What comes to your mind if someone says โIcelandโ!
Land of Fire and Ice, breathtaking waterfalls, huge lava field, mind-blowing landscape, amazingly scenic roads and geo thermal spas are some of the top of mind answers, right.
Well, if you are postponing your visit to such a bucketlist place because for budget and think that it is extremely expensive, we urge you to think again.
Yes, Iceland is costly. Period. HOWEVER, there are ways you can make it affordable without compromising on experience. Let us show you how we managed to keep our Iceland expense for two of us from India within 1.2 lac INR per person for 5 nights
For easy understanding, we will break our total Iceland expense for two of us under the following seven heads
- Flight cost
- Visa Cost
- Getting around in Iceland
- Activities
- Accommodations
- Food
- Miscellaneous (shopping, entry fees etc.)
Before we start, Icelandโs currency is Icelandic Krona (ISK) and 1 ISK = 0.56 INR = 0.007 USD (exchange rate is considered during the time of our travel, Feb 2020)
#TEETip: One can avoid carrying a lot of cash as Iceland very much runs on card, instead; you can use a travel forex card like Niyo Global which does not add any mark up while you swipe. Only local bank charges, if any are applicable when you withdraw from ATM. ATM charges are fixed and as low as 150 ISK (close to 75 INR) for one time withdrawal. Iceland is highly technologically mature and apart from public buses, we were able to use card for everything.
Read our Travel to Iceland- all you need to know ย forย planning a trip of lifetime to the land of Fire and Ice !!
Table of Contents
Flight Cost:
We booked our flights close to 6 months in advance after going through Skyscanner.
Our flight was via Denmark where we had one night stopover while going and two nights while coming back. Since we stayed at our friendโs place in Copenhagen, we will not include the cost incurred in Copenhagen for the purpose of this blog.
Bangalore to Copenhagen via Paris(Air France) and return via Amsterdam ย (KLM) for two of us | INR 73,800 |
Copenhagen to Iceland and return (Iceland Air) for two of us | INR 21,500 |
Total flight expense | INR 95,300 |
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Visa Cost for Iceland:
Iceland is a Schengen country hence one has to get a Schengen Visa for travelling to Iceland. Applying for Schengen Visa is a little time consuming process and requires a decent amount of documentation. Most travelers are skeptical of applying for Schengen on their own especially if it is their first time, however, if the instructions are read carefully & relevant documents submitted properly there should not be any problem. The process is quite simple & VFS Global has all the details mentioned very well in a systematic format.
It took almost 20 days for us to get our Visa.
VISA cost per person* | INR 6,500 |
Travel Insurance per person** | INR 820 |
ย ย ย ย ย ย Totalย ย per person | INR 7,320 |
ย ย Total cost of Visa for two of us | INR |
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*Please note that Schengen VISA fees has increased from Euro 60 to Euro 80 from 2nd Feb, 2020 onwards. When we applied, it was Euro 60 per person. Plan to add Euro 20 (INR 1600) per person in this bucket now.
** A travel Insurance is a mandatory document required for visa application. The list of recognized third party travel insurance companies are mentioned in both VFS Website as well as the official Schengen Website. After comparing the market prices & going through reviews online, we got our Insurance done through Bharti AXA.
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Getting around in Iceland expense for two:
For getting around in Iceland, you primarily have two options
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- Self-drive by renting a car
- Taking guided tours arranged by tour companies
Given the weather and road condition during winters, we chose to take guided tours organized by Extreme Iceland. Please note that this is separate from a complete packaged tour. A complete package tour comes with all expenses inclusive of food, stay, transfers & places to see. We booked our own stay, food & planned our own Itinerary just that in order to go around Iceland, we booked day tours from Reykjavik through Extreme Iceland.
While self-driving in Iceland will be any day cheaper but both of us were not confident enough to drive in harsh Icelandic winter. Hence, we opted for the expertise of the tour companies. However, in case you want to self-drive, check this blog by Bruised Passport for a detailed guide on road tripping in Icelandic winter.
For the purpose of our blog, will keep the tour expenses under the head โActivitiesโ.
Although listing out here the entire local commutes that, we took.
Day 1 | Flybus โย Keflavik Airport to BSI Bus terminal, Reykjavik per person | INR 1,600 |
Day 1 | Public Bus-ย BSI Bus terminal to our hostel, Hlemmur Square per person | INR 250 |
Day 2 | Public Bus โย Hlemmur Square to BSI terminal (Golden Circle pick up), per person | INR 250 |
Day 6 | Flybus โย BSI Bus Terminal to Keflavik Airport, per person (free pick up from hostel was included), per person | INR 1,600 |
Total ย Getting around in Iceland expense for two | INR 7,400 | |
Commute in local transport is super costly within Reykjavik. It costed us INR 250 per person for 1.3 km distance between our hostel and the main bus terminus (BSI terminal).
Try to leave with enough time in hand and walk as much as possible in downtown Reykjavik. We did not take a local sim to save up cost & heavily depended on free WIFIs, but you can always take a local sim and a GPS & a map would be the best option to go around within Reykjavik. The city is very much walkable.
For airport transfers, book your bus tickets with Flybus here. Flybus is one of the cheapest way to get to the city. All buses are equipped with Wi-Fi and very comfortable seats. The distance between Keflavik International Airport to Reykjavik city is close to 45 kms & is covered within 40-45 mins
Activity expense in Iceland for two:
From chasing the magical auroras, to hiking the white wilderness; from seeing crystal blue Ice Caves to walking into the center of the earth inside a lava cave; Iceland has a lot to offer.
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As mentioned earlier, we had planned our own Itinerary & booked guided tours for going around Iceland. The activity cost hence include sum of all the tours that we took.
Note that, as per our original plan, we had chosen a 2-day South Coast Tour, which included Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon, and an Ice Cave. However, due to bad weather, it was cancelled and instead we were offered a 2-day tour of Snaefellsnes Peninsula.
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#TEETip: Try to book all your tours with one particular tour company and they will give you an extra discount. We booked all our tours even the airport Flybus tickets from Extreme Iceland and they provided a coupon of 10% discount (given if you are booking at least three tours with them). However sometime they only run certain discounts and if it is more than 10%, you can book it without using your 10% coupon. Get all details here
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Following are the prices we paid for our booked tours after discount.
Day 1 | ย ย Northern Light Tour with free photos, per person | INR 4,920 |
Day 2 | Golden Circle, per person | INR 3,700 |
Day 3& 4 | 2-day tour of Snaefellsnes Peninsula including Lava Cave and horse farm; per person (Stay and day 2 breakfast included) | INR 28,400 |
Day 5 | South Coast including Glacier walk; per person | INR 11,550 |
Total Activity expense in Iceland for two | INR 97,140 | |
Accommodation expense in Iceland for two:
Since we spent a bulk amount on guided tours, as we did not want to compromise on experience, we were sure that our stays had to be economic. In addition, we were going to be out mostly on tours and would return only at the end of the day for sleeping, so we decided to check hostels with a decent kitchen facility. Outside food in Iceland is super pricey; hence, we self-cooked to minimize expense. Also in our defense, we love hostels because they are culturally diverse & really comes very easy on your pocket. For budget travelers like us cost is a great concern.
We booked Hlemmur Square from booking.com and absolutely loved the stay. Beds were comfortable, even 14 bed dorms are enough spacious. Kitchen had good amount of utensils & basic cooking stuff. The hostel had an in-house bar & restaurant as well. The best part of the hostel was its location. It was right at bus stop 10, which is a major pickup point for all tour & bus services. Bonus supermarket is five mins walking and all major city attractions are within 1 km radius.
Also guess what, a 6-7 mins walk, brings you to the Atlantic Ocean. How amazing it is!
We booked two bunk beds for 4 nights as one night was covered in our 2-day tour of Snaefellsnes Peninsula
ย Total accommodation expense for two of us for four nights โ INR 9,800.ย
Around INR 1200 per night per person. This is as good as booking a good hotel in India only. Considering how expensive Iceland is and how top notch the hostels are this price was a steal deal. One of the major reasons why we could keep this trip within budget.
#TEETip: Hostels in Iceland are very good, only thing to remember is to carry your own towel and lock & key. Hostels do not provide that.
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Food expense in Iceland:
As we mentioned before, food in Iceland at restaurants are highly pricey and especially if you are on a budget trip, eating out will burn a hole in your pocket. Just for an example, a Shawarma (minced chicken wrapped in bread) will cost you close to 1000 ISK or 560 INR. Beer and coffee in Iceland are comparatively cheaper. You can get one glass of beer at 700 ISK or 350 INR and in happy hours, you can get two for the price. A cup of coffee can be around 300 ISK or 150 INR
To save on food expense, buying food supplies from a supermarket comes much cheaper than having food outside. Trying local cuisine is one thing & surviving on outside food is another. Choice is always yours. We chose to stock up food items like bread, eggs, spreads etc. to minimize on food expenses. There are a couple of supermarkets that have supplies that are comparatively cheap. Bonus Supermarket is one of the most famous among them. You will get chains of Bonus throughout Iceland. Just check the operational timing here.
Krรณnan. Nettรณ.are the other budget friendly supermarkets. You can see the map of all supermarkets in Iceland hereย ย ย ย ย ย
Icelandic waters are purest in the world. Just carry a bottle with you and you can refill it anywhere. Even tap waters are perfect for drinking. We used to have self-prepared breakfast in the morning and carry our lunch and snacks. Dinner we used to prepare once we were back in hostel.
#TEETip: Please note not all supermarkets in Iceland are cheap. For example, there was one 10-11 store opposite to our Hostel, which is operational 24*7. On our first day by the time we arrived, Bonus was closed and we had no option but buying from the 10-11 outside our hostel. The prices were almost double compared to Bonus.
Following are the Day wise breakup of our food expenses
Day 1 | ย ย ย 10-11 supermarket | INR 1,250 |
Day 2 | Bonus shopping (was more than suffice for 5 days) | INR 3,500 |
Day 2 | Coffee | INR 250 |
Day 3 | Coffee | INR 150 |
Day 4 | Coffee | INR 150 |
Day 4 | Ice-cream | INR 600 |
Day 5 | Coffee and hot chocolate | INR 350 |
Total food expense in Iceland for two | INR 6,250 | |
Miscellaneous expense
Souvenirs – When it comes to Souvenir, Iceland is very famous for its Icelandic woolen material and Viking showpieces. You can get a decent magnet at around 800 ISK or 400 INR & Coffee mugs for 1500 ISK or INR 750. This can totally be avoided if you are not into bringing souvenirs home. We love having souvenirs for our travel wall hence they are an important part of our travel budget.
Icelandic woolen items are also very good, but we did not buy any as they were costly & we did not need any. We bought all our souvenirs from Icewear. It was an authentic store and if you shop for more than 6000 ISK, you get a 14% tax refund at the airport while leaving Iceland. Please keep the bill handy.
Total souvenir expense for two of us in Iceland โ INR 6,300
Entry fee to go on top of Hallgrรญmskirkja church for two โ INR 1,120 (1000 ISK or 560 INR per person)
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Finally, to sum up, here is the total Iceland expense for two of us:
ย ย ย ย All Flight tickets | INR 95,300 |
Iceland Visa | INR 14,640 |
Getting around in Iceland including Airport transfer | INR 7,400 |
Activity cost (all tours) | INR 97,140 |
Accommodation cost | INR 9,800 |
Food cost | INR 6,250 |
Miscellaneous cost (shopping and entry fees) | INR 7,420 |
Total Cost for two | INR |
Please note that, the cost here is for two of us. It is a known fact that travel costs are much lesser when travelling in groups or when opting for self-drive. In Iceland as well, the cost would have been much lesser had we opted for self-drive; however, we minimized the extra spending on tours by containing our stay and food expenses at necessities. Ensuring a good night sleep and healthy food.
Wherever we go, not compromising on our experience has always been our top most priority, we may end up adjusting a bit with accommodation & food but that is how budget trips are, right?
This was our version of keeping Iceland expense for two economical. You can alter as per your need /choices & budget. Let us know if you need help planning your dream trip to Iceland!
Want us to help you plan Iceland? We would love to!!!
Genuinely appreciate the budget details on this one guys – Iceland is a bucket list destination for most of us and this one’s gonna help plan well! By the way, do you think its more interesting doing a roadtrip in a campervan or an RV? And any idea what that costs?
Thanks a lot guys. Doing a roadtrip will be always a better and more cost effective option. You can directly half the tour costs we have taken. However if it is winter and you are not experienced and confident in driving on a blanket of snow, you should avoid self driving
Loved how comprehensive this guide is!! Iceland seemed like a far fetched dream right now, but someday hopefully ๐
thanks Avantika…do let us know if you need anything while planning
Thanks for sharing each and every detail guys. This will help us planning our Iceland trip in future for sure. But to be honest, it is damn damn expensive..
agree with you Diana, Iceland is one of the costliest countries in Europe
I have been wanting to visit Iceland from really really long time and this indeed is the most detailed blog in terms of budget written on the place. Loved how you guys have broken down each and every expenses. Gives a true picture of how much one need to save for an Iceland trip!
Thanks for the Elobarate details presented. It will definitely be helpful to many of us in Planning a efficient holiday. By the way , what would be the right time to visit Iceland, and how many days would be ideal to cover this Place. Would appreciate your feedback. Regards.
Hi Ramahandra,
We recommend visiting between June to September if you want to see Iceland in full green, clear sky, landscape beauty and amazing condition to drive. However if you want to see Northern Lights and Ice Caves, December to March is recommended. October and April/May are the shoulder seasons, you mat get less crowds but not very effective conditions or things you want to see. A ring road trip around Iceland should take minimum 10 days. You can mail us to theexploringeyes1112@gmail.com, if you want us to plan your trip.
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