Tips for Visiting Iceland on a Budget

Iceland is a magical place – it’s an amazing vacation destination for nature lovers, but it’s also pretty expensive. Here are my tips for visiting Iceland on a budget. Or somewhat of a budget. I’m not a frugal traveler by any means but I’m not made of money! So let’s take a look at some ways you can visit Iceland on a budget.

Iceland on a Budget Tips: Visit Iceland on a Stopover

IcelandAir has this amazing deal — from the USA, for the price of one airline ticket, you can visit two destinations. You can combine Iceland with another one of IcelandAir’s destinations — for example, Scotland, and visit them both on the same trip. IcelandAir lets you ‘stopover’ in Reyjkavik for up to 7 days, which is long enough to do a full jaunt around the ring road if you don’t mind a rushed trip! Or you can visit for, say, 3 days and hit up Reykjavik, the Blue Lagoon and the Golden Circle.

Personally, I have not done this myself but it’s on my list for the next time I visit Iceland. We flew Delta Airlines on our Iceland ring road trip, which was great, but next time, I’m going to make the most of the cost of a plane ticket and visit two countries!

Iceland on a Budget Tips: Avoid Restaurants

Eating out for every meal in Iceland is going to kill your budget. Restaurant meals are expensive in Iceland and if you’re eating out — even for just one meal a day — those costs are going to add up. We only ate out a few times during our trip, and while the food was great, it was pretty pricey. Rent guesthouses or apartments with full kitchens and it’ll save you a ton. We shopped at Bonus for food, and found the prices pretty comparable to grocery costs in the USA, maybe just a little more expensive.

If your lodging doesn’t have a full kitchen, often times they will have a hot pot. You can heat up water and use it to make noodles or cups of spaghetti — all purchased at a Bonus or Kronan. We did this a few times and it was great.

If you really don’t want to cook meals on vacation (I don’t blame you, I hate cooking too) but still want to stick to a budget, eat at the gas stations. The food is really good — and reasonable!

Iceland Travel Budget Tips: Book Hotels with Breakfast Included

Again with the food! Meals are going to be a big expense in Iceland, and if you’re booking hotels, make sure get breakfast included with your rate. It’s convenient and you can fill up for the morning on the food in your hotel. Hotel breakfasts in Iceland are much better than the slop they give you at, say, a Springhill Suites in the USA.

Read More: Tips for Visiting Switzerland on a Budget

Iceland Travel Budget Tips: Shop for Souvenirs at the Airport

Trust me on this. I visited so many goddamn gift shops all around the country, so by the end of our trip, I was very familiar with the pricing on the various souvenir shit. The airport duty free shops have the best deals around. You’ll find pretty much everything you’ll see in the shops around the country right there for you, all in one place, with a better price, too.

Iceland Travel Budget Tips: Drink the Water

You don’t need to go out and buy a pallet of bottled water from Costco for your Iceland trip; the water in Iceland tastes great. Just bring a reusable water bottle and fill it up from any tap. Some people say you can fill it up from streams and lakes, but I just can’t bring myself to do that. But from a tap? Sure.

Iceland Travel Budget Tips: Skip the Tours

This might be controversial, but we didn’t do one single tour when we were in Iceland and I have no regrets. I’m not talking about fully guided bus tours; no, I’m talking about the ‘must-see’ touristy activities like Silfra snorkeling, getting in a cramped boat on the glacier lagoon, visiting an ice cave with hundreds of your closest friends, or whale watching. I’ve done some of those experiences in other places, and frankly, none of these really interested me. Plus, they were pretty expensive and needed to be booked in advance.

Many, many things are free in Iceland. You can hike to Glymur waterfall, see the northern lights (no, you do NOT need a tour to do this!), you can see puffins up close, visit a plane wreck, or just drive around looking at nature and stopping when you see something interesting.

Many of Iceland’s most famous attractions do require parking fee, but it’s nominal.

Iceland Travel Budget Tips: Get a Rental Car

Look, you’re going to get some major sticker shock when you go to book a rental car in Iceland. But trust me, the cost of this car is much cheaper (and more fun!) than booking a fully-guided coach bus tour to drive you around the country. You can save money on your rental car in Iceland by:

• Renting a manual shift rather than an automatic (that is, if you know how do drive one. I don’t.)
• Renting your car far in advance
• Get a NON 4×4 car. Chances are, you’re probably not going to be driving on the F-Roads
• Rent a smaller car than you normally would (that is, if you’re traveling solo or as a couple and don’t have a lot of luggage).

Don’t cheap out on the insurance though!

Iceland Travel Budget Tips: Skip the paid hot springs

You don’t need to visit any of the paid pools in Iceland, like Blue Lagoon, Forest Lagoon, Sky Lagoon and others. There are plenty of free hot springs around Iceland that you can take a dip in without spending a dime. We didn’t do any of this on our trip, but I’d love to next time.

Additionally, Iceland has tons and tons of public swimming pools that the locals use — and you’re welcome to visit them too. They’re much, much cheaper than the touristy hot springs, through they’re more of a public swimming pool experience rather than a spa. If you’re traveling with children, they’ll love this, as many of the local pools have a network of waterslides.

Iceland Travel Budget Tips: Final Thoughts

Iceland isn’t a cheap destination no matter how you do the math. You’re going to spend some bucks here, so this isn’t a destination for someone on a extremely tight, shoestring budget. But you can save money on a trip like this; it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Do you have any money-saving tips for visiting Iceland on a budget? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!