Trip Details: Annotated Map Photo Gallery Itinerary
Insights: Accommodations Reykjavik, Weather, Sites/Apps
Booking a Car through Northbound.is
We used www.Northbound.is to find and reserve a rental car in Iceland. They offer rentals from local companies with off site offices. If you prefer renting with a large international rental agency, you will not find any offerings on www.Northbound.is. Full insurance protection and other extras like additional driver, GPS, etc, can be added to the price on the site so you know exactly how much you will be paying for the rental. This eliminates any up-selling at pickup. In Iceland they also sell windshield as well as sand and gravel protection due to the preponderance of loose gravel and blowing sand. We took that protection to play it safe. There’s a 15% deposit at the time of booking which is refunded if you cancel.
Renault Dacia Duster Small SUV
We rented a Renault Dacia Duster small SUV with manual transmission from Lava Auto. The Duster cost $660 for the week, half of which was insurance. This is a very popular rental in Iceland. It got about 35 mpg which wasn’t bad considering diesel fuel cost just under $8/gallon. Lava was waiting for us at 7a in the morning and quickly processed the contract and we jointly inspected the vehicle. On our return, they quickly inspected the vehicle, finalized the contract and drove us immediately to the airport. Service was great!
Driving in Iceland is similar to the US with the distinct different being the roundabout/traffic circles at intersections. Also, we were warned to respect the speed limit which is a maximum of 56mph (90kph) particularly in areas where you see speed camera warnings.
Navigating with Maps.Me Smartphone App
Google Maps will work in Iceland but remember that you will need to pay for international data connection for the internet unless you use its offline maps. You can also rent a Wifi dongle from most rental companies if you’d like internet access will driving. I decided to use the maps.me app on my Android phone. It worked great as a GPS, better than the one provided in the car. I made sure to downloaded the map of Iceland and import my Iceland Road Trip Google Map when I had Wifi access. The Iceland Map download included many points of interest which were supplement by the sites on my map. This worked great as a GPS without requiring a data connection to the internet.
Another usefull site if you are planning to drive in Iceland is the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration (IRCA) site. The site is translated to English and gives up to the minute road conditions, live webcams, and weather conditions, particularly, wind strength
Bareboating the World 