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We cannot begin to tell you how incredible it was to explore Iceland on our own!
We rented a Nissan Pathfinder from Geysir Car Rental and couldn’t have been happier with our decision and with the service Geysir provided.
Geysir Car Rental was originally founded in 1973, so it is the oldest and largest car rental company in Iceland, not franchised like some of the more popular companies, such as Avis or Hertz. Their rental office is located less than a 5 minute walk from the Keflavik airport terminal. Airport VIP pick-up is available for an additional fee.
Note: If you plan to spend most of your time exploring the capital city of Reykjavik on foot, there are several bus companies that will take you directly from the airport to downtown.
Geysir has a HUGE selection and variety of vehicles, as can be viewed on their web site, www.geysir.is. Iceland rental vehicles usually do not come cheap, but after extensive research on the rental companies available, I found Geysir to be among the most affordable. Note: There are cheaper companies out there. However, their fleets are comprised of much older vehicles. We preferred a newer, more reliable model.
Having our own rental vehicle allowed us the freedom and flexibility to see what we wanted, when we wanted, and for how long we wanted!
Although many bus companies offer a stop-over at the Blue Lagoon on the way from the airport to downtown Reykjavik, we felt like we could relax a little more knowing that we weren’t tied to anyone else’s time schedule.
We were able to go off and explore parts of Iceland that we wouldn’t have been able to see otherwise on a guided tour, like this old lighthouse off the shoreline of the Reykjanes Peninsula, or this neat, old abandoned house along the Sn忙fellsnes Peninsula. Getting a GPS with your rental is strongly recommended. We were able to find obscure locations just by putting in known coordinates.
At one point, while driving along Ring Road, we crossed over a bridge and saw a raging river leading to a beautiful waterfall. We turned the vehicle around to go see the waterfall; something we wouldn’t have been able to do if on a bus tour.
Because we had a 4WD vehicle, which is required for some of the roads in Iceland, we were also able to explore places buses wouldn’t have been able to get to, such as the black beach where a DC place crashed in the early 70’s.
If we wanted to stop along Ring Road to read a sign that detailed a specific event in Iceland’s history, we could!
If we wanted to stay out extra late in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights, we could do that too! We were actually booked on a “Northern Lights Mystery Tour” with a large bus company as part of the package deal we purchased for our visit to Iceland. Because we had our own vehicle, we decided to forego the pre-arranged tour and see the northern lights on our own. (Click here to see more of our aurora photos!)
As we were driving our rental vehicle to a remote location on the evening we were supposed to be on the tour, we saw several tour buses heading back toward the city; their northern lights experience was over before 10pm… however, the show hadn’t even begun!
We stayed out late and were able to experience one of the most incredible natural phenomena I have ever seen!
Having our own vehicle also allowed us the freedom to get away from the big city and get hours away to more desolate parts of the country. By doing so, we were able to enjoy some stunning landscapes and scenery. (Click here to see some incredible images of glaciers, ice caves, and lagoons in southeast Iceland.)
If you’re thinking about visiting Iceland; consider exploring on your own! Avoid the time constraints and hordes of other visitors everywhere you stop. Of course, there will always be people at the more popular stops, but with your own vehicle, you can stay as long as you want and wait for breaks in the crowds to enjoy the waterfalls, glacier lagoons and surreal landscapes in peace!
We also got our pick of accommodations in Iceland and could stay wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted.
We stayed at some nice, remote locations away from tons of other visitors, all because we had the flexibility to go anywhere with our rental!
We’d like to thank Geysir Rental Car for their partnership with Forget Someday. As always, this review is an honest representation of the experience we had.
Stayed tuned, as the Geysir company is expanding! Currently, they provide visitors with the flexibility to see Iceland on their own by renting vehicles. In the coming months, they will be offering adventure tours for those who enjoy the comfort and convenience of letting someone else do the planning!
For a (printable) destination guide to what we did during our stay in Iceland (where we stayed and what we ate, what we saw, money saving tips, sample itinerary, etc.), click here.
Check out a quick video of our adventure: