Visiting in September

I'm visiting Iceland (a dream of mine for a VERY long time now) in September!!!! 

I plan on driving around the south quarter for about 4-5 days and I'm trying to figure out a budget.  Can anyone advise me on approximate costs of hostels, car rental, gas prices, and food?  Also, I read somewhere that nature parks and many other outdoorsy things are free admission.  Is this true?  Any advice would be wonderful as I want to get as much out of the few days I am there as possible!  THANK YOU!!!

Hi sopdrama, welcome on Expat-blog! :)

I hope you get replies very soon.

All the best,
Christine

Generally, Iceland is pretty expensive.

Gas is currently about 210 ISK/L, which currently translates to something like $6.80 per gallon. You get minor fluctuations due to fuel costs and the exchange rate, but that's been a pretty steady figure in the few months I've been here.

Eating out ranges between "expensive" and "holy crap", mostly based on whether you drink or not. In an inexpensive restaurant, expect to pay in the range of 1700-2500 ISK for an entree for one person. If you want to order lamb, steak, etc., figure on roughly double that. If you drink, add 700 or 800 ISK for a beer. The current exchange rate is about 116 ISK/dollar if you want to convert to US prices. Very fancy restaurants are actually comparably a better value. They might cost 2X what a cheaper place costs, but you don't really see anything like you'd see in the US where people are paying hundreds of dollars per person. I had a local tell me once that every restaurant in Reykjavík costs the same, so you just have to learn which ones are good.

If you buy and prepare your own food, it's not as expensive. Since you're talking about driving around quite a bit, you can buy bread, sandwich meats, cheese, potato chips, that sort of thing for maybe 5000 ISK and have enough to last a few days.

You can rent a compact car from somewhere like Hertz for maybe $75-100 a day. That's a bit of a guess. My company paid for my rental when I first moved here, and I don't remember how much it actually cost. If you need a 4WD, there are lots of Jeep rental places in Reykjavík that specialize in that, but I'm not sure of the price.

I don't know what the hostel scene in Reykjavík looks like. I know there are places that cater to backpackers and such, but I'm just not that familiar with them. If it helps for comparison, hotels are priced about what you'd pay in the US. $100-150 a night will get a nice room in a hotel. If you're staying in Reykjavík, you can also rent guest houses that are usually a better value.

I got here in the winter, so I haven't done a lot of outdoor stuff, but I know that, for example, the Golden Circle is all free. It's three sites (Geysir, Gullfoss, and Þingvellir) that are worth a visit, and you can easily do all three on a day trip from Reykjavík.

Hope this helps. September should be a nice time to visit.

Im also going from the netherlands to Iceland for a couple of days for an interview..  Would love to share information and even a rental car to drive around !
Best,
Victor

Hello Viktorfadin.

Please note that this is an old thread. Feel free to start a new topic on the Iceland Forum.

Thanks

Karen:)

hello I'm new to this group, but I'm happy, slowly want to fulfill a dream to see the Northern Lights.
I came to Iceland on the 5th to 10th September do not hope so cold,
good I hope to meet someone from the forum and know this beautiful country

and give me suggestions.
and if they travel to Ecuador are welcome
a greeting

somewhere we can be in for a coffee or a drink typical of Iceland tell me your dates you travel to shared information and resources

Eres ecuatoriano? puedes hablar en espanol. Cuánto tiempo te quedas en Islandia? Vas por trabajo?? Interesante!

hola si hablo Castellano,,, si soy de Ecuador no voy a ir de vacaciones asi que buscare cosas baratas, podemos compartir gastos tambien posiblemente va a viajar una amiga pero no es seguro mi ticket si es seguro. 

yo viajo el llego a Reikjabik el jueves 5 de sep
mabye can learn spanish and me enghih je je je

yo viajo la tercera semana de septiembre.
No de vacaciones pero quieres viajar por el país? No entiendo?
Por cuanto tiempo vas?

Hi all,

As this is the anglophone forum could we please keep it in English?

Thanks
Armand

I'm going to travel for a 1 week, and I know what I can at this time, will be a week of vacation.
I'll be on from Thursday September 5 to September 10. : (I have not much money.
if you can travel before we can meet.

yo voy a viajar por una semana, y quiero conocer lo que pueda en este tiempo, sera una semana de vacaciones. pienso alquilar un coche una bicicleta etc.

voy a estar el desde el jueves 5 de septiembre hasta el 10 de septiembre.  :( no tengo mucho dinero.

si puedes viajar antes, podemos encontrarnos.

I have to meet a professor for my doctoral studies at the University of Iceland. I depend on him, because he teaches at Boston University and only for a short time in Iceland.
Why you chose Iceland? Interesting. What do you do?

Well if dont meet in Iceland you are welcome to have a coffee here in the Netherlands.
If you want to speak in spanish send me an email address.

HI, Viktor  I send my email address.
maybe I can see in Netherlands all is possible in this life :)
I hope you have lucky whit you teacher.

Iceland PORQUE :)
the first country to emerge from the crisis and put in jail the politicians guilty

I think it seems like Ecuador because I love that nature

I want to see the Northern Lights, from the stories of deaths that leave this world and go to another

is a country Viking, Celtic country, full of magic, history of imaginary beings (elves, fairies, elves, trolls jejejeje

Los tours estan carisimooooos

the tour are expensive
help me¡¡¡¡¡