Budget for a trip to Iceland for 10 days

One of the most important things to keep in mind when traveling is to make a small budget that gives us an idea of ​​how much the holidays are going to cost us. And we have never seen it so necessary to make a expense guide as for this country: Iceland. In this budget for a trip to Iceland for 10 days We will detail all the expenses we had during the trip, even those optional expenses that you do not have to have.

We will break down from gasoline expenses, including mileage, to our food expenses for these days. We will detail the purchase we made in Spain to take to Iceland, like the expenses we had in Icelandic supermarkets in addition to parking expenses and some tickets and dinners out.

The Iceland Ring Road or The Ring of Iceland

The Icelandic ring is a tour across the country. A whole tour discovering beautiful places while you walk the famous highway N1 that will surely leave you speechless. With their Over 1300 km, this route through Iceland will become one of the most incredible adventures of your life.

You will cross green mountains, you will be surprised by the number of waterfalls that you will find along the way, that kilometers of lava they will be very common, the infinite pastures populated by Icelandic horses and sheep will be part of your routine, and also, You will be impressed by the contrast and the changes in just a few miles.

So you are about to know a few details of one of the most complex routes but also one of the most beautiful that you will do in your life.

I recommend you to pay attention read all the information you can to be as prepared as possible possible to this wonderful trip.

Here we will explain about our experience as well as a breakdown of expenses that will help you make your own approximate budget. Of course, keep in mind that Depending on the time you go, the budget can vary considerably.

It is very important to keep in mind that the high season in Iceland runs from April to August. At this time the prices are much higher but you can also enjoy more daylight hours, a much kinder climate, and of course, the famous magic hour and that sunset of just a few minutes.

The most expensive country in Europe. Is Iceland really that expensive?

It is nothing new that we have Iceland among one of the most expensive countries in Europe. The cost of transportation, housing, food, etc. It makes this country, on many occasions, a little dizzy when preparing a trip.

And is that Iceland is not only one of the most expensive countries in Europe, but it is also one of the most expensive countries in the world. Yes, as you hear, Iceland is one of the most expensive countries in the world along with Japan, and of course, the expected Switzerland.

So hopefully we tell you Iceland is a really expensive country. But don't worry, with organization and looking for alternatives you can make your dream trip without having to sell a kidney.

>> 👉🏽 Here we are going to break down some of the Basic prices and expenses that you will have to face in Iceland:

• Lodging: Low season and guesthouse. Hotels in Iceland as such there are not many and those that do exist are very, very expensive, so the guesthouses will be your best option.

• Gasoline: 328 Icelandic kronor Liter (October 2022). €2,30 a liter of Gasoline.

• Coffees: €5 on average in a cafeteria.

• Car parks: €5 In one of the most visited car parks on the island. An example of them are the most famous waterfalls in Iceland which, of course, have paid parking. We were quite shocked to have to pay parking to see a waterfall, really.
• Meal. Meat and fish: although the basic basket in Iceland did not seem excessively expensive to us, we were surprised, and quite a bit, by the prices of meat and fish. Compared to the prices that we manage in Spain for these basic products, it is a real outrage what two slices of salmon can cost on this island.

Curious: The curious thing is that caviar is very cheap in Iceland, so since souvenirs are so expensive, this can be a good gift for your family and friends. A bottle of caviar usually costs between €4 and €7 on average.

How much will it cost me to visit Iceland. Budget for a 10-day trip to Iceland

On our trip we have interacted with a few travelers and touching on the subject of rental prices, flights, lodging and others, We have come to the conclusion that visiting Iceland in low season is one of the greatest successes we have made in all our trips.

Let's say the high season in Iceland runs from April to August, at that time the island becomes overcrowded with people, car rentals skyrocket to the point of costing up to €3000 for 10 days, Guesthouses run out of space and touring the island with so many tourists is not ideal either.

So even though Visiting the island in high season has many advantages, it is also true that it has other disadvantages that are big enough to make you wonder if it is really worth visiting the island in summer.

Of course, we believe that the biggest advantage of knowing Iceland in summer is to walk the roads with less snow or ice and be less cold. A very favorable point for traveling at this time, although we can't assure you that you won't get any surprises in the north, that's for sure.

Another especially important thing that you should keep in mind is that depending on the type of traveler you are, you will spend more or less money.

We think that Iceland is not a country to eat out since in most places you will not have restaurants available or at least not enough to choose from depending on your tastes. that's why he type of traveler who likes to cook in the apartment, bring his food and prepare it is the traveler who will have fewer headaches, the more you'll save and the less time you'll waste on the road.

The theme of the guesthouses It is also necessary to mention it since for many people to share common spaces it's tolerable, but share bathroom it's something else and In this type of hosting you will have to do it yes or yes. So If you are not that type of traveler, be prepared to pay much more and have fewer alternatives to choose from.

The gasoline issue It is also an important fact that we must take into account. Gasoline in Iceland costs an average of €2,30 a liter (2022). The point is that because In Iceland there is a maximum speed of 90 km/h, and roads that often force you to drive very irregularly, all this makes the cost of gasoline is higher.

These are details that make the difference in terms of expenses and that in the end all those who travel the island on their own will have to assume.

Itemized budget for a trip to Iceland for 2 people

Once we have fully entered into the prices that are handled in Iceland, we can say that we are prepared to tell you how much we have spent on our trip.

we wanted break down the trip by categories In addition to giving you a series of data so that you have more clarity about where those prices come from and how we have gotten there.

Budget for a trip to Iceland for 10 days. Expenses for 2 people:

*** As relevant information we have to tell you that we we only brought one suitcase invoiced of 10 kilos. Therefore we have had to divide that space to wear our clothes that of both Although most of the clothes, the heavier, we wore, the more basic food that we thought were important.

^At the end of the section we will divide the total in two so that the individual budget is made.

• Vfloors €282,99 Barcelona-London. London–Keflavik
• Hotels: €699,04
• 4×4 car rental: €844,43 All insurance included. Not GPS. Winter wheels. Without franchise.
• Petrol: € 309,77 all the way we stopped to refuel 4 times. Deposit of approximately 47 liters. We did a total of 2000 km.
• Parking: €39 It is very important to take this into account in expenses since there are a few parking lots in Iceland that you will have to pay for. here iWe include the Akureyri tunnel toll that were about €11.
• Food in Spain. Checked suitcase with basic things: €37
• Food in Iceland. Only supermarkets: 93,28€ We also have to tell you that although we have read in many blogs that it is not worth buying food in Spain, the truth is that we we have saved quite a bit of money by carrying a basic pantry with things like prepared tuna and lentils. Ahhh, and also bars and soups! Although the latter are not essential since you have them at the same price in Iceland. In this way, these expenses that we put in the supermarket were basically fresh products like eggs, milk, butter and some pieces of fruit. Here we include heavier foods that we buy in Iceland such as flour and rice.
• Travel Insurance: €50
• Tickets, Leisure: €290,26 I wanted to call this section optional leisure. But I wanted to divide it like this because in this section we have added some whims that we have typed the entries for:
  • Un museum of typical houses Icelandic: 25€
  • LMyvatn Baths: €80 + €10 Towels. No gentlemen, We did not go to the Blue Lagoon. Paying €80/person was not amusing to us and besidesWe discovered that there are other baths that are much cheaper, quieter and therefore more relaxing and just as beautiful as The Blue Lagoon. Of course, not so big. For some this may be an advantage or a disadvantage.
  • Two days that we ate out: €165 A dinner for my birthday that cost €140 and another day that we went hunting for the Northern Lights we ordered a pizza and it cost us €25 with drinks and some chips.
• Souvenirs: €73 The same for many it is not necessary to include this section, but I include it anyway, because some of us whenever we go on a trip we buy some souvenirs for our family and friends, and that is definitely our case. We have to recognize that It has been really expensive to buy gifts in Iceland.

TOTAL EXPENSES ICELAND FOR 10 DAYS €2 /718,77 = €2 Person 😉

**Important information: All these Prices are applied to the change made by our bank, CaixaBank In this case, therefore, depending on the type of bank you have, the currency exchange may vary a bit, and therefore the prices slightly. Although do not worry that it does not vary much, a few cents and that's it.

Tricks to save money on your trip to Iceland

We leave you some quick and very basic tricks before finishing this post.

• If it is not too expensive for you to check in a suitcase, it is interesting to take a basic pantry with products such as tuna, chicken or some canned foods. Our ltuna strips, fabada and lentils a la riojana were ours top 10 meals to take to Iceland.

• If you already know that you are going to visit Iceland check hotels well in advance. Iceland does not have much variety as it is a fairly small country. Keep in mind that the majority of the population is concentrated in Reykjavík, so you can already imagine how limited the accommodation offers are outside the city.

• To save money on shopping We recommend that you mark the Bonus supermarkets on the map. The price difference in these supermarkets is quite large compared to others. So If you manage to buy as much as possible in the Bonuses you will save a lot of money.

• LBring a few sachets of your favorite teas. Or are you more of coffee? … Does not matter! What you prefer. It will boost your morale and save you from getting cold if you carry a thermos big enough to last you all day. It was one of the essentials that we valued the most during the trip. Drinking hot tea in the middle of the mountains or on one of the routes we did was very comforting. At least for me that I am quite a whopping.

• Do not try to save money with the car and save yourself trouble by hiring a trusted company, making sure that you have the necessary insurance to feel calm during the trip and also taking into account all the peculiarities that traveling through Iceland has to do on your own. Read opinions about the different companies and make sure you choose the one that transmits the most confidence.

• Be flexible and adapt your trip to the different situations that arise. If at any point you see that it is more profitable to cancel a reservation, even if it costs you €10 more, it is always better to choose free cancellation, and book another guesthouse to save on gasoline, do it.

• Another trick to save money is that if you feel like going out for a few beers, especially if you're in Reykjavik or the city of Akureyri, download a Happy Hour app. There you will have the information of when the drinks are cheaper in the different bars.
• The last trick is that you look for alternatives to the Blue Lagoon. From our point of view it is excessively expensive to pay €80/person when If you travel the island you will have other cheaper options, even free, and that you will enjoy equally or much more. Keep in mind that in other places you will have more tranquility, more space and although it is not as impressive, it will be just as nice to know these natural and peculiar places.

Good guys! This is all for today's post, I would have liked to add more important sections. But we will leave that for another entry, so we avoid saturating you with information.

I hope this small budget can help you, I can assure you that we have added up to the last ticket we have. Therefore, This budget is completely reliable, especially if you go to Iceland at a time similar to ours: October. Low season.

Let you know that if you are planning your trip to Iceland we are very envious of you, the good one, of course. Getting to know Iceland has been the most impressive trip we have ever taken. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. 🍀

𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚛 ♡ 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞