meganleether

I am traveling to Iceland this coming March with 2 friends for 10 days. We are all in college and very active. We're from New England so we are somewhat prepared for harsh winters, although ours are not as bad as in Iceland. We are interested in doing hiking and climbing as well as sightseeing. We are planning to rent a car.
We have a strict budget of $1000 each and after our flight tickets are purchased we will have about $600 left to rent a car, pay for gas, as well as other expenses. We are all comfortable with camping (sleeping) in the car as we have done so before during winter so paying for lodging is not a priority.
From my current research it seems as though all glacier hiking requires a guide as well as ice climbing. We have experience with ice climbing but obviously not glacier hiking. I'm not sure our budget will allow for guided tours. What do you recommend to do on our own? Are there national parks that are free or low-cost?
Also, how much should we expect to spend on gas if we drive everywhere?
Are there other unexpected expenses to consider?

Thanks for you help!

thursdaysd

You have $60/day each? Sounds a bit low to me, I hear Iceland is expensive. Anyway, check guidebooks from Lonely Planet or Rough Guide for prices. Ah, I just checked LP for you - you are way low.

See: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/iceland/money-costs

Have no idea whether car camping is legal in Iceland, but would have thought it far too cold.

Note - welcome to Fodors, but this really belongs on the Europe board, where you will get more replies.

janisj

thrusdaysd beat me to it. You do need to repost on the Europe forum. Lots of info there about Iceland.

Car camping . . . in <i>Iceland</i> in <i>winter</i>? Doesn't sound reasonable to me. The condensation from 3 people in a car (even one) when its around freezing or a bit lower would be horrible. Best get over to the Europe board and ask people who may have actually tried it . . .