Nick

I've seen beautiful pictures of Iceland's natural wonders on the internet, but I've heard everything there is very expensive!<BR>It seems like summer rental cars with unlimited milage are over $100 a day and gasoline might be over $5 a gallon!<BR>What's the best way to cut costs on transportation, hotels and food?<BR>Is it better to buy a tour package to see the country?

Kris

I had sticker shock at some of the prices in Iceland. We ate out every night and the restaurants were very expensive, even more so if you drink with your meal. Maybe you could see if there is lodging with a kitchenette if you're really on a tight budget. www.hotel.is has a good listing of accomodations in Reykjavik including some apartment hotels.<BR><BR>Try www.icelandair.com and sign up for their lucky fares. I think they have packages that include airfare, hotels and tours. If you live in one of their departure cities, the airfares are pretty good. You can also combine with another city in Europe, it was cheaper for us to visit Iceland and London than just Iceland.<BR><BR>Reykjavik Excursions had discounts if you combined a couple of their tours together www.re.is<BR><BR>Hotels in Reykjavik are expensive, we ended up at Baldursbra Guesthouse with shared facilities that was under $100 US. <BR><BR>Good luck!

Ann

Yes it is very expensive! I stayed at the Radisson ($200/night-June) but many travelers of all ages opted for the youth hostels as an alternative.<BR>Besides the guided day-trips (Reykjavik Excursions, etc.) BSI the long distance bus line, offers a wide range of unguided day trips & passes around the island. Prices are considerably cheaper, we went to Thingviller National Park for $17 RT.<BR>Restaurants were expensive but an alternative is picking up sandwiches, etc. at local grocery/convenience stores.

Jill

I was in Iceland late May - early June. Stayed at the Hotel Atantic for $81 a night with breakfast. Room was nice with a couch, table for 4, refrigerator, microwave. Location was good - on several bus routes or a 15-20 minute walk to downtown. They have cheaper rooms with shared bath. Found it by doing a search on Iceland hotels - can't remember the exact web site but I found one that had about 50 hotels, guesthouses. It wasn't a site that was for discounts or making a reservation but rather it showed pictures and connected you with the hotels individually.<BR><BR>Instead of renting a car consider taking buses or tours.<BR><BR>Food was very expensive but you don't have to eat dinner in a nice restaurant every night - there's sandwich shops, fish &amp; chip places, etc.<BR><BR>I found it much cheaper to book my own hotel rather than go with Icelandic Air hotels.

rquirk

Just returned from Iceland. Stayed in Leifur Erikson Hotel in central Reykjavik for about $100. Took tours with bus company - blue lagoon about $20 and Geysir and Gulfoss ( 6 hrs ) about $40. The buses pick you up from major hotels so unless you're going off the beaten track would recommend bus tours. Dont slip over on the ice and get a whiplash injury like me on the path down to Gulfoss !!<BR><BR>Beer is expensive but I think you have to try one Friday night ( actually Saturday Morning 3AM )out in downtown Reykjavik - the experience is DIFFERENT.<BR><BR>Personally, I wouldnt cut down on food. Icelandic cuisine is astonishing and you need good food to tour hard in the cold !!

Jim Rosenberg

Summer is high season in Iceland, but the low and shoulder seasons seem to last forever. Depending on your proximity to one of Icelandair's gateways, you can enjoy a very inexpensive trip that will more than compensate for a few expensive dinners. We took the &quot;Midweek Madness&quot; special for well under $400 per person which included airfare and three nights hotel, with breakfasts and the Lucky Fares Club mentioned by Kris regularly offers some truly amazing deals. Personally, I wouldn't rent a car because the tours are excellent and there is very decent municipal bus service in the city of Reykjavik, which is not all that large to begin with. Bottom line: a trip to Iceland can be one of the lowest-cost vacation alternatives going, even with the pricey drinks and dinners considered.

Jim Rosenberg

Just to add a little more to the pitch here, let me say that in addition to its many natural wonders, Iceland is probably the closest thing to an &quot;intellectual utopia&quot; that I have ever experienced. You will meet people who are amazingly well-read, well-travelled, fluent in multiple languages and very engaging. And you're probably more safe in Iceland than in your own backyard.

Nick

I live near Detroit, so the plane tickets for me and my wife for next July will probably be $2500. Since I want to visit Gullfoss, Dettifoss, Skaftafell park, Dynjandi, etc. I'll probably have to spend $200 a day for a rental car and gas. I guess we will try to eat at snack bars and stay at 2 star hotels to save money. Hopefully, I can keep my 9 day trip under 5 grand.

Deborah

If you do the bus tours, you can get away with way less than $200/day. I took Reykjavik Excursions (http://www.re.is) and they were excellent. They do offer discounts for more than 1 tour in a day, which is totally possible. Leave the driving to someone else. The roads are long and vast there and the guides give such good information along the way. They are very friendly people in Iceland and their English is perfect. My best advice is get your vouchers for the tours while you are still in the U.S. Insist they give them to you here. You may have to get them through Iceland Air. With the currency exchange, you may end paying more over there if you don't. As far as everything else goes, yes, it's very expensive. My room at the Radisson Saga was $160 in July per night, but this includes all tax and full breakfast every day. It's only a 10 minute walk to center of town. Pack a lot of snacks to take with you for the bus or car trips. Believe me, you will appreciate this advice. It saved me a ton of cash, and I didn't need to always have lunch if I had a power bar or something else. There are places to buy sandwiches and pizza etc. that aren't so expensive, but you will pay a lot at some places. Some recommendations are One Woman Vegetarian Restaurant, Pasta Basta. There is a kebab shop on the corner near McDonalds in town that has great sandwiches and very reasonable as well as fish and chips. There was 1 other restaurant along one a small side road (to the right as you are going up the main shopping street) that had really reasonable prices, but I can't remember the name. You can take a walk easily and look for it. For other tours, you can easily fly up north to spend time there (even day trips to Greenland) and the cost is reasonable. You must go to the Blue Lagoon!! The Golden Circle Tour and South Shore Adventure were also lovely days out. It is a beautiful place. If I can help, post a note.

MH

Jim, you are right on the money about intellect. My hubby best friend from college is from Reykjavik, Iceland. He told me that he and professors were constantly amazed at his level of education. They met at the U of Michigan and then continued on to the Kodak photography school in NY. We have an open invite to visit any time. So sleeping arrangements are taken care of. Fimbi did tell hubby to budget about a 100.00 per day for a meal out and any small incidentals ie: coke, coffee, etc. He was born and raised there and can't believe how expensive it is. He also, is one of the premiere photographers in Iceland, so he has a generous income, but taxes, etc are high along with the cost of living. If you do go have fun. I think this is a trip that my hubby can go on my himself, as this place seems a bit remote for me.

Jane

I went to Iceland this past summer with my mother. I looked into the Icelandair website for tours and went to one of their links with other tour groups. I would highly recommend going with a smaller outfit--we booked with Icelandsagatours which operates out of New Jersey. The American gentleman who runs it has vast Iceland experience and deals with a lot of the Iceland tour operators. Our tour group consisted of 7 people plus the tour guide in a Land Rover type vehicle. We went places I'd never attempt on my own. The tour guide knew Iceland like the back of his hand--Saunas in the middle of volcano fields, Hot tubs at dead end roads on the shores of the North Atlantic. We had picnic lunces every day which cut down on food costs--but you coudn't beat the views. We'd stop for hours by the side of a road, just exploring--things you'd never do on a large tour bus. My mother's and my airfare plus 15 day tour came to about $5000(this info was for Nick who had mentioned 9 days and 5 grand). For MH who thought it might be too remote for her: Our tour group was not made up of young people. My mother is 86 and there was a couple in their late 60's and the wife was on kidney dialysis which we worked around nicely every day. Her husband (with 2 artificial knees) was my hiking partner up and down waterfall areas! I want to go back with my husband so he can see the most beautiful place I've ever visited. Sorry this is too long, but I really get carried away when I'm thinking about my trip.

orgy7

honestly this is not the forum where you'll get much info on cutting costs/budget traveling... try a backpacker site.. or frommers<BR><BR>budget minded tips <BR><BR>-buy food in supermarkets, <BR>-buses, (mass transit). find out if thier a tourist passes <BR>-hostels, guesthouses<BR>-Snickers, snaks for lunch (two Ok meals a day<BR><BR><BR><BR>

ALF

I am looking for Iceland Saga Tours, but have been unable to find them. Does anyone have a URL, phone #, or address?<BR>Thanks.<BR><BR>Al

Geoff

orgy7 - yeah, funny, now back to reality.<BR><BR>Nick - your first thing is that's too much money for the plane tickets. Icelandair regularly runs deals to Europe in the summer, you should be able to get tickets for a little bit more than half that. Kris gave you the right advice to get those fares - go to their web site and sign up for their email list. It will not be until closer to the summer that summer fares start popping up, but via their email ads you will do so much better than just regular on line booking through them.<BR><BR>Also as mentioned, the car is definitely expensive. You might do a combination of public transport, which will take you to several of those attractions. Use the car for one or two special places.

Nick

I can get plane tickets for 2 directly from Icelandair even if I'm close to Detroit? It seemed to me they only fly from Minniapolis, New York, Boston and Baltimore. So I would go on Expedia to get a transfer flight to one of those cities.

Kris

Nick, we flew in July and didn't spend anywhere near $2,500. We had to fly from Chicago to Baltimore on Southwest and then from Baltimore to Reykjavik. As I mentioned before, we added London on and it was actually cheaper than going directly to/from Iceland. Just give yourself plenty of connecting time if you use 2 airlines. Or you could spend a day in NY, Boston, Baltimore or Minn.

Jane

This reply if for ALF in Dec. This is the website for Iceland Saga Tours: www.icelandsagatours.com. On the site you'll find a toll free phone no. I hope to use them again. Good luck