Iceland

 We spent 8 days driving around the Ring Road, West Fjords, and the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland. Here’s the cost breakdown (per person):


Flights from Vegas: $224.49 (does not include onward flight from Iceland)
Rental car and camping: $360.63
Gas: $155.52
Food: $25.27

Total: $765.91

Renting a car is by far the best way to see as much of Iceland at your own pace - and if you’re crazy like us and sleep in the car you can save a ton of $
*More days are recommended to see all of the areas we visited but we move very fast and pull long days so it worked well for us and we actually ended up with extra time

Other tips for seeing Iceland on a budget:
• Don’t eat out - get groceries at Bónus or Kronan
• Consider skipping some of the paid parking attractions - I despise paying for parking so we skipped all of the hotspots, which means we visited alternative options for each with far less tourists at them
• Get the smallest and most fuel efficient car possible unless you want to drive on F roads

We had absolutely stunning weather for our entire trip except for the first day (the rest were record highs apparently) and ended up unintentionally shifting our sleep schedule to go to sleep around 4-6 pm and wake around 2-5 am. Because it never got fully dark this ended up working out so well, as the vast majority of tourists got a very late start so we had every attraction to ourselves until almost noon most days! It also allowed us to sleep while it was warmer out and drive during the coldest hours of the day :)

I’ve compiled a list of all the free parking attractions I would recommend for Iceland as of May 2025:

⭕️ Ring Road:
Gullfoss
Urriðafoss
Seljavallalaug Swimming Pool ♨️
Dyrhólaey Viewpoint
Víkurfjara Black Sand Beach (park at N1 for free parking)
Mögáfoss (free parking on F road closer to falls)
Svínafellsjökull
Fjallsárlón
Gufufoss
Vatnsskarð (Stórurð Trail Head)
Borgarfjörður eystri (go early morning or late evening for puffins!)
Rjúkandafoss
Dettifoss, Selfoss, Hafragilsfoss
Grjótagjá
Skútustaðagígar
Goðafoss

🏔️ West Fjords:
Guðrúnarlaug ♨️
Hellulaug ♨️
Rauðisandur Beach
Látrabjarg (early morning or late night for puffins)
Reykjafjarðarlaug Hot Pool ♨️
Dynjandi

🌋 Snæfellsnes Peninsula:
Svöðufoss
Skarðsvík Beach
Saxhóll Crater
Djúpalónssandur
Lóndrangar
Hellnar
Gatklettur
Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge
Búðakirkja
Bjarnarfoss
Gerðuberg Cliffs
Landbrotalaug ♨️

*would highly recommend camping/hostel at Sæberg (hot spring tub overlooking the fjord)























Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCT Info and FAQ Answers

Image
Not so shockingly, there are lots of questions when you undertake something like the PCT!  Here are a few answers to FAQs, plus some general background info on the trail, in addition to many of my own thoughts and opinions: Thru-hiking Thru-hiking refers to hiking point to point, without looping or retracing your route back to where you started. Thru-hikes are typically lengthy by definition. The Pacific Crest Trail is a lengthy for a thru-hike but not the longest out there. My first thru-hike was the Trans Catalina Trail (TCT) in 2023, which is about 40 miles. During PCT training, I completed the Nakahechi Kumano Kodo route in Japan (a little over 40 mi) and Tyler and I completed the West Highland Way in Scotland (around 100 mi). Tyler hiked around 200 mi on a route of the Camino de Santiago (I was injured so I did not). In addition to full thru-hikes, we also hiked sections of the AZT and multi-day loops/out and back trails. Other very well-known thru-hikes in the US include: App...
Read more

Fiji Layover

Image
  I was pumped for my 18 hour layover in Fiji but after looking into transit from the airport, I found that the taxis were very expensive and scammy. After my recent travel days in Malaysia I decided I really didn’t want to deal with that, and local buses seemed way too unreliable and difficult to figure out (after being there, can confirm I never would have figured them out)…so I ended up deciding not to withdraw any cash and to just walk to the closest beach…which ended up being on a private island where season 5 of Love Island USA was filmed. Security tried to kick me off the island but I made up a really elaborate lie and they let me stay but the beach was not very nice and I mostly just laid in the sand and read to pass the time (was also being watched by a camera the entire time). The hour long walk from the airport (and back) was kinda cool tho, bc I got to walk through a local neighborhood and had pretty views during the morning golden hour
Read more

Tokyo, Japan

Image
  Notes from the journal: • Tyler and I took an overnight Flix bus from Vegas to Union Station in LA and then took public transit to LAX • We did our first of many preparations for airport weigh ins by putting on jackets and putting heavy items in pockets so we looked like the Michelin Man :) we checked in at the counter and found out we were unfortunately not sitting together for the 12 hr flight but we both had aisle seats and Tyler was sitting directly behind me • I was exhausted from the all-nighter so I took a nap at the gate and when Tyler woke me up to board I swear to god I have never been more disoriented in my entire life…I thought we had a kid named Tyler?? So I started panicking and asking where Tyler was, which obviously confused Tyler and then I asked if we had a kid and he said no, so I don’t know what that was but it was a hell of a way to wake up • Took off around 10:30 am on 5/13 and landed around 2:30 pm on 5/14 5/14 • Went through customs, did an ATM withdrawal,...
Read more