Accommodations, Food/Drink, & Budgeting Tips for your Iceland Visit

When you’re are visiting Iceland, you’re probably most interested in the variety of incredible landscapes or the Northern Lights. During your visit, however, you also need to eat/drink and find places to stay. Well, there are plenty of places to stay and more places to dine and drink. Icelandic cuisine offers a variety of delicious options that will satisfy your taste buds, these can come at a price if you don’t plan carefully. Iceland can be notoriously expensive, so you probably will need to budget a little bit so you don’t go overboard.

Be sure to check out our Epic 7-Day Road Trip Itinerary for Southern Iceland

During our visits to Iceland, we wanted to try some Icelandic cuisine and do some activities while also staying within our budgets. It was a fine line to walk, but we had a pretty good balance and got to enjoy a little bit of everything. So, we put together a list of the places we stayed, dined, and also some tips at the end to help control your budget during your visit.

Accommodations

Countryside Airbnb with 3-bed Room, Reykjavik

We stayed at this Airbnb just outside of downtown Reykjavik. At around $122/night for the three of us, it’s a great budget place. It’s a cozy single-story home with several bedrooms that each can be rented out, a full kitchen, and dining room. There is also horseback riding available with this Airbnb and other outdoor activities, and it’s in a good location to see the Northern Lights.

Airbnb, Reykjavik

Airbnb, ReykjavikAirbnb, Reykjavik

Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel, Laugarvatn

Laugarvatn is a small town that’s perfectly located near several main attractions, including Pingvellir, Geysir, and Gullfoss. While you’re here, you can stay at the Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel. Starting as low as $90/night, the hostel has just about everything you need, from a mini-restaurant, reading area, entertainment room, and the front desk can help arrange nearby activities. It’s also right by the Laugarvatn Lake and you can check out the geothermal spa, Laugarvatn Fontana.

Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel, Laugarvatn
Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel, Laugarvatn

Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel, Laugarvatn Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel, Laugarvatn Heradsskolinn Boutique Hostel, Laugarvatn

Hostel Skogar, Skogafoss

Literally right next to the Skogafoss waterfall is Hostel Skogar. We paid just over $100 for a 3-bed room, which is pretty much all it had. It’s definitely not fancy, but we could sleep, had Wi-Fi, shared bathrooms, and there was kitchen if you need to cook. There is also the Hotel Skogafoss Bistro Bar right next to the hostels, which has pretty decent food and drinks, but is a little pricey if you’re on a budget.

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Hotel Skogafoss Bistro Bar

Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon, Fagurholsmyri

If you want to enjoy a bit of luxury, then check out the Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon. Although it’s expectedly priced higher than a hostel, it’s still relatively affordable. You can find prices ranging around $170-240 on most nights. The hotel has modern and contemporary touches throughout. There is also a bar that has happy hour and a restaurant, though menu prices were pretty expensive and we did not eat there. We did get a complimentary buffet-style breakfast and that was pretty fantastic. It’s also located close to Hof and Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, so it’s a good place to rest after the long drive from west Iceland.

Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon
Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon

Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon

 

Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon

Food & Drink

Cafe Loki, Reykjavik

Bringing back one of my favorite places to eat, which is Cafe Loki. Located right across the Iceland church, Hallgrimskirkja, you can enjoy some of delicious traditional, Icelandic dishes. It’s not really the budget place to eat, as prices can range from $15-30 a person. But it’s homemade food with fresh ingredients and unique flavors. And if you’re adventurous enough, you can try their fermented shark (not very pleasant but it’s an Icelandic tradition).

Cafe Loki, Reykjavik Cafe Loki, Reykjavik

Sandholt Bakery, Reykjavik

If you want the best hot chocolate in the world (in my humble opinion), you’ll have to check out Sandholt Bakery! I’m pretty serious, IT’S THAT GOOD, and you’d be hard-pressed to find me rave about something like hot chocolate! Will it run you about $6? Perhaps…but it’s totally worth it!

Ok, aside from its amazingly awesome hot chocolate (sorry!), they also have breakfast/lunch/dinner menus, make artisan bread, sandwiches, desserts, pastries, chocolates, and other beverages. Though not that cheap, it’s not terribly expensive either, and they deliver exceptional quality and tasty food…and hot chocolate!!

Sandholt Bakery, Reykjavik Sandholt Bakery, Reykjavik Sandholt Bakery, Reykjavik Sandholt Bakery, Reykjavik

Te & Kaffi, Reykjavik

Another cafe to check out is Te & Kaffi, which also has good hot chocolate but is better known for its delicious crepes and ice cream. It appears to be a very popular place as even by closing time, it was still jammed pack with people. There are so many combinations for crepes to choose from; you can’t really go wrong with what you pick, but they all also look really good!

Te & Kaffi, Reykjavik

Te & Kaffi, Reykjavik
Te & Kaffi, Reykjavik

Te & Kaffi, Reykjavik Te & Kaffi, Reykjavik

Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, Reykjavik

Apparently, Iceland takes great pride in cultivating the best hot dogs. The country has some sort of odd obsession with hot dogs as it’s sometimes considered the unofficial national food. We’re not going to argue why, as we honestly think Iceland may have one the best hot dogs in the world. You can check its most famous hot dog stand, Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, a spot that former President Bill Clinton ate at. At about $4 per hot dog, it’s probably the cheapest food item you can get in the country, which is great for your budget but terrible for your health. Nevertheless, you can find Icelandic hot dogs just about anywhere you go, and it doesn’t hurt to eat 1 or 2…or 3…once in a while…not like 2 or 3 times or something.

Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, Reykjavik Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, Reykjavik Chuck Norris Grill, Reykjavik

Honestly, we didn’t eat here; I just wanted to put this in because it’s Chuck Norris. They are known for crafting good burgers, as well as providing many entertaining Chuck Norris jokes. “There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.”

Chuck Norris Grill, Reykjavic Chuck Norris Grill, Reykjavic

Sushisamba, Reykjavik

If you’re really looking to splurge on a luxurious meal, you can head to Sushisamba. The restaurant does serve traditional sushi and a variety of rolls but also prepares a number dishes with Icelandic traditions. The food here is really good, with the fish being some of the freshest I’ve ever had. It’s also the first time we tried puffin, which surprisingly tasted like smoked salmon, and there are other traditional Iceland dishes you can try. Expect to easily spend $30-50 per person, if not more for several dishes.

Puffin
Puffin

Sushisamba, Reykjavik

B5 Bar, Reykjavik

For such a small city, Reykjavik has a surprisingly active nightlife. Though you won’t find many “clubs,” there is a big selection of bars and pubs, many that are converted into mini-clubs during the weekends. One that you could check out is B5 Bar, a pretty trendy, more upscale looking venue compared to some other places. It supposedly has a dress-code but we walked in with our winter gear on a Friday (but it is right in the middle of winter). Drinks are pretty reasonably priced and the live music that was playing was pretty amazing.

B5 Bar, ReykjavikB5 Bar, ReykjavikB5 Bar, Reykjavik

Lindin Restaurant, Laugarvatn

There aren’t really many places to eat in Laugarvatn, so perhaps the best-known place is Lindin Restaurant. It was the first time I tried a reindeer burger and it was pretty good. Overall, the food is good but will run you around $30-40 a person for just a main course meal with pretty small portions, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re on a budget.

Lindin Restaurant, Laugarvatn Lindin Restaurant, Laugarvatn Lindin Restaurant, Laugarvatn

 

Budgeting Tips

Like we said, Iceland can be pretty expensive, especially for food as you won’t be finding many cheap restaurants around the country. So we’re going to drop a few tips to help you save some money for your visit.

  1. Book with WOW Airlines – WOW Airlines has become the go-to budget airline for Iceland. With one-way and round-trip flights starting as low as $99 and $199, respectively, you won’t find better flight prices than WOW Air. However, you don’t get a lot of luggage to pack; any oversized carry-on and check-in will cost a fee each way, so check their website for luggage specifications and pack accordingly. They’ll also charge you for any in-flight requests, including water and food.
  2. Pack or carry lots of nut bars/snacks, any kind of food –  Because food is expensive in Iceland, you should pack snacks, bars or any acceptable food you can fit. If you don’t have a lot of packing space, you can bring a jacket and stuff them with your snacks. This is what I shamelessly did and I filled my jacket pockets with at least 30 granola/nut bars and leftover turkey from Thanksgiving dinner. You can imagine the looks I got from TSA agents, but those things were lifesavers.
  3. Bring or reuse a water bottle – In Iceland, water is incredibly pure and clean wherever you drink it. Buying water will run you $2-3 a bottle, so instead of doing that, just reuse that first bottle and fill from the tap. It’s also good for the environment.
  4. Camp, hostels, split renting a car – Though we didn’t do any camping, you can legally camp in many places for free (with abiding rules) or a small fee for campsites, which makes it the cheapest option available. If you’re not camping, the next best option is the split hostels/Airbnb, the cheapest forms of accommodation, and it’s best to split those. A car rental can run you as low as $60-70/day, usually not including insurance unless in winter, so splitting between 3-4 people can save quite a bit from tours.
  5. Go grocery shopping – This is probably the best tip we have when it comes to saving money on food, hence being underlined. We got bread, cheese/jelly spreads, crackers, and fruits that would last us our road trip. This helped balance our dining out costs along with the bars/snacks we brought, but if you want to forgo dining out, then grocery shopping will really help save a ton. You can also buy things to cook, as hostels/Airbnbs will have kitchens to use. Grocery/convenient stores can be found all over Iceland.
  6. Eat lots of Icelandic hotdogs – Not going to be the healthiest piece of advice I ever give, but at $3 a pop, this is by far the cheapest and most filling option compared to anything else. Even most sandwiches you find in a convenient store will even run you $8-10. Plus, they’re actually pretty delicious and you can find them just about anywhere.

Iceland impressively has plenty to offer outside of its beautiful landscapes. Let us know what are some of your favorite spots to visit and also some of your best budgeting tips!

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Aurora Borealis – Searching for the Northern Lights in Iceland

Like most visitors of Iceland, one of the things we wanted to experience was to see the Aurora Borealis, commonly known as the Northern Lights. We were only visiting for three days, so we were going to just visit different locations and just hope that we would find the lights at night.

On our first night in Reykjavik, we did go set out to see if we could find the Northern Lights. Guided by our Aurora forecast, there was supposed to be decent activity and clear skies outside of the city. We did have clear skies, but there was no light activity…at least, to the naked eye. Fortunately, I brought my Sony A7s, a mirrorless camera with incredible low-light capabilities that can literally help you see in the dark. Using the live viewfinder, we could see that there were faint trails of the Northern Lights in the sky. Excited that the lights were there, we found a spot to wait and see if the activity would intensify. But after two hours, it stayed mostly the same and we needed to get some sleep. While it was cool to know that it was there, it wasn’t quite what we’d hoped for.

Northern Lights, Iceland

Northern Lights, IcelandThe following day, we drove around the Golden Circle to visit some of Iceland’s main attractions. After seeing as much as we could during the daytime, we were heading back to Reykjavik and hoped we’d see the Northern Lights on the way. Our Aurora forecaster didn’t predict any strong activity so we weren’t going to expect too much. Still, I had my camera out with the live viewfinder to help us try and detect any light activity.

Northern Lights, Iceland

Sure enough, the camera was able to see some faint Northern Light activity. We pulled over off the road to a nearby field to see if the light would intensify. After about 30 minutes, the lights did start to become more visible and started dancing around.

Northern Lights, Iceland Northern Lights, Iceland

Then, all of a sudden, there was a powerful burst of light activity and lit up the sky! For about 4-5 minutes, we watched an incredibly dazzlingly display of the dancing Northern Lights. It was breathtaking watching it constantly change its shape and movements.

Aurora Borealis, Northern Lights, Iceland

Northern Lights, Iceland Northern Lights, Iceland Northern Lights, IcelandAfter those glorious few minutes, the lights got less intense but they were still visible to watch while I continued to take photos to create the timelapse below. We watched for another hour before heading back. It was a magical night to remember and really capped a memorable trip. And hopefully, it’ll be waiting for us when we go back!

 

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4 Places with Awesome Food in Iceland

Icelandic Plate Combination

Even though we were in Iceland for only a few days, we could not stop raving at how delicious the food was! Ok, so we didn’t get to try out that many places and we didn’t try some of Iceland’s most traditional dishes like sheep head, whale meat, puffin or shark (which I’m not sure I’d have the stomach for some of those things)…but the stuff we did eat was amazing! What interested me the most were how simple these dishes were, yet they were some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. However, if you’re on a tight budget, don’t expect to find cheap prices on these menus compared to the United States, but they’re reasonable compared to other parts of Europe. Here’s a list of four of our favorite places we did dine at.

Cafe Loki

Located in Reykjavik, Cafe Loki sits directly across Hallgrímskirkja church and specializes in traditional homemade Icelandic dishes. We tried several dishes including their meat soup, one of their Icelandic Plate combinations, a vegetarian plate and rye bread ice cream. I loved the rye bread combination dishes, which consisted of smoked trout, smoked lamb, mashed fish or egg and herring. But our favorite had to be the rye bread ice cream, which was possibly the best ice cream I’ve ever had. The combination of flavors is unique and absolutely delicious.

Cafe Loki Icelandic Plate Combination Rye Bread with Egg and Herring Rye Bread Ice Cream Cafe Loki Mural ICELAND 1 & 2_158

Restaurant Brúin

Located in the town of Grindavík, this family-owned restaurant was our surprise dining discovery. As we were going through the town, our group was hungry and needed a break, and we came upon Restaurant Brúin. Little did we know that we would have some exceptionally good dishes. We tried some pan-fried fish, soup and even their traditional Saltfiskur, which is essentially salted fish. All of our food was very fresh, as all of the fish were caught on the same day they were cooked. I did like the Saltfiskur, but it may not be for everyone. Their traditional fish soup was also interesting, when it didn’t come out as soup, but as mashed up fish. But to our delight, the traditional fish soup was really good! So if you’re passing through Grindavík, be sure to take a break at Restaurant Brúin for some good homemade Icelandic food.

Hotel Skogafoss Bistro Bar

After our visit at Skogafoss, we needed something to eat before our long drive back to Reykjavik and Hotel Skogafoss Bistro Bar is right next to Skogafoss Waterfall. Presumably, it has a great view of the falls, but it was completely dark by the time we sat down. The interior is very modern and has a nice ambiance. But we enjoyed most the food we ordered. I ordered the lamb leg, which was simply amazing. The meat was fall-off-the-bone delicious and tasted so fresh and tender. We also tried the lamb soup, which was also very good. Another great dish was the baked cod, which was lightly seasoned and cooked perfectly. Fair warning though, we’ve seen negative comments about the dishes, but there was nothing about our food that was short of excellent.

Sjavargrillid Seafood Grill

Also located in Reykjavik, Sjavargrillid Seafood Grill is a great choice for some fine dining Icelandic dishes, although the prices easily exceed far above the other options listed here. The main dishes were pretty high for our budget, so we chose to order some appetizers and light main dishes instead. Our dishes were fish or seafood dishes, and all of the food was very fresh and tasty. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t try some of the main dishes, but if you have a bigger budget, you definitely should try Sjavargrillid Seafood Grill.

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Unwind at Blue Lagoon Geothermic Spa

We were only in Iceland for a few days but we really believe it’s the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. It’s hard not to enjoy and relax when you have sweeping views of its breathtaking landscapes and pristine natural wonders.

But if you need to take your relaxation to the next level, then you definitely have to check out the Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa.

Blue Lagoon

Only a 45-minute drive from the capital of Reykjavik, it is a very popular attraction in Iceland. As its name suggests, the lagoon is generally a blue color, although its color varies by the time of day. The facility is a modern contemporary design and has a restaurant, a couple lounges, and a gift shop.

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Of course, the main attraction is the lagoon. The price of standard admission is 45 Euro, but we bought a “comfort” package that included admission, towels, drinks and some skin care products. In order to keep the lagoon as clean as possible, there are strict rules we have to follow. You have to leave your shoes in your lockers and they can’t be taken outside of the locker room. Before entering the lagoon, you have to shower and dry yourself off and you’ll have to do the same when exiting the lagoon to the locker room.

Once we got into the lagoon, that’s when the fun and relaxation began. Temperatures of the waters are around a nice 40 degrees Celcius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) and there are a variety areas to enjoy different experiences. There is a bar in the middle of the lagoon to order beverages, from cocktails to coffee or hot chocolate. The lagoon is shallow throughout but there are some deeper areas to swim in and I loved sitting near the vents where the hot water shoots out. There are also waterfalls, caves and you can even opt for a massage in the lagoon. You can also put on Silica mud on your face and body, which is supposed to be good for your skin. At the very least, it’s fun to put on and goof off!

Enjoying drinks with Silica Mud on our faces!

Blue Lagoon

Because the lagoon is rich in minerals, the lagoon is known to have healing powers for those with skin conditions and there are research facilities that use the lagoon for developing skin treatments. We were a little skeptical of this claim but we may have also seen a firsthand experience of its healing powers. A few days prior, Mat’s mom developed a pretty severe eye infection that made her eye very red and itchy. We tried antibiotics but they did not help to cure the infection and she had to wear an eyepatch, but she was still up for taking a dip in the lagoon. After spending just a little time in the lagoon, she said her eye started to feel a little better. A couple hours later, we saw she no longer needed the eyepatch and her eye looked much less red. By the next day, her eye was practically healed and we were pretty stunned at the progress of her healing. We didn’t have an explanation for it other than our trip to the lagoon, so if you have troubling skin, it may a great place to receive some healing!

Not only is Blue Lagoon a place of relaxation, but it is also very beautiful part of Iceland’s landscape and is a must-visit attraction. For more information, you can visit their website.

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon Relaxation

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon

 

 

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