Iceland is one of the most expensive countries in the world to eat out in. Almost everything is imported or produced in a tough climate, labor costs are high and restaurant meals reflect all of it. Plenty of first-time visitors are shocked by their first dinner bill.
The good news is that eating well in Iceland on a budget is very doable. The trick is to treat the grocery store as your main restaurant and save sit-down meals for the ones that matter. Here's how.
Know your grocery stores
- Bónus: The budget chain, easy to spot by its pink pig logo. Usually the cheapest option.
- Krónan: Another low-price chain with a wide selection, including ready-to-eat food.
- Nettó: A mid-price chain, often open longer hours.
- Convenience stores and gas stations: Handy and open late, but noticeably more expensive. Use them for emergencies, not your weekly shop.
Opening hours can be shorter than you're used to, especially in small towns and on Sundays. Check the hours before you count on a late-night run.
What to buy
Build your meals around Icelandic staples that are filling, good value and travel well:
- Skyr: Icelandic yogurt and a high-protein breakfast in a tub. Buy the large ones.
- Rye bread and rye flatbread: Dense, sturdy and good for days.
- Cheese and butter: Icelandic dairy is excellent and reasonably priced.
- Smoked trout and salmon, pickled herring: Instant lunch on rye.
- Sliced smoked lamb: Sold in the deli section, great on flatbread.
- Dried fish: Not the cheapest item per bag, but a little goes a long way, and it's pure protein that never spoils in the car.
- Pre-made sandwiches and salads: Pricier than cooking, much cheaper than a café.
- Fruit and vegetables: Mostly imported and pricey, but greenhouse-grown Icelandic tomatoes and cucumbers are excellent.
Drink tap water
Don't buy bottled water. Icelandic tap water is some of the cleanest in the world and costs nothing. Restaurants will happily bring you a pitcher. One tip: in some areas the hot tap smells of sulfur because it comes straight from geothermal sources. Drink from the cold tap.
Eat out smart
When you do eat out:
- Go at lunch. Many restaurants offer a dish of the day or lunch specials that cost much less than the same food at dinner.
- Order soup. Lamb soup or fish soup with bread is filling, warming and one of the better-value meals on most menus.
- Eat a hot dog. An Icelandic hot dog is the cheapest hot meal in the country, and a genuinely good one.
- Don't tip. Service is included in Icelandic prices and tipping isn't expected.
Plan ahead for alcohol
Alcohol is heavily taxed. Grocery stores only sell low-alcohol beer. Anything stronger is sold at state-run liquor stores, which have limited hours. A drink at a bar costs more than you'd pay at home.
The best-value move: buy alcohol at the duty-free shop in the arrivals hall at Keflavík Airport, before you pass through customs. Many Icelanders do the same.
A sample budget day
- Breakfast: Skyr with granola from your grocery haul.
- Morning snack: A few strips of dried fish.
- Lunch: Rye flatbread with smoked lamb and cheese, eaten at a waterfall picnic table.
- Afternoon: Coffee and a pastry at a gas station.
- Dinner: One proper meal in town, or pasta and smoked salmon cooked at your guesthouse.
Want a number for your own trip? Our Iceland food budget calculator adds it up for your group, in dollars or krónur.
Pack a cooler bag
If you're renting a car, a soft cooler bag pays for itself in a day. Keep skyr, cheese and smoked fish cold and you'll never have to pay for a mediocre gas station lunch out of desperation.
The snack that pays for itself
Dried fish is the ultimate budget-traveler snack in Iceland. It weighs nothing, doesn't need a fridge and a small amount keeps you full for hours.
We're bringing it home. HardFish is wind-dried Icelandic cod with nothing added but salt, at about 84% protein. Join the founding list for early access and a founders' discount when we launch in the U.S.