I thought I had done my research before heading down to Vík from Landmannalaugar.

I was expecting a pretty tame F-road with one river crossing. Suffice to say that there were more.

I’m not trying to scare you off: the F208 from Landmannalaugar to Vík is very doable and one of the most scenic in the entire country.

But information is scattered and I want to give a concise picture of what to expect.

The 208 vs. F208 Problem

Ah, those pesky Icelandic road-namers.

There are two roads called 208, and only one of them has river crossings.

The northern section – the stretch running down from Route 26 to Landmannalaugar – was reclassified a few years back from F208 to plain 208. It is an easy gravel road with no river crossings. It is also the one I thought I was taking. It wasn’t.

The southern section, from Landmannalaugar down toward the Ring Road near Vík, is still F208. And that road has multiple unbridged river crossings.

If you’re driving from Landmannalaugar to Vík, you want information about F208 south. Not 208. Not “the road to Landmannalaugar.” The southern section specifically.

What the Drive Is Actually Like

So the drive is pretty awesome.

The F208 south to Vík was maybe the most scenic drive we did on our 10 days in Iceland.

Winding, dirt roads through volcanic, vast deserts of lava rock and black sand. Mossy green mountains and landscapes that you’ve never seen anything quite like before.

And yes – some river crossings, which add to the experience in my opinion. As long as you’re prepared. We’ll talk about them in the next section.

The road surface is fairly easy to drive – mostly dirt, with a few more rocky sections. I prefer these dirt F-roads to a lot of the gravel ones in Iceland, which are often pockmarked with potholes and rattle your teeth out for hours.

The drive took us around 2.5 hours. The beginning half was the toughest (and most beautiful), while the latter half was pretty tame.

Note: Take a look at the tour options above, which are all based out of Vík! My links are affiliate links, so use them if you’re going to book. Free for you, and I get some cash to spend on something stupid.

The River Crossings

How much did I know about river crossings before the F208?

Clearly not enough, as I discovered when I stalled our car in the middle of the first one.

There’s a specific silence that happens when an engine dies in moving water. Both my friends had gone completely still, which I’ve since learned is their response to most emergencies.

Then, out of panic, I did the single best thing you can do to turn a stuck car into a destroyed one: I restarted the engine while sitting in a river. If water had been pulled into the air intake, restarting the car would’ve drawn it into the cylinders.

I’ve never relayed that information to my friends – it’ll be a nice surprise for them if they ever read this post.

Luckily, we got moving eventually. But I wouldn’t count on a happy ending to that situation every time.

There are 8-10 river crossings, all early along the road, all varying depths and difficulties. All doable if you keep your car in first gear and your RPMs steady. If you have an automatic, manually adjust the gears if possible.

Only 2-3 of the rivers were truly deep enough to be potentially problematic, and somewhat fortunately the first river is one of them. So you’ll know what you’re dealing with immediately.

Conditions can change on an hourly basis, so I highly recommend checking the river depth by foot if you’re unsure. Your feet will be freezing but better safe than sorry. If you have water shoes wear them.

Also look for any fast moving currents. The rivers here are generally relatively slow-moving, so anything fast is indicative of bad conditions.

Do You Need a 4×4?

Yes.

It doesn’t need to be anything fancy for the F208, but you still want a 4×4.

Dacia Dusters are by far the most common 4×4 rental in Iceland, and with normal river conditions it is more than suitable for the job. As long as you’re somewhat competent behind the wheel.

Anything more heavy-duty and you’re golden.

Anything less than a 4×4 isn’t just a bad idea, but illegal in Iceland.

Practical Notes

Make sure the road is open. On our first day in Iceland, we pulled up to a bridge that Google Maps had directed us to, only to find that the bridge was closed due to an incident earlier that day.

It led to a substantial detour, and it could have been avoided by checking live road conditions on umferdin.is and safetravel.is. So do that.

Also of note, the F208 and all other F-roads are only open during summer.

Fuel up. There is nothing on the F208. It’s only road and nature. So make sure you don’t find yourself without fuel somewhere along it.

Time it right. Going earlier in the day is better for a few reasons.

First, peak melt occurs late in the day, after the sun has had time to work its magic. Which means the river levels are often higher as the day progresses.

Second, there is generally more traffic (though still not much) earlier in the day, which allows you to use others as guinea pigs for the river crossings. It’s also beneficial to have someone around in case things go wrong.

Best of luck!