Of the 394,000-ish people who live in Iceland, nearly 252,000 live in and around Reykjavik, the capital. There are active volcanoes in its suburbs, but it is the sparsely peopled beyond — home to glaciers, waterfalls, basalt cliffs and other geologic wonders — that largely attracts visitors.
By contrast, Reykjavik is the place to experience Icelandic creativity, history and humor. There, you can spend three days of museum-going, mingle with locals and visitors at the iconic bar Kaffibarinn and, for cheap eats, sample the rye flatbread flatkaka from the grocery chain Kronan — things I did during a free stopover in Reykjavik on an Icelandair flight to continental Europe.
The program — which allows fliers to stay in Iceland for up to a week — is a potentially attractive way for eclipse-chasers to see the solar eclipse that will track across Iceland Aug. 12. The path of totality includes Reykjavik as well as Westfjords and the Snæfellsnes Peninsula to the north, and the Reykjanes Peninsula near the airport in Keflavik. (Expecting heavy traffic, the Iceland tourism authority is encouraging eclipse watchers to take one of many tours on offer).
Here are four money-saving strategies and a few tips on small splurges in the peopled part of Iceland. Note that most prices are listed in Icelandic krona, currently trading at about 125.40 krona to the dollar, though travelers may see prices in euros and dollars.
Cheap Out on Accommodations
Saving on overnight stays is a challenge both at hotels and short-term rentals (to combat a housing shortage, rentals are highly regulated in Iceland). AirDNA, a service that analyzes the short-term rental industry, puts Iceland vacation rentals second on its list of the most expensive European destinations (behind Monaco), with an average daily rate of around $240 a night.
I opted for the cheapest rental I could find on Airbnb, a single room in a guesthouse about two blocks from the central Hallgrimskirkja church ($104 a night, before taxes and fees).
A shared bathroom was down the hall, a cozy library was just outside my door, and the downstairs kitchen offered a refrigerator and cooking facilities. During the middle of a week in April, I had few housemates (several reviews suggest bringing earplugs).
A bargain alternative, Kex Hostel, features a bar, laundry, patio and 2,700-krona (about $21) breakfast buffet. This summer, private rooms start at around $151 a night, and a bed in a dorm about $58. Nearby, City Hub Reykjavik offers pod-style accommodations with king beds, shared bathrooms and a hot tub on the roof (from about 128 euros this summer).
Reykjavik has an impressive number of museums for a city of its size, and the most economical way to see them is with the Reykjavik City Card.
The card, which is available in 24-, 48- and 72-hour increments (starting at 34 euros, or $39), allows entry to 17 museums and attractions, and eight swimming pools. It also offers discounts on other activities, including 10 percent off a whale-watching tour. If you visit the National Museum of Iceland (admission is 3,300 krona) and one pool in a day, the card just about pays for itself.
In the long days of subarctic spring, I did much more than that. I learned about the Viking origins of Iceland at the engrossing National Museum, enjoyed folktale illustrations at the National Gallery of Iceland, and took in exhibitions on botanical photography and the futuristic use of lava in architecture at the contemporary Reykjavik Art Museum-Hafnarhus.
The card also covers local bus transportation (but not the Flybus, which runs between the airport in Keflavik and Reykjavik, from 3,999 krona one way).
Soak Like a Local
Volcanic activity meets an abundant water supply in Iceland’s many geothermally heated pools. There are roughly 200 public pools across the country, and its swimming pool culture — as a health practice and social setting — earned a spot on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list last year.
Don’t confuse these pools with hot springs like the Blue Lagoon in Grindavik, though, which offer immersion in nature as well as water. Public pools are closer to community swimming complexes, with lap lanes, wading pools and warm soaking pools, which are often maintained at different temperatures.
Whereas admission to the Blue Lagoon starts at $95, Reykjavik’s public pools, including the central Sundholl pool, cost 1,500 krona (included with the Reykjavik City Card).
I also used the card to visit the Vesturbæjarlaug pool, which offers five hot tubs and added three saunas last year.
Self-Service Meals
Food prices underscore Iceland’s remote location and reliance on shipping. Skipping full-service restaurants sounds like skipping vacation, but there are dining alternatives that are a step up from grab-and-go fare at 10-11 convenience stores.
Reykjavik offers several food halls — or matholl — including the harborfront Grandi Matholl and Posthus Food Hall & Bar in a former post office.
At Hlemmur Food Hall, in a former bus terminal, I passed up the cheaper pizza and bahn mi sandwich options for Icelandic lamb chops and baby roasted potatoes at Fjarhusið (5,500 krona).
For seeded sourdough and fragrant cinnamon buns, stop at Braud & Co, a popular bakery with just a few stools in a muraled building on Frakkastigur (the original of eight locations around town). Expect to spend about $11 on a pastry and coffee.
The lamb stew at Icelandic Street Food didn’t strike me as street food — for that try an Icelandic hot dog at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (880 krona) — but the generous portion served in a bread bowl included free refills (3,250 krona). Malty pancakes with syrup were offered free for dessert.
Guided and Independent Walks
CityWalk Reykjavik offers two-hour free walking tours to major city sights daily unless, as during my visit, fewer than 10 people sign up, which is rare in the summer. As an alternative, I was offered a spot on the company’s slightly longer small-group tour (5,480 krona), walking from Hallgrimskirkja to City Hall.
Such landmarks aren’t hard to see on your own. Instead, the company’s strength is its engaging founder and guide, Marteinn Briem, who offered insights into the city’s brightly colored corrugated metal houses, played Icelandic hits by Laufey and Kaleo, and described the Icelandic wrestling tradition known as glima that he learned growing up in Reykjavik.
“It starts with a slow dance, then a wedgie and then you throw your opponent over your shoulder,” he explained.
Reykjavik’s long days and seaside views seem to encourage walking; I put in 12 miles on foot one day, including a three-mile trek to the Grotta Lighthouse. It guides ships into Faxafloi Bay from a peninsula that stretches from Seltjarnarnes, just west of downtown. Low tide exposes a rocky causeway that invites intrepid visitors to walk to the lighthouse. At high tide, it’s stranded on an island.
The tides were not inviting on the morning of my visit, but I managed to see dozens of eider ducks and common redshanks in the neighboring nature preserve. Just east of the lighthouse, the Kvika foot bath, a small geothermally heated pool cut into a rock by the Icelandic artist Olof Nordal, offers free soaks for tired feet.
Small-Scale Splurges
What I saved on food and lodging funded a few small splurges, starting at the Harpa Music Hall, the landmark concert hall with a glass facade by the Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson.
On the lower level, the Volcano Express screens a film documenting recent volcanic eruptions magnified by motion effects. Moviegoers buckle into seats that rumble, pitch and seem to fly along with the camera over rivers of lava, accompanied by blasts of hot air (admission 3,990 krona).
Later, I caught a concert in which violinists performing as the Miller-Porfiris Duo played along to clips of silent movies starring Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford (tickets 3,500 krona).
Like the food in Reykjavik, drinks aren’t cheap; after the concert, a local I.P.A. from Malbygg brewery at the bustling Skuli Craft Bar cost 1,800 krona.
But splurges can sometimes lead to deals. If I hadn’t spent 750-krona on a cappuccino at Prikid (touted as the city’s oldest coffee house) one morning, I wouldn’t have found the free publication The Reykjavik Grapevine and its list of “Happiest Hours,” including Prikid’s 900-krona beers.
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