About Vetrarakstur
Iceland's most practical guide for drivers — covering winter roads, EVs, car costs, and everything in between.
Our mission
Vetrarakstur (Icelandic for "winter driving") exists to give every driver in Iceland — whether a lifelong resident, a new arrival, or a visitor exploring the country by car — the practical, up-to-date information they need to drive safely and confidently.
Iceland's driving environment is unlike almost anywhere else on Earth. Roads can transform from clear tarmac to glassy ice within minutes. Weather conditions shift dramatically between valleys. The Ring Road in summer looks nothing like the Ring Road in January. And for anyone considering electric vehicles, the infrastructure and cost landscape is distinct from mainland Europe.
We believe that better-informed drivers make Iceland's roads safer for everyone. That's why everything we publish is free, written in plain English, and grounded in real experience.
What we cover
Our content spans every aspect of driving in Iceland that actually matters to real drivers:
- Winter driving — understanding and driving on ice, snow, and slush; tyre regulations; what equipment to carry; how to read road conditions.
- EV and charging — charging networks, costs, range anxiety on Icelandic roads, cold weather battery performance, and which EVs perform best in the Icelandic climate.
- Car costs — realistic breakdowns of what it actually costs to own and run a car in Iceland, including import taxes, insurance, fuel, and maintenance.
- Road safety — gravel roads, single-lane bridges, highland F-roads, river crossings, wildlife, and the specific hazards of Icelandic driving.
- Car buying guides — how to buy a used or new car in Iceland, what to watch out for, import procedures, and financing.
- New residents — converting a foreign driving licence, registering a vehicle, mandatory insurance requirements, and practical first-steps guides.
Our editorial standards
Every article on Vetrarakstur is written or reviewed by people with direct, personal experience of driving in Iceland. We do not publish thin, algorithmically generated content. We do not copy-paste from official sources and call it a guide.
Our standards for publication:
- Accuracy first. Facts are checked against official sources (Samgöngustofa, Veðurstofa Íslands, Road Administration of Iceland) and updated when conditions or regulations change.
- Practical over theoretical. We write for the driver sitting behind the wheel, not for academics. Every article should leave the reader knowing something useful they did not know before.
- No fluff, no filler. Word count is never a goal. An article should be exactly as long as the topic requires — no more.
- Honest about limitations. We are a driving information resource, not a substitute for official training, professional instruction, or real-time road condition data. We say so clearly where relevant.
Transparency and monetisation
Vetrarakstur is an independent publication. We are not affiliated with any car manufacturer, dealership, insurance company, fuel brand, or charging network.
The site carries advertising (Google AdSense) and may contain affiliate links in some articles. When we link to a product or service and receive a commission if you purchase, we disclose this clearly in the relevant article. Affiliate relationships never influence our editorial content — we do not recommend products we would not recommend without a commission.
For full details, see our Disclaimer page.
Contact us
We welcome corrections, feedback, story tips, and guest contributions from people with genuine expertise in Icelandic driving topics.
You can reach us via our Contact page. We aim to respond to all messages within two business days.