Reykjavík Iceland 10 days
Posted by AggravatingRough@reddit | Shoestring | View on Reddit | 35 comments
Wife and I are thinking of doing 10 days in Iceland landing in Reykjavík. I was told stays get expensive there. Does someone have advice on how they saved cost on accommodation while staying at clean nice spots.
Also if you can recommend how you figured out multiple stays, assuming you stayed in multiple spots in Iceland.
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
[removed]
AggravatingRough@reddit (OP)
Thanks for sharing, great video. Are you the person in the video
pixiepoops9@reddit
I'm not but I saw it a couple of months ago and it seems pretty much exactly what you asked for.
AutoModerator@reddit
In order to reduce spam content, linking to YouTube videos has been disabled. If you feel this has been done in error, please contact the r/Shoestring team via ModMail.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
tgbarbie@reddit
The most economical way to do Iceland is to rent a camper van and stay at campsites. Then you have a vehicle, a room, and a mini kitchen in one. There are tons of great 10 day Ring Road itineraries out there once you start looking. It's a circle so you move pretty much every night. We did 12 nights and stayed in 9 hotels.
Illustrious-Lime706@reddit
I’m confused. Did you stay at campsites or hotels?
tgbarbie@reddit
We stayed at hotels.
Maleficent-Buy-8267@reddit
I came here to say this! My partner and I did this last winter and it was amazing. I was nervous going into it (not a big camper), but it ended up being one of the best trips I’ve ever been on.
Top_Flower_2565@reddit
wooow this is amazing
AggravatingRough@reddit (OP)
Wow 9 hotels. How did you plan that, and how much did it cost
tgbarbie@reddit
a lot, lol. I don't think i ever really tallied the whole thing but they were $400 on the low end and $800 on the high end, but we were 4 people so i either needed family rooms or 2 rooms. I looked at Ring Road itineraries in travel books I checked out from my library and online. It's a really normal way to see Iceland. There are not that many stops along the way with accommodations, so you can tell which are the popular spots to stop. Figure we had to drive 2.5-3.5 hours per day between locations but it was always in the same direction.
Alies1992@reddit
We rented a car, brought our matrasses and sleeping bags and slept in the car! Lovely experience!
Illustrious-Lime706@reddit
You brought your mattresses? On an airplane?
Alies1992@reddit
Camping mattress, not the big comfy ones😅
Illustrious-Lime706@reddit
😂😂😂😂😂😂
DramaDramaMoreDrama@reddit
What type of car did you rent?
Alies1992@reddit
A Toyota RAV4, we are two long people so we took the biggest car we could get.
antimonogamism@reddit
Firstly, definitely do the loop.
Secondly, Sedisfjordur was by far our fav town. Artsy, there is an art school there.
Thirdly, we never paid more than $100/150 night at MOST for two people together to stay.
We stayed at Airbnbs, inns, and hostels. The last of which were super clean and nice, probably the nicest I've ever seen. So it def still fit under clean nice charming places.
antimonogamism@reddit
We also stayed at one chain type hotel, which was also fine. We stayed there because it was adjacent to a wild hot springs.
Hot pot was a main reason we went to Iceland. We visited maybe 8-10.
Illustrious-Lime706@reddit
I’m salivating!!! Sounds marvelous.
antimonogamism@reddit
Oh also we shopped for a few basics every couple days, to save on food. So like bagels, cheeses, jerky, etc to make some picnic breakfasts and lunches. We ate out least once a day, often shared an entree, and splurged for a few nice but not astronomical meals.
I will say we went to like 3 shows AND a behind the scenes tour of the Reykjavik Opera House bc I fell in love with the place, the architecture, the acoustics. Not super expensive and we loved every one, and made the most of it by going early, hanging out, sharing a snack at the Cafe, watching some performances outside like street theater?
halofrie@reddit
My husband and I did the same and found it affordable to do all AirBNBs, but we were there in early Nov, so not sure if rates are cheaper. It was magical then driving around with snow everywhere. We wore ski pants and boots every day, but it was definitely one of my favorite and memorable international trips. We also didn't pre-book anything before going since it wasn't tourist season and there were always available rooms. We figured out where we'd stay next as we drove along. Also, just renting out a room and sharing kitchen space saved a lot, but in many places we were the only ones there!
SolangeXanadu222@reddit
If you can drive one, get a stick-shift car; much less expensive than an automatic. Also buy data so you don’t have to rent the car wifi.
DearAuntAgnes@reddit
What others have said: rent a campervan. We were in Iceland for 11 days and did the ring road in 8. The only thing that made it more expensive for us is that we finished nearly every day with a trip to the nearest thermal spa, rather than having a campground shower. It made the trip feel a tad more luxurious that way.
AggravatingRough@reddit (OP)
That’s amazing. I’m leaning towards an RV or camper van
DearAuntAgnes@reddit
Our van was 19'. It had a tiny bathroom. We used the toilet for #1 only (I was in charge of emptying it, so we used it sparingly!). It's pretty easy to empty the toilet tank and refill your onboard water tank - most campsites have the facilities to do that. The bathroom could be converted into a shower, but my partner is a larger guy, so it wasn't convenient for us.
pm_me_wildflowers@reddit
You can do a workaway or other work exchange for free room and board at a lot of hostels. I’ve heard that food can actually be a bigger expense than accommodation in Iceland (everything’s imported so it’s expensive). Like we’re talking $30 breakfasts level of expensive. So anything that gets you free meals is going to help out as much as any discounted accommodations will.
mahrog123@reddit
I won a cooking contest sponsored by Icelandic Foods.
9 days at Hotel Nordica, gourmet dinners every night at restaurants run by competing chefs, tours.. hardly spent a dime.
That’s a great way to save money!
*sorry about the humble brag but I saved a ton.
AggravatingRough@reddit (OP)
Nice How do I enter and win
mahrog123@reddit
I think you likely need to be a purchaser of food products from the sponsor, although a woman from Texas won in a different category and in talking to her I learned that all she did was enter contests for a living. Didn’t matter what kind. Pretty sure she stole a recipe. No clue how she found out about the contest- it was for Culinary professionals. She was an asshole.
I did a lot of business with Icelandic Foods. An employee brought in the mail and said “you should enter this”. I am a chef and thought what the hell. I’ll be damned if I didn’t in. When they called I about fell over.
ChampagneInCoach@reddit
I would definitely recommend moving around. Reykjavik is cool, but the best things in Iceland are spread out all over the island. You would spend too much of your day driving if you tried to day-trip it.
10 days is enough time to do the full loop. Rent a car and find accommodations around the full circle of Iceland!
Figwit_@reddit
*rent a van and sleep in it too! Plenty of campgrounds on the island.
Hot-Personality9512@reddit
Bought a tent, mats and sleeping bags 😂
AggravatingRough@reddit (OP)
Sounds good but what did you do for washroom, showering and brushing lol
Hot-Personality9512@reddit
Oh we stayed on a campsite on the edge of the city. Not luxury that’s for sure but the prices were insane in the middle of summer (and that was pre crash). We had actually intended to use small guesthouses but got there and it was just so much money