Having Lianne visit this month really had us reminiscing our our adventures together. She was my closest friend for a long time living in Halifax and we really did a lot together. Like our road trip around Iceland!
Our trip to Iceland in 2016 is still my most talked about trip and the #1 place I always recommend when someone is looking for somewhere new. The one thing I always get in response is but Iceland is so expensive. This response is not totally unfounded as there is a luxury side to Iceland but it's also really easy to do it without spending a significant amount. I'm going to break down my budget, places I think are essential, and places I think worth skipping so you can get the most out of your time there. You can jump to the bottom to just read the final breakdown.
At this time, Lianne and I were living together and both were looking for adventure, although our trip dates didn't line up perfectly. At the time, I was working retail and we had a lot of black out dates so I was restricted in when I could go. She was also finishing up her nursing degree and was restricted in when she could go. We didn't want to let this get in the way of an amazing trip so we decided to just overlap. I flew into Reykjavik on an overnight Thursday, landing Friday morning, and she flew out on Saturday night, landing Sunday morning. I then flew home on the following Saturday, and she ended up staying two more weeks! That's a story that she'd have to tell you though.
When I went, I was living in Halifax which does have an international airport and I have found cheap flights to Europe there but I don't think it's a major hub for Iceland. Lianne went again a year later and actually found it cheaper to fly to Montreal on a separate ticket and then fly to Iceland. For my trip, flights was by far the biggest expense I had. At the time, going on this trip was a priority and the dates I could go were limited so I wasn't able to shop around for flights the way I like to. I booked my flight through Icelandair and it was 738$ round trip.
Since this trip, budget airlines have really been on the rise and I would recommend Flair or Swoop if you're considering going. However, a perk of flying with this airline was that luggage was included so we could bring extra gear. Lianne and I both wanted to do this trip on a budget and our research showed that camping would be the best way to do that. It seemed that places to camp were abundant and cheap and gave us a lot of flexibility in our schedule. We knew that we'd have the midnight sun and stay out late exploring, I have showed up to a hostel after curfew and been locked out before so I didn't want a repeat of that.
Back in 2016 I didn't have the same camping gear collection that I have now (6 tents, 3 sleeping bags, 3 water filters, 3 stoves...). We decided that we would just bring the basics with us in our luggage, a tent, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads, and then rent the stove. If you don't have any camping gear, then renting it is actually a great option. The sleeping bag Lianne used wasn't really up to how cold Iceland got at night so if you don't have a well rated one then you should consider renting it. Our stove and fuel cost us 50$ for the road trip.
If you're not entirely sold on camping then just check out this view from our tent the first morning;
Flying overnight actually let me save money on accommodations in Reykjavik. My plan was when I landed at 4am to get a bus to my hostel, drop my bags and explore all day. I would then spend the night at the hostel, put my bags into storage again the next day, do my tour and then bus to the airport and stay there until Lianne landed at 4am and we could get our rental car. A lot of people when they hear this call me crazy for planning such a busy sleep deprived time. To me though, it's just a part of the adventure of travelling somewhere new. I figure one day I'll get tired of overnights in the airport or sleeping on the plane then spending the day exploring but it hasn't happened yet.
While waiting in the airport by my gate, I saw a girl who looked to be about my age. She was dressed somewhat similarly and had a big backpacking. I decided I would ask if she was also flying to Iceland and then we could swap plans and get ideas on what to do there. I love picking peoples brains on their trips and getting ideas. Plus I figured having someone to take a bus with at 4am when we arrived in Iceland wouldn't be so bad. Her parents were flying in from Toronto and meeting here there for a road trip. Introducing myself ended up really working in my favour since they were renting a car in Iceland. They ended up driving me directly to my hostel so that I didn't have to take a bus and try to find my way there. I did offer them my bus fare for gas but they didn't mind, they were heading into the city center anyways so I wasn't far off their path. This is definitely a great way to save some money when travelling anywhere. There are of course dangers getting into cars with strangers but most other travelers will be happy to help where they can.
The hostel I choose for my one night was Reykjavik city hostel which cost me 4800isk or just under 50$. A quick check of their site shows they've only gone up about 10$CAD in five years. Now this is significantly higher than I usually pay for a hostel, when I backpacked Europe in 2013, we didn't pay over 21$ a night. However, there were a lot of factors to consider when picking my hostel here.
I needed somewhere on major bus routes so that I could get to and from the airport.
I needed somewhere near where my tour was starting early the next day.
I needed somewhere I could store my bags before and after check out.
I wanted a kitchen since restaurants are expensive in Iceland.
This hostel was average price for the city and checked off all my boxes so ultimately it was the one I selected. I didn't actually spend very much time there at all so I can't say a whole lot on the atmosphere or anything. They did have a lot of communal areas, outdoor picnic spots, campground and really seemed to create welcoming environment. The rooms were big and the beds cozy so I didn't have any complaints.
As soon as I got to the hostel, I put the bags with camping gear into storage and was ready to hit the town. I absolutely love museums! Iceland has plenty and I really wanted to explore them all. I knew that they would really show a unique perspective; Vikings! I spent a lot of time researching the museums and the best way to get the most out of my one full day in the city. I came to the conclusion that the Hi Iceland card was my best bet for this trip. This was my first time purchasing such a card as a lot of the time I don't think they're worth the price. However, I mapped out the museums and their hours and guessed that I could go to enough to make it worthwhile.
I was able to buy the card at my hostel which helped to save time, it's valid for 24 hours from the first usage. Since I was at the hostel so early I decided to walk to the first museum and it looked like I would get there right at opening. I'm definitely getting off track of the purpose of this post so I'm going to try to narrow it down a little more to budget wise. If you guys want more stores about the trip, please leave a comment and I can do another!
The city card cost me 3500isk and I used it for
Culture House: 1200isk
Settlement Exhibition: 1500isk
National Musuem of Iceland: 1500isk
National Gallery: 2000isk
Laugardalslaug Swimming Pool: 900isk
So I spent half of the value I got for it! Make sure if you're going to buy a city card that you will get your money from it though. Sometimes you really have to cram a lot in for it to be worthwhile.
The next morning I got up early to go on my Inside The Volcano tour. This was the second biggest expense I had on my trip and probably the only one I would not do again. It cost me 439$, I checked and prices haven't gone up. Personally, I thought this was the coolest idea ever and didn't research much beyond hearing the name and thinking how awesome it would be to be inside a volcano. In hindsight, it's just a bunch of pretty rocks. And since I knew no one there I didn't get the photos I wanted.
The bus to meet Lianne at the airport only cost me about 5$ since it was with megabus and an airport shuttle. Spending the night at the airport let me save 50$ that I would have spent on a hostel. I didn't really get any sleep but to me it was easier than having to get up and meet her here at dawn. We both had to be there to pick up the rental car so this way just made more sense.
We rented the cheapest car we could find and it wasn't anything fancy. A lot of our research had travel bloggers saying you needed 4x4 and big SUVs to travel around Iceland. However, we knew the locals didn't all drive those and did fine, we just wouldn't go off the beaten bath in our cheap car. The car only cost us 600$ and gave us lot of freedom.
For food we planned on eating out at restaurants as little as possible. Instead we brought instant oatmeal, peanut butter, and pre-packaged meals. We bought jam and bread which were both cheap and lived off sandwiches. Chips, and chocolate are comparable in price to here so we didn't have to skip those. We found that coleslaw was super cheap there, about 2$ for a big tub and we had a cooler so we got that to get some veggies in. Icelandic yogurt is also a must! It's definitely affordable, comes in a multitude of flavours and is naturally lactose free.
Our one treat meal ended up being about 60$ each for an individual pizza and a beer. It was delicious but we could have skipped it. A lot of more of the traditional Icelandic restaurant food was out of our budget even more than that meal. Grocery stores will be your best friend when you visit Iceland on a budget. Our one dinner out cost us more than our entire week of groceries did.
The main draw to Iceland for us was to see the beautiful country so we didn't pay a lot for activities. Most parks in Iceland are free to enter so we got to go on hikes, visit waterfalls, and enjoy the beautiful landscapes for free. Even a lot of the geothermal hot pools are free, like these photographed below;
One activity that we had both decided was a must, was snorkeling between the tectonic plates in Thingvellir National Park. This was 100% worth it, I would recommend it to everyone! It was freezing, but unbelievably beautiful. It cost us $148 each but looks like it's gone up about 20$, although they have a heated changing room now which would be worth the extra money to me.
Thankfully we had a lot of connections, and made friends as we went and were able to get a lot of deals because of this. We got into Myvatn Nature Baths for free, we stayed at someone's house one night, and camping was even free at one place because the pool was closed. Never underestimate the power of being friendly to people as you travel.
Breakdown:
Flights: 738$
Portable Wi-Fi: 60$/2
1x Hostel nights: 50$
3x Campgrounds: 10$ + 15$ + 20$ /2
Activities: 35$ + 439$ + 7$ + 148$ + 20$
Car Rental: 600$/2
Gas: 250$/2
Stove Rental: 50$/2
Food: 120$ + 150$ /2
Overall it was 2075$ for 9 unforgettable days. This averages out to 230$ a day which does sound like a lot but if you skip the volcano tour it's only 181$ a day which is a lot better. If you look at everything we got to experience for that price, it was well worth it. There's a lot more opportunity to save money, on the flights as I mentioned earlier, and especially on food. Our one meal out cost as much as groceries for the whole week.
Who wants to go to Iceland now?