Prices in Iceland: How Much Is Food, Fuel, Tours

What are the prices in Iceland? The cheapest hotdog is about $5 (a better one costs about $10), a beer in a pub is $10 again, a liter of gasoline costs $2.5 (so a gallon is about $9.50), and the cheapest accommodation costs about $25 per person, but that’s really the absolute minimum… So how much does a trip to Iceland cost and what can you do to keep your budget reasonable – this article is all about it.

Food prices in Iceland

Food includes both groceries in stores and a wide variety of dishes in restaurants. Both – with few exceptions – are rather expensive in Iceland compared to other parts of EU. You can bring a lot of food with you from inside the EU, but restaurant costs are hard to avoid, because while in Iceland you really need to try some local specialties.

Food prices in grocery stores in Iceland

bread: 567 ISK ($4)

Unfortunately, food prices, even in discount grocery stores, are not low. Very few products can be found at prices attractive to most Europeans (these include butter, tomatoes, instant coffee, pasta sauces or instant noodles). And the quality is “not always top”.

In the article indicated above, you will find, among other things, many sample prices for various grocery items, as well as information on the availability of vegan, gluten-free and alcohol products. In the same article, we also describe the applicable limits for importing food items to Iceland. Importing them from EU, that is, as it’s prohibited to import them from outside EU.

Prices in restaurants: how much will you pay for lunch or dinner

svid – sheep’s head: about $30

Prices in the major restaurants start at around 5000 ISK ($35) for a main course. Dinner at a Michelin-listed restaurant (Dill) is about 20,000 ISK, so almost $150 (with soft drinks only).

Alcohol in Iceland

Alcohol is expensive in Iceland and access to it is severely limited. A can of beer costs the equivalent of about $4 (at a store), wines start at about $20 per bottle, and a liter of vodka costs approx. $75.

Vinbudin chain logo

In
Iceland distribution of alcohol is quite restricted. Any products with alcohol content are sold only by the Vinbudin stores. These are open for a short time and often at rather unusual hours, and the prices themselves are quite high there.

You can read a lot more about it here: Grocery Shopping in Iceland: Prices and Store Opening Hours.

For Scandinavian countries, this is fairly typical, but for tourists from other parts of the world it can be quite surprising.

Budget eating in Iceland

The popular rule of thumb, “if you want to eat cheap – get out of your hotel and eat like locals” works poorly in Iceland. Simply put: the locals are pretty well-off and you can’t really eat out and keep your trip costs low at the same time. A budget trip requires cooking on your own, which is why the next article – Self Catering in Iceland – All You Need to Know – talks about the specifics of hostel and camping kitchens in Iceland, the availability of products in stores, and what you might want to bring with you from home and why.

Flight price to Iceland

Exit from the airport

Summer is definitely the most expensive and so (especially if you’re coming from other parts of Europe) you can save a lot on the flights if you choose to come in winter or at least in the shoulder season (so Apr-May and Oct-Nov). Summer prices may be 2-3 times higher then those off-season ones.

As to how early you should book your tickets – there’s no clear, repetitive and reliable rule about that. Somewhere between 6 months and 2 weeks in advance your chances for a great bargain are the highest, but nothing is guaranteed really.

In the high season the “traditional” airlines usually have a better offer (inside EU). While in the low season, the low-cost airlines are usually unbeatable. Oftentimes you can get the best deals in the last days (or maybe: weeks) before departure. Booking the trip in the “last minute mode” is somewhat demanding, but it can be fun too and it can save you some money. In any case it is truly best to use a specialised comparison site for that – such as: the SkyScanner.

See more detailed information on flight costs (and more) here: Iceland Trip Costs.

Cost of renting a car in Iceland

How much does it cost to rent a car in Iceland? Renting a small car (Aygo, Yaris, i10) for 5 days costs approx. $250 in low season (October – May) and as much as $700 in summer; a medium-sized car (Golf, i30, Octavia) for 5 days will cost you about $300 in low season and $800 in summer; renting a basic 4×4 car (Dacia Duster is the popular standard) costs about $300 in low season and up to $1000 in the summer months. Large 4×4’s and RVs prices can go all the way up to $3,000 per week (or more, in all honesty) – see further below.

Renting a car in Iceland: a Complete Guide

Not all rental companies have their parking and customer service directly at the airport and inside the arrivals hall, but virtually everyone offers pick up service and will transfer you to their office in Keflavik very conveniently. It’s usually no more than a five-minute drive. Same service is offered for the car drop-off – if you return it at the rental company, the staff will take you to the airport.

However, not all rental companies work around the clock. While practically all of them allow you to drop-off the car at any time, the pick-up will sometimes be restricted to regular office hours. So if you arrive in Iceland at night, your choices are a bit limited.

As to renting at the airport vs Reykjavik city: remember that a bus shuttle transfer will cost you about $35 per person, per ride. So if you’re a family of 4, renting almost any car at the airport will pay for itself immediately. And you still get all the extra flexibility and independence of a self drive.

RV rental prices in Iceland

Popular campervan sizes

Larger and more comfortable ones cost approx. $600, and an economy motorhome about $1400 (but not many motorhomes are rented in winter at all).

These prices go about 50% higher in the shoulder season (spring and autumn), and in summer time they can be 2 times higher than this (or more). Renting a small, two-person campervan in July can cost upwards of $850 for 5 days, a 4-person campervan: $1,600, and a 5-person motorhome can easily approach $3,000. Unless you plan to stay in higher quality hotels, car rental will likely be the largest part of your total trip cost.

A separate category is specific Icelandic 4×4 campervans based on Dodge Ram or Toyota HiLux semi-trucks. Renting such a vehicle in winter costs about $900, in spring and autumn $1,500, and in summer even $2,250 (or more if you book late). These RVs are most useful in summer, because they allow you to travel almost without restrictions on mountain roads, in the Icelandic interiors.

Fuel prices: how much does gasoline and diesel cost in Iceland

A liter of 95 gasoline in Iceland costs between 280 and 315 ISK, so about $2.00 to $2.25 per liter or $7.57 – $8.52 per gallon (2023). Diesel is 288 to 311 ISK, so $2.05 – $2.22 per liter or $7.80 – $8.40 per gallon. Prices – of course – change over time. These specific ones are from July, 2023.

The lowest prices are offered by Orkan network stations in Reykjavik (at Bústaðavegur, Dalvegur and Reykjavíkurvegur) and in Akureyri (at Mýrarvegur). But also in other parts of Iceland, it’s the Orkan (and sometimes OB) stations that offer the lowest fuel prices.

The most expensive station in Iceland: Olis in Hrauneyjar

Interestingly the price difference between N1 and Orkan is almost 9%. That’s why it usually pays to avoid N1 stations, even if you have a special promotional card entitling you to a discount, because that discount is only 3%. Besides, the dispensers at N1 stations do not accept contactless cards, and there are problems with the use of Revolut cards (including plastic ones) at these stations. So as a cost-saving measure and for your convenience: try fueling up at Orkan (or OB) stations.

Detailed and up-to-date prices from all stations in Iceland can be found here: Bensinverd.

How much does accommodation cost in Iceland

One of the most affordable accommodations: Fossatun Camping Pods

But these are winter prices – in summer they can grow by 2x or more. A room in a nice three-star hotel in summer usually costs about $500 per night. In comparison: prices in hostels rise in summer to about $100 per person per night.

We point out specific recommended accommodations with their prices and location in our Travel Plans, such as this one: Short Self Drive in Iceland: 3 to 5 Days.

Prices for camping and camping equipment in Iceland

A fairly large part of the cost of a trip to Iceland – especially in summer – is accommodation. Therefore, a popular formula for a trip is to sleep at campsites – in tents or RVs. RVs (or campervans) rarely reduce the overall trip costs, as renting them is quite expensive.

Tents, on the other hand, are certainly a cheap form of accommodation, but even in summer you need a good sleeping bag, and not all campgrounds provide really good ‘kitchen and bathroom’ facilities. There are also several additional costs associated with a camping trip – transporting or renting equipment (tents, stoves, others), buying gas for stoves, etc.

How much do campsites in Iceland cost

drying laundry at a campsite

Trekking equipment prices

Trekking equipment – clothes, tents, thermoses, crampons – is many times more expensive in Iceland than on Amazon (e.g. crampons cost more than 9000 ISK, or more than $65, where on Amazon you can easily get decent ones for under $15). You will certainly find the best selection of equipment at the Ellingsen store, in the docks of Reykjavik – Fiskislóð Street 1.

A lot of equipment can also be rented at the BSI bus terminal. Gear can be selected and reserved at iceland-camping-equipment.com and on a fixed date it will be waiting for you in a special locker in the terminal area, even outside the rental shop’s business hours.

There are also quite a few tourist clothing stores in Reykjavik (and in Iceland in general), but they also tend to be quite expensive. Relatively good bargains can be found, for example, in the outlet of the Icewear chain at Fákafen 9. In emergency situations, second-hand stores can be helpful (one of them is located in the Kringlan gallery on level -1).

Camping gas prices in Iceland

Compressed gas is, of course, one of the products that is not allowed to be transported by plane under any circumstances. So although it is (also) quite expensive in Iceland, we just have to accept that.

Tourist gas shelf at N1 station

How much do maps of Iceland cost

Maps of Iceland are available in bookstores and gas stations. They cost about 2500-3000 ISK, or $18 – $22. But they are mostly maps for drivers, in 1:300,000 scale or smaller. So they are far too general for hiking, but also their usefulness for driving is questionable. After all, navigation on your phone works great, and a map of such a small scale won’t help you if you want to make sure you don’t get lost on the F910….

Hiking / trekking maps are available at many bookstores and some gas stations. They also cost about 2500-3000 ISK, or $18 – $22. However the map with the largest scale we were able to find is 1:100,000, which is at the limit of usefulness for a hiker. Several maps are available at this scale, separately for each region of Iceland. Selected fragments are also mapped on some of them at a scale of 1:50,000, so a good one, but unfortunately, this applies only to selected parts of a given region – for example, Fimmvorduhals and Thorsmork, but not the entire Laugavegur. So again: best use a map on your phone for hiking and bring a large powerbank if you’re going for a multi-day hike.

Laugavegur map notebook

On the ground, the main hiking trails are marked fairly well for most of their length, but minor, side trails are often marked very poorly or simply not at all. Due to lack of forests, it is quite difficult to get lost in Iceland (in good weather!), but nevertheless the lack of an accurate map can cause some discomfort while hiking. Things might easily get worse in bad weather (fog, sleet, strong winds), but for those situations you’re definitely best-off with a map on your phone.

Prices of additional attractions

Visiting Iceland is all about seeing beautiful landscapes, most of which are available for free or for a small parking fee. However, some of the available attractions require specialized equipment and/or the care of a professional guide, and therefore incur a sizable additional fee. Others are quite elaborate museums or open-air museums – such as Arbaer and Perlan. And a separate category is SPAs and hot lagoons – a symbol of Iceland that is definitely worth exploring in person.

How much do additional paid attractions in Iceland cost?

Here are the prices of 10 selected, most interesting additional tours or attractions to enjoy (for a fee) while in Iceland:

Fishing boat tour

Jokulsarlon ice cave

Jokulsarlon boat cruise

Vidgelmir cave

Blue Lagoon

Krauma SPA

Arbaer

Perlan exibitions

Fridheimar restaurant

svid - boiled sheep head

Of course, there are many, many more paid attractions available, but the others – in our opinion – can be safely skipped. On the other hand, the attractions described above – if your budget allows – are really worth including in your Iceland trip plan.

What attractions in Iceland are available for free?

The list of free attractions in Iceland is extremely long, especially if you include on it the attractions available for a small parking fee only (up to 1000 ISK / $7). Driving along Route 1 around the island, every few kilometers you come across a sight worth seeing… But even if they are all free, some of them are worth more than others…

Here are the top 10 things to do or see for free in Iceland (links direct you to articles describing the thing or place in more detail):

Aurora

Swimming in Askja

Landmannalaugar

Hveradalir

Reynisfjara

Diamond Beach

Reykjadalur

Glymur waterfall

Gullfoss waterfall

Raudfeldsgja

Puffins on Dyrholaey

For more of the most interesting places to see and things to do in Iceland, see this article: Top 10 Things You Need to Do in Iceland.

How best to pay – by card or cash?

Quite often we encounter the question of whether it is worth paying in Iceland with a payment card (or a credit card), or are there some fees associated with it and it is better to pay with cash. Therefore, we have tested many different options and sum them up here.

We will just point out that card payment is available virtually everywhere. It NEVER happened to us that we needed cash, because even if the shower at the campsite only works on 100 ISK coins, the campground staff would issue such coins in exchange for payment by card.

What’s important: as much as possible, the opposite happens and cash is often of no use. Many gas stations are fully automatic, fully self-service and you can’t pay there with cash at all. Sometimes (mainly at the most expensive stations – N1) a physical card is required, but most often we can pay everywhere with a ‘card on the phone’ as well. As of about 2020, in practice, we haven’t paid for anything in any other way than by phone…

Of course banks, card organizations (such as Visa or AmEx), as well as exchange offices earn their money by processing our transactions (or exchanging cash for us). One way or another all of them charge us a bit for that – there’s no escaping that. However, the sum of these costs is always the lowest for cashless transactions. That is why you are most likely to pay the lowest fees on your card payments (esp. if you have some special travel/international deals), while exchanging cash will almost always cost you more.

If your bank, or your card issuer, charges too much for international transactions and/or is using highly unfavorable f/x rates, you can open one of the popular international cards – Revolut or Wise. If you opt for the virtual card only, then the card costs you nothing and the currency exchange rates are much better than any bank will offer.

The Revolut card, and account, is super easy and quick to set up – just follow this link: sign up for a Revolut card. YYou can set up an account in your home currency and then pay in any currency around the world with top f/x rates, no need to carry cash and no issues of having exchanged too much of it.

Alternatively you may try the Wise account and card. It is supposedly a bit better if you travel also to Africa and Asia a lot. Click here: sign up for a Wise card. But the main downside is that setting up the free, virtual card is significantly more complicated. Still easy, but not as easy as Revolut.

A virtual card is one you can ‘load up’ to your Apple or Google wallet on your phone and use as any other card there. You just don’t have a physical plastic for it. Physical cards are really not necessary in Iceland. You can pay with your card literally everywhere and for everything and all the card terminals accept contactless cards. So in short: you can pay with your phone for everything.

The only exception from the above are some rural N1 gas stations. The N1 network is actually the most expensive one, so you should stay away from it as much as possible, even if you get that “special” discount card there (everyone gets it, so it’s not really special). The challenge is that N1 is the largest and most dense network in Iceland, so sometimes it’s your only option (hence the high prices). And the small, rural N1 stations are sometimes strictly automated – there is no staff you can pay with etc., you have to pay at the pump and that terminal might require a physical card. Every year there’s fewer of these, but you can still find them.

So as a back-up solution, it’s a good idea to bring a physical card with you as well. You don’t have to plan to use it much, but it’s good to have it. Visa and MasterCard are the most popular, but AmEx is just as widely accepted, if that’s your preference. We would however advise to steer away from any other card provider – especially for the back-up card you really want something that will work everywhere, right?

For both cards above you will have to give quite some personal information. After all you’re opening a new bank account and must be identified properly, even though you don’t have to go anywhere and present yourself (and your documents) in person. This is largely due to the international anti-money laundering laws coming into play, but there’s nothing difficult there really.

Just remember to always pay in local currency (so ISK in Iceland), so that the exchange rate used for the transaction is that of Revolut/Wise, and not the local bank operating the card terminal.

Exchanging physical banknotes for kroner (ISK) and paying in cash not only comes out the most expensive, but almost always leaves you with some amount of unspent kroner, which is an additional cost, and if you exchange it back, at an even worse rate.

What are the total costs of going to Iceland

Many people ask: how much does a trip to Iceland cost in total? What costs do you need to prepare for? Well, according to our statement, the minimum cost of a 7-day trip in May is about $500 per person, and in July – about $750. These are minimal, but realistic costs – without extreme sacrifices. However, they require, among other things, sleeping in tents, which can be a challenge, especially in May.

A trip based on accommodation in hostels and guesthouses will be about 2-3 times more expensive – we estimate it at about $1,250 per person in May and $1,900 in July. A cheaper alternative is a winter trip – when you can “fit” in $500 per person sleeping in hostels and guesthouses (plus you can see the aurora borealis and ice caves – see: Winter trip to Iceland – a Complete Guide).

For those who like to sleep in quality hotels, the costs are virtually unlimited – for example, an overnight stay for 2 people at the Retreat Hotel in the Blue Lagoon complex starts from $1,250 per night. Other attractions – for example, helicopter sightseeing flights start at about $400 per person. Glacier snowmobile tours – from $300. The costs can be multiplied almost infinitely….

The exact amount of expenses depends on many factors. Naturally important is the season in which we go, the length of the trip, the number of additional paid attractions we will use, the standard of accommodation and how often we will eat out. It’s also important how many people we’re going with, because the cost of the car is spread over all participants, and accommodation can sometimes be found cheaper if we rent it for a larger group. We look in more detail at the many different options for trips in a separate article: Iceland Trip Costs.

If you’re thinking about going to Iceland, it might be best to start by reading our guide on when it’s the best time to go:

When Is the Best Time for Visiting Iceland (Complete Guide)