The National Park of Þingvellir has begun preparations for introducing parking fees in the park. According to a news release the drivers of personal vehicles will pay 500 ISK (3.80 USD/3.40 EUR) for parking up to 24 hours on the most popular parking lots in the park. Tour buses and other vehicles used by travel agencies will pay more.
Initially the parking fees will be introduced at the parking lots at Hakið view spot, above Almannagjá canyon, where the guest centre is located, and at the main parking lot beneath the canyon, where walking paths into the canyon begin. Later parking meters will be added at other parking lots.
Will pay for the maintenance of the parking lots
The fee will be used to pay for the management of the park. The expected revenue is estimated at 40-50 million ISK (300-380,000 USD/270-340,000 EUR), which barely covers the annual cost of maintaining the parking lots, which is 50 million ISK annually.
Read more: The view will still be free – parking not so much: A toll gate planned at Seljalandsfoss waterfall
Ólafur Örn Haraldsson, the director of Þingvellir National Park tells The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service that park staff is preparing the introduction of the fees. It takes some 4-8 weeks to get the meters, and then we have to set them up, prepare the parking spots and erect all the necessary information signs. All of this will be ready sometime by late summer.
The National Park of Þingvellir has begun preparations for introducing parking fees in the park. According to a news release the drivers of personal vehicles will pay 500 ISK (3.80 USD/3.40 EUR) for parking up to 24 hours on the most popular parking lots in the park. Tour buses and other vehicles used by travel agencies will pay more.
Initially the parking fees will be introduced at the parking lots at Hakið view spot, above Almannagjá canyon, where the guest centre is located, and at the main parking lot beneath the canyon, where walking paths into the canyon begin. Later parking meters will be added at other parking lots.
Will pay for the maintenance of the parking lots
The fee will be used to pay for the management of the park. The expected revenue is estimated at 40-50 million ISK (300-380,000 USD/270-340,000 EUR), which barely covers the annual cost of maintaining the parking lots, which is 50 million ISK annually.
Read more: The view will still be free – parking not so much: A toll gate planned at Seljalandsfoss waterfall
Ólafur Örn Haraldsson, the director of Þingvellir National Park tells The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service that park staff is preparing the introduction of the fees. It takes some 4-8 weeks to get the meters, and then we have to set them up, prepare the parking spots and erect all the necessary information signs. All of this will be ready sometime by late summer.
