Iceland Road Trip with a Dog: What to Know Before Hvítá Trucks

A dog changes the rhythm of a West Iceland road trip — more stops, more leash time, more planning around farmland and rivers. Before you point the car toward Borgarfjörður and a night at Hvítá Trucks, it helps to separate two very different situations: bringing a dog into Iceland from abroad, and driving around Iceland with a dog that already lives here.

International Visitors: Iceland’s Import Rules Are Strict

If you are flying into Iceland from another country with your own dog, this is not a simple case of packing a leash and going. Iceland requires an import permit from the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST), applied for roughly 30 days ahead, plus a rabies vaccination and antibody titer test completed months in advance, additional vaccinations against leptospirosis, distemper, parvovirus, and parainfluenza, and a minimum 14-day quarantine stay at one of Iceland’s approved quarantine stations after arrival. Pets can only enter via Keflavík International Airport, not by ferry, and a handful of breeds (including several bully-type and mastiff-type breeds) are barred outright. In practice, this rules out a casual road trip with an imported dog for most international visitors. If your dog lives outside Iceland, confirm current requirements directly with MAST well before booking flights.

Domestic Travelers: Different Rules Apply

None of the above applies if you already live in Iceland and are simply driving your own dog around the country — quarantine and import permits are about the dog crossing an international border, not about domestic travel. For Icelandic residents road-tripping with a resident dog, the relevant rules are local leash laws, park-specific restrictions, and farm etiquette rather than anything from MAST.

Leash Rules and Farmland Etiquette in West Iceland

Borgarfjörður is working sheep and horse country, and the etiquette matters as much as the law.

• Dogs must be leashed in public areas in most Icelandic towns and on farmland unless a spot is specifically marked off-leash.
• Sheep graze free-range across much of rural Iceland in summer — an unleashed dog near livestock can cause real harm.
• Some protected nature sites and national parks (Þingvellir, for instance) allow leashed dogs but restrict or ban them in certain zones; rules vary site by site.
• Carry waste bags — Icelandic farmland and gravel pullouts are not places to leave anything behind.
• Never leave a dog in a parked car during warmer stretches of the day.
• Bring water and a bowl — service-station stops along Route 1 and Route 50 are not guaranteed to have anything for pets.

Where to Stay

Hvítá Trucks puts you on the bank of the Hvítá river in Borgarfjörður, with the truck cabins spaced out and plenty of open ground around them for a dog to stretch its legs after a day of driving. Book direct on Ourhotels.is for the best rate — and confirm the pet policy directly with the property when you book.

Photo: Bernd Thaller via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.