Hertz Iceland: The Complete Ring Road Car Rental Guide

Introduction: One Road, an Entire Country

Iceland's Ring Road, officially Route 1, is one of the most complete road trips on earth, looping roughly 1,300 kilometres around the island and touching glaciers, black sand beaches, waterfalls, and fishing villages along the way. Doing it justice requires a reliable vehicle, and that is exactly where Hertz Iceland comes in. With more than five decades of local experience and a fleet that stays consistently modern, renting through Hertz Iceland removes much of the guesswork from planning a full circuit of the country.

This guide walks through how to plan a Ring Road trip from start to finish, which car categories suit which sections of the route, and the practical details that make the difference between a smooth adventure and a stressful one. Whether you have five days or three weeks, the goal here is to help you get behind the wheel with confidence.

Why the Ring Road Deserves a Dedicated Rental Strategy

Unlike a city break where a single compact car will do, the Ring Road passes through wildly different terrain in a single day. You might start the morning on smooth asphalt near Reykjavik, pass through gravel stretches in the East Fjords by afternoon, and end the day navigating a river ford near a remote farm. Booking through Hertz Iceland means you can match the vehicle to the season and route rather than defaulting to whatever is cheapest, which matters far more here than in most rental markets.

Because Hertz Iceland operates 13 locations around the country, it is also possible to structure a one-way rental, picking up in Reykjavik and dropping off near Akureyri or Egilsstaðir if your itinerary does not loop back to the capital. This flexibility is particularly useful for travellers combining a Ring Road drive with a domestic flight back to Reykjavik at the end of the trip.

Choosing the Right Vehicle for Each Season

During the summer months, a well-equipped 4x4 SUV rented from Hertz Iceland gives you access to gravel connector roads and a higher driving position that makes spotting wildlife and photo stops easier. In winter, the calculus changes entirely, and a 4x4 becomes less of a preference and more of a requirement, since standard two-wheel-drive cars struggle on icy sections of the route, particularly around mountain passes in the north and east.

Families or groups travelling with a lot of luggage often find that a mid-size SUV strikes the best balance between comfort and manoeuvrability, since some accommodation along the Ring Road, particularly in smaller fishing villages, has narrower parking and access roads than travellers expect. Every vehicle in the fleet is kept under two years old, which matters on a trip where breakdowns in remote areas can be genuinely inconvenient rather than a minor annoyance.

Suggested Itinerary Breakdown

A full Ring Road loop is typically comfortable over seven to ten days, though it can be compressed into five days for travellers with limited time or stretched across three weeks for those who want to add detours into the Westfjords or the highlands. Picking up your vehicle from Hertz Iceland directly at Keflavik International Airport is the most common starting point, since the 24 hour desk means your arrival time, even on a delayed overnight flight, does not disrupt your first day of driving.

The southern stretch from Reykjavik toward Vik is widely considered the most scenic starting section, packed with waterfalls, black sand beaches, and glacier views within a short driving distance of one another. From there, the route continues along the flatter southeast coast before climbing into more dramatic fjord scenery on the approach to Egilsstaðir, then curving back west through the north near Akureyri and Lake Myvatn before returning to the capital region.

Building in flexible days rather than a rigid schedule tends to produce a better trip, since weather along the route can shift quickly and a spare day gives you room to wait out a storm or extend a stop at a location that turns out to be more compelling than expected.

Vehicle Categories at a Glance

Booking directly through Hertz Iceland lets you compare these categories side by side with transparent, upfront pricing that already accounts for Iceland's per-kilometre road tax, so the figure you see at checkout is close to what you will actually pay on arrival.

Fuel Stops, Weather, and Driving Etiquette

Fuel stations thin out considerably once you leave the greater Reykjavik area, and some stretches, particularly in the northeast and parts of the Westfjords, can go well over 100 kilometres between stations. Filling up whenever your tank drops below half, rather than waiting until it is nearly empty, is a habit almost every Ring Road guide recommends, and staff at Hertz Iceland pickup desks are generally happy to flag which stretches ahead require extra caution.

Icelandic weather can change within the space of an hour, and checking the road and weather conditions website before setting out each morning is a habit worth building early in the trip. Wind in particular can be more dangerous than rain or snow, since strong gusts have been known to catch open car doors and cause damage, so it is worth bracing doors carefully when exiting the vehicle in exposed areas.

Insurance and Peace of Mind on Remote Stretches

Given how much of the Ring Road passes through areas with limited mobile signal, having a clear understanding of your insurance coverage before setting off matters more here than on a typical rental. Reviewing the protection tiers with Hertz Iceland at the time of booking is worth the extra few minutes. Hertz Iceland offers tiered protection packages that can be selected at booking, along with 24/7 emergency call support, which is genuinely reassuring on a route where the nearest town can sometimes be an hour's drive away.

Gravel chip damage and sand or ash exposure in certain regions are common enough that many travellers choose a higher protection tier specifically for the Ring Road, even if they would opt for a lighter package on a short city rental elsewhere. It is a small additional cost against the peace of mind of not worrying about minor chips on a long gravel stretch.

Why Hertz Iceland Suits First-Time Ring Road Drivers

First-time visitors often underestimate how different driving in Iceland feels compared to mainland Europe or North America, particularly around single-lane bridges, blind hills, and sheep that occasionally wander onto the road. Hertz Iceland provides driving guides and route-specific advice as part of the booking process, which helps first-timers understand these quirks before they encounter them at speed.

The company's decade-long streak of nominations at the World Travel Awards, along with repeated recognition as Iceland's leading car rental company, reflects a level of local expertise that newer entrants to the market have not had time to build. For a trip where the vehicle is effectively your home base for a week or more, that experience translates into fewer surprises along the way.

Conclusion

A Ring Road trip rewards preparation, and choosing the right rental partner is one of the more important decisions in that preparation. Between the modern fleet, the wide network of pickup locations, and the transparent pricing that already factors in Iceland's road tax, Hertz Iceland gives travellers a dependable foundation for what is often the trip of a lifetime. Plan your route, pick the right vehicle for the season, and let the road do the rest.

Call to Action

Ready to plan your own loop around Iceland? Compare fleet options and lock in current seasonal rates with Hertz Iceland today and start building the Ring Road itinerary you have been putting off.