Iceland Winter Road trip Guide (April): Itinerary, Budget, Accommodations

Following our fantastic 2 weeks stay in Iceland in April 2019, I will give you on this blog all my tips and advice to make the same road trip as we did. Everything is based on our own experiences. There are more complete guides which speak about all the possible accommodations in Iceland, all the available transports, I will give you the links at the end of the article.

This guide is only for those who wish to visit Iceland in a 4-wheel car in winter, a certain comfort level while saving money.

Abstract

Iceland is the ideal country for a road trip. The country is relatively small, and there is a road around the country called Ring Road or Route 1 – which is only 1330km long. As soon as you leave the big cities, you are very quickly alone in the world.
We left in April 2019, with two of us.
We made the tour of the country (except the Western Fjords): 3500km in all in 14 days and a half (the equivalent of a Paris – Antalya (Turkey), by following the Ring Road partly – and by branching out enormously from the Eastern Fjords.
We rented a Dacia Duster 4-wheel for our personal comfort with Icerental 4×4. We paid an insurance package for peace of mind. As we visit in April, we are entitled to winter wheels (no extra charge)
We stay in guesthouses found on Booking or Hotels.com. We book the day before for the next day or even the same day. We often opt for a private room with a shared bathroom – because most of the time, we already take a shower during the day in a spa or swimming pool.
We have not paid for any excursions. Our little pleasures were to bathe – almost every day – in thermal water baths, or swimming pool heated with thermal water, it relaxes and makes you forget the cold 🙂
Icelanders pay almost exclusively by credit card, so don’t exchange too much money at the airport (just enough to pay for a few toilets). Instead, use an international credit card so that you don’t have to pay foreign currency fees. By the way, the only guesthouse that did not accept payment by card accepted euros and US dollars.
Budget for Iceland: We spent a total of 4340€ for Two for 14.5 days in April 2019:
- including 710€ of plane tickets (355€/person – from Paris to Reykjavik via Lufthansa, checked luggage included, one-way ticket only as we are going to Canada afterward). We can surely find cheaper, but we bought our tickets in catastrophe one week in advance because of Wow Air’s bankruptcy.
- 1050€ car rental (including 40% insurance, which you can save if you have Mastercard Gold or Visa Premier)
- 509€ for gasoline (4-wheel cars consume a lot and gasoline is expensive)
- 1012€ for accommodation (on average 72€/night for two). It is costly, and yet, these are the rates for the low season… There is a way to save on accommodation if you sleep in a youth hostel (25€/person)

Part 1: Why leave in April?

Winter isn’t the off-season in Iceland, on the contrary. It’s the perfect time to see the Northern Lights, so expect NOT to be alone in the most touristy places (Golden Circle, among others).

We chose to leave in April, at the end of winter. This is the most “rotten” time to visit Iceland. There are no whales, no birds, we can’t visit the ice caves, many roads are still closed. There are neither the advantages of winter (whales) nor the advantages of summer (sleepless nights).

The aurora borealis was still there in mid-April, but the sky only became really dark from 10 pm. The aurora was there around 3 am, the time we were sleeping. And we were so tired from the road that we didn’t have the courage to hunt for the aurora.

The only advantage in April is the absence of tourists:-) so we could book “economic” accommodation on the same day and pay for car rentals a little cheaper.

You may want to opt for the shoulder seasons, more advantageous in terms of weather and services: May and September.

You will see a lot of snow in our pictures, but it is snow from Mars that hasn’t melted yet. During our 2 weeks in Iceland, it didn’t snow once, but it rained.

Part 2: Airline ticket

We chose to stop in Iceland on our way to Canada. For a stop-over of fewer than 7 days, this stop is included in your ticket at Icelandair. Ask for more information! It can be exciting to spend a few days in Iceland.

As we are staying for 15 days, we bought two dry flights: one from Paris, and another from Reykjavík to Toronto

Budget for the plane ticket

One way Paris => Reykjavík: 355€/person (1 checked luggage included) with LUFTHANSA (we had to buy this ticket at the last minute, following the bankruptcy of WOWAIR. We could have paid 250€ if we had bought it earlier)
One way Reykjavík => Toronto: 359€/person (1 checked
luggage included) with ICELANDAIR

Part 3: Car Rental

We compared car rental offers (you can use Rentalcars or Guidetoiceland to compare) and have opted for a 4-wheel car at Icerental 4×4. We opted for the Dacia Duster model manual.

Budget for car rental

1050€ for 2 weeks (including some additional options: insurance, 2nd driver, kitchen kit)

Without additional options, it would have cost us 532€ for 15 days

Attention: when paying on guidetoiceland.is, you will pay in ISK (while the displayed price is in EURO, we took 30€ like that for payment in foreign currency)

4-wheel cars or normal car?

4-wheel cars aren’t mandatory to drive in Iceland. It is mandatory if you take the F-roads (which are closed in winter anyway).

And in 14 days, frankly, we have hardly the time to make the complete tour of Iceland, then if it is necessary to take the F-roads moreover to go in the Highlands, to cross the rivers (it is necessary to know how to do it)… Moreover, if you want to cross rivers, clearly the Dacia Duster is too small for that. You will have to opt for Land Cruiser++ (more expensive too).

But I recommend you if you want comfort ++, peace of mind, drive faster, and have a better view, especially if your budget allows it to opt for a 4-wheel car, summer or winter.

Most of the tracks we have taken are accessible to normal cars. But the speed will not be the same for a Dacia Duster like ours (which can run between 30 and 50km/h) and a normal car (which will be between 20 and 30km/h). Again, it’s extra comfort, but the 4-wheel car isn’t essential, and it consumes more fuel.

Road conditions

The Ring Road, which goes around Iceland, is still passable and in excellent condition. As soon as it snows, the snowplows intervene. Moreover, in winter (until mid-April), all cars will be equipped with winter wheels.

Roads with numbers like 93 (excluding F-Roads) are either asphalt or gravel, but their condition is also impeccable. The speed limit is 80km/h, so frankly, there is no need to be afraid.

We have taken the track from time to time but look at the picture below, driving slowly, you should have no worries :

However, some roads aren’t maintained in winter, so you have to go to road.is to see which road is open or not. In April, I couldn’t go to a fjord because its road was closed until June.

Fuel

JB wrote a very complete article on this subject here, I invite you to read it

Insurance

We opted for insurance: 30€/day with a deductible of 800€. You can save this amount if you pay for your car rental with premium cards Mastercard Gold or Visa Premier, or SereniTrip, whose service has been successfully tested here.

Whatever the insurance is taken out with the car rental company, in Iceland, they do not insure:

The underside of the car
Tires (a flat tire? it’s for your apple)
The doors (if they are damaged because of a gust of wind, beware it can happen, it’s for your apple). I’ve gotten into the habit of hanging on to the door as soon as I open it.
If you cross rivers (even if your car allows you to take the so-called F roads, where there are ford crossings) and you are stuck, no insurance will cover you.

Okay, so what does that include? Our insurance package includes the following insurances (you can also choose to check/uncheck each item at all car rental companies) :

Collision Damage Waiver (CDW): collision insurance. This insurance is usually already included in the basic rental price.
Gravel Protection (GP): protection against gravel (there is a lot of it in Iceland). The risk of having an impact on the windshield is high, if there is only one insurance to take, it is this one.
Theft Protection (TP): insurance against theft. At the same time, crime is very low here.
Sand and Ash Protection (SAAP): in case of damage caused by sand and ash storms (if a volcano awakens, for example).

To study before choosing your car rental company

Is the mileage unlimited?
Is a second driver included? If yes, is the price per day (xx€/day) or for the whole stay (e.g., 30€/additional driver)? – I didn’t drive much, but the little I did allow JB to recover a little – because we are behind the wheel between 3 and 5 hours a day, that’s a lot for us who rarely drive daily
To read in the Tripadvisor reviews: is the chosen car model often respected by the agency? This is very important because some models are more advantageous than others. For example, if I pay for a Dacia Duster (very maneuverable with lots of space for luggage), I don’t want to come across a Suzuki Jimmy (extremely dangerous to drive in storms. This car is weighty on the front, braking on ice can be dangerous).
To read in the Tripadvisor reviews: is the assistant reactive? are the damage exaggerated on the way back, and the customers end up paying very expensive?
Are “winter” tires provided?
Is it possible to pay in EUR on the site? We have paid via guidetoiceland, and even if the price is displayed in EUR, in fact, we pay the equivalent in ISK => we have taken 30€ of fees by paying in foreign currency.

Self-drive tours

Basically, they sell you a package, including car rental (4-wheel car) and nights in hotels. The itinerary is already planned, and so are the hotels.

I do not recommend this option because it costs more than if you booked it yourself. Besides, you lose the notion of flexibility that a road-trip offers. The weather is capricious. If ever you get stuck because of a snowstorm, it shifts every other night.

Part 4: Housing

We choose the place to sleep the night before or the same morning. That way, we know if the weather is nice if we can make good progress during the day or not. We choose to go as far as possible before sunset and sleep in places where there are no tourist attractions (it’s cheaper that way).

Attention: this operating mode works very well for winter. It is not sure that it works well for the summer because there aren’t many economical offers outside the Golden Circle.

All our stuff stays in the car. The crime rate is very low in Iceland, so we put all our computers and even money in the trunk of the car during the visits. Without fear.

In general, we choose the cheapest accommodation, keeping in mind the following filters:

Private room: you get old, when you can avoid the dormitories, you do it. Ahaha.
The shower can be shared, or not: since we spend a lot of time in the thermal pools (where we have to wash – naked – before going to bathe, anyway, no need to shower again in the evening and pay for the private bathroom). On Airbnb, it can be a private room in an apartment to be shared with the landlords. Please note that most of the rooms, even when the bathroom is shared, have a sink to do one’s toilet.
Access to the kitchen (bonus): restaurants are expensive, it is better to cook in the evening. This isn’t an eliminatory criterion either. Most hotels provide a kettle in the room, and if the hotel does not have a common kitchen, we can still eat our freeze-dried meals.
Breakfast (bonus): food is expensive in Iceland. If we can have a big breakfast and save a little on lunch, it isn’t a refusal. But this isn’t an eliminatory criterion.

If you are going with your family, it may be interesting to rent cottages, i.e. chalets that can accommodate up to 6 people.

If you only stay 3-4 days in Iceland (the time of a stopover), don’t make the mistake of spending those 3 nights in the same hotel in Reykjavík, gasoline is expensive, and to avoid losing money and time to make the round trip every day, book different hotels – on your way.

After looking on Home away, Hey iceland (farm holidays), finally Booking and Hotels.com remain the sites with the most choice and the best rates.

Budget & Addresses of our accommodations

Total budget: 1008€ for 14 nights for two

Addresses (I have bolded the ones I highly recommend – location/service of exception)

Day 1: Route 1 Guesthouse (Booking link) in Hafnarfjörður, 59€, room with sink, shared kitchen, self-service breakfast.
Day 2: Julia’s Guesthouse (Booking link) in Selfoss, 85€, exceptional welcome, homemade breakfast, no kitchen for guests to use.

Day 3 : Guesthouse Reynir (Booking link) in Reynir, 81€, room with sink, shared kitchen
Day 4: Adventure Hotel Hof (Booking link) in Hof, 82€, room with sink, buffet breakfast, no kitchen but a restaurant on the spot
Day 5: Bragdavellir Cottages (Booking link) in Djupivogur, 89€, a real individual chalet with a private bathroom, near a free hot water spring

Day 6: Hengifoss Guesthouse (Booking link) in Egilsstadir, 83€, room with private bathroom
Day 7: Blabjorg Guesthouse in Borgafjordur Estri (link Booking), 76€, an integrated spa included in the price, buffet breakfast, exceptional setting

Blabjorg Guesthouse and its outdoor hot tubs

Day 8: Elda Guesthouse (Booking link) in Myvatn, 70€, room with washbasin
Day 9: Sunnuberg Guesthouse (Booking link) in Hofsos, 78€, room with private bathroom, simplistic kitchen with microwave only
Day 10: Sunna’s Guesthouse (Booking link) in Drangsnes, 81€, room with private bathroom, kitchen, near a free hot water spring
Day 11: West Pack Guesthouse (Booking link) in Hellissandur, 55€, numerous common areas (including a games room with billiards, darts, and board games), free laundry (dryer out of order, however)
Day 12: Guesthouse Galtafell (Booking link) Reykjavik, 56€, room with private bathroom, central location, free parking
Day 13: Herodsskolinn Guesthouse (Booking link) in Laugarvatn, 53€, exceptional setting, a former school, no cooking but a restaurant on the spot. Close to the Golden Circle

Day 14: Tjarnahotel Keflavik (link Booking) in Keflavik, 65€, next to the airport, kitchen, buffet breakfast, room with private bathroom

Comments on guesthouses/hotels

As soon as we book online, we often receive an email message with either the entry code or our room number. The key is already on the door of the room. We can go whenever we want, without any schedule constraints. This implies that it is essential to have internet; otherwise, you will have a hard time. Even if Iceland isn’t a member of the European Union, it is one of the countries concerned by the stop roaming charges. You can therefore use your French package without fear
I don’t know if it’s because of the winter, but in the guesthouses, contrary to its name, we were only received once by the owner. The rest is in automatic mode (with instructions by email). On several occasions, we didn’t even see the owner during our stay. It is finally only at the hotel that there is someone who receives us, who talks to us, and to whom we can ask some practical questions (aurora borealis, where to eat, etc.). In the end, we didn’t meet as many Icelanders as that, and it’s clearly a bit disappointing 🙁
The fact of having a room with a shared bathroom isn’t embarrassing in itself. Most of the rooms are equipped with a washbasin + coffee/tea area + kettle. So if you have to queue or wait, it’s just to go to the WC/shower. In April anyway, there were very few guests and quite a few communal showers, so we never waited.
The heating is excellent, whatever the location. Sometimes it’s even too hot. The hot water always flows freely in the shower. Frankly, you don’t risk freezing to death.

What about sleeping in the car?

Wild camping is forbidden, so you still have to count between 10€/15€ per person to be able to park at a campsite and spend the night. Many tourists think they are clever when sleeping in the parking lots or rest areas, but they are certainly careful not to leave any garbage.

But hey, how do you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, huh? Contrary to New Zealand, there are no public toilets in the cities. Not to mention the storms. No one will be able to help you in time if you need it. Moreover, in some places in Iceland, it isn’t easy to find places sheltered from the wind. There are lava fields of several km. You can be spotted from afar.

Be careful, many camping facilities are closed in winter, the “parking” is open, but the kitchen, for example, can be closed. The prices will therefore be lower. Check out open all year campings sites here

If you aren’t cold in winter, I recommend renting a real van fitted out for that, with heating connected to the 2nd battery of the car. Ask for more information because not everyone offers it. It’s a battery that charges when you drive, separated from the main battery of the car.

Without heating, it will be hard (because Iceland has a lot of wind and is very humid). It is also necessary to buy or rent sleeping bags (compatible -1, -2°C) to sleep there, warm.

Sleeping bag accommodation

If it’s really too cold and you don’t feel like sleeping in the car (or paying for the hotel), some campsites even offer what is called “sleeping bag accommodation” in winter.

Basically, you have a mattress (with no sheet or anything), you put your sleeping bag on it, and then go to sleep. Sometimes it can be cheaper than the hotel. It’s up to you because guesthouses and hotels in winter are “not that expensive” at first (compared to summer).

In any case, we made the comparison between renting a converted van (+ camping) vs. a 4-wheel car (+ hotel), which makes the converted van an interesting alternative option (cf. the reviews of a friend who traveled around Iceland in summer with a Kuku van)

With a converted van: 76,2€/day (excluding gasoline and insurance)
- Van rental : 51,2€
- Camping fees (for two), without breakfast: 25€/night on average
- Purchase of comforters (??€)
With a 4-wheel car: 101,5€/day (excluding gasoline and insurance)
- Rental of a 4-wheel car: 31,5€
- Hotel (for two): 70€/night on average, shared bathroom

Part 4: Itinerary

You can find our detailed itinerary by consulting this personalized map on Google Maps. Here I show you how to use this map on your smartphone.

For your information, the map and the itinerary are inspired by the route taken by 15 days in winter by Guide To Iceland.

Where to go first?

As the Ring Road goes around the country, the question deserves to be asked, to go first to the South or the North? In fact, it all depends on the weather. You have to look at the forecast and follow the sun.

When we were there, it was sunny all over Iceland, so the choice was not easy. If we had left right away to the North, we would have had more chance to see the Northern Lights (the weather was splendid there and the activity of the aurora borealis intense). Still, we preferred to go first to the South – visit the must-see first, then be almost alone on the road afterward). This option allows us to evaluate only at the end, the remaining time, and visit the North-West of the country if the weather allows it. But hey, this is a very personal choice.

Several times a day, we look at road.is and vedur.is for weather and road conditions.

Our Travel Diaries

If you are interested in the rest of the program, here are our travel logs: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Days 6 & 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Days 14 & 15. Don’t forget the Google Maps

Part 5: The Northern Lights

Above all, do not pay (if you are motorized) for tours to see the Northern Lights. You can help yourself with the following tools:

The Icelandic weather site Vedur gives you aurora borealis forecasts. You have to look at the white areas (where there are no clouds) – clear sky = more chance to see the Northern Lights. And look at the “aurora forecast” index at the top. 9 being the highest.
https://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora/

Personally, in April, we were not able to see the Northern Lights because they took place around 3 am. And we were sleeping, so tired from the previous day’s visits.

Three conditions must be met and it isn’t easy to have all three at the same time:

strong solar wind activity
really dark sky (so in April, it’s from 9:30 pm – 10 pm)
no clouds (difficult for a country where it rains a lot)

Part 6: The Cold

Frankly, we were expecting to be much colder than that. But thanks to top heating in the guesthouses + the many hot springs, + our efficient winter clothes, we didn’t get cold. Moreover, we spend a lot of time in the car, and we go out for a few minutes. Or we go for a walk from 1h to 2h => not too cold.

What was most annoying was the wind. It exhausts quickly because it can blow very hard (we had 50km/h), so take a good look at the weather forecast before visiting this or that city, check the temperature, but also the wind.

Part 7: Clothing to bring

I did a separate article here because there is so much to say about it. To summarize, it is necessary to say:

dress with the “onion” technique: i.e., several layers and rely ONLY on one garment
have at least one waterproof pants & coat
do not wear jeans
opt for waterproof hiking boots (they are available for 20€ at Decathlon)

Part 8: Our favorite pools & hot springs

Lounging in the warmth of an outdoor swimming pool, watching the snow or rainfall, is a real institution in Iceland. Whether in a municipal pool (where the water is heated by geothermal energy) or in a spa (where you bathe in thermal water), you should always take a naked shower before putting on your bathing suit. Don’t worry. The changing rooms are separate for men and women. And some spas are equipped with private showers, in case you are modest.

This is because the baths don’t contain chemicals to purify the water, so you need to be clean before you go in.

For those who sleep on a camping site, the municipal swimming pool (there is almost one in each city) can be an excellent spot to take your shower for not too much money: 1000kr/person.

There are also hot springs, either located on private property (you can be charged for this) or paid for by the city. There are no showers or changing rooms in these natural hot pots (or that look like a metal bathtub). If you plan to bathe in it, I advise you to spend the night, the night before, nearby. That way, you change at the guesthouse, you come with the bare minimum, already clean, and you can take a shower later at the guesthouse.

So come with :

a swimsuit (you can rent one on the spot but at 5€ each time, it’s better to buy one)
a towel (can also be rented on site)
flip-flops

A site that lists all the hot baths (paying or not): https://hotpoticeland.com, but this site isn’t up to date. I recommend you to follow the recommendations I put above. I also note the hot baths well noted nearby (even if I didn’t go) in each travel diary.

If you ask me my top 3, it would be :

Part 9: Food

It is highly recommended that you cook yourself most of the time because restaurants are expensive (compared to France anyway).

You can bring back some food from France, with a limit of 3kg/person. You should avoid taking raw, marinated meat… like sausage for example.

We brought with us 5 freeze-dried dishes from France each (bought at Decathlon, for 5€/dish). It doesn’t take up any space. It is prepared in 5 minutes, which tastes great.

Then we went shopping in low-cost supermarkets like Bonus & Netto. Fresh meat and vegetables are expensive, so choose frozen meat, or salmon (same price as in France), or vegetables that don’t expire too quickly (cauliflower, cucumber…).

They also sell dishes to be reheated in the microwave (between 5€ and 8€ per dish) if you really don’t like to cook.

Here’s how we organize ourselves:

Breakfast: either included in the hostel’s rates or we cook (toasts, omelets…)
Lunch: most of the time, we settle for a cheap hot dog in the service stations (N1, Olis…) – about 3€/hot dog. From time to time, we go to a real typical restaurant (for 30€/person on average). Icelandic tap water is of good quality. You can ask for a carafe of water, free of charge.
Dinner: either freeze-dried dish or fried Chinese noodles (you know instant noodles? they are cooked first with water and then sautéed with cauliflower)

Our favorite restaurants

In Reykjavik: Lækjarbrekka (opt for their lamb with potatoes), I was recommended Grillmarkaðurinn also (open only in the evening)
In Grindavik (30 minutes from the airport): Café Bryggjan for their excellent langoustine soup
Near the Golden Circle: Friðheimar, Restaurant in a tomato greenhouse
In Höfn: Pakkhús Restaurant, the best grilled wild langoustines in Iceland

Part 10: Budget

Here is the complete budget for our 2 weeks vacation in Iceland for two, all inclusive

Types of Expenses	ISK	EUR
Car Rental (4×4 Dacia Duster) (includes insurance + 2nd driver + cooking kit)	142 480	1 050€
Fuel	68 827	509€
Housing	136 776	1 012€
Races + 4 Restaurants + Hot dogs	74 769	553€
Access to Spas & Hot Baths	53 720	397€
Visits & Shuttle for access to the aircraft hull	14 900	100€
Parking in Reykjavik	1 310	9,7€
Plane	95 945	710€
TOTAL		4 340€

In addition to this, 300€ of winter clothing and equipment (coats, tights, freeze-dried dishes).

Part 11: Payment

The rare times we had to pay in cash were small amounts (200kr, 100kr… to go to the toilets or to participate in the maintenance of a field because we were squatting at a farmer’s house). The rest of the time, we pay by credit card. And it regularly happens that the card is the only accepted means.

So, before coming and to avoid fees (because you pay in foreign currency), activate the international option (at Société Générale) or ask for a free international card like Revolut or N26 (discount codes & explanations here) or Boursorama Ultim (130€sponsorship here)

As I told you, pay attention to the payment option you choose for gasoline (more info)

Part 12: Useful links

All our travel books and practical guides on Iceland are accessible via this link

Here are other very complete sources that I recommend:

GuidetoIceland maps of Iceland
Hot Pot Iceland: all hot baths, free or not. The list isn’t completely updated though: hotpoticeland.com/
On the road guide – Lonely Planet’s Icelandic circular route, 12€ (Amazon link)
The return & budget of our friends who rented a van in summer

I hope I have brought you all the information you need for a successful road trip. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the article. Have a nice trip!