Since I’m going to Reykjavik in a few days, I’m starting to mentally prepare for the sticker shock when I get there because one of the number 1 things you’ll read on the internet is how expensive it is.
But I have lived in New York City for almost 15 years and New York City is SUPER expensive so I’m hoping that will temper my shock but I’m bracing myself.
But I thought I’d write about what it was like when I visited the most expensive place that I’ve ever been to: Norway.
I looked it up and not counting my accommodations, I spent $568 in Oslo in just under 3 days. It’s THAT expensive.
Yes, I went to only Oslo, so that makes it automatically more expensive, but on this same trip I also went to Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, and Tallinn, and I definitely found Oslo to be the priciest. Is that because the taxes are higher? Who knows. I’m not taking the time to look that up because I don’t really care, and nor do you.
But I do know that I spent a generous amount of money at least on food while I was visiting Oslo. Again because I’m from New York City, it wasn’t as shocking, but I don’t think you could get a sit-down meal for one person for less than $30. Thinking about that now – it’s kind of the same in New York City.
What did I spend too much money on? Cafes. I bought too many pricey lattes (they were around $5.50 four years ago and they’re probably more expensive now!
But most every meal I had that was sit-down, and at not-particularly nice or fancy places, because I’m not fancy when I travel, was at least $30-$35.
I had my first dinner at the 3 Brodre and it’s where I learned that my last name may very well be Norwegian!
That being said: I loved Oslo. It was probably my favorite Scandinavian country that I visited on that trip in 2015. It’s beautiful, there’s so much history, the people are so nice (and attractive), and I thought there were so many cool things to see. Check the archives here for a rundown!
How am I planning to save money in Iceland (at least on food)?
- I’m bringing a ton of protein bars with me. Since I’m not eating gluten right now, this will be the easiest thing to grab as a snack since I can’t grab a croissant.
- The #1 people tell you to do online is to bring a reusable water bottle, so that is what I’ll be doing.
- Buy food in grocery stores: I’ve never done this before but everyone recommends it.
- Purchase the 11 Euro breakfast at the hostel.
- Bringing a handful of FourSigmatic coffee packets to make coffee on the go that I don’t have to pay $5 for!
All of the sources online say that to save money on food you should eat the Icelandic hot dogs. Their hot dogs are different than usual trash water hot dogs in the US, and that’s nice, but I’m a vegetarian so I’m not going to heed that advice. I’ve been researching to see if there’s a vegetarian version, but I’m not having any luck yet. If you know where I can get a veggie Iceland hot dog, let me know in the comments below!
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