Iceland by campervan: sleeping and camping
Where you may legally sleep in a campervan in Iceland: parking, camping, campsites, stopovers and possible fines. What to know before you go.
Published 18 September 2026Last checked 19 September 2026
Currency
Icelandic króna
ISK, not the euro. 139.40 kr to €1 on 18 September 2026
Language
Icelandic
English is spoken almost everywhere
Driving
Right
90 km/h paved, 80 gravel, 50 in town
Power
230V, type F
Same two-pin plug as most of the continent
Tap water
Safe to drink
Cold is excellent. Hot smells of sulphur
Emergency
112
Backup 599 0112. Road service 1777
Sleeping
Sleeping
Iceland is the one country in this series where a campervan cannot simply stop for the night. The Environment Agency states the position in its own English words: it is illegal to spend the night in tent trailers, tent campers, caravans, camper vans or similar outside organised campsites or urban areas unless the landowner or rights holder has given permission. ICE-SAR, which runs the national travel safety service, says the same and adds that wild camping in Iceland is not permitted. Many older guides describe a country that stopped existing in 2015.
Fine
- A pitch at an organised campsite, which is the normal night here
- Private land where you have the owner's actual permission
- Parking a vehicle where any vehicle may park, within one vehicle's width of the road
- A tent, one night, on uncultivated land with no campsite nearby, while walking or cycling
Not allowed
- Using a campervan, motorhome or caravan overnight outside a campsite without the landowner's permission
- Driving off the road to reach a spot, which is a separate criminal offence
- Three or more tents, or a second night, without permission
- Emptying waste water or a cassette on the ground
- Anything at all in an area the agency has closed
What the act says
- The vehicle rule: "Utan þéttbýlis skal leita leyfis landeiganda eða annars rétthafa ef nota á tjaldvagna, fellihýsi, hjólhýsi, húsbíla og annan sambærilegan búnað utan skipulagðra tjaldsvæða." Added by the 2015 amendment.
- The tent rule sits beside it and is narrower than people remember: a traditional tent, on uncultivated land, along a route in an inhabited area, one night, and only if no campsite is nearby. Permission is needed near dwellings, for more than three tents, or for more than one night.
Who decides, and what to go by
- The state sets the framework: lög um náttúruvernd for camping and off-road driving, umferðarlög for parking.
- Náttúruverndarstofnun, the nature conservation agency that took over this work from Umhverfisstofnun in 2025, closes and reopens areas and publishes the practical guidance.
Where to sleep
| Option | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Campsite | from about ISK 3,700 | The normal night. Reykjavik Campsite's 2026 online rate was ISK 3,735 for a camper including one adult without electricity, ISK 5,715 with 16A, and ISK 3,150 for each further adult over 12. |
| Accommodation tax | ISK 400 a night | Added to every campsite and motorhome pitch under the accommodation tax act as amended from 1 January 2025. It is a tax, not a service charge. |
| Útilegukortið, the camping card | one payment | A prepaid card covering a fixed set of campsites, about 30 of them across the five regions in September 2026. Sold at Olís stations, campsites and information centres. |
| Farm or private land | by agreement | The only lawful alternative to a campsite outside a town. Ask, and get a yes, because that consent is what the act asks for. |
| Highland huts and their sites | varies | Seasonal, tied to the F road opening dates, and often booked. Not somewhere to improvise a night. |
Water, waste and the practical side
- Cold tap water is safe everywhere, so filling the tank is about finding a tap, not finding drinkable water. Petrol stations and campsites both work.
- Never empty grey water or a cassette on the ground. Campsites and service points exist for it, and doing it in the open is exactly the behaviour that has tightened the rules over the last decade.
Why this country is different
- The 2015 amendment is the break point. Before it, the older act was read as allowing much more. The act that took effect on 15 November 2015 rewrote the camping rule, and guidance written before then describes rules that no longer apply.
- The reputation lags the law. Iceland is still described as a wild camping country in a lot of writing. The agency and ICE-SAR both say otherwise, in plain English, on their own sites.
On fines, this page says less than you might expect, on purpose. Lög um náttúruvernd lists the provisions that carry a stated penalty, and the camping rule is not among them. The ones that do include off-road driving, which is why the figures on this page appear under driving and not here. Rather than repeat a fine range from a secondary source, the page states the rule and leaves the number out.