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How a lot does an Iceland journey price? A LOT OF MONEY! Ha. This is a famously costly vacation spot. But in all seriousness, Iceland offers you fairly a little bit of worth for that cash.
Recently my good friend Amanda from A Dangerous Business and I took a 13-day street journey to Iceland in August 2022. This is without doubt one of the greatest journeys I’ve taken in a really very long time — however holy hell, was it costly!
We have been touring at peak season, plus it was the largest journey summer time in three years, making it a well-liked time for vacationers (and costly time for each rental vehicles and fuel).
I do know it may be useful to see what different individuals paid for journeys to Iceland, so right here’s an in depth Iceland journey funds. I hope that is useful so that you can plan your individual Iceland journey!
Is Iceland Expensive?
Yes, Iceland could be very costly. It’s probably the most costly international locations of the 80+ I’ve visited, up there with Sweden and Australia, although I believe Norway and Switzerland are a TINY BIT dearer than Iceland.
There are causes for this. Iceland is an remoted island, they usually need to import the overwhelming majority of provides. Most contemporary produce is grown exterior Iceland and shipped in.
And like the entire Nordic international locations, Iceland has a excessive price of residing. It’s not as jarring for locals, who earn excessive salaries — thanks partly to greater than 90% of Icelandic employees being a part of a labor union — and having their taxes pay for healthcare, schooling, infrastructure, and a very good high quality of life.
The time of yr has a huge effect in your prices, too. Summer journey — thought-about mid-May by way of August — is far more costly, and for good cause. Summer is the most effective time to journey Iceland, as every little thing is open, climate is at its greatest, tons of excursions are operating, and the roads are in a lot better situation.
Winter might be less expensive and much much less crowded, however have in mind it may be very chilly, very darkish, and you will have to cope with winter storms and street closures.
Your Iceland journey price might be as little as $100-150 USD per day should you hitchhike and camp or keep in hostel dorms. More realistically, I believe $250+ USD per day will land you a a lot nicer journey.
In August 2022 we spent round $400 USD for fuel to drive the Ring Road in its entirety, plus a number of detours like Snaefellsnes and Húsavík.
We discovered the most cost effective non-terrible resort rooms with shared bathtub to be round $82 per evening, however in costly areas like Lake Myvatn, that may very well be as excessive as $300+.
The least expensive merchandise on restaurant or fuel station menus is a scorching canine, normally for round $6 USD. An entree in a restaurant is usually $25-30. But the easiest way to save cash is to purchase groceries.
How I Budgeted My Iceland Trip
Tracking journey bills is a comparatively new factor for me. People have typically requested me for funds breakdowns, however I haven’t saved shut observe till I began utilizing YNAB (You Need a Budget) software program in 2020.
Guys, YNAB is the most effective factor I’ve ever executed for my funds. It actually modified my life. My funds are so a lot better than they was, and I’ve a a lot better system of budgeting for journeys and saving up over time!
If you need to strive YNAB, you may get a free monthlong trial by way of my hyperlink. (If you join, they’ll give me a free month of YNAB.)
During your free monthlong trial, take part YNAB’s reside Zoom tutorial periods — they’ve a number of every week. They’re tremendous useful. And be part of the YNAB Facebook group and/or subreddit. It takes a little bit of time to wrap your head round, so make an effort. I promise you it’s so, so price it.
Since I began YNAB, together with Profit First, I allocate 30% of my journey running a blog income to working bills — 20% to admin and 10% to journey prices. (You can do the identical by budgeting a set quantity for journey monthly or per paycheck.)
Over time I robotically transferred that cash instantly into my “General Travel” class, then the “Iceland Trip 8/22” class, and as I made bills earlier than and in the course of the journey, robotically deducted from cash put aside for that journey.
As quickly as Amanda and I made a decision to do that journey, we booked flights, our rental automotive, all lodging, and a number of other actions. We saved observe of Iceland prices on a Google Docs spreadsheet. After arriving in Iceland, we took turns paying for mutual bills on the street, like fuel, however paid different bills individually, like meals. We used bank cards for each single buy.
After the journey, we went by way of our bank card payments and added our mutual bills to the spreadsheet, noticed who had paid extra, and Venmo’d the distinction. Easy!
We saved observe of every little thing in USD, because it was simpler for us to only go by our precise bank card statements than undergo and convert plenty of receipts.
Our Travel Style
In an costly vacation spot like Iceland, it’s sensible to drop down a journey stage. I normally keep in mid-range lodges with occasional high-end splurges, as does Amanda, however on this journey we stayed within the least expensive funds lodges with non-terrible rankings, typically with shared loos.
Food-wise, we primarily ate in eating places and cafes. Just a few lodges included breakfast. We purchased groceries for breakfast in Akureyri.
Additionally, many lodging costs have been truly charged in Euros, not Icelandic Kroner, and the Euro dropped considerably towards the US greenback between once we initially booked (June 2022) and once we traveled (August 2022).
For instance, our Akureyri Airbnb was set to cost us in two funds of 334.39 euros. They ended up charging us $359.17 for the primary fee and $342.88 for the second fee due to the euro dropping.
Finally — should you’re touring with a good friend, I can’t overstate the significance of being on the identical monetary web page. Have conversations early and infrequently about the way you need to spend your cash, with particular numbers, earlier than reserving something.
Luckily, Amanda and I have been in settlement on our priorities. We cared about spending plenty of cash on actions and didn’t care as a lot about meals or lodging (save a number of cool spots).
Total Cost of Iceland Trip: $4303.11 every or $8606.21 for 2
This is for 2 individuals sharing lodging, automotive rental, and fuel, and paying for their very own actions and meals.
I tracked each expense besides Amanda’s airfare and meals, however for cost-for-two functions, let’s assume she spent the identical quantity as me on these two classes.
- Airfare: $548.20 for Kate (roughly $1096.40 for 2)
- Car Rental and Ground Transportation: $2608.04 for 2 or $1304.02 every
- Accommodation: $2371.80 for 2 or $1185.90 every
- Food: $690.60 for Kate (roughly $1381.20 for 2)
- Activities: $1,141.81 for 2 or $570.91 every
- Restrooms: $6.96 for 2 or $3.48 every
- Souvenirs: $0
Airfare: $548.20 for me
- Flixbus, Prague Florenc to Vienna Airport: $50.98
- Vienna to Reykjavík on WizzAir: $260.14
- Reykjavík to Prague on Play: $237.08
Airfare can rely on 1,000,000 various factors; that is merely what I spent flying from my residence in Prague. Amanda flew from her residence in Cleveland through a layover in Boston. These flight costs embrace checked baggage; I didn’t find yourself utilizing checked baggage, so they might have been cheaper.
There are direct flights from Prague to Reykjavík on Play, however they get in at 12:30 AM and I didn’t need to cope with that (particularly since that will be 2:30 AM to my Prague physique — after which it’s a must to hire a automotive, drive 45 minutes to Reykjavík, examine into the resort…)
Prague’s bus station is an 8-minute stroll from my residence, so typically I simply guide a flight from Vienna and take a 4.5-hour bus on to the Vienna airport. Vienna’s WizzAir flight to Reykjavík will get in at a way more cheap 6:30 PM, in order that labored for me.
How to Make it Cheaper: It’s laborious to siphon down airfare prices, however it can save you by flying carry-on solely or planning a visit in the course of the winter. For low-cost flights from North America, I like to recommend reserving 3-6 months upfront as quickly as you see a very good fare.
Car Rental and Ground Transportation: $2615.30 for 2 or $1307.65
- Car rental, 12 days: $1991.32
- Extra driver payment: $25.65
- Gas: $400.71
- Tunnels: $54.30
- Parking: $40.77
- Ferry: $102.55
Car Rental: This was our greatest expense of the journey, not least as a result of there was a automotive rental scarcity since COVID started. This was the value for an automated sedan (we obtained a Toyota Corolla) for 13 days. Our rental was at Europcar, proper within the airport terminal; this was a precedence for me, as I needed to get out rapidly and plenty of rental firms are situated a 15-20-minute drive from the airport.
Gas: We stuffed up fuel most days and tried to replenish often, as fuel stations are sometimes far aside.
Tunnels: There is just one paid tunnel in Iceland, simply east of Akureyri. Many individuals driving the Ring Road solely cross by way of the tunnel as soon as, however our schedule and itinerary had us going by way of it 5 instances complete for a mean of $10.86 every time.
Parking: While free in most areas, we finally paid for parking at Fagradalsfjall Volcano ($7.33), Kirkjufellsfoss ($5.13), Hverir ($5.05), Skaftafell for Svartifoss ($7.26), Kvernufoss ($5.33) and Seljalandsfoss/Gljúfrabúi ($10.67).
Ferry: We took the Westman Islands ferry round-trip with our automotive for $102.55. We may have executed it with out the automotive for cheaper, however we each enormously appreciated how a lot simpler having a automotive made issues.
How To Make it Cheaper: Renting a handbook automotive is cheaper than an automated automotive, however it’s essential be prepared to drive a handbook automotive. Renting from an off-site automotive rental spot is an efficient possibility for saving a bit extra. You can even plan an itinerary that doesn’t undergo the tunnel 5 instances!
Accommodation: $2371.80 for 2 or $1185.90 every
As you’ll be able to see, our seek for funds stays led to an infinite vary of lodging prices — from $82.05 to $347.06 per evening! Our common price of lodging was $182.45 per evening.
All of our lodges supplied personal rooms; some had shared loos. We shared a single room in every single place besides the Airbnb residence in Akureyri, which had two bedrooms.
In phrases of worth for cash, I believe that we loved immense worth at Asahraun Guesthouse close to Selfoss, with our lovable little hobbit home, scorching tub on web site, and plenty of cozy facilities. The bathe was shared with two different homes however we had our personal rest room and sink, which was nice.
And Hvammur 2 Guesthouse close to Blönduós was an inexpensive and comfy place that jogged my memory how hostels was: individuals hanging out, watching TV collectively or cooking within the kitchen. We by no means even obtained formally checked in; we simply obtained an e mail with our room quantity and have been instructed to take pleasure in ourselves!
The worst worth? Sel Hotel in Myvatn, by far, at $347.06 per evening for a fundamental twin resort room with personal rest room and breakfast included. Yikes!
Lake Myvatn on the whole was shockingly costly and super-crowded. I’ve heard it can save you cash by staying in Húsavík as a substitute; it’s an hour’s drive away.
How to Make it Cheaper: These have been the most cost effective non-terrible lodges we may discover in the course of the peak summer time months, two months earlier than our journey. You can even keep in hostel dorms or camp for much less.
Hiring a camper van typically finally ends up a bit cheaper than a funds resort, however the distinction isn’t normally important. Don’t get a camper van to save cash; solely get a camper van in order for you that model of journey.
Food: $690.60 for Kate (roughly $1381.20 for 2)
- Groceries: $20.32
- Lunch Kate purchased for two at Godafoss: $11.24
- Kate’s restaurant bills: $674.82
Iceland just isn’t a spot you go to for the meals. The meals isn’t horrible, but it surely isn’t particular, both, and I don’t suppose there’s a lot of a have to splurge.
We primarily ate at eating places and cafes all through our journey. Though we typically saved issues low-cost, we did have the occasional splurge (Gott within the Westman Islands was pretty, as was Naustið in Húsavík, and we loved langoustine sandwiches at Z Bistro in Höfn). We solely had a number of alcoholic drinks all through the journey: a flowery cocktail every at Gott, and I sampled a number of native craft beers all through the journey.
We purchased groceries to cowl our three breakfasts in Akureyri (yogurt, fruit, bread and butter).
How to Make it Cheaper: Self-cater all the way in which. Shopping on the grocery retailer is without doubt one of the best methods to save cash in Iceland. If you do eat out, normally the most cost effective factor on the menu is a scorching canine, whether or not at a restaurant or fuel station.
Activities: $1,141.81 for 2 or $570.91 every
Activities are the place we went nuts. Keep in thoughts that this journey was for work causes, although. We had rather a lot we needed to put in writing about!
Paid Activities
- Thermal Baths: $427.04 for 2 or $213.52 every
- Tours and Activities: $541.20 for 2 or $270.60 every
- Museums: $155 for 2 or $77.50 every
- Outdoor Attractions: $18.57 for 2 or $9.29 every
Thermal baths included Krauma in Reykholt ($71.82 for 2 or $35.91 every), the Forest Lagoon in Akureyri ($87.17 for 2 or $43.59 every), GeoSea in Húsavík ($80.04 for 2 or $40.02 every), Myvatn Nature Baths in Myvatn ($86.62 for 2 or $43.31 every), Vök Baths in Egilsstadir ($87.17 for 2 or $43.59 every), and Vestmannaeyjar Swimming Pool within the Westman Islands ($14.22 for 2 or $7.11 every).
Tours and actions included whale watching in Húsavík ($157.02 for 2 or $78.51 every), horseback driving in Húsavík ($167.35 for 2 or $83.68 every), and a RIB boat journey within the Westman Islands ($216.83 for 2 or $108.42 every).
Museums included the Bjarnarhöfn Shark Museum in Bjarnarhöfn ($20.52 for 2 or $10.26 every), Herring Era Museum in Siglufjördur ($32.02 for 2 or $16.01 every), Whale Museum in Húsavík ($25.34 for 2 or $12.67 every — included a small low cost from our whale watch), Jaja Ding Dong Eurovision Museum in Húsavík ($14.44 for 2 or $7.22 every), Petra’s Stone Collection in Stöðvarfjörður ($21.46 for 2 or $10.73 every), and Eldheimar within the Westman Islands ($41.22 for 2 or $20.61 every).
Outdoor points of interest included Stokksnes, together with Viking Village ($12.88 for 2 or $6.33 every), and Kerid Crater ($5.69 for 2 or $2.85 every).
Free Activities
And a pleasant factor about Iceland is that plenty of outside actions are free!
- Hiking to the volcano (paid parking)
- Free waterfalls: Svodufoss, Bjarnarfoss, Glanni, Reykjafoss, Goðafoss, Dettifoss, Gufufoss, Folaldafoss, Nykurhylsfoss (Sveinsstekksfoss), Skógafoss, Hestavadsfoss, Gluggafoss
- Free waterfalls that charged for parking: Kirkjufellsfoss, Hundafoss/Svartifoss, Kvernufoss, Seljalandsfoss/Gljúfrabúi
- Free canyons: Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge, Kolugljúfur Canyon, Stuðlagil Canyon, Múlagljúfur Canyon, Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon
- Free lagoons and seashores: Skarðsvík, Djúpalónssandur, Jökulsárlon, Fjallsárlón, Diamond Beach, Reynisfjara Beach
- Free outside websites: Saxhóll Crater, Hvitserkur, Hofsós basalt columns, Skútustaðagígar, Dimmuborgir Lava Field, Grjótagjá Cave, Hverir, Seydisfjördur Rainbow Street, Eggin í Gleðivík
- Free church buildings: Ingjaldshólskirkja, Búðakirkja, Stykkishólmskirkja Víðimýrikirkja, Grafarkirkja, Hofskirkja
- Free indoor websites: Akureyri Christmas House
- Free viewpoints: TOO MANY TO COUNT.
Comped Activities
As journey bloggers, Amanda and I needed to pay for issues on this journey ourselves and have full editorial freedom, moderately than get free stuff and really feel indebted to firms.
Still, due to our connections, we have been kindly supplied comped entry for 2 scorching springs that we deliberate to cowl anyway (and one I had beforehand coated two months earlier): the Sky Lagoon and Hvammsvik.
- Sky Lagoon: $143.82 for 2 or $71.91 every (Pure Package, which I believe is the bundle most price it)
- Hvammsvik: $100.24 for 2 or $50.12 every
Best Activities Overall
Almost every little thing we did was wonderful and I might fortunately do once more. At the identical time, I perceive that almost all vacationers are going for enjoyable, not work, and want to choose and select their spending extra rigorously than we did.
For thermal baths, I completely adored the trendy, funky Vök Baths in Egilsstadir, with the beautiful pure services of Hvammsvik second. GeoSea is a superb place with spectacular views on a pleasant day, and should you’re basing in Reykjavík, the Sky Lagoon is price it should you embrace the Seven-Step Ritual.
For paid actions, among the finest issues we did was our RIB boat journey within the Westman Islands. It was so enjoyable, we instantly regretted doing the one-hour journey as a substitute of the two-hour journey!
Also, if you wish to go whale watching in Iceland, do it in Húsavík should you can, not Reykjavík. The whale watching is considerably higher there, and I do know too many individuals who noticed nothing on their Reykjavík whale watches.
And for museums, I LOVED THEM ALL. But I used to be deeply moved by Eldheimar, which tells the story of the 1973 volcanic eruption within the Westman Islands, and the Herring Era Museum in Siglufjördur is excellent, particularly its remaining constructing. Petra’s Stone Collection was an surprising delight.
What to skip? The solely factor I might skip could be the Myvatn Nature Baths; it felt a bit ramshackle compared to the opposite baths.
How to Make it Cheaper: Go to native swimming swimming pools as a substitute of fancy baths; each city has them they usually’re an important possibility for a cultural expertise (particularly with youngsters). Go all in on free outside actions; you’ll all the time have loads to do.
Restrooms: $6.96 for 2 or $3.48 every
- Restroom close to Hvitserkur: $3.66 (we held the door so we solely needed to pay as soon as)
- Restroom at Studlagil Canyon: $1.15 every or $3.30 for 2
I used to be going to name this class “miscellaneous,” however actually the one factor left was restrooms.
(Let me add that it’s useful to have Apple Pay when you have an iPhone — that approach you’ll be able to simply scan it and run in should you sprinted to the toilet out of your automotive and left your pockets behind. Hehehe.)
How to Make it Cheaper: Lose your disgrace and simply pee out within the open, man.
Souvenirs: $0
Yes, zero! I had truly been in Iceland in May and acquired a small lava sculpture for my front room (round $35) and a present for my fiancé Charlie (round $15), however I didn’t really feel the necessity to purchase something on this journey.
Spending is only discretionary, however I do know lots of people who like to purchase Icelandic sweaters (they’re referred to as lopapeysa), yarn, and jewellery.
For me, my pictures are my souvenirs. These are what I actually treasure.
Travel Insurance: Already Paid For
I’m not shopping for journey insurance coverage anyore as a result of I get it without spending a dime. My checking account within the Czech Republic comes with free journey insurance coverage so long as I deposit a major amount of money monthly. A fantastic profit.
If you don’t have already got journey insurance coverage — and belief me, you want it — I like to recommend World Nomads for many vacationers, which I used for years earlier than shifting to the EU.
How to Save Money in Iceland
In such an costly nation, you need to minimize prices wherever you’ll be able to. Here are my high ideas for saving cash:
Travel within the winter (October to April). It’s a very completely different expertise from summer time journey, which is excessive season, however airfare, lodging, and automotive rental — three of your greatest bills — are typically a lot decrease. Plus, you’ll be able to see the Northern Lights.
Travel with a good friend. As a lot as I like touring solo in Iceland, I saved SO a lot cash by splitting lodging, fuel, and automotive rental with Amanda!
Book your journey super-early. The good lodging — particularly the great CHEAP lodging — tends to promote out first.
Spend restricted or no time in the costliest locations. I discovered the costliest locations to be the capital metropolis of Reykjavík, Lake Myvatn, the Golden Circle, and the South Coast. Places like Snaefellsnes and the agricultural north have been less expensive by comparability.
Book guesthouses with shared loos. These are frequent in Iceland. Shared loos normally decrease the value of an equal room with ensuite loos, and more often than not it’s not a nuisance in any way.
Consider non-hotels: hostels or Airbnb leases. Hostels with shared dorms will all the time prevent cash; Airbnbs can go both approach.
Consider tenting. It’s a special sort of journey, but it surely’s less expensive than staying within the least expensive hostels or guesthouses! But should you don’t have already got tools, you’ll have to pay to hire it.
Use a bank card that covers automotive insurance coverage. I haven’t paid for supplemental automotive rental insurance coverage ANYWHERE since I obtained my Chase Sapphire Preferred card. This and a number of other different bank cards present a automotive insurance coverage profit.
Rent a automotive with a handbook transmission. ONLY should you can drive one and are prepared to drive one in Iceland.
Consider taking the bus. You can take buses alongside the Ring Road, although have in mind stops are restricted and this received’t get you to most locations with out supplemental hitchhiking. Many public transportation routes shut down within the winter.
Consider hitchhiking. Iceland is considered one of VERY few international locations the place I might ever take into account hitchhiking, because it’s extraordinarily secure. Please do your analysis beforehand.
Don’t take Icelandic króna out on the ATM. In our 13-day journey, we didn’t use money ONCE. So we all the time obtained a very good fee with our bank cards, and there was no additional money on the finish of our journey! (You could need to take out a small quantity — suppose below $50 — in case you come throughout any donation-only points of interest.)
Pack carry-on solely. It will prevent baggage charges. You can guide lodging with on-site laundry midway by way of your journey (which we did in Akureyri), or pack materials like merino wool that you may put on a number of instances with out smelling.
Self-cater your meals. Shopping at grocery shops will prevent a lot cash over going to eating places. Look for Bónus, a budget grocery retailer chain in Iceland.
Eat at fuel stations. It’s not THAT gross, I swear. Many fuel stations serve first rate low-cost meals. This is the closest factor it’s a must to McDonald’s in Iceland.
Get into scorching canines. Wherever you go, scorching canines are normally the most cost effective factor on the menu. Often even cheaper than a bit of bowl of soup!
Bring a water bottle and refill it in every single place. Iceland has wonderful faucet water. There is zero cause to purchase bottled water.
Skip the alcohol. Alcoholic drinks are typically very costly in Iceland. If you need one thing nicer to drink than water, I counsel Collab — an Icelandic soda with collagen and caffeine. It is available in a number of enjoyable fruity flavors and I attempted to strive all of them!
Spend your time visiting free pure points of interest. You noticed what number of waterfalls and canyons and funky outside websites we noticed, all without spending a dime!
Hike, hike, hike. You would possibly often have to pay for parking, however for essentially the most half, you’ll be able to hike for hours without spending a dime.
Go to swimming swimming pools as a substitute of fancy scorching springs. They’re a cultural expertise and tremendous enjoyable. And when you have youngsters, THIS is the place it’s best to go as a substitute of the flamboyant spots.
More on Iceland:
My Favorite Places in Iceland:
How a lot did your Iceland journey price? Share away!