Icleand 2021 trip, long post with shipping details from UK.

[beady]

The Icelandic Hillrally was taking place just outside Reykjavik, so we decided to help a friend on the race and go somewhere different.
If you are thinking of going, then do it, but make sure you have 4x4 to enjoy the best places the main tourist spots are busy, but empty late on so you can have them to yourself, remember it is light almost all night.
Bikers are everywhere and the Icelander love them but the river crossing can be a bit worrying, however they can be avoided most of the time.
Here is some info for anyone wanted to take their vehicle from the UK

We used EIMSKIPS, there office is in Immgham
There official contact info is
exportquotes@eimskip.co.uk
you can talk to Mike McDonald direct at mm@eimskip.com in the UK
Or
Jóhanna Ýr Elíasdóttir
Viðskiptastjóri / Key Account Manager
Söludeild Flutningalausna / Logistic Services
Tel: +354 525 7287
Mobile: +354 825 7287

He does lot’s of transport for vehicles,
They operate on a cubic metre pricing structure, unusual !,
We had a special price for the race , but it’s possible others may blag a similar price
basically works out as ( prices @ jun 2021)
small 4x4 = 20m3 :: £1705
medium 4x4 (our RR camper was in this size range) ::£1696 ( yes I know its cheaper than the 20 ??)
larger 40m3 ::£2016
Jóhanna from Reykjavik office had done the quotes and these are the ref # 722428, 723030 and 295620

you give them the max dims of the vehicle and they tell you what it will be, ours was 25 M3 but was sent in a 40’ Hi cube container anyway
you will need these forms and paperwork for customs clearance in Reykjavík
-copy of registration document V5
-copy valid insurance card to drive the car in Iceland
-copy of drivers licence
copy passport
copy valid MOT certificate if applicable
copy of valid Uk insurance
list of any items packed inside the car including values
-E9 form filled out for the Icelandic customs office - https://www.tollur.is/library/Skrar/Eydublod/E9.pdf
You can have them load the car, or pay about £300 extra and you can load and strap down your car, the charge is to move the container on the docks to a warehouse.

Collection is easy in Reykjavik and the people in the office are very helpful and a good laugh.
All prices are high for everything in Iceland and you here many stories about travellers bringing food etc, and the customs check them and fine the travellers well that may happen at the airport but not on a containered vehicle, we decided to do middle of the road and stock it up a bit but didn’t stuff it full of booze and biscuits.
Reality, the guys at the EIMSKIPS office in Reykjavik reckon they cannot remember a vehicle being inspected for anything !!, so fill them up
The place is roughly 20% more expensive than the UK so if you are in an overland camper and buy out of the supermarkets it will not hurt too much , there are cheap and nice ones.
Fuel is only slightly more expensive
Don’t get any cash, everything uses a Credit card, we got 300£ worth just in case and spent it on the last day to dispose of it.
Phones, EU roaming rules apply so no charges,4G most places, and phones signal in 90% of Iceland. Taxi from airport to the docks was £100, for 40km, taxi from our house to Manchester airport is 40£ for 20kms so not much different, there are buses etc, do your homework, as is normal the docks are never near a bus stop.
Some other bits to know
The supposed dreaded F-roads you read about of all over the internet are mainly easy ,well for any of us overlanders anyway, yes I do know I have done 13 Dakar rallies and may look at off roading differently to normal people but you will see many Dacia duster 4x4 cars driving them and a few 2wd doing them as well,
It was dry when we were there. which does change surfaces a lot.
The small tracks off the F-roads shown in brown dotted lines on the Michelin map tend to be the wilder roads
A great map , I got from the Taxi driver back to the airport ☹ is here http://vefsja.iskort.is/

officially
NO fires
NO wild camping
NO off piste driving
Unofficially
On the tiny back roads off the F roads wild camping happened by Icelanders and they have fires.
Some campsites allow fires or have fire pits, if there are some rocks that have had a fire in before then your OK. Barbecues must NOT burn the grass.
People on quads etc do off road, but it may be private land with permission, best rule is DON’T do it, there are many park rangers about.
With the small track and F-roads and glaciers to drive on you will not need to go off piste anywhere.
If you want a fire in your firepit, Do not burn any Moss or Grass, god forbid it,( although Volcanos destroying it all is OK ) take wood with you, there are very few trees in Iceland, the north coast has loads of drift wood but that’s it, we took sawdust pellets and they worked well.
All campsites are generally good and some excellent they charge per person + electric hookup if needed, the one in the centre of Rekyavik can be full at peak times and was the most expensive @ 2500 isk pp and is like a municipal car park ☹ , but good for a night in the city centre a must visit place and do it at the weekend when its busy.


generally campsites in the south are cheapest around 1500-1750isk, the north they are around 2000isk, there is a good free one on the south coast by the black beach good for the last nights packing up.



Do all the tickbox things but use your vehicle capabilities to go over the highlands and stay at remote mountain huts and campsites , don’t worry about it looking remote, there are hundreds of Germans and Dutch in everything from defenders to 6x6 Bliss motorhomes roaming around.

When your finished, drop your vehicle at the EIMSKIPS office in Reykjavik and give them you keys, and hey presto a week or so it appear back in Immimgham

We have been meaning to go for 25 years and with the hillrally and Covid we did it
Total cost of our trip was £5k with all flights and shipping and including a £550 small plane flight over the big glacier , amazing flight and worth every penny.

Hopefully this info is of use to someone

enjoy

[slaphead]

For others' additional info, I've been gathering shipping quotes to take a Hilux plus demountable camper (total = 6m long, 3m high, 3 tonnes) return to Iceland in spring 2022. Seemingly there are three options:

1. Passenger ferry with Smyril Line on MS Norrona from Hirtshals (DK) via Faroes to Seydisfjordur (IS). On-line price for vehicle plus two seemingly €3400 ('half board').

2. Freight from Immingham to Reykjavik on a flatrack (unaccommpanied). The quote from EON Logistics & Trading was £7000

3. RoRo with Smyril Line cargo on Mykines from Rotterdam to Torlakshofn (IS). 2021 price for vehicle (unaccommpanied) = €3300

[markharf]

Thanks for posting this info, slaphead. Just to confirm: these are all round trip (return) prices?

[Rognv]

Originally Posted by markharf

Thanks for posting this info, slaphead. Just to confirm: these are all round trip (return) prices?

Hi Mark,

For option 1 I can confirm this is a round trip price. For option 2 and 3 I would say ¨it must be round trip¨ , no one would pay double that price, I think.
Bear in mind the reason why Slaphead´s quote is so high: his truck is both long, high and heavy. I did a round trip in 2018 with Smyril Line ferry to Denmark and the cost was below €2000,- for two persons and a Toyota Landcruiser Prado. There is also a significant difference when traveling in high season.

regards,

Rögnvaldur

[beady]

Icelandic Hillrally is on again for 2022:
when I get some updated prices I will try to post on here.
we booked the shipping around 3 weeks before we left, they always have space as there are many vessels going back and to to Iceland.


having a vehicle thats fits in a container is always the most economical way to ship.

[markharf]

Originally Posted by Rognv

Hi Mark,
For option 1 I can confirm this is a round trip price. For option 2 and 3 I would say ¨it must be round trip¨ , no one would pay double that price, I think.....There is also a significant difference when traveling in high season.

Thanks Rognv. These days I seem to spend a lot more time thinking about future possibilities than actually going anywhere or doing anything, and the parade of new viral variations is making this even worse. I do still hope to make it to Iceland one of these days/years/decades.

Mark

[slaphead]

As an update to my earlier post, I took 'Option One' and have been in IS for 10 days so far. The Norrona ferry cost for two people plus truck, with en-suite cabins for three legs, was €3000 total. No (expensive) food pre-ordered; don't bother. We just did a supermarket shop in north DK and DIY grazed on-board. There's a fridge in the cabin; take a travel kettle. Faroes recommended for a week; bonkers scenery. In IS it's still 'early' in the season here, so some campsites are only opening today (1 June), and it's not yet busy. Diesel is 312ISK / litre. The campsites are 1500-1800ISK per person, with hot showers sometimes 500 extra. The IS 'Camping Card' is a bargain at €160 (approx) as it gives 28 nights' accom. for two adults (and four kids) at about 40 sites around the country (see their app).