Iceland vs Tasmania (Heaven on Earth vs Paradise)

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Not many people would compare Iceland with Tasmania. Most people call Tasmania a mini-Australia while comparing Iceland with New Zealand. True, there isn’t glacier in Tasmania.

However both trips to Tasmania and Iceland gave me surprises in nature. One is on the top of a world map and the other is at the bottom. Iceland is super rich in landscapes, and she has whales, seals, puffins and horses. Tasmania has some beautiful national parks, but her uniqueness lies with the diversity of animals such as wallabies, seals, echidnas, wombats and possums . It’s very different, both are wonderful.

Here’s the comparison on cost:

Flights:$235

14 days expenditure excluding flights: $668

Total = $903 for 14 days

For both Tasmania and Iceland, you both need to go there by air. So I think it’s worthwhile to do a comparison.

Flights to/from Iceland is the cheapest from/to Norway or Copenhagen. And in my case it cost around $140+$95=$235 (Copenhagen to Reykjavik, Reykjavik to Oslo). And it’s possible that Iceland to have Iceland as your stopover if you take Icelandic Air to USA from Europe (and vice versa).  Flights from/to Tasmania are cheapest from/to Australia (obviously). In my case it cost me a total of $150 (Sydney to Hobart, Hobart to Melbourne). You can also go there by a n overnight ferry.

I’d say it cost about the same.

You need to rent a car for both islands (unless you plan to hitchhike). You’d think Iceland would be a lot more expensive than Tasmania… but don’t forget it’s not cheap in Tasmania either!

You need to keep 3 things in mind: car rental cost, petrol cost, how many people share this cost.

In Tasmania, we found a relatively cheap deal (Red dot) for almost the smallest car. We went to Tasmania in March 2014 and international oil price started to drop after our trip. And this cost was shared by 3 people. And we had a daily mileage limit of 200km. We hit Launceston and Mt.Cradle in the north and Bruny Island in the south but we didn’t go to the west of Tasmania.

In Iceland, we found the cheapest deal (Lagoon Car Rental) for the smallest car. We went there in June 2015 and we went around the whole Iceland (including west fjords) and this cost was shared by 4 people.

Well, keeping these factors in mind, the easiest way to adjust the number for comparison is to calculate how much transportation would cost in Tasmania if there were 4 people in a car. And that number is $13.65.

So Tasmania is 35% cheaper than Iceland on transportation.

Couchsurfing is almost impossible in Iceland if you do plan to get out from Reykjavik. There just aren’t many people living in Iceland (their population is 0.3 million). So either you stay in a guesthouse, or you go camping. Or somewhere in between there’s this sleeping bag accommodation but the cost is similar to a guesthouse since you have a roof. We went camping in Iceland for 11 nights. The other 2 nights we couchsurfed in Reykjanes though it makes no difference to our accommodation cost as our camping card is valid for 28 nights.

I’d say it’s a plus to be able to see people in Tasmania. In Iceland, we saw a lot of tourists but not so many locals on the road. In Tasmania, which is also smaller than Iceland, you’d find charismatic towns easily and with a more densed population. We couchsurfed for 9 nights and stayed in a hostel for 1 night (as you can see, that one night cost us $29.57 per person!) But you can go camping (wild camping too, we picked up a hitchhiker who was doing wild camping)

So I’d say the cost is about the same if you go camping. If you don’t go camping, then Tasmania has higher chance to couchsurf and cheaper rate for hostel (though still expensive).

When prices get to an extreme, you just drop the idea of eating out. We cooked all our meals in Iceland except we occasionally had coffee and we ate at Hilton for lunch buffet once.

It’s more or less the same in Tasmania…food isn’t cheap. The difference is you might find $9 meal of the day or a bucket of fried chicken for $11 in Tasmania.

Although I felt we ate better in Iceland. It could have something to do with currency as Australian dollar was strong back in 2014 against US$.

I’d say it’s the same expensive. Cook your own food.

We stayed in Iceland for 14 days, so this average is lower than our average in Tasmania. We spent more in Iceland on activities such as Whale Watching, Puffin Watching+Viking Sushi Tour and Horseriding. You can easily spend more if you add Myvatn and Blue Lagoon here.

In Australia, we went to Bruny Island Seal Watching Tour, and a Cave Tour. And then the rest was the entrance ticket to National Park.

Definitely Iceland surprised me more!

If you calculate in advance, both places are equally affordable.

 Including flight each of us spent $903 for 14 days in Iceland. While a 11-day trip in Tasmania cost us $625 each (but if the car is shared by 4 then it’s $575). It looks like Tasmania is 1/3 cheaper than Iceland.

If you have a free stopover, then you are looking at the comparison of daily average. Iceland vs Tasmania $47 vs $43 (or $38.77 if the car is shared by 4). It’s again similar for a budget traveler.

If you look for a vacation, Tasmania is more suitable for family. You can find comfort and fun.  But the scenery is less spectacular (you don’t get ‘wow’ pictures although you often get pleasant moments there).  If you look for adventure, Iceland is a no brainer choice.

My dream always had been a visit to Iceland and to sit next to a puffin. It happened, and it’s beautifully stored in my memory. And it’s not as expensive as you think. For $900 you make a trip to Iceland including flight! Putting the dream factor aside, I probably enjoyed the weather in Tasmania a lot more. And the animals at night (e.g. the crazy wallabies) gave me a surprising joy. So now looking back, I recommend Tasmania even more now after my trip to Iceland this summer.