Check-list on staying safe in Iceland

Magazine Check-list on staying safe in Iceland

Lately many tourists have made headlines in Iceland in the worst possible way: by getting into trouble with unexpected weather conditions or overall recklessness, from people stuck on floating ice at the Jökulsarlón glacier lagoon to selfie-takers getting swept away by waves at Reynisfjara beach near Vík. There is nothing more precious than careful preparation, so we talked to Project Manager at Safetravel Jónas Guðmundsson about what he sees as the biggest risks for travellers.

-       The short answer would be the weather in any kind of form. Conditions in Iceland are usually not what the average tourist is used to. Especially in the winter time, even on the Golden Circle or the Road 1, the Ring Road, road conditions are icy and snowy.

-       In the summer season we have of course better conditions but when hiking in the highland you have to be ready for all kinds of weather, sometimes even snow.

-       A good place to start travel and safety planning is www.safetravel.is where you can get all the info to travel safely around Iceland. You can leave your travel plan there and during your travel you can see all alerts & warnings which are active at each time for example about weather, avalanche risk and so on.

 

Checklist for independent traveling in Iceland:

- Check on road conditions 1-2 times a day

- Don’t put together a too tight driving schedule. Allow for some flexibility so the road and weather conditions don’t surprise you.

- Especially when going hiking, always bring 3 layers of clothing, sometimes the temp is only 2 – 10°C due to altitude changes and the different weather conditions higher up.

- Leave your travel plan with someone who can react if needed.

- At www.safetravel.is you can find all alerts and warnings.

- Road conditions can be checked at road.is

- Weather conditions are found at vedur.is.

 

With these tips for you, we wish you welcome to Iceland and safe travels!

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