What's the best way to do Iceland?

[Tipsntoes]

I'd love to go but it's breathtakingly expensive and I gather even more so once you get there.

Is there a secret way to do it that's a bit more cost effective?

If I accept it's going to be £££, does anyone have any recommendations?

Buy cheapest flights. You can rent a small apartment and cook your own meals, but food and alcohol is expensive. We went in January, we did the golden circle tour, northern lights which we were lucky to see. We enjoyed several hours in the blue lagoon pool. I don't think it is a place that you can do on a budget. I would like to return in the summer one day and do some horse riding and see the puffins. I would recommend reading some Icelandic books. It is worth visiting. Perhaps someone else can offer some budget tips. We booked our tours at the tourist information centre. But some travel agents provide a package of flights and tours.

EasyJet flights and a camper van. We've been twice this way, and it works out significantly cheaper. Oh, and go in September. It's out of season, so cheaper, quieter, but before a lot of facilities close for the winter.

I went last year for a long weekend in January. I didn't find it that expensive - I flew with icelandair, I think the flight was around £250 return, stayed in a private, ensuite room in a youth hostel with three beds which was about £70 a night, there were cheaper options for eating out or I self catered in the hostel, I don't drink so not sure about the cost of alcohol.

I'm planning on going back in the summer for ten days, renting a car to drive round the island and taking my tent. Campsites are pretty cheap and I can self cater, the most expensive part is renting the car.

Go in winter it's much cheaper. We travelled in March and our 3* hotel with views over the harbour was £75 looking to book in August it was over £200.

We went in the summer and loved it - the weather was warm and bright. Used a local agent through Evaneos who booked the hire car and all the accommodation including a couple of cool self catering places - one an apartment in Rejyavik and the other a cabin in the golden circle, one or two nights in a hotel.

Loved mooching round the capital, the cathedral Hallsgrimkirkja, Happa opera house, whale watching etc and then we went up to the glacier at Llansjokull and 'Into the Glacier' which was fun. We then went down to the golden circle, (Pingvellir, Gullfoss, Geysir) etc. We also went to Reykjadalur hot river and then on to Reynisfjara black lava beach, Keria crater and then Blue Lagoon. 10 days and we absolutely loved it. Me and DCs - 16 and 14, all self drive and independent travelling.

Buy alcohol at the airport duty free and self catering keeps the cost down. Driving is very simple and safe.

Try not to eat! Take snacks- tracker bars etc, water bottles.

We did three days as part of a cruise, so we only paid for the excursions.

Apparently, cheap weekends come up on Groupon type deals. Be prepared to rough it and spend your money on the exploration. Research before you go, to find out what is worth paying for.

I wouldn’t have said it was particularly expensive compared to other European capital cities. We flew EasyJet. We rented an apartment on the main shopping street, Laugavegur. It was a simple two bedroom ex flat but fine.
We hired a car between us and the couple we went with so reduced excursion and transfer costs significantly. We swam in public baths, walked, drove to Pingvellar and the Golden Circle and to a couple of really remote geothermal swimming spots. We ate in two nights, did one expensive meal, one pub type meal. There was a good artisan bakery just along from the flat where we had brunch. We paid for Blue lagoon on arrival rather than through an agent and did our own research re Aurora and just drove out to a dark spot and waited.
Hot dogs are cheap for lunch. Alcohol was expensive generally but beer not too awful.

We went for a week and spent about £400, for meals we went to a petrol station which did hot dogs and fresh fish! That included souvenirs, we are going back next month but are driving on a planned trip round the north. It can be done on the cheap if you don't buy alcohol and eat out all the time,

Oh, and book a whale watching trip - we saw humpbacks, orca and minke whales.

Oh, lots of great ideas, thank you

I found it no more expensive than a euro foreign break. Easyjet flights, then hire a 4x4. We booked an amazing holiday home near Geyser for £100 per night which included a hot tub. We packed some cereal, biscuits, wine from duty free and self catered simply with pasta and BBQs. Shop at the supermarket with the pink pig logo - its no more pricey than Waitrose.
Activites were free as we did lots of walking, waterfall and hot springs and geysers. if you use the locals thermal bathes rather than the blue lagoon its a fraction of the cost and way better. We did pay to go horse riding and snowmobiling across the glaciers but obvs don't have too! Go - its the most amazing place.

icelandreview.com/news/2017/03/09/iceland-worlds-most-expensive-country

I'm surprised some posters don't find Iceland expensive.

Nope, it's always extortionate if you want to eat and sleep there 😁

Hi,
We took a family of four at Christmas last year and the entire holiday, including flights, accommodation, day trips to all the sights and food cost less than 2k for a week. We flew Ryanair and stayed in a massive, luxurious AirBnB apartment in central Reykyavik. We bought most of our food at the local supermarkets - prices the same as UK and any booze from the only booze shop in Rykjavik - again prices same as or a bit cheaper than UK - gorgeous Icelandic spiced beers and cheap prosecco. We spent a lot on the Golden Circle day trip (well worth it), Blue Lagoon (also fantastic) and Northern Lights trip (also good but a gamble as it's £££ and you may not see anything). Other things were very cheap - the municipal outdoor thermal pool is only about £2-3 per person and has water slides, giant floating chess games, hot, warm and room temperature pools. The Hallgrimskirk had stunning free concerts on which we went to one night and we visited a coffee roasting place (free) and lovely music and book shops that make you free coffee and hand out chocolates and let you read, play guitars, and chill for hours. We felt like we'd been invited round to friends' houses in most of the local shops.

We had the most fantastic meal I've ever had - Michelin standard - at a good local restaurant whch cost a bit less than the same would cost in UK. So we had a brilliant time for about £450 per person for a week, all in - flights, food, accommodation, trips and treats.

I found it much cheaper than Paris. Paris really IS extortionate.

We found nice restaurants to be really expensive.

Switzerland is more expensive

We went to the tourist office and hired the cheapest car from a local resident. Prices seemed to go up by 50% in July. It's a great country would love to go again

We are going. Booked cheap flights, used Booking.com prebooked excursions and I'll take some quite a lot food with me as we will eat at our accommodation most of the time. I will also pack a bottle of gin!

Zara, we went to Resto. It was truly fantastic. Not expensive (about £35 per head for 3 courses including drinks and coffee.) I've had food at Michelin restaurants not half as good.

Ginger I just checked the menu it looks fab and a reasonable price also good they don't serve whale. I wouldn't eat in restaurants that served it.

Buy duty free once you get off the flight at the airport.

We rented a 4 x 4 at the airport and drove round rather than getting buses and trips - it made a big difference to cost and meant we could do things at our own pace.

We stayed in a very nice apartment we found on AirBnB. As we knew we were self catering, I also packed a few provisions - couple of packets of frozen bacon and snack bars in the event we would find it tricky finding a supermarket - which we didn't in the end.

The Blue Lagoon is alright, but very overpriced and touristy. I'm not sure I would pay to go again.

What month are you going? Our car hire (VW Polo) helped us do things cheaper (unlike many countries the sites are free) but d not underestimate the Icelandic tendency to be very gung ho about driving conditions! We had snow tyres but even DH - a very confident driver- was very scared driving in complete white out blizzards and I found the emptiness of the roads a bit intimidating. I dread to think what the roads were like that were not recommended!! I was shitting myself.

We stayed in a nice modern hotel in Reykjavik. We ate fish and chips and pizza. Alcohol prices are breath-taking. Buy in the airport and while out, sip!!

Anyone know how easy it is to get around without hiring a car ? Sounds as though it’s essential - ? I was wondering whether a combination of tours and public transport was possible.

We went in Oct. this year. Easy Jet flights and AirBnB for 4 days, worked out at £340 pp. Bought food from supermarket for lunches and first evening meal and ate fish and chips out in Reykjavik one night and hotdogs the next. Hired a car from our AirBnB host which was £45 a day ( two days). Did Golden Circle one day and South Coast on another. Did the Secret Lagoon at Fludir instead of the Blue Lagoon which was cheaper. It was expensive for a short break but utterly wonderful - can’t wait to go back with a camper van and do a round island tour.