Making the decision on whether or not to rent a car while you are in Iceland can be tough. There are pros and cons to each, and lots of opinions on what is the best choice. In the end, it is up to you on what you can afford, what you want to do, and how comfortable you are driving in a new country.
Costs
The cost to rent a car in Iceland
The cost to rent a car can range depending on the type of car, insurance, if more than one person in your group is going to drive, a GPS, wifi, car seats, etc. Depending on the company you use, renting a car for 5 days is about $600 CAD. This doesn’t include the cost of gas.
If you’re interested in finding out exactly how much it would cost to rent a car for your trip, you can compare each rental company to see where you can get the best rate, check out this website here: https://www.autoeurope.com/
The cost of day trips in Iceland
Day trip prices can range depending on the type of tour you want to do, and how many you plan to do.
To give you an idea of how much it would cost to take day trips, the cost for the most popular day tours are:
- Golden Circle: 10.900,- ISK (or $140 CAD)
- South Coast: 10.900,- ISK (or $140 CAD)
- Reykjanes: 9.900 ISK (or $130 CAD)
- Northern Lights: 9.900,- ISK (or $130 CAD)
- Return bus trip (to and from the airport, and pick up at your hotel): 6.950 ISK ($90 CAD). About $690 total
When we went to Iceland for 5 days, we traveled with the following tour companies, and really liked how small the groups were:
www.geoiceland.com
https://www.gtice.is
Bus trip to and from Airport: https://www.re.is/flybus
Flexibility
Renting a car in Iceland
Renting a car in Iceland allows you to have a lot of freedom. If you go to Iceland when it is daylight for most of the time, you can explore for as long as you want. If you go during Northern Lights season, you can drive at night to find them instead of paying for a tour company to take you.
You can also go visit areas that tour companies won’t take you to, you have the freedom to stop whenever you want and explore, you can stay at a site for as long as you want, and you can try and go to places during times that may not be as busy.
Going on day trips in Iceland
Day trips don’t have as much flexibility, but if you choose a company that only lets up to 19 people on a bus (instead of going with a larger company) then it doesn’t feel as rushed and crowded. Usually with a tour company they will let you know when you should be back at the bus. It usually doesn’t feel rushed, but if you really like an area and want to stay longer then you are limited in time.
Driving in a new country
Making sure you feel comfortable driving in a new country is also important. The roads aren’t extremely busy, but the weather can change very quickly. You also don’t want to get too tired while you are driving either.
On day trips, you can sit back and relax, nap, or just enjoy the scenery. You don’t need to worry about navigating your way around. They also were good at knowing what the weather was like at each area. For example, on our South Coast Tour, the driver knew it was raining at the Black Sand Beach, but it wasn’t raining at the waterfall we were planning to see. So he took us to the waterfall first and then to the beach so that we could avoid the rain cloud.
Learning the history
One of my favourite things about taking day tours was how much knowledge we learned about Iceland while we were there. We learned about folklore, and interesting stories and history about the areas we went to. One tour guide even sang us a traditional Icelandic lullaby which was so beautiful!
If you rent a car in Iceland, some companies have an option where you can get an audio guide book you can listen to while you drive.
I hope these tips helped! Have you been to Iceland before and rented a car, or took day trips? Let me know in the comments below!
