Iceland on a Budget

Iceland was nearly a bust. Katie and I had a miserable first day, losing our shirts to the ridiculously pricey public transportation and spending the afternoon shivering and soaking wet from pouring rain. But then the sky cleared and we had an amazing two-day hike, from Skógar to Þórsmörk, between the fantastically-named Tindfjallajökull and Eyjafjallajökull volcanoes. The scenery was beautiful, the company friendly, the weather perfect. On our last day in the country, we returned to the airport, elated to have visited.

The rumors that Iceland is expensive and touristy proved true, but for good reason. This place is rugged and beautiful. Next time Katie and I have to fly from Europe to the US (or vice-versa), we'll definitely look into doing another stopover deal.

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On our last day, I recorded a podcast, talking about our trip and giving some advice for first-time travelers to Iceland. Katie also joined me on the show and talked about how to save a ton of money by dehydrating food.

Click the Play button to listen to the podcast:

Download this Episode (right-click and choose “save as”)

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Here's a breakdown of our spending for four days and three nights in Iceland:

Luggage storage: 3,000 króna
Gasoline for our stove: 167 kr
Water and coffee at Selfoss: 790 kr
Postcard and chocolate: 1060 kr
2 bus tickets from KEF to Mjodd: 3500 kr
2 bus tickets from Mjodd to Selfoss: 2640 kr
2 bus tickets from Selfoss to Skógar: 7920 kr
2 bus tickets from Þórsmörk to Reykjavik: 17,400 kr
2 bus tickets from Reykjavik to KEF: 5000 kr
Camping night 1 (2 people): 3000 kr
Camping night 2 (2 people): 4000 kr
Camping night 3 (2 people): 2400 kr
Dehydrated food: $60 USD

Totals:
Food: $60 USD
Transportation: 36460 kr ($339.53)
Lodging: 9400 kr ($87.54)
Misc: 5017 kr ($46.72)

Grand total: $533.79 ($66.72 per person, per day)

And here's the game Katie played during the podcast:

Iceland vs Katie and Dan
Food: Iceland 0, K&D 1
Transportation: Iceland 1, K&D 0
Lodging: Iceland 0, K&D 0
Coffee: Iceland 0, K&D 1

So Katie and Dan win, 2-1!

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Here are some photos I took of our short trip to Iceland:

A rainbow at Skógafoss.

Another waterfall on this very green river.

The Skógá river has carved a canyon, full of waterfalls, from the mountains to the ocean.

Day 2: hiking across the glacier.

Hiking across the volcano.

Looking north, toward the valley.

After we headed down for a bit, the landscape turned green again.

Wildflowers in the riverbed of Þórsmörk.

On our last day, we hiked to the top of Valahnúkur for a panoramic view of the region.

Katie and Dan.

Here are some more of my photos from Iceland.

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Here's a short video I shot of one of the buses fording the river at Þórsmörk:

And this is why you shouldn't attempt to take a regular 4WD vehicle across the river. The car toward the back of the video is stuck.

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Show Notes:

• Here is some more info on the Skógar to Þórsmörk hike.
• The Straeto App is useful for obtaining bus timetables for Iceland. However, the prices are not accurate because the number of tickets you need can be very different depending on the specific trip.
• And here is more info on Iceland Air's stopover program.
• For more backpacking recipes, you can go to backpackingchef.com.
• Katie also talked about an ebook called Recipes for Adventure, available now.
• Here is the recipe Katie talked about for sweet potato bark.