Iceland driving in March
 

Hello, my husband and I are traveling to Iceland from March 1st to the 4th and had an itinerary planned to see Skaftafell area, Golden Circle in Reykjavik. Our plan was to rent a car and do the driving with the understanding and may have to change due to weather conditions. Comments on other travel sites are telling me absolutely no way should I ever drive in Iceland in winter. I'm wondering is this really true? Is it really that bad or is it more just watch weather conditions and road conditions and know that you may have to have an alternate plan.
Thanks in advance!

Unless you have extensive experience driving in extreme wi ter conditions, it is not recommended.
Gale force winds are not uncommon.
I'd trust the Icelanders who post on Trip Advisor.

Driving in the winter time is obviously not as easy as in any other season but Icelanders so drive on winter and in March too.

There are some precautions anyone should take such: having a 4x4 vehicle, winter tires (studded ones) are required by law and checking the weather conditions is also a must.

You should not have any problem when driving through N1 road, is is constantly being cleaned and it will let you go to main areas such as the golden circle or Vik. If the gusts are +15 km/h then driving is not recommended. But this can easily be checked at vedur.is

Heading to the north is a totally different thing, if you are not an experienced driver, then not recommended either.

We rented a car (Volvo) in late November to do the Golden Circle, started out as a nice sunny day, got cloudy and by the time we were heading back to Reykjavik, it started snowing....that being said, it was a bit of a white knuckle drive, but more so as it was a pitch dark ride with vitually no lights on the road. But we made it and it really wasn't that bad, just took it nice and easy....I live in NY so do have some practice driving in the snow.

I liked the freedom of having our own car to spend as much or little time at each park, all three were amazing! Loved the geysers the most.

Driving in Iceland can be contentious.

First : you have no idea what the weather is going to do from day to day. Anything between flat calm and 110 mile an hour winds. Anything between a severe snow storm, pouring rain, -5oC and 8oC or think fog.

Your plans will need to be made daily and with a strong eye on the weather.

Second : if you have driven in snow before and you stick to the main routes there should not be an issue. What could be an issue are the locals driving in appalling conditions, who know the roads and drive vehicles which are very adapted for local conditions. Far more able than your production standard hire car. We witnesses arrogant and aggressive driving in severe weather, some of the locals appear to have a contempt towards tourists driving at their own pace in snow.

Third : Tripadvisor - there are posters on there who regularly advise visitors not to drive in winter. No idea what's on their agenda but they do reflect an increasingly tired approach to tourists.