Iceland advice??? Mse style??

mrs_lds

Any advice for goi g to iceland mse style. Flights book abd accomodation. I have heard pfices are horrific for eating out so bringing food to cook out there. Any advice re car hire or is it best to go on a tour. Any frugal tips for traveling there please.

cubegame

A good money saving tip for Iceland is not to go! :-)

Seriously though, it rather depends on when you go. In summer, it is one of the world's most expensive destinations as accommodation is so limited, meaning you can pay lots for a very basic room (£150+) for a night.

In winter (if you're going for Northern lights) it's cheaper but days are very short.

We went in April (call it shoulder season) which is a good time to go for the best price and day length compromise.

My travel tip would be to get a hire car and drive the ring road which goes all around the island. At a good pace it will take seven days but the scenery is mind-blowing.

Shimrod

mrs_lds wrote: »

Any advice for goi g to iceland mse style. Flights book abd accomodation. I have heard pfices are horrific for eating out so bringing food to cook out there. Any advice re car hire or is it best to go on a tour. Any frugal tips for traveling there please.

It all depends on how long you are going for. For longer stays, booking self catering accommodation is much better value than hotels. You might find the cost per night is about the same as a hotel (if there are only two of you), but you save by avoiding the costs of eating out. Car hire pays for itself if you plan on doing more than two tours.



If you are doing a long weekend break and staying based in Reykjavik, then find a value hotel (look for flight and hotel deals on sites like Expedia) and book a couple of tours. There are some cheaper places to eat if you don't mind going to places like KFC.

waamo

If you want an alcoholic drink buy some in the airport before you go. We paid about £35 for a bottle of wine in a supermarket.

Robin9

mrs_lds wrote: »

......so bringing food to cook out there. .

How are you intending to do this ?


PS There are a lot of horses in Iceland but horsemeat never knowingly appears on the menu !

blindman

mrs_lds wrote: »

Any advice for goi g to iceland mse style. Flights book abd accomodation. I have heard pfices are horrific for eating out so bringing food to cook out there. Any advice re car hire or is it best to go on a tour. Any frugal tips for traveling there please.

Flights
BA RFS or Easy Jet.
Accommodation
Booking.com or AirBnb
Get ones where you can cook your self.
Small grocery type stores around, shop there.
Hire a car if there for 3 days or more.
Alcohol
Take it with you and\or buy at the airport Duty free on landing.

Ring road is doable in an easy 7 day trip.
Hot springs
Find a free one

Shimrod

blindman wrote: »

Flights
BA RFS or Easy Jet.

Don't rule out Icelandair -the last couple of years they have been cheaper than Easyjet flying from Manchester. Edinburgh and London offer the option of WOW air as well.

Robin9 wrote: »

PS There are a lot of horses in Iceland but horsemeat never knowingly appears on the menu !

The settlement centre in Borganes offers horsemeat in their restaurant: http://www.landnam.is/eng/

Katiehound

Iceland is... super expensive.
Did the Golden Circle tour last year- went to toilet at Thingvellir Nat Park & paid with CC. (No currency- enroute to Greenland! ) No commission on my Halifax Clarity- but loo trip cost £1.45!!

I reckon it's the most expensive place I have visited.
In one tourist shop kit to knit your own shawl was £90 and in another,cheapie tat souvenir table said "everything under E30". It was utter rubbish........

BarryBlue

Iceland is certainly expensive, but one way of seeing some of it is on a cruise ship. Our first visit there was via the Norwegian Fjords, which are spectacular in themselves, crossing to Iceland and visiting Akureyri, Isafjordur and Reykjavik.

We did the Golden Circle with a local company, a third of the cost of the ship's tour and less people. It is truly spectacular. The sights are all free admission too. As you are dining mostly on the ship, the cost of food and drink are not too important.

They do eat some strange things in Iceland. We saw a restaurant in Reykjavik that had a 'Whale menu' and a 'Puffin Menu', and saw a few menus offering guillemot. On the positive side, the coffee shops usually offer free refills. We also found that banks offer everyone coffee too, even if only using the ATM.

pelirocco

We didnt find it overly expensive tbh ...well not much more than other European Capital cities ( I think Stockholm is the out right winner !) Alcahol is expensive , restaurants prices vary , basic meals arent too bad price wise . If you are going outside of winter hire a car and tour round you will see so much more . We were in Reykjavik in February , and very lucky that we had loads of snow ( looks much prettier in winter when its covered in snow ! ) didnt see the lights , they are a very rare sighting . The blue lagoon was fun in the snow , and the golden circle tour would be a bit diasppointing had we not had the amazing covering of snow I think
I would like to go back in the summer and tour round
I was pretty impressed with Icelandair btw

Ballard

It remains the most expensive place I’ve visited and few things are cheap. There’s a duty free shop for arrivals at the airport which would make it more affordable if you’d drink at the hotel/apartment.

You can’t buy alcohol in standard shops there, you need to go to a government shop. I have no idea of the prices.

There are a few geothermally heated swimming pools around which are good and fairly cheap. I visited three different ones, one of which being outside.

I did see a box of cornflakes for £8 and a loaf of bread for £9. A basic breakfast was about £12 if memory serves me right.