Winter self-drive trips to Iceland come with short days, changeable weather, and the occasional stretch of waiting out a storm at a rest stop or in a small town. None of this requires survival gear, but it helps to know a few simple, practical ways locals stay warm and comfortable when the weather turns, from a 90-year-old exercise routine still taught in Icelandic schools to the humble café hot chocolate. This guide covers what Muller exercises are, when they're genuinely useful on a road trip, and the other low-key habits, swimming pools, road closures, and warming up between drives, that make winter in Iceland manageable rather than daunting.
Short answer: Muller exercises are a short, no-equipment warm-up routine developed in Denmark in the early 20th century and taught in Icelandic schools for decades. On a road trip, they're a practical way to warm up quickly at a rest stop, car park, or roadside pull-off when you're cold and don't have access to indoor heating. They're not a substitute for proper winter clothing, a suitable vehicle, or checking road and weather conditions before you drive.
What are Muller exercises?
Muller exercises are a system of simple bodyweight movements, stretches, squats, arm swings, and light cardio, designed to be done in a few minutes without any equipment. J.P. Muller published the routine in the early 1900s, and it became a fixture of Icelandic gym classes for much of the 20th century, which is why many Icelanders still know it by name.
The appeal for a winter road trip is practical rather than nostalgic: if you've stopped at a viewpoint, a fuel station, or a layby to wait for a squall to pass, a few minutes of Muller-style movement gets your circulation going faster than standing still with the heater on. It's the same logic as stamping your feet on a cold train platform, just with a bit more structure. You don't need to learn the full historical sequence, a few minutes of squats, arm circles, and torso twists achieves the same effect.
This is a genuinely small piece of the winter puzzle, though. It warms you up for a few minutes; it doesn't replace a vehicle suited to the conditions, decent boots and layers, or checking road conditions in winter before you set off.
Ways to warm up on an Icelandic road trip
Muller exercises are one option among several. Here's how they compare to the other things travellers actually do when they're cold on the road:
| Method | Where it works | Time needed | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muller exercises / brisk movement | Rest stops, car parks, roadside pull-offs | 2–5 minutes | Quick warm-up between driving legs, no facilities nearby |
| Swimming pool or hot tub | Any town with a public pool (most towns have one) | 30–60+ minutes | Evenings, rest days, genuinely cold or wet days |
| Café stop with hot chocolate or coffee | Reykjavik and most towns along the Ring Road | 15–30 minutes | Breaking up a long drive, waiting out weather |
| Sitting in the car with heating on | Anywhere you can safely park | Varies | Short waits, checking road status before continuing |
| Reading indoors | Guesthouse, hotel, café | Open-ended | Being snowed in or waiting for a road to reopen |
None of these require planning ahead, they're things you can do as the day unfolds, depending on weather and how the drive is going.
Warming up in Iceland's swimming pools
Most Icelandic towns, however small, have a heated outdoor swimming pool, and larger towns often have several. This is one of the most reliable ways to warm up on a winter trip, and it's a genuine part of local culture rather than a tourist activity.
Icelanders swim year-round regardless of weather, snow falling on a heated pool while you sit in a hot tub is a normal Tuesday evening, not a novelty. Many pools stay open into the evening, which is useful if you've arrived in a town after dark and want to shake off a long day of driving before dinner. Bring a swimsuit and a towel (some pools rent both, but it varies by location), and check opening hours locally since these can change seasonally.
If you're road-tripping the Ring Road, building a pool stop into your evening routine is a practical way to warm up after a day of winter driving, often more effective than sitting in a car with the heater running.
What to do if a road closes or you get snowed in
If a road closes because of weather, the right response is to wait it out somewhere safe rather than try to push through. Iceland's road and weather agencies actively monitor conditions and close roads before they become genuinely dangerous, so a closure is a sign the system is working, not a sign anything has gone wrong with your trip.
Before and during a winter drive, check umferdin.is (Vegagerðin / the Icelandic Road Administration) for current road status and safetravel.is and vedur.is (the Icelandic Met Office) for weather warnings. If a road you planned to take, such as a mountain pass in the Westfjords or East Iceland, routes that close more frequently in winter, shows as closed or hazardous, the sensible move is to delay, reroute, or stay put until conditions clear, not to attempt it because you're on a schedule.
This is also where a bit of low-tech preparation pays off: keep a book or a Kindle in the car. If you're waiting out a storm in a guesthouse, a small town, or even in the car itself, a good crime novel, Icelandic authors are well represented in English translation and tend to capture the mood of a dark winter evening rather well, makes the wait far more pleasant than staring at a weather app.
For the driving side of this, it helps to have a vehicle suited to the season and route. Our guide to driving in Iceland in winter and the car rental safety guide for first-time visitors cover what to expect on icy roads, and our 4x4 questions article can help you decide whether a 4x4 makes sense for your specific route and month of travel. Roadside assistance and appropriate insurance cover are worth having in place before you leave, in case a closure or a patch of ice does catch you out.
Icelandic hot chocolate as a winter pit stop
A café stop with hot chocolate is one of the most low-effort, high-reward parts of a winter trip. Icelandic hot chocolate is typically rich and served with whipped cream, and sitting somewhere warm watching snow fall outside the window is, for many visitors, one of the more memorable small moments of the trip, not because it's dramatic, but because it isn't.
This works well as a deliberate pit stop on longer driving days: rather than pushing straight through from one sight to the next, build in a 20–30 minute stop in a town along your route. It breaks up the drive, gives you a chance to check road conditions again before continuing, and is a genuinely pleasant way to reset if the weather outside is grim.
Mistakes to avoid on a winter trip
Most winter driving problems in Iceland come from a handful of avoidable habits rather than the weather itself.
- Skipping the road and weather check. Conditions can change within a few hours in winter. Check umferdin.is and vedur.is before setting out and again during the day if you're covering a longer distance.
- Assuming survival gear is necessary. A well-chosen vehicle, proper winter clothing, and basic route planning cover almost every scenario a leisure traveller will encounter. You don't need emergency supplies beyond what a normal cold-weather trip calls for.
- Underestimating how quickly daylight ends. Winter days are short. Plan driving legs so you're not navigating unfamiliar roads in the dark on your first visit.
- Choosing the wrong vehicle for the route. Not every winter trip needs a 4x4, but some routes and conditions genuinely benefit from one, see our comparison of 4x4 and 2WD for a route-by-route breakdown.
- Not building in flexibility. A tight schedule with no buffer day makes a single road closure feel like a crisis rather than a minor delay.
Putting it together for your trip
None of this requires special preparation before you land, it's more a matter of knowing what's available once you're on the road. Picking up your car with online check-in at Keflavik Airport means less time spent on paperwork and more time to start the drive while there's still daylight, and choosing a vehicle suited to your season and route from our full car range covers most of what winter driving actually asks of you. The rest, a few Muller exercises at a rest stop, a swim in the evening, a book for a slow afternoon, and a hot chocolate when the weather closes in, is simply how a winter trip to Iceland tends to go.
PARKING IN REYKJAVÍK: ZONES, PAYMENT, AND WHERE TO LEAVE YOUR CAR
