HOW TO TRAVEL ICELAND ON A BUDGET
On June 2018 I road tripped around Iceland for 11 days with two of my friends! Hands down the most breathtaking place I have ever visited. It's called the land of fire and ice for a reason. You see every kind of landscape you can think of when visiting there!
If you have ever considered going to Iceland, you will know that it is not a cheap trip! It currently ranks as the third most expensive country to visit in the world. The most helpful blog posts we read while planning our trip were the ones that helped us travel on a budget! So I thought I would share what we did to make our trip as affordable as possible.
What time of year should you travel? The cheapest time to travel to Iceland is during the winter months for reasons that are pretty obvious.. the entire island is covered in snow. Brrr! No thank you..
BUT if you did visit in the winter you would get a chance to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)! Since we sometimes get to see the northern lights where we live, that wasn't a big draw for us.
So, we decided to travel there in the summer. It was definitely more expensive in some ways, but we figured out how to save during the trip to counter those costs by doing the 8 things I've listed below! One big reason we decided to go there in June is because it never gets dark outside! The sun would set around 3am and it would come back up around 6am, which means adventuring all day and night is possible!
Don't be afraid of the price to fly! The flight really are reasonable if you are near a large airport or are willing to travel to one! Iceland Air provides a great flight experience as well. This will probably be the biggest expense depending on how long you go, so set reminders on flight tracking websites for when the prices go down.
Share a checked bag with the people you are traveling with! Also, the more people the better, that way you can split all of the costs.
Do not buy all the extra car insurance, you won't need it! Of course, do what you are comfortable with but they will try to sell you on getting all the extras.
Tent camp the entire time. Obviously this is only a suggestion if you are traveling during the months there isn't snow on the ground but we saved SO much money by camping and it was a lot of fun! Honestly, sometimes I actually miss it! Another option would be to rent a camper van which is what I will do the next time I visit!
BRING YOUR OWN FOOD + DRINKS! You heard me. We brought a jet-boil and made freeze dried meals to save money. They were actually pretty tasty! We also brought instant coffee packets which to be honest, didn't do it for me, but a lot of people love them!
When you do need to buy food, shop at BONUS. This is where the locals shop and you will see that resemble in the prices. We survived off of pb+j's and ramen noodles.. haha!
Make sure to bring your own water bottle and don't EVER buy water. All the water you find in Iceland is drinkable and it's goooood! We ever drank out of some of the rivers!
Skip the extras...like the Blue Lagoon! Some people may disagree with me on this but to be honest, it didn't live up to hype for me. The natural hot springs we found along our travels were so much better and they didn't cost a thing!
I want to go back and visit again so badly! A trip I will always remember and cherish!
Did you guys like this blog post? Let me know if there are any other posts you would like me to make about Iceland or any of my travels!
Thanks for reading! Feel free to share your Iceland travel experience with us! -B