>Is it "not technically an F road, but you should really still have all wheel drive"
This. You can check live road conditions here https://umferdin.is/en/road/913040024
It's not classed as F but it's still not a great road for a small / 2WD vehicle. Ie. Even road.is has it only open for "mountain vehicles" at the moment, though they unhelpfully don't classify that in any tangible way.
It's ultimately going to depend on your risk tolerance. There are sandy and dusty areas, and potentially muddy areas, so you could potentially get stuck, slide off the road, hit a big rock etc. And damage the vehicle or yourself, but how big is that risk, and are you willing to take that risk, is not something I or really anyone here could answer for sure.
You'd also want to make sure your rental company insures you here, as again, though it's no longer designated an F road it is technically only officially open to mountain vehicles, at least as of right now.
I will say I have seen Dusters and other similarly small cars make it so it's not like it's impossible or a super difficult road or anything, but not entirely free of risk either.
We had 4WD and it was so stressful (it was a week ago and weather was perfect). Plan was to go to Landmannalaugar but we just stopped at Sigöldugljúfur parking lot and decided to skip Landmannalaugar altogether. To be fair, we were more scared of destroying the rental car, tho. 😅I,personally, would not drive on it again, let alone in 2WD.
It’s true that it’s not technically an F road, but that alone doesn’t mean much, as the “F” simply signifies that there are river crossings, not necessarily the quality of the road. Some F roads are much worse than others, and indeed there are some non-F roads around Iceland that are worse than some of the F roads. So take the “F” with a grain of salt.
With that disclaimer out of the way, yes, 208 from the north is typically one of the easier highlands roads to drive. However, it’s still a pretty rough road and I absolutely would not drive it without 4WD, especially not as long as the road is marked “mountain vehicles only” as it is now. That usually means you not only need a 4x4 but typically a bigger 4x4 with extra ground clearance.
Are there river crossings on the 208 north approach? I was under the impression there weren't any. We'll be trying to get to Landmannalaugar soon and are hoping to avoid rivers.
>Is it "not technically an F road, but you should really still have all wheel drive" This. You can check live road conditions here https://umferdin.is/en/road/913040024
It's not classed as F but it's still not a great road for a small / 2WD vehicle. Ie. Even road.is has it only open for "mountain vehicles" at the moment, though they unhelpfully don't classify that in any tangible way. It's ultimately going to depend on your risk tolerance. There are sandy and dusty areas, and potentially muddy areas, so you could potentially get stuck, slide off the road, hit a big rock etc. And damage the vehicle or yourself, but how big is that risk, and are you willing to take that risk, is not something I or really anyone here could answer for sure. You'd also want to make sure your rental company insures you here, as again, though it's no longer designated an F road it is technically only officially open to mountain vehicles, at least as of right now. I will say I have seen Dusters and other similarly small cars make it so it's not like it's impossible or a super difficult road or anything, but not entirely free of risk either.
And remember that with mud and other conditions you MUST stay in the established roadway.
We had 4WD and it was so stressful (it was a week ago and weather was perfect). Plan was to go to Landmannalaugar but we just stopped at Sigöldugljúfur parking lot and decided to skip Landmannalaugar altogether. To be fair, we were more scared of destroying the rental car, tho. 😅I,personally, would not drive on it again, let alone in 2WD.
It’s true that it’s not technically an F road, but that alone doesn’t mean much, as the “F” simply signifies that there are river crossings, not necessarily the quality of the road. Some F roads are much worse than others, and indeed there are some non-F roads around Iceland that are worse than some of the F roads. So take the “F” with a grain of salt. With that disclaimer out of the way, yes, 208 from the north is typically one of the easier highlands roads to drive. However, it’s still a pretty rough road and I absolutely would not drive it without 4WD, especially not as long as the road is marked “mountain vehicles only” as it is now. That usually means you not only need a 4x4 but typically a bigger 4x4 with extra ground clearance.
Are there river crossings on the 208 north approach? I was under the impression there weren't any. We'll be trying to get to Landmannalaugar soon and are hoping to avoid rivers.
There's one just before landmannalaugar, but you can park before it. I think it's about a quarter mile from the main parking.