Iceland’s duty free limit is relatively generous, and bringing wine into the country with you can be a big money-saver.
Saving money in Iceland
Iceland is an astonishingly expensive place to visit. This is particularly the case if you like a drink or two, as prices for a basic drink in bars and restaurants will make visitors from almost everywhere weep.
Therefore, if you would prefer to spend money on experiences such as Northern Lights tours, ice cave adventures and glacier hikes, it pays to bring drinks into the country with you.
Why book a 6-day around Iceland adventure?
- 🗺️ Comprehensive route: Circle the whole island, including the Golden Circle, Eastfjords, and North Iceland.
- ❄️ Glacier experience: Includes a glacier hike and ice cave exploration on the south coast.
- 🌋 Epic natural sights: See waterfalls, lava fields, black sand beaches, and geothermal areas.
- 🏡 Small-group comfort: Travel in a minibus with a maximum of 19 people for a more personal experience.
- 🛏️ Accommodation sorted: Five nights in country hotels with breakfast included.
Iceland’s duty free allowance
In fact, one of the best money-saving tips for an Icelandic holiday is to maximise your duty free allowance on the way in. And, thankfully, Iceland’s duty free allowance is fairly generous.
Under Icelandic law, travellers can bring in up to six units of duty free alcohol. Fortunately, these units do not correspond at all to the units of alcohol used for weighing up whether someone is safe to drive.
How many beers can you bring into Iceland?
If you’re flying into Iceland, you’re allowed to bring 72 half litre beers per person before having to pay extra tax. Six beers is one unit under Icelandic duty free regulations.
Obviously, that’s not going to be practical for most travellers, so you’re better off looking at how many bottles of wine you can bring into Iceland duty free.
Why book the Reykjavik City Card (48-hour)?
- Free entry to top Reykjavik attractions: Visit museums, galleries and cultural sites without paying separate entrance fees.
- Unlimited public transport included: Use buses across Reykjavik city for 48 hours without extra cost — great for easy sightseeing.
- Two-day convenient pass: Covering 48 hours, it offers flexibility to explore at your own pace across two days.
- Cost-effective for multiple visits: Ideal if you plan to visit several attractions — saves money compared with paying entry individually.
- Easy digital voucher format: Receive the pass as a voucher on your phone — no need to print any tickets or vouchers.
How many bottles of wine you can bring into Iceland
Under the same somewhat bizarre units rule, a single 0.75L bottle of wine is one unit. Therefore, each person can bring six bottles of wine with them into Iceland. Drinking a bottle of cheap supermarket wine from back home is going to work out substantially cheaper than ordering at the hotel bar.
Iceland’s duty free limits: Spirits
If you’d prefer the harder stuff, or are simply going to struggle to carry six bottles of wine each, the units limit is slightly less generous on spirits. But every traveller can bring 1.5L of spirits duty free into Iceland.
More Iceland travel
Other great Iceland travel experiences include Northern Lights tours, Reykjavik food walks and whale-watching cruises.
Other Iceland travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- Should you tackle Jökulsárlón as a day trip from Reykjavik?
- Seeing Jökulsárlón’s icebergs up close on a RIB cruise.
- A review of the Inside the Glacier tour.
- Inside Vidgelmir – Iceland’s giant lava cave.
- Snorkelling between two continents in the Silfra Fissure.
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