Iceland has a reputation for being expensive, and restaurant prices earn it. But the gap between eating out and cooking your own meals on the road is bigger here than almost anywhere in Europe — and when you are travelling by rental car, you have the one thing that makes self-catering easy: somewhere to put the groceries.
The supermarkets, ranked by price
Iceland has four supermarket chains you will actually use on a road trip. They are not equally priced, and the difference over a week is real money.
| Chain | Price level | Where you find it | Typical hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bónus (pink pig logo) | Cheapest | Reykjavík area, Keflavík, Selfoss, Vík, Höfn, Egilsstaðir, Akureyri, Borgarnes | 11:00–18:30, Sun often 11:00–18:00 |
| Krónan | Slightly above Bónus | Reykjavík area, Keflavík, Selfoss, Akureyri | 09:00–20:00, longer than Bónus |
| Nettó | Mid | Widest rural coverage, some 24 h branches | Varies; Mjódd branch open 24 h |
| Samkaup / Kjörbúðin | Most expensive | Small villages — often the only shop for 100 km | Short, sometimes 10:00–18:00 |
| N1 / Olís / Orkan (petrol) | Highest | Everywhere on Route 1 | Long hours, many 24 h pumps |
The practical rule is simple: do your big shop at Bónus or Krónan before you leave the Reykjanes/Reykjavík area, then top up at Nettó or the village Kjörbúðin as you go. Expect rural Samkaup prices to run 20–40% above Bónus on the same items.
The opening-hours trap
This is the part that catches most self-drive travellers. Bónus keeps famously short hours — many branches do not open until 11:00 and close at 18:30. If you are driving the South Coast and arrive in Vík at 19:15 after a long day at Reynisfjara, the Bónus is shut and your options are the petrol station or a restaurant.
Three habits solve it:
- Shop in the morning, not the evening. Buy the day's food before you start driving, not after you finish.
- Always keep one emergency dinner in the car — pasta, a jar of sauce, tinned fish. Costs 800 ISK and saves a 6,000 ISK restaurant meal.
- Check Sunday and public holidays. Rural shops often close entirely on Sundays. Around Christmas and New Year, closures are much wider — if your trip falls then, our Christmas and New Year road trip guide covers the holiday closures in detail.
What things actually cost
Prices below are Bónus, autumn 2026, and are a realistic guide rather than a guarantee. Iceland prices drift upward but the ratios between items stay stable.
| Item | Bónus price (ISK) | ≈ EUR |
|---|---|---|
| Bread, loaf | 450–600 | 3–4 |
| Milk, 1 l | 220–260 | 1.5–1.7 |
| Skyr, 170 g pot | 180–250 | 1.2–1.7 |
| Pasta, 500 g | 250–350 | 1.7–2.3 |
| Eggs, 10 | 900–1,200 | 6–8 |
| Chicken breast, 1 kg | 2,200–2,800 | 15–19 |
| Coffee, 400 g ground | 900–1,300 | 6–9 |
| Apples, 1 kg | 450–700 | 3–5 |
| Beer, 500 ml (Vínbúðin) | 450–600 | 3–4 |
| Bottled water, 1.5 l | 250 | 1.7 — do not buy this |
Compare that to eating out: a main course in a roadside restaurant runs 4,500–7,500 ISK, a bowl of lamb soup 2,800–3,500 ISK, and a coffee 700–900 ISK. Two people eating three restaurant meals a day will spend 25,000–30,000 ISK per day. That is the entire week's grocery bill, in one day.
Tap water: the easiest saving in Iceland
Icelandic tap water is glacial spring water and among the cleanest in the world. Buying bottled water here is, to Icelanders, slightly absurd. Bring a refillable bottle, fill it at any tap, any campsite, any petrol station washroom. Over a two-week trip for two people that alone saves around 7,000 ISK.
One quirk: hot tap water in much of Iceland is geothermal and carries a faint sulphur smell. It is harmless, but run the cold tap for drinking — it is odourless and cold as a mountain stream.
Petrol station food — when it makes sense
N1, Olís and Orkan stations are the backbone of eating on Route 1 outside opening hours. They are expensive relative to a supermarket, but cheap relative to a restaurant, and they are open when nothing else is.
The Icelandic hot dog (pylsa) is the classic road-trip meal: around 700–900 ISK at a petrol station, lamb-and-pork, served eina með öllu — with everything: raw onion, crispy fried onion, ketchup, sweet mustard and remoulade. It is genuinely good and it is the cheapest hot food in the country.
Beyond that, most N1 stations do a hot counter with soup, chips, burgers and a rotating dish of the day for 2,000–3,500 ISK. Fine once or twice. Not a strategy for a week.
Cooking in the car: what you need and what it costs
Self-catering only works if you can actually store and heat food. With Aurora Car Rental Iceland the camping and kitchen equipment is available as a per-day add-on, so you do not need to fly gear to Iceland or buy a burner you will abandon at the airport.
| Add-on | Price per day (ISK) | Worth it? |
|---|---|---|
| Cooler box | 3,000 | Yes — pays for itself in two days of not eating out |
| Burner (gas not included) | 2,000 | Yes, if you want hot meals and coffee |
| Camping pot | 1,000 | Pair with the burner |
| Frying pan | 1,000 | Optional |
| Tableware set | 1,000 | Yes — cheaper than buying disposables |
| Cutting board | 1,000 | Optional |
| Water tank 5 l | 1,000 | Useful in the highlands |
| Camping table | 2,000 | Nice in summer, pointless in winter wind |
A cooler box plus burner, pot and tableware comes to 7,000 ISK per day. Over seven days that is 49,000 ISK — and it converts a 150,000 ISK restaurant week into a 30,000 ISK grocery week. The maths is not close.
Gas canisters for the burner are not included (they cannot be flown) but are sold at most petrol stations and at Bónus branches for around 1,200–1,800 ISK. Buy one on day one.
A realistic week of food for two
| Approach | 7 days, 2 people (ISK) | ≈ EUR |
|---|---|---|
| Full self-catering (Bónus, cook everything) | 25,000–35,000 | 165–230 |
| Mixed — cook breakfast and dinner, one bought lunch a day | 55,000–70,000 | 365–465 |
| Petrol station food most meals | 90,000–120,000 | 600–795 |
| Restaurants three times a day | 150,000–200,000 | 995–1,325 |
Most travellers land on the mixed approach, and that is a sensible place to be — you still eat a proper meal of Icelandic lamb or fresh arctic char somewhere, you just do not do it eleven times. If you want to see how food fits into the whole trip budget, our Iceland travel budget guide breaks down the rest.
Alcohol: the Vínbúðin rule
Supermarkets in Iceland sell only low-alcohol beer (2.25%). Real beer, wine and spirits are sold exclusively at Vínbúðin, the state liquor stores — and outside Reykjavík there may be one per town with short weekday hours and no Sunday opening at all.
The cheapest option by a wide margin is the duty-free shop in the arrivals hall at Keflavík Airport, before you collect your car. Icelanders queue there for a reason. If you want a drink on your trip, buy it there — and of course, never drink and drive. Iceland's limit is 0.05% BAC and enforcement is strict.
Where to actually cook and eat
Campsites almost all have a cooking shelter or kitchen — you are paying for the pitch anyway, so use it. Many petrol station forecourts have a picnic table. In bad weather, cooking on a burner inside a closed vehicle is dangerous: carbon monoxide is a real risk, so cook outside, in a shelter, or under an open tailgate with airflow.
If you are travelling in a campervan or with a roof tent, the routine is easier still — the camping and campervan guide covers the campsite network and what to expect.
Frequently asked questions
Which supermarket is cheapest in Iceland?
Bónus, identifiable by its pink pig logo, is consistently the cheapest chain in Iceland. Krónan is close behind with longer opening hours. Nettó sits in the middle but has the widest rural coverage, and small-village Samkaup or Kjörbúðin shops run 20–40% higher on the same items.
How much does a week of groceries cost in Iceland for two people?
Around 25,000–35,000 ISK (roughly €165–230) if you shop at Bónus or Krónan and cook most of your meals. A mixed approach with one bought meal a day comes to 55,000–70,000 ISK, while eating in restaurants three times a day costs 150,000–200,000 ISK for the same week.
Can you drink tap water in Iceland?
Yes. Icelandic cold tap water is glacial spring water and among the cleanest in the world — buying bottled water is unnecessary. Use the cold tap; the hot water is geothermal and carries a harmless sulphur smell. Bring a refillable bottle and fill it anywhere.
Is the cooler box add-on worth renting?
Yes, for almost any self-drive trip. At 3,000 ISK per day from Aurora Car Rental Iceland, it pays for itself within about two days by letting you keep dairy, meat and leftovers instead of buying every meal on the road. Paired with a burner at 2,000 ISK and a pot at 1,000 ISK per day, it turns a 150,000 ISK restaurant week into a 30,000 ISK grocery week.
What time do supermarkets close in rural Iceland?
Bónus branches typically open at 11:00 and close at 18:30, which is earlier than most visitors expect. Village shops often close at 18:00 and may not open at all on Sundays. Petrol stations such as N1, Olís and Orkan stay open far later and many pumps run 24 hours, so shop in the morning and keep one emergency meal in the car.
Where can you buy beer and wine in Iceland?
Only at Vínbúðin state liquor stores, or at the duty-free shop in the Keflavík Airport arrivals hall, which is the cheapest option. Supermarkets sell only 2.25% light beer. Outside Reykjavík, Vínbúðin branches have short hours and are usually closed on Sundays.
Rent the car — and the kitchen that goes with it
Aurora Car Rental Iceland rents 11 vehicles from Keflavík, from a 12,000 ISK/day SsangYong Tivoli to campervans and roof-tent setups. Cooler box, burner, pot, pan and tableware available as daily add-ons. No deposit, insurance included, pay on pickup in ISK or EUR.
Please note: all vehicles are fully booked 10–15 August 2026 (solar eclipse week).
Aurora Car Rental Iceland — Suðurbraut 890, 262 Keflavík | WhatsApp: +48 729 854 633 | carrentalaurora@gmail.com