Icelandic Roads
This post will discuss the naming conventions of, and some of the most popular, Icelandic roads.
Just like in English, no single word describes all the drivable roads in Icelandic. Instead, a variety of interchangeable words are used, with slight nuance coloring the use of each one. Also, there are many instances where the terms are used more or less interchangeably or done so for flavor.
Gata
A gata is the most common word for road, and can be thought of as the default term.
Notable götur
There are two notable Tryggvagata (Tryggvi's road). The first one, in Reykjavík, is home to Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, the famous hotdog stand, and the Hafnarhús art museum, recognizable for its white facade and black text. The other, in Selfoss, runs the length of the town and is named after Tryggvi Gunnarsson, a prominent figure in the town's early days and a member of the Icelandic parliament.
Stræti
A stræti translates best as street. They are typically located in urban areas and are usually wider than an average gata. Back in the day, a stræti would have been paved, while a gata would not have been, but this is no longer the case.
Notable stræti
Austurstræti (east street) is a popular road in Reykjavík. Interstingly, it is mentioned in at least two songs: Austurstræti by Laddi, and Fröken Reykjavík by Jónas and Jón Múla Árnason.
Vonarstræti (hope street) marks the current man-made northern edge of Tjörnin, the big lake in Reykjavík, and hosts the city hall.
Pósthússtræti (post office street) runs along the eastern edge of Austurvöllur, crosses Austurstræti, runs past the old post office (on the corner of Pósthússtræti and Austurstræti) before terminating at the Steinbryggja, by the toll house in which the Kolaport market is located.
Regnbognstræti (rainbow street) is a name sometimes used to refer to the rainbow-painted section of Skólavörðustígur and other rainbow roads across the country. It is also the name of a Bubbi Morthens album and its titular song.
Vegur
A vegur is a way, often a larger road that runs outside of the main population centers, linking towns together.
The biggest roads in Iceland are the þjóðvegir (national roads) that run across the country, numbered clockwise from Gígjukvísl. Two-digit vegir denote longer, more important roads, while three-digit vegir denote shorter, less important roads. Technically, four-digit vegir exist, but they are rarely signposted as such. The first major road is 201 Vallavegur, and the last is 998 Skaftafellsvegur.
Notable vegir
The most famous national road is Þjóðvegur 1, the only one to be named with one digit. Like the other þjóðvegir, Þjóðpvegur 1 is more commonly known by a different name in daily speech. Because Þjóðvegur 1 runs across the entire country in a circle, its popular name across the country is Hringvegurinn (the ring road). It is a common vacation idea to drive around the entire country on Hringvegurinn, visiting most of the country's most popular spots!
Laugavegur (bath road) is the most famous street in Iceland and the main shopping street in Reykjavík. It is filled with shops, restaurants, and bars.
Braut
A braut is typically the principal road in a neighborhood.
Notable brautir
Reykjanesbraut, named after the Reykjarnes Peninsula through which it runs, is part of Þjóðvegur 41 that leads from the Keflavík airport to Reykjavík. If you have flown into Iceland, you have almost certainly driven on Reykjanesbraut.
Miklabraut (great road) and Hringbraut (ring road)--the first turns into the other past Snorrabraut (Snorri's road)--are part of Þjóðvegur 49, the most congested road in Iceland. It is lined with iconic traffic lights and sound-barriers and is often a spot of topic of great lament for Icelanders due to its traffic.
Stígur
A stígur is a path. Typically, these are narrower and full of twists and turns.
Notable stígar
Skólavörðustígur is probably the second most famous street in Iceland, leading off of Laugavegur and up to Hallgrímskirkjan. It is named after Skólavarða (school cairn), an old stone structure built by a local school that was located where the Leifur Erikssonur statue is now, in front of Hallgrímskirkjan. The street is well known for its rainbow-painted section, which started during Reykjavík pride in 1999 but has now become a semi-permanent beloved cultural symbol.
A picture taken up Skólavorðustígur.
Frakkastígur is the road that starts at Hallgrímskirkjan and ends at the famous Sun Voyager sculpture in Reykjavík
A picture of Frakkastígur taken from Hallgrímskirkja. If you look hard, you can see the sculpture at the end of the road.
Land features
Often, thoroughfares are inspired by geographic features that are or were at some point present on the land. It is common to see road names ending in holt, völlur/vellir, heiði, tún, or fell, named after nearby or once nearby hillock, * field*/fields, moor, or hayfield, or isolated hill or mountains.
Common street names
There are a couple of street names that are common across the entire country.
Cardinal directions
Many roads are named after the cardinal directions.
Norðurgata (found in Tjarnarbyggð, Akureyri, Sandgerði, Siglufjörður, Seyðisfjörður), meaning north road.
Suðurgata (found in Akranes, Hafnarfjörður, Ísafjörður, Siglufjörður, Reykjavík, Sauðárkrókur, Seyðisfjörður, Tjarnarbyggð (outside of Selfoss), Keflavík, Vogar and Sandgerði), meaning south road.
Austurgata (found in Hafnarfjörður, Vogar, Hofsós, Keflavík, Stykkishólmur and Sandgerði), meaning east road.
Vesturgata (found in Hafnarfjörður, Akranes, Sandgerði, Reykjavík, Ólafsfjörður, Keflavík), meaning west road.
Also in existence are other combinations of directions and primary road names (Austurvegur, Vesturbraut, etc).
Others
Finally, a few other naming conventions are relatively common.
Skólavegur (Hvammstangi, Reykjavík, Seyðsfjörður, Hrísey, Fáskrúðsfjörður, Reykholt, Keflavík, Vestmannaeyjar, Hnífsdalur) meaning school road, and other locations named after a school.
Kirkjuvegur (Dalvík, Selfoss, Keflavík, Hvammstangi, Bolungarvík, Vestmannaeyjar, Grenivík, Ólafsfjörður, Bíldudalur, Vík í Mýrdal, Hafnarfjörður), meaning church road, and other roads named for a church.
Aðalgata (Keflavík, Siglufjörður, Sauðárkrókur, Blönduós, Suðureyri, Stykkishólmur, Súðavík, Hauganes) and Aðalstræti (Akureyri, Reykjavík, Patreksfjörður, Bolungarvík, Ísafjörður), meaning main road.