How to Save Money When Buying Food in Iceland
Looking at how to save money when buying food in Iceland? Whenever visiting Iceland one thing everyone said was ‘Iceland is expensive’, and it started to annoy me that everyone said it, even those who hadn’t been.
There are ways to save money while visiting Iceland and you can definitely do this by shopping at Bonus! There are multiple supermarkets in Iceland including Bonus, 10-11, Kronan, Netto, and more.
It became a fact that Bonus is the cheapest by far! I’ve listed a few items from 10-11 and then a list of foods in bonus. It isn’t everything but we couldn’t write down everything! You can see the list of prices and can work out how much money you think you might need to buy food in Iceland.
10-11
10-11 is the most expensive store in Iceland. They are very popular in Reykjavik but you can barely find them anywhere else. They have extremely extortionate prices for literally everything.
Do not shop here! There are so many other options which are way cheaper. I've listed a few items and how much they charged when we travelled there. Prices are listed in Icelandic krona
2L bottle of water 599kr
Bags of sweets 199kr
Milk 329kr
Mushrooms 499kr
Loaf of bread 1kg 699kr
Toffee crisp chocolate bar 299kr
Since all water in Iceland comes from the glacier, it can be found free all over the country. But in 10-11a 2L bottle of glacier water - which you can also get from the tap, is £4.29/$5.56. And just for a simple chocolate bar, it cost £2.14/$2.78!
Pretty expensive if you ask me, so probably not your first choice when buying food
Bonus
Bonus is the cheapest shop around. It reminded us of Aldi back in the UK and across Europe. Much cheaper prices and everything you could want.
There are certain foods such as cheese which is a lot more expensive, but cheese isn't particularly cheap anywhere.
See list of foods bought at bonus below in Iceland's currency, krona
Bananas 215kr
Bonus hot dogs 298kr
Lamb sirloin 1kg 1379kr
Bonus ham 198kr
Grates cheese 529kr
Cheddar 1kg 1619
Milk 146kr
Small 500ml bottle of coke 147kr
12 eggs 398kr
Andrex toilet paper 898kr
Bonus kitchen roll 498kr
Hob nobs 169kr
Hazelnut spread 298kr
Packet of pasta 129kr
Wraps 229kr
Onions 1kg 139kr
Watermelon 159kr
1kg of bread 398kr
10-11 vs Bonus
A small pop to a shop can always include milk and bread. Absolute basics.
If you were to buy milk and bread in both shops, in a 10-11 this would cost 1028kr and in a bonus it would cost 544kr. Literally half the price
We wanted to include a list of a few items just so you can compare supermarkets. Of course prices and exchange rates vary all the time so obviously just use this as a guide
Basically, stay clear of 10-11. But If you’re spending time outside Reykjavik you shouldn’t have too much of a problem
Of course there are certain things which can be expensive, and yes food is probably slightly more expensive than what you’re used too. But it isn’t too bad, and you have to remember that so much is imported in so obviously is slightly more expensive.
But we were surprised it wasn’t as bad we expected. We may be spent £200 on food for 10 days which we made all of the food ourselves and only had one meal out.
