Vadlaheidi (Vaðlaheiðargöng) is a 7.5 km (4.7 miles) long tunnel on Iceland’s ring road, near the city of Akureyri in northern Iceland. Opened at the end of 2018, it shortens the ring road by 16 km (10 miles), or about a six-minute drive. The main purpose behind its construction was to allow drivers to drive safely during harsh winters, when the mountain pass of Víkurskarð was often closed.
If you’re not in too much of a hurry and the old road is accessible (i.e., you’re not driving in the winter), it’s worth bypassing the tunnel. Going around costs you little time, gives you the views along the fjord, and saves you any fuss with the toll.
How to bypass the Vadlaheidi tunnel
Vadlaheidi speeds up the drive to and from Akureyri by 6-10 minutes, but takes away some of the beautiful views of Eyjafjörður Bay. So if you’re not in a hurry, then you DON’T really want to go through the tunnel – it’s best to use the detour by roads 83 and 84.
Coming from the east, turn about 2 km (1.2 miles) before the entrance to the tunnel to the north, to road 84 (be careful – do not turn into the slightly earlier road 835). The road will take you north, and then in a gentle curve turn south and into road 83, which along the shore of Eyjafjordur will lead to a junction with road 1, on the other side of the tunnel. This detour is about 15 km (9 miles) and 10 minutes more than the road through the tunnel, but the road is comfortable and the views of the fjord are really spectacular.
Map: driving route bypassing the Vadlaheidi tunnel near Akureyri — click to open the interactive map
Driving from the west, from the direction of Akureyri, simply turn left at the last roundabout before entering the tunnel, onto road 83. However, remember to turn right at the fork onto road 84 after about 13 km (8 miles), some 10 minutes on.
You can also take road 832, if you feel adventurous, but it takes a lot longer to drive, as it climbs up a very steep serpentine slope above the tunnel. This road adds at least 30 minutes to the drive, so we strongly recommend taking a detour via roads 83 and 84 instead of this “winding road straight ahead.”
How to drive through the Vadlaheidi tunnel
Passing through the tunnel is very easy – just do nothing and stick to road #1. The speed limit inside is 70 km/h (45 mph), cameras watch it, and vehicles over 4.2 m (about 14 feet) tall are not allowed in. And remember to pay the toll.
Interestingly, the toll can be paid in advance (enter your license plate number as the ID of the vehicle), but also after you have already driven through the tunnel. So you don’t have to worry if you’ve lost the internet coverage – you can pay this a bit later. The window is 24 hours before or 24 hours after passing through the tunnel, and a passenger car pays 2,216 ISK (about $18).
If you forget to pay, the toll itself no longer goes up – since November 3, 2025 the operator adds no collection fee, and a claim for the same amount simply lands in the online bank of the registered owner of the vehicle. The catch is who that owner is: with a rented car it is the rental company, and rental companies usually treat this as a fine and reserve the right to add a ‘handling’ or ‘service’ fee, so the bill can even double. It’s certainly not worth wasting that money.
Remember that this is the price for a single trip in one direction. Drive back the same way and you pay again.
The prices for heavier vehicles are higher, and a car with foreign plates can be registered on the operator’s site just like an Icelandic one. You can also prepay a batch of trips or take a monthly or annual pass, but a tourist is unlikely to need any of that. Motorcycles ride for free, and bicycles are not allowed to enter the tunnel.
For more detailed information, see the tunnel’s official price list. On the way you will pass two stops that are worth the detour on their own: Godafoss, right by road 1 east of the tunnel, and, if you are heading the other way, the town of Husavik. What the ring road is like in winter is a longer story, and we told it in Iceland’s roads.
