Iceland August 2025

Iceland August 2025

**MORE INFORMATION TO COME** 

ITINERARY: FOR HI RESOLUTION ITINERARY AND LINKS TO TOURS WE TOOK CLICK HERE: Iceland August 2025 Itinerary

PHOTOS: See photos here: Coming soon 

AIRPORTS & FLIGHTS: 

We flew into & out of KEF airport. This airport is in Keflavik, Iceland - 45 minutes outside the capitol city of Reykjavik. 

• Customs: No surprises here. Stamp in passport book. They may ask where you're staying and for how long. 
• Things to know about airport: 
• ARRIVE EARLY! LONG LINES! When departing KEF airport, there are a few passport controls - so make sure you arrive early & fully get to your gate before getting food etc. Icelandair had ridiculously long lines - we were happy to have been flying Delta.
• HIGHLY RECOMMEND: We put an airtag/tracker in our luggage and backpacks 

TRANSPORTATION: Due to he maximum flexibility, we chose to rent a car and stay at different hotels every night. You can also rent a camper van (sleep in the car) or do tour groups instead. 

• Rental Car: 
• Get FULL INSURANCE: It is HIGHLY encouraged to get full insurance from the rental company, not with credit card. Due to the extreme weather/terrain in Iceland, there will be issues with tires, sand, wind etc. We chose Zero car rental because all insurances are included including roadside assistance. You don't need to pay extra for it. **HIGHLY RECOMMEND - KNOW THE ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE PHONE NUMBER 
• When we were done with the car, we had a crack in the windshield and the car was a mess. We were grateful to not be worried about the condition of the vehicle 
• We rented a car from Zero Car Rental
• Note: When picking up the car, there is not a physical office. You email them and they tell you where to go to pick up your keys from a lock box next to Blue Car Rental facility
• These may be older cars, but in good conditions
• Some car rental companies have offices/cars directly at the airport. Zero/Blue car rental was a 5 minute walk or there are free bus shuttles available from airport to the off site car rental location. Upon arrival, we took a shuttle to the car rental site and chose to walk back on the way in.

• Driving in Iceland: Very easy. Highly Recommend! 
• We used Road.is website to check out road conditions
• We used Weather.is website to view weather 
• Allow faster cars to take over or you overtake a slower car when there's a break in the middle white line
• Roundabouts:
•  Please google/YouTube how 2 lane roundabouts work. Confusing at first, but makes sense once you're there.
• Do not change lanes once you're in the roundabout
• The left lane has the right of way

• Speed Limits - do NOT speed. You will get a speeding ticket & they're expensive fines.
• Most places ranged from 30km to 90km. 
• Speed Cameras: These are everywhere. There are signs to indicate that they are coming up, but please slow down. These tickets can be expensive 

• Gasoline: 
• Notes: 
• 95 octane gasoline is green
• Gas is very expensive. Try to get a hybrid car, if possible.
• Costco is the cheapest place on the island to get gas
• Car rental company usually has a key fob for a discounted gas rate. Ours was from "OB" or "OLLIE" gas stations. 
• Note: If you fill up from "N1" gas stations, you may need a PIN number for your credit card. We called our credit card company and got a pin number for our credit card before leaving as a back up option. 
• Process of filling gas: 
• 1. Show the card reader the gas fob for discounted rates & then your credit card  
• 2. Pick the maximum amount of money you allow for gas to be pumped into the car. Once you pick the max, the gas shuts off at the max or when the tank is full. Whichever comes first
• 3. There is a large hold placed on your credit card that will eventually come off. Make sure you have enough credit line on credit card

• Parking: For your budget, most major sites will cost to use the parking lot ranging from $5-10usd for a normal passenger vehicle 
• Payment: Download the Parka app and Easy Park app. This app allows you to pay for parking via phone, but only works once you're in Iceland. Some parking lots did not use either of these apps and we had to use the QR code to pay for the parking online. All parking lots have a kiosk to pay for parking, but lines can be long. 
• DO NOT SKIP PAYING FOR PARKING. We heard so many tourists ignore parking signs / say that they would just pay for it at the rental car company. 
• For Reykjavik hotels, there's little/no parking. You will need to park in lots. P3 and P4 lots are free on the weekend. 
• Make sure once done with the car, remove the rental car from your Parka /Easy App profile so you don’t keep getting charged

HOTEL:  If visiting South Iceland, highly recommend booking these hotels/Airbnb's first!! This area has the least amount of hotels, guesthouses, shared rooms, Airbnb's etc. If going in high season (May - September), highly recommend booking hotels asap! For a 3 to 4 star hotel during high season, expect to pay $300-$600/night.

• Note: 
• Bring your own hair conditioner and body lotion - Hotels do not provide
• Bring eye masks if going in summer (July-August) to block out the summer night sun
• Recommend getting hotels that had an included breakfast, eat lunch from the grocery store & eat out once/day. 

WEATHER: Weather can change at any time. Be prepared in layers. We went in summer and still experienced 4 seasons in one day. We used Weather.is website to view weather

• Look up sunset/sunrise times 

PAYMENT METHODS: 

• Cash: Absolutely no cash needed 
• Credit Cards: Used everywhere.
• Only use credit cards with 0% foreign transaction fee
• Always pick Icelandic Krona vs. US Dollar when picking which form of currency for the credit card to be run. We got much better and favorable rates using Icelandic Krona. 
• Note: Public bathrooms are available for a cost - credit card accepted 

SAFETY: Emergency phone number is 112. Know the roadside assistance number for your car rental in case. One of the safest countries we have visited.

WHAT TO PACK: 

• Passport & print color copies of passport to carry in wallet (just in case)
• Plug converter needed coming from the USA 
• Reusable water bottle - water is clean. No need for plastic waterbottles. Fill up everywhere you go. 
• Medication: Motrin/Tylenol, anti-diarrhea pills, gas-x, tums etc. It is very expensive to buy locally - bring from home 
• Clothing: 
• We went in summer and recommend being prepared for every season. Merino wool is the best. Try to avoid linen or cotton clothing. 
• MUST have waterproof pants, waterproof jacket (not water resistant), and waterproof shoes 
• Upper clothing: 
• Base layer: T-shirt
• Middle Layer: Wool Full sleeves
• Outer Layer: Fleece jacket
• Outermost: Thick jacket and/or waterproof jacket 
• Lower Clothing 
• Base layer: Tights 
• Middle & Outer Layer: Leggings / sweatpants / jeans
• Outermost: waterproof pant
• Shoes: Merino wool socks recommended 
• Waterproof Hiking boots - must
• Water shoes - if doing any of the famous lagoons, hot spring hikes etc. 
• Tennis Shoes 

• Waterproof pouch/cell phone cover for cell phone - we recommend waterproof cell phone cover instead of pouch
• We used this at the blue lagoon and walking behind waterfalls
• Eye mask if coming in summer - can be up to 24 hours of sunlight and some places do not have black out curtains
• Bring your own conditioner & body lotion - most lodging does not provide including hotels 
• Need reusable bag at grocery store or they'll charge you
• Bring extra zip locks, plastic bags, napkins for car, and/or soft top cooler

COMMUNICATION: 

• Download WhatsApp App to communicate with tour guide/groups/hotels: This is the main way we communicated with any shuttle/tour/hotels etc. 
• Everyone spoke English and was easy to communicate 
• We activated the international AT&T plan ($10 usd/day) for one smartphone. The other smartphone, we just used for photos. 

RANDOM TIPS: 

• Make sure to have Google Maps app downloaded: 
• Download Google maps offline for any city you will be visiting
• Bathrooms: Public bathrooms are available for a cost ($2-3usd) - credit card accepted. Google maps "Public WC" to find the closest public bathrooms
• Check google reviews for any place you visit for most up-to-date information
• If possible, avoid visiting any major tourist attraction on weekends / holidays due to heavy crowds. Morning & weekdays are much better to visit. 
• Recommend carrying plastic bags to be a trashcan in the car. Very few public trashcans available. 

VEGETARIAN/VEGAN FOOD: 

• Food is expensive!!! Outside Meals cost minimum $25usd/per person and up. 
• Grocery Stores: Need reusable bag at grocery store or they'll charge you
• Pick up as much as you can from Grocery stores like Bonus, Kronan, Netto, Costco etc. 
• Bonus is the cheapest, Netto is the most expensive
• Pre-made food: These grocery stores have pre-made food to purchase as well such as sandwiches ($6-10usd) and frozen meals. At some grocery stores, they did have a hot water kettle and microwave that could be used to heat up meals.
• Several vegetarian/vegan options available 
• Recommend getting hotels that had an included breakfast, eat lunch from the grocery store & eat out once/day. 
• We never struggled with vegetarian/vegan options in any city we went to 
• Bring snacks from home
• We brought mixed nuts, protein bars & ready to eat food that did not require microwave or fridge. 

OUR RECOMMENDATIONS: 

1.  Don't spend too much time in city of Reykjavik. But, give yourself a good rest day once landing 
2. Blue Lagoon is overpriced, but worth trying once. There's several other lagoons available
1. Bring watershoes to any lagoon you go to! 
2. Bring waterproof pouch/cell phone cover if going to take pictures in the lagoons
3. South Iceland is a highlight!
4. Zodiac Boat Tour