Akureyri · Backpacking

The town buses cost nothing, so a day walking Akureyri is close to free once you have eaten. The tours are the line that matters: North Sailing's three-hour whale trip from Húsavík is 12,990 ISK for adults, the lagoons and sea baths run around 7,490 ISK, and a winter day pass at Hlíðarfjall is 7,450 ISK. Pick one of those a day, cook at the campsite, and the north is manageable.

Every city bus route in Akureyri is free of charge, running roughly 06:28 to 22:55 on weekdays and 12:18 to 18:55 at weekends, in loops of 30 to 50 minutes that all start and end at the main stop in the centre.

The cheapest bed in Akureyri, in the woods above the town, with kitchen, showers and washing machines and full service from the start of May to the end of October. There is a boating pond on site and the warden hires out pedal boats and life jackets.

Restaurant meals are what empty an Icelandic budget, and the Glerártorg shopping centre north of the centre has the supermarkets and a food hall in one building. Buy the day's food there and keep eating out to once every few days.

Goðafoss is 45 minutes east, Mývatn about 89 kilometres and Húsavík an hour and a half, all of them doable as day trips. Akureyri is the only town up here with the full set of supermarkets, campsite and free buses, so moving every night usually costs more than it saves.