We’d arranged our car hire through Lava Car Rental. In Keflavik it took us a few minutes to find the right spot for the shuttle pick up but soon we were on the way to Lava’s premises a short distance from the airport. Having driven in Iceland a couple of times before, we knew that we needed something capable of traveling off the main roads and we’d booked a Dacia Duster but when we arrived we were offered a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV which we were very happy to take. Having never driven a hybrid before it took a few minutes of familiarisation before we actually got moving…
The short drive to the Lighthouse Inn in Garður was easy enough; although there were quite a few road humps (‘sleeping policemen’) to look out for.
Shiny car parked near the Hafnaberg Cliffs
The main aim of our trip was to tour the Westfjords and we’d decided to take the ferry from Stykkishólmur to Brjánslækur. It’s only a two and a half hour trip across but we wanted to spend the night on the island of Flatey in the middle of Breiðafjörður Bay. We hadn’t actually realised that the car stays on the ferry and we’d next see it again on the other side. We handed over the car key when we left Stykkishólmur and picked it up when we rejoined the ferry the next day. Everything worked smoothly, of course.
Driving on paved roads in Iceland is straightforward – the roads are well maintained and well signposted. The gravel roads are a bit more challenging. We were warned when we picked the car up that we were not to attempt river crossings in it, but we weren’t expecting any (on previous trips we’ve forded some pretty shallow rivers). Lava Car Rental has an excellent guide to driving on gravel roads and F-roads (mountain roads) here. It’s worth doing some research before travelling; for example F-622 in the Westfjords is regarded as extremely challenging and is off limits to rental vehicles. We weren’t going that way, but roads 612 out to Látrabjarg and 643 up to Norðurfjörður were key to our trip. 643 isn’t officially an F-road, but Lava describe it as ‘really only do-able with a 4×4 vehicle’. Steep drops, without barriers, to one side are quite common and on the day we drove to Norðurfjörður there was low cloud which we ascended into. Visibility was quite limited, but the poles at the side of the road give you some confidence that you know where you’re going. We did encounter some motor-homes on European plates; the drivers did look pretty uncomfortable.
It’s worth checking out the location of fuel stations; the distances between them are a lot greater than we were used to at home. Electric Vehicles are common in Iceland and the provision of charging points is pretty good. Given that we’re unfamiliar with hybrids, the manual was only in German and we seemed to need to download an app it just seemed easier to fill the Mitsubishi with petrol. Here’s a charging point at Flókalundur.
Somehow, Icelanders keep their cars scrupulously clean. The gravel roads soon took a toll on our Mitsubishi
and it dawned on us that we were driving the dirtiest car in the Westfjords. At least we stood out in the car park of our hotel in Borganes. The Mitsubishi was a fine car for Iceland: comfortable, solid and confidence inspiring.
Link to Lava Car Rental, with a huge amount of information and suggested itineraries Here
Link to up to date traffic information Here
Peregrinamur 