Hello everyone,

I'm planning to go on a trip next summer with some of my friends (between one and three other people) as a sort of celebration for the end of Senior year of high school. We're hoping to head over to Iceland for two or three weeks and it's possible that we'll stop in London for a few days as well. At the time I will be 18 and the oldest member of our group.

We are trying to stay away from guided tours because we'll be on a tight budget and a weird schedule (hiking later in the day and earlier in the morning than usual to see some sunrises and sunsets), and it seems that the best way to see the sights of Iceland is driving along the ring road. I was hoping to rent a car, but I have been unable to find a company which rents to anyone under the age of 20. I have seen a few sites reference that it's legal to rent a car in Iceland at the age of 18, but I simply can't find a rental company that allows it.

I understand that I will probably pay an extra insurance fee, but that doesn't matter much if I can find a place that actually rents to 18 year old drivers. Anyone have any ideas? Maybe some smaller, mom-and-pop company that someone knows which would rent to someone my age? If it helps, I will have held my USA license for two years by the time of the trip, and so far I have not been in any accidents or had any citations/tickets. Also, I'm not planning to drive on any roads which require 4x4s.

Thank you for your help!
~Spencer

"ring road" now don't get any excited ideas about dual lane or anything ;-).

Alehar, if you read the terms for lotus the very first one says you have to be 20 to rent from them.

The main reason for the age limit is that many countries don't allow people to drive younger than 18. You have to have had a full licence for at least a year, and getting that licence takes months, so the age limit is set to 20. Generally 20 - 24yo pay a hefty premium and are limited in which cars they can hire.

Driving rules/regs in europe are very different - kids don't get permits at 15 and licenses at 16 - and the driving tests are MUCH more difficult than in the US.

Not sure you will find a place - but good luck

Hey I'm also planning a trip to Iceland next year, I will be 19 however. I've recently been researching companies to rent a car from and am running into some of the same problems you are. Most places don't rent to people under 20. However, I found a few places that charge an extra fee if you're younger. I don't know for sure that they will allow an 18 year old to rent but you can always shoot them an email and appeal to them about it.

Here are the sites:
dollar.is

thrifty.is

avis.is -they only rent certain cars to younger people but if you're not looking for a 4x4 you should be fine

and this last one I do know said they rent to 18 year olds
airportscarhire.com or just google airports car hire

good luck!

Hey Spencer,

I'm graduating this year and was also planning a trip to Iceland with a friend, but he recently had to back out of the trip. I still really want to go, and I'm considering just taking a solo trip, but I figured I would mention to you that if you wanted to talk a little bit about maybe going together we should! I will be 19 this summer which can make car rental from places like Dollar much easier, and I am very flexible as to when to go and what to see. Let me know if you're interested and we can exchange emails or something.

Keenan

If this reference is accurate you are out of luck: <i>"To hire a car in Iceland, you must be at least 20 years old..."</i>
http://www.auto-europe.co.uk/go/car-...g-information/