Reykjavík · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Nothing here is cheap, but the pools, the coast and the hitching are close enough.
Downtown 101 or Laugardalur
Hostels in the 101 postcode put you in the bars; the campsite and hostel out at Laugardalur cost less and sit beside the big pool.
What a day costs
Around 12,000–20,000 krónur a day, roughly $90–150: dorm 6,000–10,000, Bónus groceries 3,000–5,000, buses and one paid sight 3,000–5,000.
Getting around cheap
Strætó city buses take app tickets and exact change only; airport coaches run to the BSÍ terminal. Summer hitching along the ring road is normal and safe.
Free by day
The Sun Voyager sculpture, Harpa's glass foyer, the Grótta lighthouse shore at dusk, and the geothermal beach at Nauthólsvík in summer.
Where travellers meet
The hostel bars off Laugavegur draw the arriving crowd, and Friday night's bar run down that street is the closest thing to an introduction service.