
Hi Jan, great video of Driving Tips and Unwritten Rules of driving in Iceland. Always enjoy seeing of of the scenery of Iceland in your videos. It is such a beautiful place to visit even with it's challenges. Just a friendly suggestion, that in English when you talk about Sheep, if you have 1 or 100 it is just referred to as Sheep. I am surprised that they don't have fenced areas for the Sheep as they could easily be hit by cars from being in the road.
Thank you Ben! And thank you for correcting me, I really appreciate it as I am still trying to improve my English. There are sometimes fenced areas too, but I feel like it often does the opposite : sheep manage to find way through the fence, rest of the sheep follows them and then the fence keeps them next to the road. So it often is a funny sight when you see the fence but all the sheep are on the wrong side of it.
Thank you so much for this video ❤❤❤
Glad you liked it :)
massively frustrating to see that potential photo and then have to drive a km or so to find somewhere to pull over- more lay-bys please Icelandic govt!
As a tourist the tip is that the roads are all built like railway embankments meaning you cannot pull over like you can say in Scotland .. in Iceland you would roll the vehicle .. and the road camber can be counter to what you are used to at home, you really need both hands on the steering wheel
two great point here, thanks for sharing it! I mean, it's fine to pull over as long as there isn't a traffic and it is a long stretch of the road, the problem is that that's not always the case and people take a risk and stop in very sketchy places. LIke you said, would be great to see government to put more effort into rebuilding the current infractructure to suit the growing tourism.
@@janiniceland this is my 2nd visit - the first was less than a week, currently here for May.. and the biggest tip: Time, Iceland demands patience