Arriving on a long-haul flight: your first day with a rental car in Iceland

When long-haul flights land, and when to book your pickup

Many flights from North America fly overnight and land early in the morning. The Icelandic Transport Authority's advice is written for exactly this arrival: make sure you are not too tired to drive when you land, and try not to drive too far before your first sleep (Samgöngustofa). From Asia, Latin America and elsewhere, arrival times vary with the route, but the journey is long either way, often with little sleep and a big time difference (Visit Reykjanes).

• Our hours: 04:00–18:00 every day (Opening hours), except 24 and 31 December (04:00–12:00) and 25 December and 1 January (closed). Landing earlier, or after we close? A pickup outside opening hours is possible only on request, agreed in advance, for €75, shuttle included, or €150 after 12:00 on 24 and 31 December (rental terms 40(b)).
• Delays: collect the car within two hours of your booked pickup time, or the booking may be treated as a no-show. Tell us about a delay and we will try to hold the car, but we can't promise it (rental terms 10).
• Want to sleep first? Then book your pickup for after your rest, not for your landing time: the two hours count from the time you booked, and rental days run 24 hours from the pickup time (rental terms 10 and 12).

Picking up the car when you are tired

Keep these together in your hand luggage, so nothing has to be found at the desk:

• Driving license: the physical license of every driver, held for at least a year; digital licenses, screenshots and scans are not accepted. A license not in the Latin alphabet also needs an International Driving Permit or, where the issuing country issues none (for example mainland China), a certified translation (rental terms 3).
• Passport or national ID card for every driver (rental terms 4).
• A physical credit or debit card in your name, as the renter, even if you paid with Apple Pay or Google Pay; prepaid and virtual cards are not accepted. We take Visa, Mastercard, American Express, China UnionPay, Discover and Diners Club (rental terms 6). For a booking on this website we place a hold of €1,000 on the card at pickup, none with MAX: a hold, not a charge, released after the return (rental terms 7).
• Your booking confirmation: it names the meeting point outside the arrivals hall.
• A charged phone: there is no shuttle timetable. When you have your bags, call or WhatsApp us on +354 779 9499 and we come to the terminal; the ride to our office at Bogatröð 1 takes about 10 minutes (Airport shuttle).

Two drivers? Safetravel advises taking turns, but only drivers named in the rental agreement may drive (rental terms 15); a second driver costs €10 per day (rental terms 40(c)). The steps from landing to driving away are on Keflavík Airport car rental.

Jet lag and fatigue: the warning signs and Safetravel's advice

Safetravel, run by the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue, warns that you may feel jet-lagged, sleepy and tired when you arrive, especially after an overnight flight from America, and that this can last a few days after you land.

The warning signs. If you notice any of these, stop driving as soon as it is safe (road-safety advice from the Irish police, An Garda Síochána):

• Heavy eyelids, trouble keeping your eyes open, frequent blinking.
• Repeated yawning, or your head nodding.
• Not remembering the last few kilometers, or missing a turn or a sign.
• Drifting in your lane, or thoughts wandering off.

What Safetravel advises:

• Rest well before you drive, to reduce the risk of falling asleep at the wheel.
• Stop at least every 100 km or so: stretch your legs, walk around, eat something and have a coffee if you feel tired.
• Take turns if there is more than one driver, and make sure the driver is not the only person awake in the car.
• Keep the car cool and the music upbeat: too much warmth makes you sleepy. Police advice adds that such tricks only help for a short time.
• Closing your eyes? Stop at a safe spot off the road, such as a parking area, and nap for about 15 minutes.

Being fit to drive matters under the rental terms too: no waiver covers damage while the driver is under the influence of alcohol or drugs or otherwise unfit to drive (rental terms 36(b)).

A gentle first day: short drives near Keflavík and Reykjavík

Plan the first day around rest, not distance:

• Sleep a few hours near the airport. Safetravel points to Nap and Go, a road-safety project of the Icelandic Transport Authority, Visit Reykjanes and the tourism industry: hotels and guesthouses a few minutes from Keflavík Airport offer part-day stays to travelers who land early in the morning, booked directly with them (Visit Reykjanes).
• Or drive only to Reykjavík: 50 km from the airport, at least 30 min of driving. Check in, sleep, and see the city on foot.
• The Blue Lagoon is 23 km from the airport, but it lies close to the eruption area of recent years: check before you go (below).
• After a rest, the Reykjanes Peninsula: the Bridge between Continents, the Reykjanesviti lighthouse and the Gunnuhver mud pools are close to the airport (Reykjanes Peninsula by car). With 1 to 3 days before your main trip or your next flight, see Iceland stopover by car.

Vegagerðin's official distances from the airport terminal (distance tables, in Icelandic); the times are the minimum at 90 km/h, the highest speed limit in Iceland, without stops. Vík and Jökulsárlón are better left for the next day. More places: Driving times from KEF.

Volcanic activity: the Reykjanes Peninsula has erupted repeatedly in recent years, and the Icelandic Met Office says the next event cannot be predicted and warning times could be short. Before you drive to Grindavík or the Blue Lagoon, check the Met Office's news and alerts and umferdin.is. What an eruption means for your trip and your car: Volcano eruptions and your trip.

Not a night in the car: Safetravel's 15-minute nap at a safe stop is one thing; for real sleep, book a bed. Our cars are not campervans and are not equipped for sleeping (Sleeping in a rental car).

Winter arrivals: landing in the dark

From November to February, an early-morning landing means darkness until well into the morning. Daylight in Reykjavík, from the first to the last day of the month: November 8 → 5 hours, December 5 → 4 hours, January 4½ → 7 hours, February 7 → 10 hours, March 10 → 13½ hours. Around the December solstice it only starts to get light at about 10:00, and the sun rises at about 11:20 (University of Iceland almanac); the Met Office lists today's sunrise and sunset (in Icelandic).

• Darkness adds to tiredness: the Transport Authority notes that winter darkness can make you more tired than usual, while in summer the bright nights can hide how tired you are until it suddenly hits you (Samgöngustofa).
• Let the first longer drive wait for daylight: sleep first, then drive in the light hours.
• Check before you go: roads and closures on umferdin.is, weather warnings on vedur.is and alerts on safetravel.is; the rental terms ask you to check them too (18).
• Headlights on at all times, all year round: the automatic setting may not be enough (Safetravel).
• Winter tires are on every car from 1 November to 14 April at no extra charge (rental terms 1). More in Winter driving.

The first hours: fuel, money and your phone

• Fuel: most stations are self-service, and you pay at the pump with a card and its PIN. No PIN? The alternatives are in Fuel & paying at the pump.
• Money: cards are accepted almost everywhere and foreign currency rarely, and larger purchases may need chip and PIN, so know your PIN; there are ATMs at Keflavík Airport (Visit Reykjavík).
• Your phone: Iceland's mobile networks are now 4G and 5G only, and some phones, especially older models and some bought abroad, may have trouble reaching the emergency number 112. To check yours, call the automated test line 1280, never 112 itself (112 Iceland).
• Internet in the car: our 4G WiFi device costs €10 per day, subject to availability (price list §7), and one device connects several phones for maps, road conditions and weather warnings (Extras & what's included).
• Our number: +354 779 9499, by phone or WhatsApp, day and night.

Questions about your first day after a long flight