Toby Young

Iceland’s scenery takes your breath away – but so do the prices

[Getty Images]

I’m writing this on the plane back from Iceland, a fact that fills me with relief. Not because I didn’t enjoy my trip to the land of fire and ice – far from it – but because there was a serious risk I might be stuck there indefinitely with Caroline and my three sons. In the 24 hours before our departure, nearly 4,000 earthquakes were detected in the southwestern region known as the Reykjanes peninsula, which is where the international airport is located. Such unusual seismic activity is often a sign that a volcano is about to erupt and that, in turn, can create an ash cloud that necessitates the grounding of all aircraft, as happened in 2011.

There are worse places to be stranded, of course. The scenery is breathtaking, the people are charming and, best of all, the water that comes out of the tap is better than any mineral water. But Iceland is ruinously expensive. A single scoop of ice cream in a high-street café can set you back £12, while a steak in a family-friendly restaurant is closer to £45. In one place – again, nothing fancy – a pint of beer was £9. Caroline calculated that the cost of accommodation was £65.32 per person per night, giving a total of £3,592.60 on hotel rooms alone. It is by some distance the most expensive country I’ve ever visited. The fact that it has the same name as a discount frozen food shop is a cruel joke.

Our family initially planned to go to Mexico City this summer to see Sasha, my 19-year-old daughter who’s in Mexico for her gap year, but decided against it because the flights were just under £1,000 a head. We naively thought Iceland would be more affordable, particularly as an Icelandic friend of mine offered to lend us her 4×4.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in