How to travel Iceland on a budget

Photo: Chris Ford. All other photos: Author.

I seem to be drawn to the world s most expensive countries. Having already drained my bank account during a five-week stint around Ireland this year, the only logical thing to do next was book a three-week trip to Iceland. I regret nothing.

It wasn t easy, but the challenge became a sort of game. I lucked out with a $450 round-trip ticket from Halifax, Nova Scotia. And the rest sorta went like this.

When to go

Peak season, as you might have guessed, takes place between May and September. I went in October.

This was mostly due to the ridiculously cheap airfare I found, but as it turns out, October was an amazing time to be in the country. Temperatures mostly averaged between 5-10 degrees Celsius, off-season prices were in full effect, and we ran into almost no tourists. It was absurdly easy to meet locals because of this.

Booze and nightlife

Drinking and bar hopping in Iceland was by far the most expensive part of the trip, but if you re in Reykjavik, you owe it to yourself to experience the nightlife. Beer wasn t legalized until 1989, and so it seems the Icelandic folk are now making up for lost time. The r ntur (literally, round tour ) occurs every weekend in the city. Basically it s the name given to the improvised pub crawl that sends Icelanders jumping place to place in search of spirits and fun. Sometimes I didn t crawl into bed until 6am.