Iceland is a magical place full of mystery and adventure. If you’re planning a trip to Iceland, you probably already have a loose itinerary in mind and are now just looking at logistics to carry out all your adventurous plans. Deciding whether to rent a car or take a tour bus in Iceland can be a big decision. Both have their advantages…and their disadvantages.
There is an age-old question of all travelers going anywhere: to rent a car, or not to rent a car? Knowing your destination can definitely help with that. Advice from travelers who have been there before can also help. But when it comes right down to it, it’s personal preference based on freedom, ability, and convenience. If you need to decide whether to rent a car or take a tour bus in Iceland, you’re going to need all the facts.
Advantages of Renting a Car
More freedom.
The main advantage of renting a car is freedom. You’re on your own schedule, no one is telling you how long you have to enjoy something, no early morning wakeup call (unless that’s what you want), you can stay out as long as you want, and you can go wherever you want. You can plan your own route, visit what you want, and skip what you want. The country is yours to tackle as you see fit.
Less crowded attractions.
Additionally, renting a car means you’re going to see things with only those in your car. You don’t have a tour bus full of people who are going to crowd your pictures or make Iceland look more populated than it is. If you’re driving around Iceland solo, you may be able to avoid getting anyone in any of your photos.
Cheaper than a tour bus.
I’m going to contradict myself in the next section, but renting a car is cheaper than tour buses. Tours range anywhere from $50 for a northern lights tour to $400 for an east coast overnight trip. That’s just one tour, so if you plan to do two or three tours, double or triple that price. Most attractions, like waterfalls, national parks, glaciers, volcanoes, etc. are free, so they would only cost you gas money.
Advantages of Choosing a Tour Bus
Car rentals are expensive.
I know I said renting a car is cheaper than a tour bus, but that doesn’t mean car rentals are cheap. My 2-day car rental in Iceland was over $100 not including insurance, gas, or an upgrade to all-wheel drive. If you’re going in winter, you’re definitely going to want that all-wheel drive upgrade, and maybe even upgrade to snow tires. Gas is expensive too. Don’t be fooled by the “low” $1.91 price: it’s in liters, not gallons, which means multiply it by (roughly) 4 to see how it compares to American prices. If you can’t drive stick, it’s going to cost even more for an automatic. And finally, if you do happen to meet a nasty snow storm and get stuck, it’s going to be a big headache and possibly more money out of your pocket.
Avoid unknown terrain and weather conditions.
You don’t know the terrain or weather of Iceland like a tour bus guide. Even though there aren’t many roads in Iceland to get lost on, roads close constantly due to weather conditions and if you’re in the middle of the country with no gps, you could easily get lost. Or worse, stuck. In Iceland, the responsibility falls on the driver so if something happens, it will be your responsibility.
Weather in Iceland is very volatile and unpredictable. One minute might be bright and sunny, but 3 miles down the road you might run into a snowstorm. And snowstorms and rain storms in Iceland don’t fall straight down like they do elsewhere, it goes every which way until you’re not even sure which way is forward anymore. Tour guides grew up with this wild weather and know the roads in Iceland like you know the roads in your home town. It’s much easier to rely on their expertise than try to drive in a foreign country in someone else’s car.
Learn fun facts from a native Icelander.
There are very few businesses or visitors centers in rural Iceland to ask for information or recommendations. You can visit everything yourself, but you might not know what you’re looking at exactly. You probably won’t know the history or folk-lore behind what you’re seeing, and you won’t have any background knowledge of growing up surrounded by these things. Native Icelanders have been chasing waterfalls, volcanoes, glaciers, and northern lights all their lives and can give you amusing anecdotes, harsh realities, and good bits of gossip about what you’re seeing. Whether it’s where the next Avengers movie is filming or what Justin Bieber did on his trip to film a music video in Iceland, the Icelanders know all the fun facts.
Have you ever listened to Icelandic music? How about heard Iceland fables? Would you listen to these while driving your own rented car through Iceland? Probably not, because you wouldn’t know what you were listening to. On a tour bus, the guides will quiz you on who the latest Icelandic pop stars are and give you some interesting knowledge about the tales they grew up learning. It might not be a reason on its own to skip renting and go on a tour bus, but it gives you that little extra push to see why tours might be better than going at it alone.
Free WiFi.
Tour buses have free WiFi! Rather than add to the expense of a car by getting a wireless hotspot, jump on a tour and stay connected wherever you go.
Plenty of new friends to take pictures of you.
I went solo on my last trip to Iceland and the only thing I was missing was someone to take pictures of me. The thing that worried me most was that I’d get too many pictures just of scenery and none with me in them, since I look like a deer in headlights in all of my selfies. Luckily I was on a tour with plenty of other solo people and we all offered to take pictures of each other. Driving solo around the country might be more problematic because no one would be around to take pictures. Even though tour buses have big groups, there are advantages to having newfound friends around.
What’s the Verdict?
One way to take a tour and still avoid the crowds is to go on the earliest possible tour. Companies like Gray Line offer different times for certain tours. For example, the Golden Circle tour leaves at 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., and 10:30 a.m. If you choose the 8:30 a.m. tour, you’re less likely to see other tours out there at that time and have the place to yourself (and your fellow tour-mates).
Tours do give you a lot of time at each location. On the Golden Circle tour, we had at least an hour at Gullfoss waterfall, the geysers, and Thingvellir National Park. If you’re running late, they won’t leave without you (they do a head count). I never felt rushed.
Usually, I prefer to take the locals route and avoid touristy situations but in my opinion taking, tours is the way to go in Iceland. It’s an easy adjustment to let someone else do the driving for you while you relax, listen, learn, and watch. It’s also safer with Iceland’s ever-changing weather, especially in winter.
Tour guides are informative and helpful. It’s fun to ask them questions like have they ever taken a girl on a date to see the northern lights. They’ll help you avoid looking like a tourist when you go to a bar to order a beer by telling you that if you ask for anything less than 37 beers, you’re immediately a tourist. They’ll even teach you basic must-know Icelandic words like Batman, orange juice, penguin, and their translation of “the gold at the end of the rainbow,” which translates to “the raisin at the end of the sausage.” Where else can you learn this necessary Icelandic slang?
To rent a car or take a tour bus in Iceland? That is the question. Even though it’s convenient and easy to rent a car in Iceland, my personal advice would be to take tours. The best way to travel like a local in Iceland is to learn from the locals. Tour guides are perfect for that. If you’re set on renting a car, that’s a great option too! But if your home base is Reykjavik and you’re interested in day tours around Iceland, tour buses are a great way to go.
Which do you prefer in Iceland, renting cars or going on tours? Leave me some feedback and thoughts in the comments below!
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