Iceland car rental

[Matt..]

Can anyone recommend a vehicle and rental company to use for Iceland?

I will be going on a photography trip in mid June for ~11days (currently thinking 12-23rd). I am tempted to move by one week as i hear some roads can be closed still in mid June?

I doubt i'll be going to far into the interior, but will probably do the entire ring road (with a few excursions to places). I assume it's going to be far easier to use a 4x4? (even if the ring road doesn't need it, it will give me more options).

Budget seem very good on pricing at the moment, I can get a Suzuki Grand Vitara (manual) for 715 for the 11 days. This is ridiculous pricing, but for Iceland seems very good! However, does anyone have any knowledge on Budget's stance on light offroading (this is Iceland... you have to do some offroading, so they can't be totally against it can they?).

[davepoth]

http://www.ras.is/

They seem to rent Jimmys, which are a bit cheaper. I think probably more competent off road in terms of approach and departure angles too.

[Matt..]

davepoth said:

http://www.ras.is/

They seem to rent Jimmys, which are a bit cheaper. I think probably more competent off road in terms of approach and departure angles too.

It's 1,250 on that site for a Jimmy over the dates i have!!!

Budget are 695 for the Jimmy and 715 for the Grand Vitara.


[edit] Why does PH remove the pound signs?!

If i push the trip by a week, Budgets prices go up to 1,700 for the Grand Vitara!!!

Edited by Matt.. on Sunday 18th March 18:05

Edited by Matt.. on Sunday 18th March 18:07

[MonzaEvo]

We used www.reykjavikrentacar.is which turned out terrific value... upgraded the Wrangler to a Grand Cherokee.... dropped the Vehicle off on time at our hotel, and upon return to Reykavik we simply had to park in town somewhere and leave keys with hotel reception

Highly recommended from our experience February 2011

Rgds
Jonathan

[Matt..]

Budget are still the cheapest it seems. I can also get 8% Quidco, so it does seem like good value really.

My biggest question now is whether i am going too early and running the risk of not seeing a lot of the common sites because of road closures!

[Blown2CV]

if you can hire a superjeep, then do it!

[Burgmeister]

Matt.. said:

Budget are still the cheapest it seems. I can also get 8% Quidco, so it does seem like good value really.

My biggest question now is whether i am going too early and running the risk of not seeing a lot of the common sites because of road closures!

Well we went in January for 10 days on a driving holiday. We drove the whole of the ring road with various diversions at certain places - we didnt have a route planned we just drove about and stopped at interesting stuff.

We used Sadcars who offer pretty knackered old 4x4s at stupidly cheap (for Iceland) prices. We paid ~£600 for the 11 days and got a Nissan Terrano II. It was more than capable tackling the roads and snow although we did get stuck on an almost daily basis but this was always self salavagable. If a local sees you they will help you out.

The roads, well the ringroad was well maintained however you have to be careful stepping out of the car as the roads are just a sheet of ice, shows the importance of winter tyres in this climate however most of the locals were rocking spiked tyres. Off the main routes you really don't know what you will encounter and conditions change rapidly - the locals say if you don't like the weather then wait ten minutes. This is accurate.

Before setting off each day check out this (http://www.vegagerdin.is/english/road-conditions-and-weather/the-entire-country/island1e.html) website and it will show you the open and closed roads, we tried and failed on a couple of occasions tackling the closed roads in the Nissan thinking 'how bad can it be'. Turns out quite hard and unless you have a day to kill in order to travel a few km's then its not worth the physical exertion. Bring a shovel or two - made very good use of a Draper folding jobbie.

We got some stunning photos but bear in mind that in January everything is white so if you're looking to photograph the ground or volcanoes then you might be better of waiting until the summer thaw. I'll post some of our pictures later if I remember.

[Matt..]

Burgmeister said:

We got some stunning photos but bear in mind that in January everything is white so if you're looking to photograph the ground or volcanoes then you might be better of waiting until the summer thaw. I'll post some of our pictures later if I remember.

I am planning on June, so hopefully it will be easier!

It looks like the kind of place you need to go to in winter as well, but that can wait

[edit] Sadcars are expensive in June it seems! Budget are still by far the best and are having a 20% off sale at the moment.

[JQ]

If you're going in June and the roads are closed, then they'll never be open - that's the height of summer, they close because of the snow.

The reason you'll need a 4x4 in the summer is that some of the smaller internal roads have river crossings. You should be ok in a Jimny, but if you can get something bigger it will be alot more comfortable. We use a Trooper when we're there and not had any major issues.

There's some beautiful scenery in the North Western Fjords.

[Matt..]

JQ said:

If you're going in June and the roads are closed, then they'll never be open - that's the height of summer, they close because of the snow.

The reason you'll need a 4x4 in the summer is that some of the smaller internal roads have river crossings. You should be ok in a Jimny, but if you can get something bigger it will be alot more comfortable. We use a Trooper when we're there and not had any major issues.

There's some beautiful scenery in the North Western Fjords.

Some of the roads apparently open at the latest of the end of June/early July.

I was thinking of a Suzuki Grand Vitara. If i want anything bigger/better then the prices goes up dramatically unfortunately! A Land Cruiser is over £200 more

[Burgmeister]

Matt.. said:

Some of the roads apparently open at the latest of the end of June/early July.

I was thinking of a Suzuki Grand Vitara. If i want anything bigger/better then the prices goes up dramatically unfortunately! A Land Cruiser is over £200 more

Half the fun is having an unsutiable vehicle although a Grand Vitara will be more than capable.

[superlightr]

So tell me about this trip !! sounds great fun. Is there a ring road around Iceland? Can you just drive and camp?

[JQ]

superlightr said:

So tell me about this trip !! sounds great fun. Is there a ring road around Iceland? Can you just drive and camp?

Road One goes round the coast of the island and takes in some great secenery. But similarly, the interior of the island also has some amazing places, however, many of the roads in the interior close over the winter. Things to see: largest dam in Europe, largest waterfall in Europe, hot springs, hot springs in Galcial Rivers, hot springs running under galciers, glaciers, site of the oldest Parliament in the World, the North Atlantic Ridge is visible, Geysers (they have the original one called Geyser), Valcanos, rivers of ice, etc etc.

They love exploring and most Icelanders have either a caravan, tent, motorhome, caravan tent or access to a Summerhouse. Caravans are less popular than caravan tents because of the dangers of wind when towing. The Summerhouses are log cabins in the interior which people descend upon in the summer. Each summerhouse usually has 3 beds, kitchen, lounge, TV, stereo, Bar-b-que, hot pot (jaccusi without bubbles) and then there are usually communal facilities such as outdoor swimming pools, shops and cafe's. Summerhouses are either privately owned or owned by the Pension Companies, allowing their customers access to them for around £20 a night. Every village in Iceland has an outdoor swimming pool. There's also lots of camps sites all over the place, some free, some paying.

When we did the Road One trip round the island we stayed in Guest Houses and Hotels without booking, however, that can end up quite expensive. We've spent 2 weeks camping in the North Western Fjords which has some truly spectactular scenery and cost very little. And we've also hired numerous summerhouses which is a cheap way of getting out of Reykjavik, but does limit the travel possibilities as they have to be booked quite some time in advance.

In response to :

Burgmeister said:

Half the fun is having an unsutiable vehicle although a Grand Vitara will be more than capable.

Not really - Iceland has a tiny population and there are roads and routes that might not get travelled by anyone else for weeks. Once in the interior mobile phone signal can disappear, so if you get stuck you might be struggling to find someone to help. The main roads will be fine but once you start exploring the interior things become alot more fun, but that's what's brilliant about the place. We've done some cracking off-roading, except it's not off road, it's just that you need a 4x4 to travel down the road and we've always done it in a convoy of 4x4's because if your car starts floating down the river, there'll be no-one else to help you get it out.

OP, if you're just doing Road One, you'll be fine in a Jimny or Vitara and could probably do it in a Corsa in June. You do have to go off the beaten track to get into touble. It's only when you start on the mountain passes and river crossings in the middle of nowhere where the trouble occurs, but they're the best bits.