Iceland is expensive. And it makes sense. They’re an island nation who have to import a majority of their food. So it’s no wonder that the food comes with a price tag to reflect that. However, eating in Iceland is possible on a budget. And since you’ve probably come to Iceland to spend time and money enjoying the amazing natural beauty, you can follow these practical tips for eating in Iceland while saving money.
Does eating in Iceland on a budget have to be plain, boring or bland? NO! We followed these cost saving strategies for our Icelandic vacation and still consider Iceland to be the TOP destination we’ve ever visited for food awesomeness. We had some of the best meals of our life in Iceland!
However, if you want to stick to a budget while eating in Iceland, you’ll need a plan! If you have a plan, you’ll have no trouble sticking to whatever budget you set. Continue reading for all of our tips for eating in Iceland including our full meal plan.
Tips of Eating in Iceland on a Budget
Shop at Grocery Stores
Grocery stores in Iceland can be found in any of the larger cities. We bought groceries near the Airport, in Akureyri and in Selfoss. Bonus and Krónan are the more budget friendly grocery stores in the country. Shopping at grocery stores in Iceland will let you stock up on breakfasts, lunches and snacks. However, be prepared to purchase things that are different from what you would normally purchase.
For example, produce, meat and cheese in Iceland are extremely expensive. Also, American branded snacks are expensive! When shopping be prepared to be flexible and find some new foods and snacks to try. We went shopping and decided not to buy ground beef because it was expensive but instead bought caviar because it was cheap. We also found the most delicious brand of paprika flavored noodle chips, so if you see those, they’re a must-buy 🙂
One thing about food bought in Iceland that you should know: they use WAY fewer preservatives than in America. Which is great, but it means your food will spoil before you may expect it to. We found that our loaves of bread molded after two days which is not something we’re used to.
When you’re planning to visit grocery stores, know that their hours are much more limited than they are in other countries. So visiting early in the morning or late at night probably isn’t an option so you’ll have to plan your itinerary accordingly. Also, grocery stores don’t provide bags, so bring your own.
Bring Food From Home
We always pack snacks in our suitcase. It helps us to save money while traveling. Additionally, after we eat it, it creates space in our suitcase for souvenirs. This is also a really important step if you’re traveling with picky eaters, food allergies/restrictions or kids. As it may be hard or impossible to find your “usual” foods in Iceland.
Pack Lunches
Use the Icelandic grocery stores and food you’ve brought from home to pack your own lunches throughout your Icelandic trip. While this is partially a money saving tip for eating in Iceland, this also may be necessary for your Icelandic itinerary. Many locations in Iceland don’t have restaurants or only have dining options during certain times of day. There is nothing more annoying to us that having to drive somewhere when we are hungry. So we love packing sack lunches when we travel for the connivence as well as the cost savings.
Our standard sack lunch is a sandwich or wrap with fruit and chips. This is what we ate in Iceland. We normally would pack some meat wraps a few days. However, meat was expensive in Iceland so we stuck to peanut (okay sunflower) butter and jelly sandwiches. The lack of variety didn’t really bother us as we ate such amazing dinners when we dined out.
Don’t Buy Drinks
Water and alcohol are wildly overpriced. So just plan on skipping those when you’re dining out.
Water throughout Iceland is some of the best in the world. So just drink the tap water and you’ll enjoy it.
For alcohol, either consider your trip to Iceland a dry experience or plan on buying alcohol at the duty free shop in the airport upon your arrival.
However, we did buy a few local beers during our trip, just to try them. And they were generally priced around $10-15 USD.
Choose Your Accommodations Wisely
Choose accommodations that will help you save money on food. Some things to look for that will help include:
- Free Breakfast
- Free coffee/tea
- Mini-Fridge
- Microwave
- Hot water maker (for oatmeal/coffee/tea/ramen)
- Full Kitchen
Once your accommodations are set, you can create a meal plan that will help you to plan for food.
Create a Meal Plan
A meal plan will save you money as it will help you to combine all of these money saving tips for eating in Iceland. Plus, a meal plan will help you to know where to go grocery shopping, when to pack a lunch, what to bring from home and when to get a rental with a kitchen.
Our 12-Day Icelandic Meal Plan
This is how we ate in Iceland. We’ve included where we were each day and what type of kitchen we had each night. These two factors were what helped us put together this meal plan. For example, we passed through the eastern Fjords during the day and there weren’t any restaurants open so we had to pack a lunch. And when we visited natural wilderness attractions during the day we made sure to pack a lunch as those attractions rarely have food onsite.
Additionally, if we loved a restaurant, we’ve included that for you as well!
What We Packed in our Suitcases:
- 2 boxes of cereal
- 5 days worth of oatmeal
- 1 box of granola bars
- 1 jar of nut butter (we like sunflower)
- 1 squeeze bottle of jam (squeeze bottles are nice so you don’t have to use a knife to spread)
- 2 boxes of noodles
- 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
- 1 jar of Alfredo sauce
- 2 bowls
- Assorted tea bags
- 2 camping spoons
- Soft sided cooler
- Reusable grocery bags
Grocery Trip #1 Shopping List: Near the Airport
- bread
- fruit (apples and bananas)
- junk food snacks
- candy
Day 1- Reykjanesbaer Peninsula
We stayed somewhere with a partial kitchen.
- Lunch – eat out near
- Dinner – PB&J sandwiches
Day 2 – The Golden Circle
We stayed somewhere with a partial kitchen.
- Breakfast – oatmeal
- Lunch – eat out near Selfoss – we loved Olverk in Hveragerði
- Dinner – eat out near Selfoss
Day 3 – Þingvellir National Park
We stayed somewhere with a partial kitchen.
- Breakfast – oatmeal
- Lunch – PB&J
- Dinner – eat out
Day 4 – Southern Iceland
We stayed in a hotel with a hot water maker.
- Breakfast – oatmeal
- Lunch – PB&J sandwiches
- Dinner – eat out in Vík – we loved Ströndin Bistro and Bar
Grocery Trip #2 Shopping List for Vík
- ground beef
- milk
- bread
- fruit (bananas)
Day 5 – Glaciers
We stayed in a hostel with a full kitchen.
- Breakfast – cereal
- Lunch – PB&J sandwiches
- Dinner – Spaghetti
Day 6 – Eastern Fjords
We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast with a restaurant.
- Breakfast – cereal
- Lunch – eat out in Egilsstadir – we loved Nielsen
- Dinner – eat out – we ate at our Bed and Breakfast
Day 7 – Waterfalls & Myvatn
We stayed in a cabin with a partial kitchen.
- Breakfast – hot breakfast at our Bed and Breakfast (included)
- Lunch – PB&J
- Dinner – eat out in Myvatn – we loved Vogafjós Farm Resort
Day 8 – Akureyri
We stayed in a cabin with a partial kitchen.
- Breakfast – oatmeal
- Lunch – eat out
- Dinner – eat out in Akureyri – we loved Strikid
Grocery Trip #3 Shopping Trip for Akureyri
- milk
- bread
- Chicken
- fruit (apples)
- more snacks and candy
Day 9 – Western Iceland
We stayed in a cabin with a full kitchen.
- Breakfast – cereal
- Lunch – eat out – we dined on gas station food because that was recommended – we would not recommend it, pack a lunch for this day
- Dinner – Chicken Alfredo
Day 10 – Snæfellsnes Peninsula
We stayed in a cabin with a full kitchen.
- Breakfast – cereal
- Lunch – PB&J
- Dinner – eat out in Borgarnes
Day 11 – Reykjavík
We stayed somewhere with a partial kitchen.
- Breakfast – cereal
- Lunch – eat out – we at street food as we wandered and loved it
- Dinner – eat out – we loved Sjavargrillid
Day 12 – Fly home
Breakfast – oatmeal
What We Spent Eating in Iceland
We spent $1045 USD eating in Iceland for 12 days and two people. Okay, so not the most budget friendly food bill with just under $50/day/person.
However, our small grocery bill, and what we brought from home made up two thirds of our food. If we had not eaten out, I think we could have easily spent under $10/person/day on food.
And while we’re all about a budget, we have nothing but good things to say about dining out in Iceland. When we returned we raved about the food. Heck, we’re writing this whole article to rave about the food. Of our top 5 food experiences in our travels, 3 of them are in Iceland. So we totally understand if you need to stick to a budget, but we’d encourage you to set aside money for a few nice dinners out, particularly in larger towns.
Groceries in Iceland
We spent $135 USD on groceries in Iceland. However, this doesn’t include the price for the groceries that we brought from home. We had to change our grocery plans once we got to Iceland as some of the things we wanted to buy were just too expensive. But then we were able to buy things that would be too expensive in the US for us to buy. So we still ate well, just different.
And honestly, choosing snacks in Iceland when you couldn’t understand the labels was a really fun experience. It was snack roulette. Opening a bag of snacks and being disgusted or pleasantly surprised really made the road trip fun.
Dining Out in Iceland
We spent $910 USD dining out in Iceland. This is for two people on 14 meals. While we had some very inexpensive meals, we also absolutely splurged on our meals. We learned really quickly that eating in Iceland at sit down restaurants is pricy. Once, we paid $50 for a pizza for two. When we realized this we just splurged. We decided we’d rather pay $100 for a $100 meal than pay $50 for a $20 meal. We thought both about cost and about our perceived worth as we were choosing food.
And those splurge meals were so worth it! We had no problem paying high prices for those meals, as we would have paid a similar price for those meals in other countries as well. Additionally, the food was beautifully prepared and amazingly presented. These expensive meals didn’t seem overpriced, they seemed well worth it.
Things to Know When Dining Out in Iceland
So now you know that dining out in Iceland is expensive. But here are some other things that you may not know. We’re from the USA, where a majority of restaurants focus more on quantity rather than quality. However, in Iceland quality is key. Seriously, we went to little hole in the wall restaurants where there were so many culinary degrees posted on the wall. It was impressive. So if you do go to restaurants, be prepared to be impressed with the quality.
However, the quantity may be underwhelming for the price you pay. We were never hungry after we were done dining, but coming from America, we were underwhelmed by the number of fries on our plates 😉
Tips For Ordering Out in Iceland
One thing that concerned both of us was the lack on information on menus as we are known for ordering things “hold the ——“. For example, I once ordered “Salmon”. Then I got the best grilled salmon of my life on a bed of some mashed vegetable that the waiter couldn’t translate into English, covered in some kind of delicious sweet sauce and with a sprinkling of gilled veggies on the side. We found this to be common in restaurants. The menus would just describe the main part of the dish and you were generally pleasantly surprised by all of the things that went with it. However, if you are a picky eater, this could be a problem for you.
Additionally, desserts in Iceland are fantastic. While you may not want to order them if you’re on a budget, you really should try them once. We had dessert at our first dinner out and loved it so much that we ordered dessert with every meal. We meant to take pictures of them but got distracted eating them. #sorrynotsorry
Lastly, we’re a sucker for a good sampler platter anywhere we go. We have some serious food FOMO. And while we rarely spotted a sampler platter while eating in Iceland, we loved that many restaurants offered a fixed menu. This typically included an appetizer, entree and desert. Most of these fixed menus included options from the restaurants most popular offerings.
We hope this post has helped you to plan for eating in Iceland. While we love a good budget, we also are suckers for a good meal. We couldn’t be happier with the amount of money we spent on food in Iceland and the amount of pleasure we got from eating in Iceland. We hope this post has helped you to create the right plan for eating in Iceland that balances your Iceland budget with your food preferences. Please let us know if you have any questions and we’d be happy to help.
This may seem an odd question but do you know if it’s allowed for an adult to order off the kid’s menu? My 23 yr old eats very small portions and usually kid’s size is perfect for them…
We don’t have kids so I wasn’t paying careful attention but I don’t think there are kids menus. At least not in the way America has them or at the places we went. Everything you order is a la carte, so if you have someone who doesn’t eat much, they just could just order smaller/cheaper plates. For example, when we ate in Reykjavik, we wanted to try lots of stuff so we just got one “side” at each place. But we ordered a grilled fish side and a lobster tail side so it wasn’t like we were eating loads of potatoes like we would have been in America 😉 I hope this helps.
Thanks for the tips. We are on a 5 week trip with only 3 days there so will splurge on dinner and go light on the other meals. Great info.
Thank you,
Denise
That’s our best advice for Iceland! So happy you agree and have fun 🙂
What a really helpful and very practical website. Thank you so much! I do have one question (okay two) if you don’t mind: how do Icelandic Restaurants feel about buy one lunch/dinner and splitting it in two (we are smaller/shrinking people ;); and how about corkage fees. One quick comment; we live in So. Cal. USA which seems to be the most expensive place in the world (for everything, except street tacos ;), but I remember buying good bottles of wine in Scandinavian liquor government stores just a few years ago that were a good deal cheaper then in America. Could that be the case in the Vinbudin in Iceland? Jerry
Hi Jerry, Thanks for reaching out and for reading!
We loved the food in Iceland so our bills were generally nothing for a server to get upset about. However, for our “progressive lunch” in Reykjavík, we did just order one entrée at each restaurant and leave. We were never told not to, charged extra or felt judged. I think it probably helps that servers get paid a living wage and aren’t dependent on tips…
As for the wine, I’ve been to California and I don’t think there is a destination with more expensive wine 😉 That being said, we did buy some wine/beer from the stores in Iceland and it was cheaper than in the restaurants but it still was expensive $30-50/bottle (our wheelhouse is $15/bottle). I don’t think you need to leave room in your suitcase to score a good deal and bring some home but if you’re looking to enjoy a relaxing bottle of wine, buying it and drinking it on your porch of your B&B is the best option.
I hope this helps and enjoy your trip!
Very helpful. we’ll put this to good use when we visit in the summer of 2023. Thank you!!
I’m so happy you found these helpful! I hope you have an amazing trip. How long are you staying?