Iceland road-trip fuel planning

On the busier south-west and north the spacing is comfortable — typically 50–80 km. It is the east and south-east that catch people out: between Kirkjubæjarklaustur and Höfn, and across the east fjords, you can go roughly 200 km with only one or two options. The simple rule that never fails: refuel whenever the tank drops below half once you are east of Vík.

No. There are no fuel stations anywhere in the interior — not at Landmannalaugar, Þórsmörk, along Kjölur or Sprengisandur. You fill to full at the last town on the ring (Hella, Vík, Reykjahlíð, wherever your F-road branches off) and carry enough for the round trip, because a 4x4 on rough gravel burns noticeably more than the same car on tarmac.

Almost all stations are unmanned self-service pumps that take a chip-and-PIN card — and many rural N1, Olís and Orkan pumps require a card with a PIN, so a card that only works by signature can fail you at 2 a.m. in the east. Some also sell prepaid fuel cards inside staffed stations. Diesel and bensin95 (petrol) pumps are clearly separate — check which your rental takes before you squeeze the handle.

The low-cost brands (Costco in the capital, Orkan and ÓB self-service) usually undercut the full-service N1 and Olís, and the capital area is cheaper than remote stations. The gap is real but rarely more than a few ISK per litre, so on a road trip the smart move is never to gamble range for a cheaper pump — fill where you safely can. The live figures above are read straight from gasvaktin.is.

The Ring Road is about 1,321 km. At roughly 7 L/100 km for a small petrol car that is around 90 litres for the loop, plus your detours — so budget for well over 100 litres in practice. Multiply by today’s average price above for a live estimate, and add a margin for a 4x4 or any highland gravel, which drink more.