Iceland Road Trip: How much does it Cost?
Iceland Road Trip - Currency, Planning, Budget, Tips to Save Money etc!
It is often said “Traveling to Iceland is the cheapest way to travel to another planet” - and we are not debating it! Iceland is one of the world's most beautiful destinations, offering endless opportunities for tourists and travellers to explore.
From its stunning landscapes to its unique culture, Iceland offers something for everyone. Iceland is home to breathtaking volcanoes, glaciers, hot springs, waterfalls, and the Bluest waterbodies. Not just that, if you are lucky enough, you can spot the skies turning all magical with the dancing Northern lights all around.
And, if at all you have been dreaming of taking this unreal road trip, you might already be aware that Iceland is one of the most expensive countries in the world! Planning a budget-friendly road trip to Iceland can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be. With careful planning, you can make the most of your money and still experience all the wonders Iceland has to offer.
In this blog, we will cover everything you need to know about Money and budgeting for an epic Iceland road trip.
Table of Contents
So let's dive right in!
Iceland Ring Road Trip - The Itinerary and Things to Do
We planned an unforgettable Ring-Road trip around Iceland for our honeymoon and traveled there for 9 days in April (Spring season).
Now, April is considered to be slightly off-season as it is a transition month between breathtakingly beautiful winters and lush green summers in Iceland. Hence, we got ourselves some pretty good deals with accommodations, and most of the attractions were relatively empty.
Here is an overview of our Iceland itinerary:
Day 1: Renting out the car! : Fly into Keflavik (KEF) airport and pick up the rental vehicle. Head towards the accommodation for the night and retire.
Day 2: The Golden Circle: Cover the golden circle with its iconic attractions like Kerid Crater, Selijalandsfoss, Gljufrafoss, Skogafoss, and Plane Wreck site. Sleep tight in and around Vik City and prepare for the next day of adventure!
Day 3: Of Glaciers and Ice Caves: Depart early and explore the city of Vik, its famous Reyniskirkja Church, and the Black Sand beach. From there, drive on towards Europe’s largest glacier - Jökulsárlón, and go on a Glacier Hike tour. Stop over at the famous Diamond beach just across the glacier and finally head towards the accommodation for the night. Go for Aurora hunting if the weather permits.
Day 4: The Mighteous Waterfalls: Head toward the Northern part of the country and explore the most powerful waterfalls - Dettifoss and Selfoss. Drive alongside some of the best landscapes you will ever see and rest at your accommodation. Go for Aurora hunting if the weather permits.
Day 5: The Most Photographed Mountain of Iceland: reach the Western part of the country - the Snæfellsnes peninsula or “Mini Iceland” and stop around at various scenic spots like Budir church, National Park, Kirkjufel Mountain, etc
Day 6: Snorkelling between the Continents: Spend enough time at the Thingvellir National Park and Snorkel in the Silfra Fissure for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Day 7: The Capital City: Head towards the capital city of Reykjavik and explore the city on a walking tour of its major attractions. Shop for souvenirs and enjoy happy hours at Icelandic pubs!
Day 8: Unwinding in the Geothermal Pool - Blue Lagoon: Relax in the mineral-rich and geothermally heated “Blue Lagoon” and reflect on the awesomeness of mother nature. Drop your rental car at the city office (or choose to drop it off the next day at the airport itself)
Day 9: Back Home: Time to bid farewell to this amazing country and head back home :) Don't forget to shop for Icelandic Spirits at Duty free!
Basic Information: All things money
Currency: The currency in Iceland is ‘Icelandic Krona’ or ISK. For Indians traveling to Iceland, 1 ISK = 0.60 INR. We used to just ‘half’ the price of anything for a rough estimate.
Cash or Card: Iceland is one of the most Credit Card friendly countries in the world. There is hardly any need to carry cash there. They accept all standard credit cards across hotels, restaurants, shops, gas stations, public utilities, etc. We did not convert any currency during our Iceland trip, however, we did carry a few hundred Euros for any unforeseen emergency.
Avoiding Forex Markup on Credit Cards: Almost all credit cards will have a small markup fee for any Forex transaction. To avoid this, we got ourselves a Go Niyo Global Card. It is one of the best cards for international Travellers that provides access to 150+ currencies (Including Icelandic Krona ISK), Zero markup fees, and a 6.5% interest. We had a very smooth experience with Go Niyo, and this credit card was accepted everywhere in Iceland without any problem whatsoever. We would recommend it over other forex multi-currency cards, as most likely they would not have ISK as a default option.
Connectivity and Network (e-SIM card and 4G Internet): Instead of going for a portable WiFi device that could be rented, we opted for global SIM Cards for both of us. Apart from high-speed Internet, we wanted to have a reliable network for making calls/SMS in case of any emergency. As both of our phones support e-SIM cards, we decided to purchase 2 different cards prior to starting our trip.
Prakhar used Airalo e-Sim for Iceland and purchased their standard 10GB data for 30 days ($23) pack. While Ratika bought Holafy e-SIM’s 10 Days- Unlimited Data plan ($34).
Review: Both the cards started working the moment we landed in Iceland and had amazing coverage throughout. We got 4G speeds even in the remotest parts of the country and were always connected. Between the two options, we liked Holafy better because of its seamless experience and superior network.
Iceland Cost Guide: Trip Budget and Expenses
Now that you have a basic idea of what you can expect to do in Iceland, here is an overview of the kind of expenses that will come your way while planning a trip.
Traveling to and within Iceland
Visa: For Schengen Visa (from India), costs around INR 9000 per person. The Visa formalities have to be routed via VFS and the detailed process along with documents can be found on their official website.
Travel Insurance: It is mandatory to have travel insurance with a minimum coverage of 30,000 Euros. We got Reliance General Insurance with the required coverage for around INR 2200 per person.
Flight Tickets: These are dependent on where you are flying from. Most of the countries have direct/ connecting flights to Iceland’s Keflavik (KEF) airport. We traveled from New Delhi (India) to Iceland via Helsinki with Finnair. We booked the flights around 6 months in advance and it cost us around INR 65,000 per person.
SIM Card: As stated previously, we opted for 2 e-SIM cards with different data packs and offerings. It costs ~INR 3000 for a decent SIM card with Unlimited 4G data and pre-defined calling minutes for 10 days (single device, no hotspot).
Now to travel within Iceland, you can have multiple options like renting a camper van, public transport, opting for tours, etc. But for our trip and for the purpose of this blog we will cover the costs involved in doing this trip via a self-driven rental car.
Car Rental: As covered in the detailed blog about driving in Iceland, there are multiple options around the types of cars, and insurance available with each vendor and the cost of rental will vary accordingly. We paid ~INR 6500/Day for a 2WD car with premium insurance coverage (Zero Liability).
Fuel: Gas prices are pretty high in Iceland (ISK 250/ Litre). The overall cost of fuel will depend on the route of your trip and the rental vehicle you opt for. For our road trip over 9 days and 1700 Km, we paid approximately INR 15,000 for the fuel overall.
Stay and Accommodation in Iceland
Expenses with respect to accommodations constitute one of the biggest pies for the overall trip budget. Budget-conscious travellers opt for camper vans and staying on campsites - which allows for cutting down on these expenses in a major fashion.
However, for the purpose of this blog, we will give you an indicative idea of the expenses you will bear if you are putting up in Guesthouse accommodations or Hotels in Iceland. You can check our recommendations for accommodations in Iceland along the ring road in our blog here.
Guesthouse Accommodations- These are pretty popular and relatively cheaper stay options. There are multiple rooms (of varying configurations) in the same place and all the guests can share common utilities like sitting areas, kitchens, lounges, etc. These can cost in the range of INR 6000-9000 per night for a standard double room*. The costs of shared rooms/dorms are even lesser.
Hotel Accommodations- Based on the kind of hotel and its rating, hotels are relatively expensive options and can cost upwards of INR 10,000 per night*. There is hardly any upper limit to these prices, and some of the more lavish properties will cost you more than INR 25,000*!
*Again, the prices of hotels/guesthouses fluctuate based on the tourist season and will also depend on how well in advance you make the booking.
For us, the total cost of all our stays for 8 nights was approximately INR 1,00,000 (~INR 12,500 per night). Most of the hotels had breakfast included but were non-refundable.
Food and Drinks
Okay, eating out in Iceland is going to be a very expensive affair! We ate a standard Margherita pizza and it cost us INR 1900!! So, if you are planning to travel on a budget, the best way would be to optimize your food and drink expenses.
This includes packing some Ready-to-Eat or Heat-and-Eat food options, that can be cooked in hotels/guesthouses. Other than that, you can also go for slightly cheaper options at gas stations like sandwiches, wraps, etc.
We opted for grocery shopping from discount supermarkets like Bonus/Netto/Kronan in Iceland, to arrange for our major meals like Dinner. We picked up some bread, sandwich spreads, vegetables, and fruits from the stores and cooked our meals. That really cut down on some expenditures.
For a benchmark, a single major meal (Lunch/Dinner) would easily cost you around INR 1500-3000 per person. On the other hand, a full English Breakfast buffet will be approximately INR 1000-1750 per person.
Experiences - Tours, Activities, etc
Iceland has so much to offer, that it becomes a challenge to pick and choose from the plethora of options. A lot of local vendors provide exemplary curated experiences of some of the best tours and activities in the world. While these are generally on the expensive side of the spectrum, they are one of the best ways to experience the magnificence of this country.
In our trip to Iceland, we opted for three of such unique experiences, and here are the overall indicative costs for the same:
Silfra Fissure Snorkeling - We went snorkeling between two continental tectonic plates with a local vendor - Troll Expedition. This unforgettable experience was all-inclusive of Dry suits, a Tour guide, GoPro Photographs, and Hot chocolate at the end of the adventure! It cost us around ~INR 13,000 per person.
Jokusarlon Ice Cave Tour- We booked this tour via Local Guide, and they gave us one of the most unforgettable experiences of our lives. We were able to see surreal ice caves on one of the biggest glaciers in Europe! The overall cost for this tour was around ~INR 13,500 per person.
Blue Lagoon - The Geothermal Spa of Iceland and it's one of the most popular tourist spots - we got our tickets online from their website and chose the package that was around ~INR 6000 per person.
Planning a Budget Trip - Top Tips and Money-Saving Hacks
While, Iceland may not be the most “Budget-friendly” holiday destination, with the right planning and knowledge of a few hacks - it is definitely possible to cut down on the expenses significantly. Following are some of the things that worked well for us:
Hotel Booking:
As mentioned previously, be open to exploring accommodation options other than run-of-the-mill hotels. Iceland has some of the most beautiful and comfortable guesthouses which are relatively cheaper
Try booking accommodation with Breakfast included. Hotels have unlimited breakfast buffets that will give you an opportunity to fuel your tummies and start your adventurous day. Iceland ring roads will have fewer options that will be open during the breakfast hours and the ones which are open will definitely be expensive. A breakfast buffet at the hotel accommodation is always a better idea!
We booked our hotel using this website - At hotel. It had a wide range of stays across all budget categories around the ring road. On comparing the prices, we found that the same hotel cost 15-20% cheaper on this website as compared to Booking/Agoda.
Food and Drinks
As we have covered already, it will be much more cost-efficient to prepare your own meals either via Ready-to-eat food or stocking up on groceries from discount supermarkets (Bonus/Netto/Kronan).
Iceland is famous for its hot dogs and it is one of the cheaper alternatives that also fills up the tummy!
Icelandic tap water is absolutely clean and ready to consume! Do not waste your money on bottled water at the grocery stores. Those are super expensive and can be totally avoided!
Enjoy alcohol during happy hours at the city center
Driving and Related Expenses
More often than not, the car rental vendor will give you fuel discount chips. These are RFID chips that can be tapped at the relevant gas stations and you can avail some discount for every liter of fuel you purchase - so don't miss out!
Don’t be penny wise pound foolish and evaluate the various car insurance options thoroughly. More often than not, a small scratch on the car would cost you much more than the total cost of the most premium insurance option. So plan for that
Follow the traffic rules as diligently as possible. A normal speeding ticket in Iceland is up to INR 35,000!! (Covered in detail here). Losing out money on traffic challans and parking tickets will pinch so much more!
Shopping
Icelandic candy is at a massive discount on Saturdays! Don’t miss out on shopping for those.
Iceland has some of the best alcoholic beverages. If you plan to purchase it, do it at the duty-free shops.
We hope this helps you budget for your dream trip to Iceland ! If you have any doubts or queries, we will be happy to assist! Drop in a message in the comments below :)
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