How long does it take to get from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik?

Whether there are places you need to be or simply that you want to get your holiday started as soon as possible after landing, many visitors will have the same question: how long does it take to travel from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik? Airport Direct by Gray Line Iceland has a number of options that will get you from one to the other, so let’s take a look and find out.

Where precisely is Keflavik Airport?

Keflavik Airport is located at the north western tip of the Reykjanes peninsula. Although there is a small airport much closer to the centre of Reykjavik, it mostly serves domestic destinations plus Greenland. That means if you are flying in to the south west of Iceland, you’re most likely to land at Keflavik and take some kind of transfer to reach the capital.

How long does it take to get between the two places?

Typically, if you were to drive directly from the airport to the outskirts of Reykjavik city centre, you’re looking at an average journey time of about 45 minutes. Getting to the heart of downtown takes slightly longer; the amount depending on where you’re aiming for and how close that place is to the major routes in and out of the city.

Departing from the airport, much of the route follows a major highway, the number 41, which hugs the northern shore of the Reykjanes peninsula. It skirts the southern part of Hafnarfjörður and also passes beside Garðabær and Kópavogur before looping round towards Reykjavik itself.

Are there various options and does this impact the journey time?

Broadly speaking, Airport Direct by Gray Line Iceland offers two transfer options which each take a slightly different amount of time to reach the centre of Reykjavik. The first is a shared transfer. You’ll travel directly to the Reykjavik Terminal, located on Skógarhlíð, a few hundred metres from where routes 40 and 49 meet.

While this is the most economical way of reaching the city centre, you’ll need to switch transport at this hub to reach your accommodation. Though at first this might not sound a good idea, it saves you wasting time driving to every hotel in downtown Reykjavik as you drop off fellow travellers. The total journey time, of course, will depend on where you have chosen to stay.

If you are keen to travel door to door, then there’s also the option of a private transfer. This will take you straight from Keflavik Airport to where you are staying. You’ll pay a little more, but depending on where you are staying you could be looking at a journey time of as little as 50 minutes.

Now factor in the time spent at Keflavik – what’s the total time needed?

Transfers via Airport Direct by Gray Line Iceland depart throughout the day and night, so you can be confident that whatever time your flight lands there’ll most likely be a bus leaving soon after you emerge from the arrivals hall. Daily, from 6.15am through to 1.15 the following morning there’s a bus departing from Keflavik every hour, with an additional departure at 2.30am as well.

The return journey is similarly frequent, with departures on the hour from 3am to 11pm. That means in either direction you won’t have long to wait before you’re comfortably settled in your seat and on your way. Gray Line’s private transfers are even more convenient, as you’ll be on your way as soon as you meet the driver in the arrivals hall.

Let’s book!

To sum up, to get from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik by shared transfer you should allow up to two hours in total, though the actual time the journey will take could well be considerably less. For a private Airport Direct by Gray Line Iceland transfer, you could be looking at only around an hour or so, after which you’ll be in Reykjavik ready to start your Icelandic adventure.