Iceland has no railways, and its expressway system is the least developed in Europe. Bifreieast, composed of several long-distance bus companies? e
BSI islands(BSI) provides a nationwide transportation network, but it is not very convenient as a mode of travel. The towns parked along the road are far from the scenic spots, and there is still a long way to go after getting off. The changeable and cold weather in Iceland makes this kind of travel extremely painful and will miss many beautiful scenery. Therefore, taking part in local tour groups and renting a car by car are still the most popular ways to travel in Iceland.
Because many famous scenic spots in Iceland are along the roundabout road 1, friends who choose to drive in Iceland spend a long time on the roundabout road 1. Whether driving around expressway at 1 or other sub-sections, you should pay attention to safety. The road conditions in Iceland may be different from those you are familiar with, and the road conditions in some areas are not ideal. When renting a car, you need to choose the right model and the right insurance. In this article, we mainly explain some points for attention when driving in Iceland. I hope you can enjoy your trip and ensure your safety in Iceland.
Iceland's traffic law on driving 1. Seat belt
According to Icelandic law, everyone in the car must wear a seat belt, whether it is the driver, the co-pilot or the back passenger, without exception.
2. Speed limit and overspeed
Generally, the speed limit is 50 kilometers in urban areas, 80 kilometers in suburban gravel roads and 90 kilometers in asphalt roads. Signs will remind you of the speed limit from time to time along the way. Signs that remind you of dangerous sections, such as sharp turns and blind spots, will not remind you to slow down, but you should slow down in time to avoid accidents.
Although the traffic outside Iceland's capital is almost completely free of congestion, speeding poses great safety hazards.
There are many bends, steep slopes, rugged twists and turns and many blind spots in the fjord area.
There are many mountain roads in Iceland, which are usually narrow and uneven.
When you come to Iceland in winter, there are many sheep along the road. If the sheep cross the road, whether it whistles or not, they will not stop. Too soon will cause an accident. Even if people and cars are not injured and animals are killed or injured, compensation should be paid, and the amount is higher than you think.
Suddenly, birds have become a potential threat.
In winter, the road is snowy and slippery.
Bridges in Iceland are mostly one-way streets, and only one car can pass at a time. If the speed is too fast and the response is not timely, it will easily lead to accidents. If the police catch you red-handed, the speeding ticket will be enough for several big meals!
Iceland Road in Winter:
Cross-country driving Icelandic law strictly prohibits driving on the ground outside the road. You should only drive on roads and marked places. If you can't walk, choose to get off and walk or turn around.
Geographically, Iceland, a volcanic island, is a young new land, and the volcanic lava landform is particularly soft, so whether the surface is covered with vegetation or not, all kinds of trampling and the pressure of cars are easy to leave traces on the land. The natural ecology of the island is also very immature. Iceland has a cold climate, and the annual growth period is only a few months. Vegetation and landforms are very fragile, and the self-repair cycle is extremely long. Driving off the road is very harmful to Iceland's nature, and sometimes it takes decades to recover.
Tire tracks will affect the beauty of the landform. If the trace is deep, it will become a canal, which will aggravate soil erosion and vegetation disappearance. Tire tracks will also affect other tourists and make them leave the road.
Everyone loves Iceland because of its beautiful and unique nature, so it is more important to respect and protect Iceland's nature without leaving any artificial traces. If found, will hell to pay.
Beautiful but fragile Icelandic moss lava land;
1. drunk driving, drunk driving
All drunk driving and drunk driving are illegal. If you drink and drive, you are more likely to be charged with manslaughter when you are caught.
make a telephone call
Icelandic law does not allow talking on the phone while driving, mainly using your hands, but wearing headphones.
3. Headlights
Many friends don't know this. When driving in Iceland, it is required that the headlights must always be on at any season, at any time and in any region. In urban areas, high beams are not allowed. Remember to check whether the lights are in good condition when renting a car. In Iceland, fog lights are often used.
Icelandic traffic law and official advice for children
Children under the height of 1.5m are not allowed to sit in the co-pilot or in the seat with airbag.
The seat in the middle of the back seat is the safest seat for children.
Fix the scattered articles in the car to prevent them from flying up and hitting the passengers in the car during collision or sudden braking.
Infants should have special safety seats (you can rent them when renting a car). Insurance and compensation
According to Icelandic law, the car rental insurance company in Iceland has the right to claim the loss of the car from the car renter. Prices in Iceland are high. After all, as a distant island country, many items are imported, and the cost increases, coupled with high labor costs. Therefore, many vehicle maintenance costs that are not too high in other countries will be much higher in Iceland. This is no small accident for many tourists who need car damage compensation. Therefore, when renting a car and driving in Iceland, you must drive carefully and regularly, and you should also buy appropriate insurance when renting a car.
Iceland drives by car in different seasons. It is relatively easy to travel in Iceland in summer, but it becomes difficult in winter. No matter what season it is, we should be fully prepared. Inquire about real-time road conditions and weather forecast before departure every day.
Iceland road information inquiry
Iceland's road condition inquiry website provides real-time road condition updates between 7: 00 am and 7: 00 pm every day 10. When going to some ethnic minority areas, it is especially necessary to consult this map to determine whether some sections are open. Click on a map area, and you can go in and check the detailed road conditions in that area. Different colors represent different road conditions, such as green is smooth, yellow has some ice, blue and dark blue are slippery and extremely slippery respectively, while white represents a lot of ice and snow on the road, and red is completely impassable. Take the west section of Nan 'an as an example. 1 The roads around the island are mostly frozen or unblocked. But it can be seen that the inland areas are completely impassable, so it is not difficult to understand why Iceland does not open the mountain roads in the inland areas in winter.
Screenshot from official website, Iceland Road Administration.
However, if you want to understand this map, you must look at it in combination with the map of Iceland and be familiar with the commonly used roads, otherwise it will be difficult to find out which road you want to take. For most tourists, first of all, they should be familiar with the location of expressway around Iceland 1. From the screenshot of Google Maps below, the thin yellow line below is the main road 1 around Iceland. There are also some branches. Therefore, we should first find the destination on the map, get familiar with the general road location, and then check the road network of Iceland Road Administration.
If you really don't know the road map, or the Internet is inconvenient, you can also call for advice. Call 1777 to manually query the road information, at 8: 00-16: 00 in summer (May 1- 10/4) and at 6: 30-April 30 in winter (May/kloc-) If you just ask about the road conditions and weather conditions of the main road, you can call 1778 at any time, and an automatic answering machine will provide the road conditions and weather information.
Weather inquiry in Iceland
The Icelandic Meteorological Bureau has an English version. Besides checking the temperature, it is very necessary to check the wind speed in Iceland. Strong winds are common in Iceland. If there is a storm, it is a great challenge for self-driving travel, and it is also one of the main reasons for road closure and tour group suspension.
Different colors represent different wind speeds, and the wind speeds represented by different colors are indicated below the picture. Generally, when the wind speed is greater than 10 meter per second, there will be a strong feeling. If it reaches 15 meters or more, it will be 20 meters per second, which will have a great impact on travel.
It is very important that many friends occasionally get off the road to take pictures, thinking that they will return to the car soon and drive away without closing the door. And the strong wind in Iceland sometimes blows the door, which is really not new! If the door is damaged, the cost of compensation is not small, so everyone must develop good habits and close the door in time when getting off.
Driving in Iceland in winter
If you want to drive to the suburbs in winter, you must drive a four-wheel drive and have tires in winter. Besides, you should drive slowly. It's best to prepare some warm clothes and food in the car in case of emergency. For the sake of safety, the trip must not be arranged too tightly, otherwise you will have to hurry in extreme weather and be prone to accidents. When driving in Iceland in winter, you should also consider the sunshine when planning your trip. You should read the article "Weather and Four Seasons in Iceland". In our self-driving package, we can see that the journey in winter is much slower than that in summer, and it mainly covers the south bank area, taking into account the weather and road pressure in Iceland in winter, so that everyone can play safely.
Other seasons
The weather in Iceland in spring and autumn is very inaccurate. If you must go around the island, you should loosen your itinerary and don't have the pressure to hurry. Most of the time in summer, the road conditions are ideal, so it is no problem to drive only two drives on the main road sections. However, because there are many detours and slopes in Icelandic fjords and individual sections, many foreign friends still insist on taking four-wheel drive as the first choice no matter what season. This depends on everyone's driving experience and ability, and choose as appropriate.
Because there are many mountainous areas in Iceland, even the roads around the island have relatively high terrain, so there are often clouds on the hillside, and driving through the clouds will increase the danger. At this time, everyone must not panic, slow down, turn on the fog lights and keep a distance from the front and rear cars.
However, whether it is winter or not, you should check the weather and road conditions in advance. When you need to go inland, you should not be careless when you take the mountain road.
Most mountain roads are closed before July, and sometimes the road closure time will be extended, because if the road surface is wet and muddy, it is impossible to open to traffic. Even if it is open to traffic, most places can only rely on four-wheel drive. If there are many people, it is best for two or more cars to form a team and take care of each other.
You can get a> brochure and a more detailed regional map.
emergency relief
Everything, just for travel! But as a last step, we should leave a travel plan for the rescue team before we leave. In this way, when an accident happens, it is more convenient for the rescue team to find your whereabouts. There are also some tourists who have no chance to ask for help at all. If they leave their travel plans and don't come back in time, they may be found earlier and get help.
In Iceland, please call 1 12 for help, medical emergency and alarm.
Do you know that?/You know what? Do you know that?/You know what?
Expressway 1 around the island may also be closed in extreme weather.
Bridges in Iceland are mostly one-way. When you meet a bridge, you must slow down. First observe whether there is a car across the street. If there is a car, don't get on the bridge. Wait for the other party to go first. If you can't judge clearly, don't rush to grab the road, which will easily lead to disaster.
Iceland is not all asphalt roads, there are many gravel roads, some sections are winding, and the road conditions are different in different seasons. The actual driving time may be much longer than the reference time given by online maps such as Google Maps. Our self-driving package has different progress in different seasons and regions, which takes these factors into account.
gas station
In Grand Reykjavik, the service hours of the gas station are from 7: 30 am to 8: 00 pm from Monday to Saturday and from 9: 00 am to 8: 00 pm on Sunday 8:00( 10/0 to 9: 00 am in May of the following year). Many gas stations are also open until 1 1: 30 in the evening.
Because all gas stations operate independently, their business hours are different. Most gas stations are open until evening 10 or even 1 1: 30.
Many gas stations in Reykjavik still have automatic refueling machines after business hours. General machines accept 1000 kroner banknotes and bank cards. All gas stations can use credit cards. There are also automatic tankers in other parts of Iceland.
Gasoline in Iceland is divided into 92 ordinary unleaded gasoline, 98 advanced leaded gasoline and 95 advanced unleaded gasoline.