The Cost of a week travelling in Iceland

Iceland has been on my wish-list for a few years and when we finally booked flights to visit in January I was pumped! Iceland is a very expensive country which is part of the reason why we put off going for a while, especially as there was other, more affordable countries that we also wanted to visit. We spent just over a week exploring this beautiful country and we have broken down the cost of a week travelling in Iceland.

We’ve listed all the expenses we incurred for a week travelling in Iceland in the hope it will assist you when planning your trip to this magical country! We’ve also put some tips at the end of the article about ways to make your trip a bit more affordable.

All costs are in AUD, unless stated otherwise as ISK (Icelandic Krona) or GBP.

Day One – Edinburgh to Reyjkavik

Flight from Edinburgh to Reyjkavik (Keflavik) with EasyJet (4x adults) – GBP £546.04 = $1,020
Taxi from Keflavik to Airport Hotel – $50
Bed & Breakfast Hotel Keflavik (inclusive of breakfast) – ISK 26,150 = $300

Day Two – Reyjkavik to Snaefellsness Peninsula

Car Hire – Supplied by SAD Cars
Extra Insurance for Car Hire – (Gold Package) – ISK 4950 x 8 days = ISK 39,600 = $464
Entrance to the Blue Lagoon (4 adults) – ISK 39,960 = $470
Phone case at Blue Lagoon – ISK $3400 = $40
Groceries (lunch, dinner & breakfast) = $150
AirBnB at Grundarfjörður = $351

Day Three – Snæfellsnes Peninsula to Þingvellir

Coffees = $23
Groceries (2x lunch, 2x dinner and 2x breakfast) = $130
Fuel = $80
Accommodation (Lundur Cottage) = ISK 38,000 = $445

Day Four – Þingvellir & Golden Circle

Accommodation (Lundur Cottage) = ISK 38,000 = $445

Day Five – South Coast

Groceries = $80
Medicine = $42
Parking at Seljalandsfoss = $10
Lunch in Vik = $80
Dinner at Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon including bottle wine = $450
Accommodation at Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon Hotel (inclusive of breakfast) (2 rooms) = €330 = $536

Day Six – Jökulsárlón & Glaciers

Happy hours drinks at Fosshotel = $100
Glacier tour (4 adults) = ISK 91,960 = $1,080
Accommodation at Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon Hotel (inclusive of breakfast) (2 rooms) = €330 = $536
Meals (leftover from grocery shopping).

Day Seven – Reyjkavik

Fuel $120
Happy hour drinks in Reyjkavik = $70
Lunch in Vik = $35
Dinner and drinks in Rejkavik $320
CenterHotel Midgardur Reyjkavik Hotel (inclusive of breakfast) (2 rooms) = $401.70

Day Eight – Reyjkavik

Souvenir = $11
Book = $32
Coffee & hot chocolate for 2 = $15
Panadol = $5
Hot dogs x 2 = $11
Lunch for 2 = $50
Bakery pastries x 2 = $10
Viking Museum entrance x 2 = $52
2 x Large Pizzas for dinner = $90
CenterHotel Midgardur Reyjkavik Hotel (inclusive of breakfast) (2 rooms) = $401.70

Day Nine – Fly from Reyjkavik

Fuel = $50 AUD.

Total Costs

We spent a week in Iceland with a day either side for travel as we arrived late and departed early on those days. In total we spent approximately $8,556 Australian Dollars in Iceland. This was split between Dan and myself and my parents whom we travelled with. The majority of the costs detailed above were split between the two couples, making it around $4278 for our week in Iceland.

Iceland is expensive but I really felt like we made the most of it and saw as much as we possibility could, especially during the winter months. I loved Iceland but as it is quite an expensive country and I felt like we saw a great deal of it, I don’t know if we would ever go back.

Hopefully our article about the cost of a week travelling in Iceland will help you when planning your trip to beautiful Iceland. It’s expensive but so worth it!

Tips for visiting Iceland on a reasonable budget

If you can, travel in a group! We found it much cheaper splitting car and fuel costs as well as groceries and accommodation between two couples. If it was just Dan and I then it definitely would have been much more expensive.
Book self catered accommodation where possible and buy groceries and as much food as you can from supermarkets. We found supermarket prices a lot more reasonable than eating out.
Minimise or avoid eating out. We only had a few lunches out when we were travelling and had two splurge meals (one at Fosshotel and one in Reykjavik), as well as SUPER expensive pizzas on our last night. The meals we had out were really good however it was very pricey.
If you enjoy a drink, bring in duty free alcohol and/or drink at happy hours, many hotels and bars so 2 for 1 deals at certain times of the day. We picked up duty free alcohol in Edinburgh Airport and mostly just drank that throughout out holiday, especially in our self-contained accommodation with hot tubs!
Enjoy the great outdoors! You certainly don’t need to do a tour everyday and there is so much about Iceland’s great outdoors that is free!