The local currency. Now you need considerable more to buy less.
Here we are again. Slightly older and a little wiser and still dreaming about that Iceland trip like we did last year and the year before and the year before that etc.
We hate being the ones to piss on the parade but you would have saved quite a bit of dough by visiting last year. Tiny Iceland is slowly rising from economic ashes helped quite a bit by unprecedented numbers of foreigners hell bent on seeing this volcanic island. That simply means prices rise faster than blood rushing to the head at the first romantic kiss.[blockquote type=”blockquote_line” align=”right”]Accommodation is also way more expensive this year[/blockquote]
Bluntly put, you will have to fork out 10-20 percent more for things in Iceland now than you could get away with a year ago. Food, car rental and accommodation are now more expensive. Indeed, even this is not having the least bit affect on tourists. Large chunk of rooms at hotels and guesthouses in summer 2016 are booked to the hilt already in February. Ditto for tours and trips of most kind.
A year ago it was possible to get a fast-food meal for 1000 – 1300 ISK (Iceland krona) but now one is hard pressed to find an unhealthy bite under 1200 ISK. Expect to fork out 1400 to 2000 ISK for a minimum basic meal such as a burger at most places. For a nicer but simple middle class meal you need to empty your wallet of 3000 to 4000 ISK at a minimum. For the rather nice stuff with cheap house wine the bill will very easily reach 8000 to 16000 ISK for two people depending on how classy you want to go.
Same goes for drinks. A pint of basic local beer sets you back 1200 ISK these days on average while a year ago you could buy one for 1000 ISK in most places. Keep in mind quite a number of joints in Reykjavik offer happy-hour special prices but this is mostly only during late afternoon. For cocktails also a 20% rise in prices overall.
Accommodation is also way more expensive this year. That is not surprising since demand far exceeds supply. Expect prices to rise exorbitantly from now on.
As for any advice we find ourselves lacking. Since tourism has just become the number one source of income for the Icelandic people we will be seeing the same greed in this industry as we had in banking a few years back.
