National Parks in Iceland

Iceland has three national parks. Snæfellsjökull National Park is located at the most westerly end of Snæfellsjökull peninsula. Iceland's oldest national park is Þingvellir National Park that was founded in 1930. It can be found 49 kilometres east of Reykjavík and is best known for the Alþingi, that served as the meeting place of Iceland's parliament for over 850 years.

Vatnajökull National Park is Iceland's youngest national park and was founded in 2008. It includes the former independent Skaftafell National Park and Jökulsárgljúfur National Park. Vatnajökull National Park is Europe's largest national park covering an area of 12,000 km² and contains the entire Vatnajökull glacier (8,100 km²).

More about Iceland's national parks

• Snæfellsjökull National Park
• Þingvellir National Park
• Vatnajökull National Park

Driving in Iceland

Many attractions in Iceland can be reached by following Ring Road No. 1 that generally follows the island's coastline. Quite often, so-called F-routes fan off of major roads and lead you into the highlands. However, these roads are often unpaved and not necessarily in good condition. They are only suitable for 4WD with underbody protection. If you damage a rented car on an F-route so that it needs to be towed into a garage for repairs, the person who rented the car has to pay for towing and repairs as it is usually not permitted to drive on unpaved roads with a rented car. When you rent car, please ask the staff at the rental company if and which F-routes you are permitted to drive on.

If you take a 4WD on an F-route make sure that your car has a large ground clearance so that you don't have to bother too much whether you are able to cross rivers with that vehicle or not. Nevertheless, river crossings still need to be made very cautiously. Wading through the river in advance to find a suitable path and to measure the river's depth can help to make it a safe crossing.

Note also, that F-routes are closed during winter and they can also be closed during peak season depending on the weather. Please ask in the village nearest to the F-route about road closures and weather.