# What's the largest island you can drive to from the mainland? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2023, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457 "2023-09-01T09:29:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ebyron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/838e76/32.png) [@ebyron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ebyron)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/41 "2023-09-02T05:49:43Z")
To quote Chico Marx on the topic: “Why a duck?” ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/42 "2023-09-02T12:23:56Z")
I went down the Wikipedia list of islands in Norway and found a slightly better “tunnel-only” one: [Ringvassøya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringvass%C3%B8ya), 663 km2. All larger islands in Norway have bridge access of some kind. The slightly larger island of [Kvaløya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kval%C3%B8ya_(Troms%C3%B8)) is a weird case which I _think_ doesn’t count. It has no bridge directly to the mainland, and it does have a tunnel direectly to the mainland. But it is also connected by bridge to another island (Tromsøya) which has a bridge to the mainland. So if the rule is “it is possible to drive there but you have to go through a tunnel to do so” then Kvaløya is out. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/43 "2023-09-02T13:28:36Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > Rhode Island is a myth. Has anyone ever actually _met_ someone from there? While we’re at it, WTF Dakota? You need a north one and a south one? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/44 "2023-09-02T16:03:44Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > So if the rule is “it is possible to drive there but you have to go through a tunnel to do so” then Kvaløya is out. Yes, that’s what I intended. Thanks for the work. Ringvassøya is likely the tunnel winner. I’ll note the Scandinavians seem to do tunnels a lot, so they’re good at them. For example, in the Faroes, there’s a roundabout under the sea. Think about that. To have a roundabout, you need to have two roads intersecting, so that means two tunnels intersecting. Not your everyday type tunnel: > **[Faroe Islands: Inside the undersea tunnel network](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55195390)** > > The undersea tunnel network cuts journey times between two islands by a half. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/45 "2023-09-02T16:09:05Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Yes, that’s what I intended. Thanks for the work. Ringvassøya is likely the tunnel winner. Do only bridges directly from the mainland count? What about taking 2 bridges as with the island of [Kvaløya] ([Kvaløya (Tromsø) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kval%C3%B8ya_(Troms%C3%B8)))? You can drive to it from the mainland over bridges, There’s a lot of rules in this contest. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457/46 "2023-09-02T16:18:36Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Do only bridges directly from the mainland count? No. Somewhere upthread I said island hopping via two or more bridges counts as getting there by bridge. If the island hopping is via tunnels, then that’s a tunnel answer. > [@TriPolar](#): > > There’s a lot of rules in this contest. I didn’t think there’s a lot. But reality is messy, so there always a need for rules to handle exceptional cases. It doesn’t matter what the question is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-largest-island-you-can-drive-to-from-the-mainland/989457.md?page=2)