What I Spent in Iceland Over 8 Days & 1,200+ Miles

I booked my flight to Iceland largely on a whim. I needed something to look forward to and figured my opportunities for international travel will be limited once I start living in a van. Traveling to Iceland now, I reasoned, before van life officially begins, was a smart move. Iceland had always been on my bucket list, I’d even drafted out itineraries for potential trips, but had never managed to pull the trigger on actually taking the trip.

One thing I kept hearing about Iceland was that it was an expensive, albeit beautiful, place to visit. Most of my travels involve sleeping in the dirt, crossing deserts, climbing mountains and quickly going feral while culling together my meals from gas stations and small town grocery stores. As such, I felt confident Iceland would, in fact, be more expensive than my typical dirtbag adventure, and now that I’m back, I will say, yes, Iceland is more expensive than my hometown of Richmond, Virginia, but it’s not too far from what you might spend in pricier American cities, like New York, L.A. or Washington, D.C.

A Few Details

I went solo on this trip, and spent nine days and eight nights in Iceland. I set an ambitious schedule for myself and traveled around the Ring Road and to the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, too. I like to try new restaurants and beers when I travel, so finding and consuming good food was a priority for me. I spent just one night in a hotel, and otherwise slept at campgrounds in the campervan I rented.

Day-By-Day Expense Report

* If you want to skip the details and see the final breakdown by category, click here.

Pre-Travel Expenses

Generally, campsites in Iceland do not require advance booking, so my only pre-trip expenses were airfare and the campervan.

Round-trip airfare from Richmond, Virginia, to Keflavik, Iceland, with a hefty layover at JFK and less a $100 flight credit from my Delta SkyMiles Amex	$490.11
A 9-day rental of a small, heater-less campervan with a bed and basic camping equipment from Star Car Rental	$1,029.33

TOTAL: $1,519.44

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Day 0 – Travel to Iceland

A pre-flight beverage is, for me, a time-honored tradition.

One pre-flight beer at the airport	$15.66
Tips on the free drinks I ordered in the Delta Lounge at JFK	$5.00

TOTAL: $20.66

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Day 1 – Iceland Arrival + Travel to Vik

I arrived around 9 a.m. after an overnight flight and hit the ground running. I visited a few waterfalls, picked up a few groceries and had my first Icelandic pastry.

Parking Fees: In Iceland, most attractions have free entry, but do require you to pay a parking fee of around 1.000 ISK, or about $8. You probably won’t see a parking attendant, but there will be signs that tell you how to pay. You can pay for parking in cities and at many tourist attractions via the Parka App.

Groceries at Bónus, including chips, fruit, dried mango, gummy worms, fruit leathers, ramen and a few cans of cold brew coffee	$45.59
Coffee and a pastry at Almar Bakari	$9.32
Rest area restroom usage	$1.58
Parking fees at a few tourist spots, including Seljalandsfoss	$15.68
Campsite at Vik Camping	$18.02
One IPA and a plate of loaded fries at a brewery in town	$24.92

TOTAL: $115.11

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Day 2 – Vik to Höfn

The groceries I’d bought the day before sustained me for much of the day as I visited a handful of incredible sites on my way to Höfn. Once there, I picked a campsite and walked to what I knew would be a pricier dinner at Pakkhús, the place to try langoustines, little lobster-like crustaceans that call the frigid waters around Iceland home.

Parking fees ranging from $5.07 to $7.80 at various attractions	$20.67
Camping in Höfn	$19.50
Dinner at Pakkhús, which included langoustine soup, smoked salmon on Icelandic flatbread, and a scallop starter that was on special, along with a local beer	$81.91

TOTAL: $122.08

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Day 3 – Turning North – Höfn to Egilsstaðir

This was the start of a three-day geothermal bath bender. It proved to be a pretty incredible way to end a busy day.

Entry into Vestrahorn, plus a coffee and a chocolate muffin	$7.39 + 5.48
Fuel – about 3/4 of a tank	$76.81
Parking fees	$11.33
An Icelandic hot dog – my first of the trip! – and a small coffee	$9.22
Entry into my first geothermal baths, the Vök Baths + a beer to enjoy during my soak	$58.52 + $9.22
Camping in Egilsstaðir	$24.61
Pizza and a delicious IPA at a local taproom	$37.89

TOTAL: $240.47

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Day 4 – Egilsstaðir to Mývatn

I started the day with coffee from the coffee machine in the common area of my campground before setting out on what would prove to be one of my most favorite adventures. I pit-stopped in Husavik, the whale-watching capital of Iceland, and had one of the only mediocre and seemingly overpriced meals of my trip, before closing out the day in Mývatn.

Coffee machine coffee at the campground	$2.73
Parking fees at a trailhead and at a geothermal site	$17.14
Coffee and two day-old cookies to warm me up post-hike	$7.01
Lunch in Husavik that included fries, fish soup and a beer	$52.98
Entry into the Mývatn Nature Baths with one pre-paid drink	$60.76 + 7.81
Camping close to the baths	$24.54

TOTAL: $172.97

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Day 5 – Northern Iceland

I started the day with a waterfall, then visited Akureyri, the so-called “Capital of North Iceland.” I ended my thermal pool bender with one last dip at Forest Lagoon before heading to Hvammstangi for the night.

City parking in Akureyri	$4.12
Coffee and a pastry at a cute little bakery	$7.55
Voluntary donation at the botanical garden in town	$4.00
Another Icelandic hot dog (my second)	$6.97
Entry into Forest Lagoon + a beer	$53.46 + $9.22
Fuel, almost a full tank	$97.80
A quiet spot at a campsite overlooking Hvammstangi	$15.50
Dinner at a spot by the sea where I had a glass of a wine and a solid surf and turf salad	$49.57

TOTAL: $248.19

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Day 6 – Snaefellsnes Peninsula

I was determined to include this magnificent corner of Iceland, and I’m so glad I did. It was so beautiful and provided me the perfect opportunity to eat fish and chips for the very first time.

Fish and chips from a shack in Stykkishólmur	$23.31
Entry and tasting at the Bjarnarhöfn Shark Museum	$15.94
Fuel, almost a full tank	$96.22
Dinner at Sker in Ólafsvík, which included a glass of wine and some incredible burrata	$45.58
The most perfect little campsite in Hellissandur	$16.42

TOTAL: $197.47

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Day 7 – Snaefellsnes & my Reykjavík Return

Staying in Reykjavík wasn’t part of my original plan, but it ended up making sense, even if it did require a long drive.

Lamb soup and an espresso after being pelted with rain during a jaunt along the beach	$30.30
Parking fees at attractions including Seal Beach and Kirkjufell	$14.56
Fuel, most of a tank	$90.96
Camping in Reykjavik	$30.73
Dinner at a beer garden in the city, which included a beer and a spicy chicken platter with a ton of food	$43.04

TOTAL: $209.59

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Day 8 – Reykjavík

Originally, I was scheduled for a tattoo on my last full day in Iceland, but the artist had an emergency to tend to and had to cancel. That left me with the full day to eat, drink and be generally merry.

Went hard on breakfast at DEIG workshop with a bagel sammie, donut and a coffee	$27.04
Entry into the Settlement Exhibition	$23.31
Entry into the Icelandic Phallological Museum	$25.64
A large and rejuvenating beer at a local hotspot	$15.54
Entry into the Icelandic Punk Museum	$15.54
My third (and final) hot dog of the trip	$6.22
Dinner at Skál! This was a definite splurge, but I went for the 5-course tasting menu and had a few glasses of wine, too	$129.36
One room at the Canopy Hilton in the City Centre, which I mostly covered with points	$59.45 (+ 20,000 points)

TOTAL: $302.10

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Day 9 – Homeward Bound

My flight back to NYC was easy, but once I got there, chaos erupted and I ended up having to change airports due to a flight cancellation. That added $100 to my day that really shouldn’t have been there.

Cinnamon roll and a coffee at Brauð & Co	$10.67
24ish hours of parking in Reykjavík	$26.27
Fuel tank top-off	$65.80
Coffee and a donut @ JFK while I waited for my bags to come back for me so I could transfer to LGA	$10.38
A Lyft from JFK to LGA	$75.54
A “premium” martini in the lounge at LGA, which I counted as a life-saving measure, plus tip	$18.07
A Lyft back to the sweet comfort of my own home	$32.29

TOTAL: $239.02

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Trip Totals

GRAND TOTAL:

$3,397.09

Whew. That’s a lot of dollars.

And yet…I feel pretty comfortable with what I spent in Iceland. I did everything I wanted to do on that trip – except stay forever – and I left with no regrets. Obviously, I could have saved a good bit of money if I’d made more of my meals, but eating out is something I really enjoy about traveling to new places, especially new countries and I am, unlike my cattle dog, very food motivated. Plus, as a solo traveler, my time dining out gets me around other humans, even if only for an hour or so.