STOP Overpaying for Iceland Travel! Budget Tips You NEED to Know

[00:00] Iceland known for its stunning

[00:04] Beauty and being pretty expensive it's

[00:07] no secret that Iceland is not the most

[00:09] affordable destination in the world but

[00:11] what if I told you that you could

[00:13] experience all the magic of Iceland

[00:16] without spending a fortune in this video

[00:18] I'm talking about how to travel Iceland

[00:20] on a budget including accommodation

[00:22] tours food drink and all of the things

[00:26] hey my name is jeie and I've been

[00:27] exploring Iceland for the past 10 years

[00:30] I've written guide books and itineraries

[00:31] that have over 500 f-star reviews and my

[00:34] mission is to help you plan the best

[00:36] trip ever let's get into it all right

[00:39] let's talk about your first big expense

[00:41] where you're going to sleep at night

[00:43] there are a few different options to

[00:44] keep your cost down first is you could

[00:46] stay at something like a hostel or a

[00:49] guest house this is a great option for

[00:52] solo Travelers or small groups hostels

[00:54] in Iceland are not like hostels in

[00:57] Europe they're cleaner more expensive

[01:00] and very cozy so the benefits of staying

[01:04] in a hostel is that you're going to be

[01:05] saving money and you'll have a shared

[01:07] kitchen so that you can cook your own

[01:08] meals guest houses are probably one of

[01:11] my favorite ways to stay in Iceland this

[01:14] is going to be more like a big home for

[01:16] example with a private room but shared

[01:20] Community spaces like shared couches to

[01:22] hang out on and a shared kitchen as well

[01:25] so this way prices are going to be

[01:26] cheaper than hotels but just as

[01:29] comfortable for this type of

[01:30] accommodation you'd probably budget

[01:32] between $50 to $150 a night really

[01:36] really depends on if you're getting like

[01:38] a shared accommodation in the hostel or

[01:40] if you're having more of a private room

[01:42] private bathroom in a guest house

[01:44] another way to go is by renting an

[01:46] Airbnb or a local rental these options

[01:50] are going to be much cheaper than

[01:51] staying in a hotel but much more private

[01:54] than a hostel or a guest house for this

[01:57] option you're going to need to budget

[01:59] around $150 to $250 a night Pro tip very

[02:05] very important you need to book these

[02:08] accommodations as far in advance as

[02:11] possible especially during Peak travel

[02:13] times it's the number one area in

[02:16] tourism in Iceland that cannot keep up

[02:19] very well with the demand in the sheer

[02:21] number of Travelers so as it gets closer

[02:24] to that Peak Travel season they do start

[02:26] bumping up the prices because they know

[02:28] that people will have to pay for them

[02:30] regardless so do yourself a favor and

[02:32] make sure to book early the last option

[02:35] is to camp camping is a great way to

[02:38] save a lot of money because this is

[02:40] where you're going to get your cheapest

[02:42] accommodation Iceland campsites are open

[02:45] year round weather permitting but

[02:47] camping is a great way to see Iceland

[02:49] I've done several videos on renting a

[02:51] camper van if you don't want to rough it

[02:53] with a tent so make sure to check out

[02:55] those videos for a lot more information

[02:58] but in terms of budgeting you're

[03:00] thinking about5 or $10 per person per

[03:03] night okay we need to talk about how to

[03:06] get around Iceland my personal opinion

[03:10] the best way to see Iceland is by

[03:12] renting a car and driving yourself there

[03:15] is nothing better than a road trip in

[03:17] Iceland nothing renting a car gives you

[03:20] the flexibility and freedom to go

[03:23] wherever you want you can explore all

[03:25] the remote areas at your own pace and it

[03:28] gives you complete freedom to stop

[03:31] whenever you want one way that you can

[03:33] save on rental costs in this area is to

[03:36] get a smaller economy car I don't

[03:38] recommend doing this for winter travel

[03:41] but if you're traveling in the summer

[03:42] and you're not planning on traveling

[03:44] into the highlands or the F roads if you

[03:46] just get a small economy car and just

[03:49] cram in as much as possible that will be

[03:51] your most budget option for renting your

[03:54] own vehicle if you're looking to do

[03:56] public transportation just know that

[03:59] this is not the easiest way to get

[04:01] around Iceland but it is possible if

[04:03] you're thinking about staying in raikov

[04:06] and you're just wanting to kind of

[04:07] explore around the city then you're

[04:08] going to want to hop on the public

[04:10] transportation bus which is called stto

[04:13] and this is really your great option for

[04:15] short distances around the city if you

[04:17] want to travel out into the countryside

[04:20] or do some day trips then there are bus

[04:22] companies that do like a day trip around

[04:25] the Golden Circle or even kind of like a

[04:28] hop on and Hop Off tour around the Ring

[04:32] Road even this is just going to require

[04:34] a lot more planning in terms of like

[04:36] knowing bus schedules but there are

[04:38] companies that will drop you off in SOS

[04:42] and drop you off in ve just knowe that

[04:45] this is a much slower option for

[04:47] traveling and it's also less convenient

[04:50] for exploring those more remote areas or

[04:54] getting to the hidden gems another great

[04:56] way to save on Transportation is car

[04:58] pooling there is a car pooling and

[05:01] Iceland website if you're wanting to

[05:03] hook up with other Travelers that are

[05:05] kind of traveling around and trying to

[05:07] ride share or just by traveling with a

[05:10] group of people is going to be a great

[05:12] way to split your travel costs like a

[05:14] vehicle rental or fuel speaking of

[05:16] saving money if you're renting a vehicle

[05:18] in Iceland I have arranged a VIP

[05:20] discount for you the company I recommend

[05:22] is blue car it's a local business with

[05:25] great customer service and insurance is

[05:27] already included in their prices grab my

[05:29] disc account by clicking the link in the

[05:31] description below moving on to food and

[05:33] beverage if you're not careful this can

[05:36] take up a big majority of your budget

[05:39] but don't worry with a little bit of

[05:41] planning and some Pro tips you can keep

[05:44] your meals affordable first thing I

[05:46] recommend is to cook your own meals

[05:49] especially if you're staying at a place

[05:51] we just talked about before like a

[05:52] hostel or an Airbnb and you can shop at

[05:55] a grocery store bring it back at the end

[05:57] of the evening and cook your own meals

[06:00] this is definitely going to be your most

[06:02] budget option an average meal in a

[06:05] restaurant and I'm talking any

[06:07] restaurant is going to be between $ 20

[06:09] to $50 but your average price for a

[06:12] home-cooked meal would be around $5 to

[06:14] $10 so huge money-saving opportunity

[06:18] here another thing to consider is eating

[06:20] at like a budget friendly Cafe slash gas

[06:25] station it feels silly saying this but

[06:28] hear me out first first of all the local

[06:31] bakeries are so good they don't just

[06:34] make sweets a lot of times you can find

[06:37] pizza or sandwiches that are really

[06:40] affordable so you can just kind of grab

[06:42] that and head out on the road another

[06:45] thing to look out for is a soup Buffet

[06:47] because a lot of times they'll allow a

[06:49] refill and have unlimited bread and

[06:53] don't discount the Icelandic hot dog at

[06:55] a gas station for about $5 each I know a

[06:59] lot of people use this as a way to stay

[07:02] really under budget while traveling

[07:03] around Iceland because you can't beat it

[07:07] and they're actually good another tip

[07:09] for avoiding costs in food and drink

[07:11] category is to not buy alcohol while

[07:14] you're at a restaurant now I get it it's

[07:17] really really fun to sit at this

[07:19] beautiful Cozy Cafe and have a beer or a

[07:22] glass of wine but those prices are very

[07:26] very jacked up so what you could do

[07:28] instead is wait until you get back to

[07:30] your hotel or accommodation for the

[07:32] evening and crack open the dutyfree that

[07:35] you had grabbed at the airport and enjoy

[07:38] your adult beverage there moving on to

[07:41] activities to save money in Iceland the

[07:44] good thing about this beautiful country

[07:46] is that there are so many free things to

[07:50] do free things to see so you don't have

[07:53] to take a tour or pay someone to bring

[07:57] you to a place in order to see the most

[08:00] fantastic sites so the first thing we

[08:02] consider doing is hiking there are so

[08:06] many so many hiking trails in Iceland a

[08:09] lot of them are well known like hiking

[08:11] up to raake your dollar or or hiking to

[08:15] waterfalls I have an entire hiking and

[08:18] Iceland playlist definitely start there

[08:20] to check out some of those videos for

[08:22] inspiration on where to go and what to

[08:24] do but hiking is a great way to kind of

[08:27] explore the Wilderness for free

[08:29] another activity that you can do is get

[08:31] into those hot springs or geothermal

[08:34] pools and I know what you're thinking

[08:36] the Blue Lagoon is the most expensive

[08:38] thing in Iceland but there are

[08:40] definitely a budget Spa alternatives for

[08:44] example the secret Lagoon does it have

[08:47] the blue water and the white mask no but

[08:50] it is an experience that is definitely

[08:52] more affordable than the Blue Lagoon

[08:55] another thing to do that is severely

[08:57] underrated which is visit the local

[09:00] geothermal pools and if you have little

[09:03] ones a lot of times there's a mini

[09:05] splash pad or water slides the perfect

[09:07] little activity at a fraction of the

[09:10] price you can still get in your hot

[09:12] water fix and you don't have to pay

[09:13] those High Spa prices if you do want to

[09:17] take a tour I have a couple of great

[09:19] options to save money first of all the

[09:21] food walk is where you can sample

[09:24] Iceland's most delicious Cuisine with

[09:26] the highest rated f tour in rikic you

[09:29] can use my code Iceland with a VI to get

[09:31] 10% off this is such a great way to

[09:34] sample Iceland's delicious Cuisine or

[09:38] there is actually a free City Walk tour

[09:41] that you can book with a guide to walk

[09:43] around ruic they'll point out all the

[09:45] important buildings and give you some

[09:47] Icelandic culture lessons see lots of

[09:51] things to do on a budget now that you

[09:53] know how to travel to Iceland on a

[09:54] budget we need to talk about the best

[09:56] activities and tours to book on your

[09:58] trip and then next video I'm going to

[10:00] give you the inside scoop on the best

[10:02] tours and how to book them without

[10:03] breaking the bank I'll see you in the

[10:05] next video but until then Happy planning