Yes, that’s true, you read it right. Two people, two weeks in Iceland, 150 € each, and we literally went everywhere – you can check it on our Instagram! It’s the 4 country more expensive in the world, it’s not easy, but it’s possible. We embraced the challenge and now we will try to explain you how we did it and help budget travelers out there!
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1 – We hitchhiked everywhere!
Yes it’s easy! Not everywhere, but road 1 is perfect for hitchhiking. Other less frequented roads are more difficult (only one we couldn’t get to the place we wanted, but we gave up when it started to rain :p). The most we waited on road 1 was half hour. And the good thing is that most of the beautiful places (and the most touristic) are along this road.
We know that hitchhiking is not for everyone, and we understand But transportation will probably be the largest share of your budget and driving in a pickup truck like those people usually rent from Flex Fleet Rental is both safe and comfortable. If you’re not into it and you’re going to travel with a car, try to join a group of friends and do it with them. Yes, there are a few buses going around the island, mostly touristic buses, but they are also really expensive!
You can also go to this website – http://www.samferda.net – to find some carpooling opportunities (it didn’t work for us but go for it!)
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2 – FOOD!
Bring food for the first days!! Yes, we are that cheap ahahah. We brought a few tuna cans, nuts, spices, etc. And it was the best thing we did! Made us save a lot of money and not bother to spend money during our first few days there. Be carefull because you cannot bring everything (like fresh food).
But, once again we have GOOD NEWS :p – there are things in Iceland that are not that expensive!! The cheapest super market is Bonus (yellow flag and pink pig – you will love it!). This is the list of things we thought were cheap: noodles, rice, chocolate, cereal bars, bananas, apples, tomato, onion, chips, canned beans, canned mushrooms, white bread and skyr (the famous “yogurt” from Iceland).
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3 – Free stuff
Most of the main tourist attractions and things to do in Iceland are FREE!!! Yes, that’s great! You can check our pictures, we’ve actually seen it all and payed nothing. Of course there aremore specific things like caves or whale watching are paid, but we didn’t do that this time.
Iceland is full of free stuff everywhere:
- Free coffee at Bonus supermarket and in the banks (just ask and they will give it to you)
- In some supermarkets they have some fruit to give to children in a basket that says “for children”. Because age its just a mindset we took it all the time xD
- LOOK FOR FREE STUFF ON THE CAMPGROUNDS!!! People often leave a lot of stuff they don’t need anymore there! When we first got to Reykjavik we went to all of them looking for stuff. We found rice, pasta, olive oil, sugar, salt, cereal bars… but the MOST amazing thing – GAS FOR OUR STOVE!!! Yeah, we saved like 20 euros just on that So, go for it!
- Dumbster Diving is a think in Iceland! Don’t be ashamed,try it its ecologic :p On Reykjavik in the docks there is a place with a bunch of supermarkets and you can always find food there. There is a Bakery called BRAUD that in the end of the day always leaves the remains of the things they didn’t sell on the garbage, but in clean bags And trust me, the bread and the pastry are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!
- WATER IS FREE! Bring your own bottle and just fill it up on the toilets or whatever you go. And yes, its amazing water.
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4 – Accommodation
Do the most you can to find free accommodation. If you try enough, you find it We always search for groups of Portuguese people on Facebook living on the places we go to, and ask for accommodation (it always works!). Ask friends or friends of friends, for sure someone will know someone living on Iceland. Try couchsurfing, offer to volunteer, etc. Just find your way. We set up our “basecamp” in the living room of a friends house in Reykjavik and it was great – we came back there a few times, made us save a lot of money and have a few nights on a real bed.
CAMP! This is the cheapest form of accommodation. And even so its not thaaaaat cheap – 10 to 18 euros to camp. They have campings literally everywhere. Don’t think about wild camp, Icelanders hate it and most of the land is private propriety, so my advice is – don’t do it!
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5 – Go on Summer
Weather is crazyyy on Iceland!!!! We went on summer but even then rained a lot and sometimes the wind was to much! Yeah, people will tell you that Iceland is cheaper on Winter. And that’s probably true, regular things are a bit cheaper on winter :p But not for budget traveler, because on winter you can’t hitchhik, right? Its just to cold and unpredictable. And you probably can’t camp either, its to cold. So in the end you end up saving a lot of money if you go on Summer, right?
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6 – Be flexible but plan ahead!
Yeah, bad planing can make you spend a lot of money on Iceland when you are on a budget. Mind that the food on the gas stations is much more expensive. A burger can be as expensive as 20 euros, but also the regular stuff you buy on the supermarkets are more expensive there. So plan your days, and when you buy food on a super market check when you have the next one and get the right amount of stuff! We always carried a bit more, just in case.
(you can’t get to hungry on Iceland, or you will lose your mind and &%$& your budget!)
7 – Weekends Flea Market in Reykjavik
If you are one of those who can go back home without some souvenirs, this is the cheapest place to buy them
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8 – Find Free “Hot Pots”!
We will say the forbidden words: skip the blue lagoon!!! Its so crazy expensive! And they have tooooons of free “hot pot”, as they call them. Just go to several of them, like we did, and you want feel you missed nothing
9 – If you love to try Typical Food
We love, and we did try Icelandic food! We only did it once, let me tell you, but it was worth it. If it was any other country we would probably do it several times… but this is Iceland. So we tried to find the best place, and I think we did: Icelandic Street Food is the place! It’s really good, you can try several things, like lamb and fish soup, and the best thing is that you can ask for a refill (of any dish). So go for it
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9 – Extra Tip
If you want to know a way to save a lot of money camping, send us a message on Instagram and we will tell you a huge secret that will help you tons — www.instagram.com/followthesuntravel
Touche. Outstanding arguments. Keep up the great spirit.
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