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Iceland One-Way Car Rental

Posted by (Portland, OR) on

My husband and I are visiting Iceland for the first time in July, 2026. We are only doing half the Ring Road as we don’t want to drive the curvy roads in the east. The plan is to pick up the car following our two day stay in Reykjavik, drive the Golden Circle and South Coast, followed by Snaefellsnes drive, Skagafjordour area to Myvatn and end in Akureyri. I thought we would return the car in Akureyri and fly back to Reykjavik to make it easier on us, however I’m not sure it is worth it, so wondering what others have to say on this topic. We would need to pay for fully refundable air tickets since we are older and who knows what might happen. Fly or drive back to Reykjavik?

Here are my other questions:

Best car rental company? I see many people like Blue Car Rental, but it looks like that would only work if we returned the car to Reykjavik as they don’t have a location in the north. Has anyone used Europecar to know if they are good? It looks like the only other choice to return the car to Akureyri is Hertz (unless I’m missing something), but Hertz doesn’t list the liability for sand and ash, only saying it “limits” liability, so we wouldn’t know how much they would charge us for damage. We want to take full insurance coverage so we don’t have to worry about that.

The car companies say there “may” be an extra fee if you’re older than 65. I’m 71 and my active husband is 86, so hoping he can drive as well.

Do they charge for an extra driver?

We have Verizon plan iPhones. Should we add wi-fi and or GPS to the rental or can we get by with cell service and google maps?

Appreciate any and all advice!

Posted by
3520 posts

We have never done a one way rental except between Reykjavik and KEF.

For Akureyri, yes there is no Blue location there. On our most recent trip this past August, we flew from Reykjavik to Akureyri and rented a car there and returned it there. We used Europecar/Holdur up there and they were great. Europecar has a location in KEF, so you might see if you can do a one way rental with them. Flights between Akureyri and Reykjavik are only about 100 pp each way, FWIW. BTW the car we had up there was a Duster, but the best thing was that it actually had a cargo cover in the back. In all of our rentals in Iceland we have never had that before.

All that said, what about doing a loop such as the Golden Circle, Akureyri, and then Snaefellsness? Otherwise the drive from Akureyri to Reykjavik is only about 6 hours, so doable in a day, but splitting up the drive doing a loop would be more enjoyable.

Posted by
3 posts

This is great info. Happy to know that you had a good experience with Europecar. I misspoke on the full insurance. Hertz gave no info on extra insurance. Europecar was the one which did offer it, but didn’t say it was zero liability for sand and ash. I guess we’ll just hope for the best. It looks like an “F-Road from the Golden Circle directly to the north and we don’t want to do that and I do already have our lodging booked. Google maps is saying it’s only a 4 1/2 hour drive from Akureyri to Reykjavik, so it sounds like that info is wrong? 6 hours would be a longer drive than we would want.

Do you pay for Wi-fi and or GPS?

Did they charge you for an extra driver?

Thank you!

Posted by
3520 posts

I was talking about staying on 1 and not going on any of the F roads that cut through. Drive times on Google maps is way off for Iceland. This will take you close to 6 hours, so breaking it up would be nice. We have done the drive straight through and it was not fun.

As for WIFI we do get that but not the GPS. We just use the international plans on Verizon and AT&T. The WIFI is nice to have when you are out hiking, or in hotels where the WIFI is weak. Yes, extra drivers do cost extra unless you get in on a promotion that includes that, but we usually have to pay for the 2nd driver.

Whatever you do, get the full insurance. Iceland is a whole other beast compared to other places and this is once place we do not take any chances.

Posted by
3520 posts

BTW, Blue can be good, or bad. We have rented with the, 6 times. The first 4 were great, the 5th was horrid, and I gave them another chance this summer and they were good. I will say the Reykjavik location is much better than the KEF location. Better staff, for some reason better cars, etc.

Posted by
821 posts

Personally, I would just stay on the south coast and Snaefellsnes and forget about going all the way to Akureyki. Especially since it seems like it would be a hassle to try to rent a car one way and fly back to Reykjavik. Perhaps if you have time you could go to Westman Islands.

We are in our 70s, rented through Blue with no problem, and no charge for extra driver.

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